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IntroductionSmartphones allow their users accessibility to internet, media, games and social networks. Nowadays, in modern life many people prefer to contact via smartphones. Beneath the potential benefits of smartphones, related harms as problematic use or 'addiction” should also be considered especially among young adults.Objectives and AimsTo determine smartphone addiction in relation with social anxiety and loneliness among university students.MethodsThree hundred sixty-seven students who have a smartphone in an university in Istanbul participated in the study. The participants were given a set of questions about their style of smartphone use, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short version (SAS-SV), UCLA Loneliness Scale and Brief Social Phobia Scale.ResultsSignificant difference was found between users who declare their mainly purpose to use a smartphone as access to social network sites and who declare it as access to internet or a phone call (p<0.001). Addictive tendencies were negatively correlated with the age of owning the first mobile phone. Scores in total and all subscales of Brief Social Phobia Scale are positively correlated with SAS-SV scores in both sexes. Scores of UCLA Loneliness scale were also positively correlated with SAS-SV scores in female students.ConclusionsFindings of this study suggest that smartphone users who have their first mobile phone in an early age and who use their smartphone primarily to access social network sites have an addictive use of smartphone. Also social phobia in both sexes and loneliness in females make smartphone users more prone to an addictive usage of smartphones.

Background: Synthetic cannabinoids are compounds that bind cannabinoid receptors with a high potency and have been used widely in Europe by young people. However, little is known about the pharmacology and morphological effects of this group of substances in the brain. This study is aimed at investigating the morphological differences among synthetic cannabinoids users and healthy controls. Methods: Voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate the differences in brain tissue composition in 20 patients with synthetic cannabinoids use and 20 healthy controls. All participants were male. Results: Compared to healthy controls, voxel of interest analyses showed that regional grey matter volume in both left and right thalamus and left cerebellum was significantly reduced in synthetic cannabinoids users (p < 0.05). No correlation has been found between the age of first cannabis use, duration of use, frequency of use and grey matter volume. Discussion: These preliminary results suggest an evidence of some structural differences in the brain of synthetic cannabinoids users, and point the need for further investigation of morphological effects of synthetic cannabinoids in the brain.

Objective:The recent emergence of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCs) has become a serious public health problem. Here we aimed to analyze the frequency of SC use and its relationship with sociodemographic characteristics and treatment outcomes in alcohol-and substance-dependent inpatients retrospectively. Methods:We retrospectively analyzed medical records of 323 inpatients that were treated at the alcohol and substance dependence treatment center between January 2012 and December 2013. The data were extracted from patient records. Results:The mean age of SC users was lower than for patients without a history of SC use. The mean duration of education was shorter for SC users. Age at first drug use of SC users was lower, numbers of hospitalizations were lower and duration of substance use was shorter in SC users compared with the other substance user groups. The rate of legal issues was higher in the SC-use group. The rate of lapse and the rate of dropout was higher in patients with SC use than in other substance users (for all p< 0.05). Age, age at first substance use, duration of use (years) and criminal records were predicted as determining variables for SC use in inpatients. Conclusions:In conclusion, the socio-demographic characteristics can be included as predictive factors for SC use.

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