ECDP 2025

Relationships Between Health Status, Pandemic Fear, and Physical Activity in Turkish Older Adults

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Mehmet Furkan Talha Çakal, and Turgay Altunalan

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), which emerged in 2019 and quickly became a global pandemic, has caused emotional and behavioral changes in older adults due to its high infectiousness and mortality risk. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the levels of physical activity, health status, and fear of pandemic among Turkish older adults during the COVID-19 period. Using a quantitative cross-sectional study design, data were collected from 201 participants, of whom 45% were women, with a mean age of 69.76 (SD = 8.05). Participants completed an online survey consisting of demographic questions and Turkish versions of Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. Data collection took place from July to December 2021, while there were no restrictions on leaving house or public transportation for people aged 65 and over in Türkiye. The analyses showed that the level of physical activity in older adults was associated with certain demographic variables such as age, place of residence, and employment status. While there was a statistically significant negative correlation between the participants' health status and fear of the pandemic, the level of physical activity was positively correlated with fear of the pandemic and negatively correlated with health status. Among the participants with low levels of fear, those with higher health status had significantly higher levels of physical activity than those with lower health status. The same difference was not observed among the participants with high levels of fear. The findings of the study show the importance of physical health as well as the affective states in shaping the physical activity participation among older adults.

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., Çakal, M. F. T., & Altunalan, T. (2025, August 25-29). Relationships between health status, pandemic fear, and physical activity in Turkish older adults [Poster presentation]. 22nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Vilnius, Lithuania. https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu

AMPPS Open Science

Open Science in the Developing World: A Collection of Practical Guides for Researchers in Developing Countries

Hu Chuan-Peng, Zhiqi Xu, Aleksandra Lazić, Piyali Bhattacharya, Leonardo Seda, Samiul Hossain, Alma Jeftić, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Olavo B. Amaral, Nadica Miljković, Zlatomira G. Ilchovska, Ljiljana B. Lazarevic, Han Wu Shuang Bao, Nikita Ghodke, David Moreau, Mahmoud Elsherif, Chinchu C., Sakshi Ghai, Clarissa F. D. Carneiro, Danka Purić, Yin Wang, Mirela Zaneva, Felipe Vilanova, Iris Žeželj, Obrad Vučkovac, Saida Heshmati, Pooja Kulkarni, Nadia Saraí Corral-Frías, Juan Diego García-Castro, Shubham Pandey, Jamal Amani Rad, Thipparapu Rajesh, Bita Vahdani, Saad Almajed, Amna Ben Amara, Leher Singh, Ali H. Al-Hoorie, Marcelo Camargo Batistuzzo, Daniel Fatori, Frankie T. K. Fong, Zahra Khorami, Joseph Almazan, Biljana Gjoneska, Meng Liu, and Flavio Azevedo

Over the past decade, the open-science movement has transformed the research landscape, although its impact has largely been confined to developed countries. Recently, researchers from developing countries have called for a redesign of open science to better align with their unique contexts. However, raising awareness alone is insufficient—practical actions are required to drive meaningful and inclusive change. In this work, we analyze the opportunities offered by the open-science movement and explore the macro- and micro-level barriers researchers in developing countries face when engaging with these practices. Drawing on these insights and aiming to inspire researchers in developing regions or other resource-constrained contexts to embrace open-science practices, we offer a four-level guide for gradual engagement: (a) foundation, using open resources to build a solid foundation for rigorous research; (b) growth, adopting low-cost, easily implementable practices; (c) community, contributing to open-science communities through actionable steps; and (d) leadership, taking on leadership roles or forming local communities to foster cultural change. We further discuss potential pitfalls of the current open-science practices and call for readaptation of these practices in developing countries’ settings. We conclude by outlining concrete recommendations for future action.

Keywords: open science, developing countries, barriers, inequality, knowledge generation, open materials

Citation: Chuan-Peng, H., Xu, Z., Lazić. A., Bhattacharya, P., Seda, L., Hossain, S., Jeftić, A., Özdoğru, A. A., Amaral, O. B., Miljković, N., Ilchovska, Z. G., Lazarevic, L. B., Bao, H. W. S., Ghodke, N., Moreau, D., Elsherif, M., Chinchu, C., Ghai, S., Carneiro, C. F. D., . . . Azevedo, F. (2025). Open science in the developing world: A collection of practical guides for researchers in developing countries. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 8(3), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251357565