Browsing by Author "Konkoly-Thege, Barna"
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Item Open Access A bifactor model of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory(Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 2014-04-23) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Kovács, Éva; Balog, PiroskaPurpose: The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) is a self-administered measurement instrument designed to provide information concerning positive psychological changes after a traumatic life event. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the PTGI in a Hungarian sample. By examining a bifactor model of the instrument, we also wanted to contribute to the establishment of an evidence-based practice concerning the use of different score types (total score versus subscale scores). Methods: Altogether, 691 Hungarian respondents (82.2% female; Mage = 33.0 ± 13.4 years), who experienced some kind of trauma or loss, participated in this study. Results: A series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that among the tested first- and second-order models, a bifactor model provided the best-fit to our data (χ2/df = 4.32, Comparative Fit Index = .91, root mean square error of approximation = .07, standardized root mean square residual = .04). Further, the Hungarian version of the PTGI showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .93, omega total = .95, omega hierarchical = .87) and test–retest reliability (r = .90; p < .01) coefficients. However, omega hierarchical coefficients (.14–.40) and explained variance values (.05–.10) for the subscales were low. Conclusions: The present study provided empirical support for the psychometric adequacy of the Hungarian adaptation of the PTGI and suggests that only the total and not the subscale scores of the inventory should be used.Item Open Access Four-year prospective evaluation of the relationship between meaning in life and smoking status(BMC Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2013-02-22) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Urbán, Róbert; Kopp, Mária SBackground To date, all investigations on the relationship between smoking and perceived level of meaning in life have used cross-sectional designs. Therefore, the purpose of the present prospective study, conducted with a four-year time lag, was to test the predictive power of the life meaning construct concerning changes in smoking status. Methods The data of 4,294 respondents (40.3% male, Mage = 54.7 ± 16.5 yrs) from the Hungarian Epidemiological Panel Survey were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann–Whitney U-test and structural equation modeling (SEM) with a nominal outcome variable. Gender, age, and educational level were included in the study as covariates. Results On the bivariate level, results showed that both baseline and follow-up meaning in life scores were higher in stable non-smokers when compared to stable smokers. However, quitters and starters differed from stable non-smokers in their baseline but not in follow-up life meaning scores. The other relationships (stable smokers vs. quitters; stable smokers vs. starters, starters vs. quitters) were non-significant in both time points. According to the SEM-analysis, a higher sense of meaning in life measured at baseline and follow-up is associated with a lower likelihood (OR = 0.54, z = 2.80, p = 0.005; OR = 0.64, z = 2.88, p = 0.004, respectively) of being a stable smoker compared to being a stable non-smoker, confirming the expected relationship between smoking and decreased level of meaning in life. However, neither baseline nor follow-up life meaning scores predicted significantly quitting and uptake of smoking. Conclusions If future research from other cultures verifies the protective role of a higher level of meaning in life against smoking, then smoking prevention and cessation programs will also have to include such components that help individuals experience more meaning in their lives.Item Open Access How to Decrease Suicide Rates in Both Genders? An Effectiveness Study of a Community-Based Intervention (EAAD)(PLoS ONE, 2013-09-23) Székely, András; Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Mergl, Roland; Birkás, Emma; Rózsa, Sándor; Purebl, György; Hegerl, UlrichBackground The suicide rate in Hungary is high in international comparison. The two-year community-based four-level intervention programme of the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) is designed to improve the care of depression and to prevent suicidal behaviour. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a regional community-based four-level suicide prevention programme on suicide rates. Method The EAAD programme was implemented in Szolnok (population 76,311), a town in a region of Hungary with an exceptionally high suicide rate. Effectiveness was assessed by comparing changes in suicide rates in the intervention region after the intervention started with changes in national suicide rates and those in a control region (Szeged) in the corresponding period. Results For the duration of the programme and the follow-up year, suicide rates in Szolnok were significantly lower than the average of the previous three years (p = .0076). The suicide rate thus went down from 30.1 per 100,000 in 2004 to 13.2 in 2005 (−56.1 %), 14.6 in 2006 (−51.4 %) and 12.0 in 2007 (−60.1 %). This decrease of annual suicide rates in Szolnok after the onset of the intervention was significantly stronger than that observed in the whole country (p = .017) and in the control region (p = .0015). Men had the same decrease in suicide rates as women. As secondary outcome, an increase of emergency calls to the hotline service (200%) and outpatient visits at the local psychiatry clinic (76%) was found. Conclusions These results seem to provide further support for the effectiveness of the EAAD concept. Whilst the majority of suicide prevention programs mainly