Researcher:
Kara, Buket

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Buket

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Kara

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Kara, Buket

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2020 - 20212

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    Under poverty and conflict: well-being of children living in the East of Turkey
    (Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychological Assoc, 2020) N/A; Department of Psychology; Department of Psychology; Kara, Buket; Selçuk, Bilge; Researcher; Faculty Member; Department of Psychology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; N/A; 52913
    Children living in armed conflict zones are often exposed to political violence and other risk factors that may be caused or exacerbated by the conflict, such as poverty and family violence. If left untreated, these experiences may cause psychological problems throughout life. This study investigated the psychological well-being of children living in the low-intensity armed conflict zone in Turkey in relation to their adverse experiences. We collected data from 409 caregivers for their children (236 girls) aged 5.5 to 18 years (mean [M] = 11.50, standard deviation [SD] = 3.65). Caregivers provided information regarding their children's emotional and behavioral problems (internalizing, externalizing, and total problems; posttraumatic stress symptoms [PTSS]), income, family violence, and armed conflict experiences. Caregivers reported moderate levels of problems among children. The prevalence of borderline/clinical (T > 60) scores was 14.3% for internalizing, 12.6% for externalizing, and 14% for total problems and 7.9% for PTSS. Notably, almost all families resided in extreme poverty. The prevalence of family violence was 36%. Children were frequently exposed to conflict-related events. Hierarchical regressions showed that after controlling for the role of demographic variables and other risk factors, income predicted total problem level (beta = -.10), and family violence (beta s = .17 to .26) and armed conflict (beta s = .13 to .20) experiences predicted internalizing, externalizing, and total problems and PTSS levels. Our findings suggest that family violence and armed conflict pose a significant risk to children's psychological well-being and inform intervention strategies and policy decisions to promote welfare in such disadvantaged contexts. Public Policy Relevance Statement Adverse life experiences such as war, poverty, and family violence substantially threaten the development and well-being of children throughout their life course. In this study, we identified prominent risk factors for the psychological well-being of children living in a low-intensity armed conflict zone, rather than a full-blown war. Policymakers, as well as public health and social workers, should regard these findings to tailor effective early-stage interventions, remedial efforts, and policy decisions to promote the well-being of children living in a zone of low-intensity armed conflict.
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    Effect of exenatide use on cognitive and affective functioning in obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus exenatide use mediates depressive scores through increased perceived stress levels
    (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (LWW), 2021) Sancak, Seda; Okuroglu, Nalan; Whitton, Alexis E.; Rutherford, Ashleigh, V; N/A; Department of Psychology; Eren, Candan Yasemin; Kara, Buket; Eser, Hale Yapıcı; Uysal, Serap; Dereli, Dilek Yazıcı; PhD Student; Researcher; Faculty Member; Other; Faculty Member; Department of Psychology; Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Translasyonel Tıp Araştırma Merkezi (KUTTAM); Graduate School of Health Sciences; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; N/A; N/A; 134359; N/A; 179659
    Purpose/Background Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a molecule used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Given their widespread expression in the nervous system, GLP-1 receptors also play a role in regulating mood and cognitive function. Here, we aimed to compare obese patients with T2DM, with or without exenatide (a GLP-1R agonist) use on cognitive and affective functioning. Methods/Procedures A total of 43 patients with T2DM (23 on exenatide and 20 without exenatide) were evaluated with the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale, Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Chronic Stress Scale, in addition to laboratory-based measures of reward learning (the probabilistic reward task) and working memory (Letter-N-Back task). Findings/Results Patients on exenatide had higher body mass index (BMI) (37.88 +/- 5.44 vs 35.29 +/- 6.30; P = 0.015), PHQ-9 (9.70 +/- 4.92 vs 6.70 +/- 4.66; P = 0.026), and PSS (29.39 +/- 6.70 vs 23.35 +/- 7.69; P = 0.015) scores. Other stress scales (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Chronic Stress Scale), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scores, response bias, or discriminability as assessed by probabilistic reward task and self-report (Cognitive Failures Questionnaire) and laboratory-based (Letter-N-Back) cognitive measures were not significantly different between groups (both Ps > 0.05). Multivariate linear regression analyses adding BMI and PSS as covariates revealed that although BMI had no effect (P = 0.5), PSS significantly predicted PHQ-9 scores (P = 0.004). Mediation analysis showed that exenatide users reported higher PSS, with greater PSS associated with higher PHQ-9 levels (b = 0.236). There was no evidence on exenatide directly influencing PHQ-9 independent of PSS (c ' = 1.573; P = 0.305; 95% bootstrap confidence interval, -1.487 to 4.634). Implications/Conclusions Based on previous research and our findings, exenatide use might be mediating depression scores through disrupting stress responses.