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Objective: To evaluate the association between psychotic experiences (PEs) and social stress and discrimination during adaptation to a new social context., Method: First-term university students (n: 164) were screened to determine if they had had any PEs, social adaptation-related stress, and/or perceived discrimination in the prior six months. The positive dimension of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) was used to define PEs. Social relations and discrimination in the students' new social contexts (both narrow (i.e., their class) and wider (i.e., urban environment) were screened with relevant questionnaires regarding social capital and discrimination. Responders were classified as either the "High CAPE" group (first and second quartiles; n: 82) or the "Low CAPE" group (third and fourth quartiles; n: 82), which was used as the baseline/control group. Analyses included associations between these two groups and social stress, discrimination, and demographic/non-demographic variables. Results were re-analyzed after excluding irregular students and regrouping with the first and fourth quartiles in CAPE., Results: High CAPE scores were associated with perceived discrimination in narrow and wider social environments (adjusted 0,08; 95% CI: 0,01-0,11), and with adaptation-related stress in narrow social environment (adjusted 0,02; 95% CI: 0,01-0,05). In addition, high CAPE scores were associated with smoking and lower maternal educational level. Associations were stronger when the data was re-analyzed based on the first and fourth quartiles. However, associations between discrimination, social stress, and high CAPE scores were attenuated after exclusion of irregular students., Conclusion: Adaptation-related social stress and perceived discrimination in a new social context may increase the risk of PEs. This particular association seems to be more prominent in groups with higher social stress (e.g., those with academic failure or high perceived discrimination).

Objective: To assess the factorial structure, reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), a 240-item, self-report, paper-and-pencil test, and true-false format inventory based on Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality. It measures the four higher-order temperament dimensions and three character dimensions., Method: Using samples consisting of 470 healthy volunteers and 544 psychiatric patients, psychometric features were explored., Results: The internal consistency of the scales was good (Cronbach alpha coefficients between 0.68 and 0.84), but weak for Reward dependence (0.55) and Persistence (0.56). The factor structures of the temperament and character dimensions, explored separately, were in agreement with the hypothesized constructs, except for the scales NS1 (Novelty Seeking 1 = exploratory excitability) and SD4 (Self-directedness 4 -- self-acceptance). The present study also confirmed that the TCI scales were weakly related among themselves. On the whole, psychiatric patients had higher harm avoidance and lower self-directedness, persistence, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence scores than the normal subjects. Gender differences were also found for different dimensions., Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the TCI can be applied in the investigation of psychiatric and normal populations.

Objective: The course of clinical symptoms and cognitive functions with aging in schizophrenia is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of age on psychopathological symptoms and cognitive functions in schizophrenia., Method: Forty-one patients with schizophrenia and 22 healthy subjects as a control group were included in the study. The relation of age to the severity of the symptoms and the cognitive functions were investigated in patients with schizophrenia. The age related variations in cognitive functions among patients and healthy subjects were analyzed by separating each group into young (18-34 years) and older (35-60 years) age groups., Results: There was a negative correlation between age and positive scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Age was negatively correlated to the Digit Span Test in patients with schizophrenia and the Rey Verbal Learning and Memory Test and Controlled Word Association Test in healthy subjects. There was a significant age related difference between the two groups in the Controlled Word Association Test., Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that age had an influence on attention but not on any other domains in patients with schizophrenia, and on verbal learning-memory and verbal fluency in the control group. This might show a cognitive impairment that does not significantly change with aging in schizophrenia. This study also demonstrated an improvement in positive symptoms with aging.