affect female suicidal behaviour, this programme seems to be beneficial for both sexes. The sustainability and the role of the mediating factors (social service and health care utilization, community attitudes about suicide) should be key points in future research.Item Open Access Is flourishing good for the heart?: relationships between positive psychology characteristics and cardiorespiratory health(Anales de Psicología, 2015) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Tarnoki, Adam D; Tarnoki, David L; Garami, Zsolt; Berczi, Viktor; Horvath, IldikoThe purpose of this study was to provide further data on the relationships between positive psychology constructs and cardiorespiratory parameters including arterial stiffness indicators. Hypotheses were tested cross-sectionally on a sample of patients with cardiovascular disease and on a healthy sample. Life satisfaction, psychological well-being, optimism, meaning in life, and sense of coherence were included as psychological indicators, while peripheral and central blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and heart cycle and respiratory function parameters were used as physiological variables. Most of the associations examined were not significant in either sample, with some notable exceptions (the direction of these linear relationships was in accordance with our expectations). Satisfaction with life was related to lower peripheral systolic and mean arterial blood pressure in the clinical sample. Further, sense of coherence was positively associated with forced expiratory volume. In the healthy sample, the augmentation indexes and aortic systolic blood pressure were negatively associated with optimism. However, none of the linear and non-linear relationships proved to be significant in either of the samples when using the Bonferroni correction. Further research should determine whether the present findings derive from the cultural characteristics of our samples or whether the mediators between flourishing and cardiorespiratory health should be sought among other variables than the ones included in the present investigation.Item Open Access Is profession associated with fear of death?(2014-07-30) Zana, Agnes; Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Limpar, Imre; Henczi, Eszter; Golovics, Petra; Pilling, Janos; Hegedus, KatalinIntroduction: There are relatively few data on the relationship between professions and fear of death. Aim: The aim of the authors was to examine the association between profession and fear of death. Method: Physicians, medical students and other healthcare workers, priests, psychologists and non-healthcare workers (N = 1062) were asked about their attitude to death by means of the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale. Results: Significant differences were found in the total and some factor scores among the study groups. Priests showed the lowest fear of death values. Scores on the Fear of the Dead Factor was the highest in psychologists and non-healthcare workers who had no contact with the dead and dying. Conclusions: Fear of death seems rather to be present in professions dealing less directly with the dead and dying. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(31), 1236–1240.Item Open Access The ‘light drugs’ of gambling? Non-problematic gambling activities of pathological gamblers(Taylor & Francis Online, 2013-10-30) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Hodgins, David COur aim was to investigate whether harmless gambling activities exist for pathological gamblers. A total of 169 pathological gamblers who recently quit were recruited by media announcements. Respondents were asked at baseline to report any gambling activities not causing them problems, as well as those causing problems. The gambling activities were categorized as follows: lottery, scratch tickets, bingo, betting or card games with friends/family, horse racing, raffle, casino games and video lottery terminals. Only a small proportion (16%) of respondents reported not having any non-problematic gambling activities, 45% reported one, 28% two, 10% three, and 1% four non-problematic activities. Further, involvement in most of these activities was unrelated to both baseline and follow-up gambling problem severity (NODS, SOGS), depression level (CES-D), frequency of gambling and extent of gambling losses. However, some exceptions were observed in case of involvement in casino (higher NODS and SOGS scores and gambling-related losses) and bingo games (higher gambling-related losses). These findings provide some support for the idea that pathological gamblers who wish to give up harmful gambling can continue involvement in some types of gambling and that this is a ‘good enough’ goal for pathological gamblers; complete abstinence may not be necessary.Item Open Access Natural course of behavioral addictions: a 5-year longitudinal study(BMC Psychiatry, 2015-01-22) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Woodin, Erica M; Hodgins, David C; Williams, Robert JBackground Resolving the theoretical controversy on the labeling of an increasing number of excessive behaviors as behavioral addictions may also be facilitated by more empirical data on these behavioral problems. For instance, an essential issue to the classification of psychiatric disorders is information on their natural course. However, longitudinal research on the chronic vs. episodic nature of behavioral addictions is scarce. