Background and aims: Phubbing can be described as an individual looking at his or her mobile phone during a conversation with other individuals, dealing with the mobile phone and escaping from interpersonal communication. In this research, determinants of phubbing behavior were investigated; in addition, the effects of gender, smart phone ownership and social media membership were tested as moderators. Methods: To examine the cause–effect relations among the variables of the theoretical model, the research employs a correlational design. Participants were 409 university students who were selected via random sampling. Phubbing was obtained via the scales featuring mobile phone addiction, SMS addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction and game addiction. The obtained data were analyzed using a correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and structural equation model. Results: The results showed that the most important determinants of phubbing behavior are mobile phone, SMS, social media and internet addictions. Discussion: Although the findings show that the highest correlation value explaining phubbing is a mobile phone addiction, the other correlation values reflect a dependency on the phone. Conclusions: There is an increasing tendency towards mobile phone use, and this tendency prepares the basis of phubbing.

The aim of this work is to analyze both the reasons that young adults exhibit phubbing behaviors and the effects of these behaviors on their lives. Following a qualitative research approach, this study has been designed using a case study method. Selected using the criterion sampling method, participants consisted of a total of 9 university students studying in a School of Education in Turkey. The criterion used to include individuals into the sample group was ‘using a smartphone instead of actively participating in an on-going discussion being had by one’s surrounding peers’ as well as a high score on the Phubbing Scale form. Data were obtained using a semi-structured interview form composed of 18 open-ended questions. Both a descriptive and content analysis were used to evaluate the data. The study’s findings revealed that not only did smartphones negatively affect interpersonal relations, but also that phubbers lacked communication skills, experienced difficulty establishing and maintaining eye contact while using a smartphone, and misunderstood what was being discussed. Some participants even stated that they would become completely disconnected from the social environment while using a smartphone. It is argued in the discussion section that since smartphones have all the same features and abilities as traditional computers, they carry the same potential addictions as computers. Yet, instead of being restricted to a table, these addictions are now able to manifest in every aspect, environment, and moment of one’s life. As such, since phubbing carries with it a type of addiction that is much more devious and pervasion than most previous virtual reality related addictions, it is recommended that further research be conducted before serious psychopathological and sociological problems begin to manifest themselves throughout the population.Citation: Karadağ, E., Tosuntaş, Ş. B., Erzen, E., Duru, P., Bostan, N., Mızrak Şahin, B., ... Babadağ, B. (2016). The virtual world’s current addiction: Phubbing. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addiction, 3, 250–269. http://dx.doi.org/10.15805/ addicta.2016.3.0013

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of acne among university students and also assess the effects of acne on quality of life, social appearance anxiety, and use of conventional, complementary, and alternative treatment methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1007 students (98.24 %) of a university located in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey. The study used "the CAM Questionnaire" to determine students' CAM use, "the Acne Quality-of-Life Scale" to investigate students' quality of life and "the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale" to measure their social anxiety, along with a questionnaire that asked about some acne-related characteristics and conventional, complementary, and alternative treatment methods. The prevalence rate of acne among the study sample was 65.4 %. The participants' perceived acne severity and acne's impacts on their lives were inversely proportional to their quality of life (respectively; r = 0.400; 0.327, for each p < 0.001) and directly proportional to their social appearance anxiety (respectively; r = 0.276; 0.302, for each p < 0.001). Acne distress accounted for 19 % of the change in acne quality-of-life scores (β = 0.186; p < 0.001), which in turn caused 61 % of the change in social appearance anxiety scores (β = 0.615; p < 0.001). The students whose quality-of-life had deteriorated due to acne had higher social appearance anxiety. Social appearance anxiety had a minor effect on complementary and alternative medicine use, which was affected mainly by acne distress.

The aims of this study were to determine the extent of workplace bullying perceptions among the employees of a Faculty of Medicine, evaluating the variables considered to be associated, and determining the effect of workplace bullying perceptions on their psychological symptoms evaluated by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). This cross-sectional study was performed involving 355 (88.75%) employees. Levels of perceived workplace bullying were found to increase with the increasing scores for BSI and BSI sub-dimensions of anxiety, depression, negative self, somatization, and hostility (all p < 0.001). One point increase in the workplace bullying perception score was associated with a 0.47 point increase in psychological symptoms evaluated by BSI. Moreover, the workplace bullying perception scores were most strongly affected by the scores of anxiety, negative self, depression, hostility, and somatization (all p < 0.05). The present results revealed that young individuals, divorced individuals, faculty members, and individuals with a chronic disease had the greatest workplace bullying perceptions with our study population. Additionally, the BSI, anxiety, depression, negative self, somatization, and hostility scores of the individuals with high levels of workplace bullying perceptions were also high.