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to provide data on prevalence, substance use comorbidity, and five-year trajectories of six excessive behaviors—namely exercising, sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, video gaming, and eating. Methods Analyses were based on the data of the Quinte Longitudinal Study, where a cohort of 4,121 adults from Ontario, Canada was followed for 5 years (2006 to 2011). The response rate was 21.3%, while retention rate was 93.9%. To assess the occurrence of each problem behavior, a single self-diagnostic question asked people whether their over-involvement in the behavior had caused significant problems for them in the past 12 months. To assess the severity of each problem behavior reported, the Behavioral Addiction Measure was administered. A mixed design ANOVA was used to investigate symptom trajectories over time for each problem behavior and whether these symptom trajectories varied as a function of sex. Results The large majority of people reported having problematic over-involvement for just one of these behaviors and just in a single time period. A main effect of time was found for each problem behavior, indicating a moderately strong decrease in symptom severity across time. The time x sex interaction was insignificant in each model indicating that the decreasing trend is similar for males and females. The data also showed that help seeking was very low in the case of excessive sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, and video gaming but substantially more prevalent in the case of excessive eating and exercising. Conclusions The present results indicate that self-identified excessive exercising, sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, video gaming, and/or eating tend to be fairly transient for most people. This aspect of the results is inconsistent with conceptualizations of addictions as progressive in nature, unless treated.Item Open Access Psychological concerns of female reproductive health(Orvosképzés, 2014) Szigeti, F J; Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Lorincz, JItem Open Access Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale Form C in a Non-Western Culture(PLoS ONE, 2014-09-09) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Rafael, Beatrix; Rohánszky, MagdaForm C of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (MHLC-C) was designed to investigate health-related control beliefs of persons with an existing medical condition. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of this instrument in a culture characterized by external control beliefs and learned helplessness—contrary to the societal context of original test development. Altogether, 374 Hungarian patients with cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders were enrolled in the study. Besides the MHLC-C, instruments measuring general control beliefs, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, and health behaviors were also administered to evaluate the validity of the scale. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques were used to investigate the factor structure of the scale. Our results showed that the Hungarian adaptation of the instrument had a slightly different structure than the one originally hypothesized: in the present sample, a three-factor structure emerged where the items of the Doctors and the Others subscales loaded onto a single common component. Internal reliability of all three subscales was adequate (alphas between .71 and .79). Data concerning the instrument's validity were comparable with previous results from Western countries. These findings may suggest that health locus of control can be construed very similarly to Western countries even in a post-communist society—regardless of the potential differences in general control beliefs.Item Open Access Psychosocial status of Hungarian cancer patients. A descriptive study(Akademiai Kiado, 2014-06-22) Rohánszky, Magda; Katonai, Rozsa; Konkoly-Thege, BarnaIntroduction: Psychosocial status of cancer patients is still understudied in Hungary. Aim: The aim of the authors was to obtain current information on the mental and social status of this patient group. Method: Altogether, 1070 cancer patients with a wide range of cancer types were included in the study (30.0% male; age: 55.9±11.0 years). Results: A large part of the patients had serious financial difficulties and 41.3% of them were struggling with at least one more comorbid chronic disease. Further, 52.2% of the patients reported at least moderate anxiety or depression, while the occurrence of suicidal thoughts was almost three times higher among them than in the Hungarian normal population (13.0% vs. 4.6%). Level of perceived social support was also lower than the population standards and 61.6% of the patients reported willingness to benefit from professional psychological support. Quality of social life of the patients deteriorated with time after cancer diagnosis. A positive phenomenon, however, was that the primary coping style reported was active problem solving. Conclusions: The authors conclude that it is necessary to screen cancer patients for psychosocial difficulties and to establish conditions for their adequate mental and social care in Hungary. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(26), 1024–1032.Item Open Access Social judgments of behavioral versus substance-related addictions: A population-based study(Science Direct, 2014-11-01) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Colman, Ian; el-Guebaly, Nady; Hodgins, David C; Patten, Scott B; Schopflocher, Don; Wolfe, Jody; Wild, T CameronBackground Recently, the concept of addiction has expanded to include many types of problematic repetitive behaviors beyond those related to substance misuse. This trend may have implications for the way that lay people think about addictions and about people struggling with addictive disorders. The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of how the public understands a variety of substance-related and behavioral addictions. Methods A representative sample of 4000 individuals from Alberta, Canada completed an online survey. Participants were randomly assigned to answer questions about perceived addiction liability, etiology, and prevalence of problems with four substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine) and six behaviors (problematic gambling, eating, shopping, sexual behavior, video gaming, and work). Results Bivariate analyses revealed that respondents considered substances to have greater addiction liability than behaviors and that most risk factors (moral, biological, or psychosocial) were considered as more important in the etiology of behavioral versus substance addictions. A discriminant function analysis demonstrated that perceived addiction liability and character flaws were the two most important features differentiating judgments of substance-related versus behavioral addictions. Perceived addiction liability was judged to be greater for substances. Conversely, character flaws were viewed as more associated with behavioral addictions. Conclusions The general public appreciates the complex bio–psycho-social etiology underlying addictions, but perceives substance-related and behavioral addictions differently. These attitudes, in turn, may shape a variety of important outcomes, including the extent to which people believed to manifest behavioral addictions feel stigmatized, seek treatment, or initiate behavior changes on their own.Item Open Access Substance-related and behavioural addiction problems: Two surveys of Canadian adults(Addiction Research & Theory, 2014-06-13) Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Colman, Ian; El-guebaly, Nady; Hodgins, David C; Patten, Scott B; Schopflocher, Don; Wolfe, Jody; Wild, T CameronObjectives: To describe absolute and relative prevalence of 10 self-attributed substance-related and behavioural addiction problems among Canadian adults, to describe perceived prevalence of these problems in the general population, and to examine whether estimates varied by survey mode. Methods: Sample 1 included 4000 adults recruited from an online research panel; Sample 2 included 2000 randomly selected adults who completed a computer-assisted telephone interview. Respondents in both samples were asked (1) whether or not they had experienced a problem in the preceding year with each of four substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine) and six behaviours (gambling, eating, shopping, sex, video gaming, and work), (2) whether they had ever personally knew someone exhibiting a problem with each behaviour, and (3) perceived prevalence of problems in the general population. Results: About half of the respondents reported experiencing any past-year addiction problems. Tobacco and alcohol were the most common substance-related problems, while the most common behavioural problems were related to eating and work. Respondents consistently overestimated perceived population prevalence relative to self-attributed problems; however, the magnitude of overestimation was significantly greater among those who personally reported a problem with these behaviours. Online survey participants consistently reported higher self-attributed problem rates compared with CATI respondents, but rank-order correlations across self-, acquaintances-, and population-attributed prevalence estimates were very high in both samples. Conclusions: Both survey modes provided accurate relative prevalence estimates, but further research should explore determinants of higher prevalence rates among online participants and respondents’ consistent tendency to overestimate perceived population prevalence.Item Open Access What gets healed due to healing imagery? Effectiveness of the Simonton method among Hungarian cancer patients(Akademiai Kiado, 2014-12-10) Rohánszky, Magda; Prezenszki, Zsuzsanna; Katonai, Rózsa; Konkoly-Thege, BarnaItem Open Access When eating healthy is not healthy: orthorexia nervosa and its measurement with the ORTO-15 in Hungary(2014-02-28) Varga, Márta; Konkoly-Thege, Barna; Dukay-Szabó, Szilvia; Túry, Ferenc; van Furth, Eric FBackground For a better differential diagnosis of eating disorders, it is necessary to investigate their subtypes and develop specific assessment tools to measure their specific symptoms. Orthorexia nervosa is an alleged eating disorder in which the person is excessively preoccupied with healthy food. The ORTO-15, designed by Donini and colleagues, is the first and only at least partially validated instrument to measure this construct. The aims of the present study were to examine the psychometric properties of its Hungarian adaptation (ORTO-11-Hu), and to investigate its relationship to food consumption and lifestyle habits in order to contribute to a better description of the phenomenon. Methods The ORTO-11-Hu, a lifestyle habits questionnaire, a food choice list indicating foods the participants choose to consume, and ten additional orthorexia-related questions were administered to a group of 810 Hungarian participants (89.4% female) aged between 20 and 70 (M = 32.39 ± 10.37 years). Results Confirmatory factor analysis suggested a single factor structure for the 11-item shortened version of the instrument. Internal consistency of the measure was adequate (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.82). No significant differences were found between males and females on the ORTO-11-Hu. Age and body mass index were significantly associated with a tendency towards orthorexia nervosa. Additional orthorexia-related features were significantly correlated with ORTO-11-Hu scores: orthorexia nervosa tendency was associated not only with healthier food choices (eating more whole wheat cereals, less white wheat cereals, more fruit and vegetables) but with shopping in health food stores, as well as with some healthy lifestyle habits (more sports activity, specific dietary behaviors, and less alcohol intake). Individuals with higher orthorexia nervosa tendency also reported a greater tendency to advocate their healthy diet to their friends and family members. Conclusions These results provide evidence for the reliability of ORTO-11-Hu and some support for the construct validity of the instrument. The present study also contributes to the establishment of (diagnostic) criteria for this new subtype of eating disorders.