Clinical Neuropsychiatry最新文献

Objective: Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate if psychache and hopelessness may serve as reliable predictors of suicidal ideation among female fibromyalgia (FM) patients.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 women with FM, examining the relationship between psychological pain, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. FM diagnosis was confirmed by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Demographic data, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI 7.0.2), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Psychache Scale were utilized to assess these relationships and their predictive value for suicidality.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 50.2 years (±8.7). Thirty-two (64%) patients had current major depression, 11 (22%) had bipolar disorder, 20 (40%) presented passive suicidal ideation and 14 (28%) presented active suicidal ideation. Psychological pain correlated with both depressive symptoms (p<0.01; r= 0.648) and hopelessness (p=0.029; r=0.312) but did not predict suicidal ideation. Logistic regression analyses revealed depressive symptom severity as a predictor of passive suicidal ideation (odds ratio = 1.486; 95% CI: 1.017 - 2.170), while hopelessness predicted active suicidal ideation (odd ratio = 1.356; 95% CI, 1.049 - 1.753).

Conclusions: FM female patients showed increased prevalence of suicidal ideation. Hopelessness predicts active suicidal ideation but psychological pain did not serve as predictive factor for suicide ideation among female FM patients.

Objective: Emotional Dysregulation (ED) is characterized by the inability to manage emotions effectively, leading to maladaptive behaviors, and often co-occurs with psychiatric conditions carrying significant long-term consequences. Early diagnosis of ED is thus essential for targeted interventions. To address this need, we developed and validated the "Reactivity of Emotions in Adolescents: Caregivers' Tool" (REACT), a novel parent-rated questionnaire designed to assess ED in adolescents.

Method: The present study involved two samples, one drawn from the general population (n = 89 healthy controls from local schools) and the other composed of clinical patients (n = 76 adolescents with different psychiatric and/or neurodevelopmental conditions). Patients' diagnoses were confirmed through the clinical interview K-SADS-PL to explore the presence of any psychopathological conditions. Participants from both groups completed the RIPoSt-Y questionnaire, providing a measure of ED, while their parents filled out the ARI, measuring affective reactivity in youth. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were performed to refine the questionnaire's internal structure.

Results: The final REACT questionnaire consists of 55 items distributed across three subscales, namely Negative Emotionality, Irritability, and Excitability. Psychometric evaluation showed that these subscales demonstrated excellent internal consistency and strong construct validity, with clinical patients scoring higher on all subscales compared to healthy controls. The REACT questionnaire showed also high convergent validity by exhibiting significant positive correlations with established measures of ED.

Conclusions: This novel tool represents a valuable improvement in the assessment of ED in adolescence as it may facilitate tailored interventions to provide emotional well-being and long-term outcomes.

Objective: This systematic review summarises the studies that have investigated the relationship between dimensions of social cognition (i.e., Theory of Mind - ToM, emotion recognition, and empathy) and alexithymia in the general adult non-clinical population.

Method: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were screened, using the following strings: ("alexithymi*") AND ("theory of mind" OR "ToM"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("empath*"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("emotion recognition"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("social cognition").

Results: A total of 117 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The total number of participants included in the reviewed studies was 40,231. Mixed results were found for alexithymia and ToM, while the relationship between emotion recognition or empathy and alexithymia was more homogeneous. Alexithymia was found to be significantly associated with both a reduced ability to recognise emotions and empathy.

Conclusions: These results support the existence of significant relationships between alexithymia and altered social cognitive abilities. Future research is needed to confirm the present findings and further elucidate the complex relationship between these processes. Suggestions are made on how to overcome some of the theoretical and methodological problems in the literature.

Objective: Although gender-specific evidence on Gambling Disorder (GD) is still limited, some studies reported specific differences, mainly in psychopathological profiles, gambling behavior patterns, and pathogenesis. In order to further examine the role of gender in GD, we conducted a multicenter investigation in a sample of Italian outpatients.

Method: One hundred-four outpatients with a diagnosis of GD based on DSM-5 criteria were consecutively recruited at two clinics based in Milan. Socio-demographic and clinical variables were collected for the whole sample and analyzed for the effect of gender. The severity of illness was assessed using the Canadian Problem Gambling Index and the Gambling Attitudes and Beliefs (GABS).

Results: Among females, a significantly higher mean age (52.23 ± 10.95 vs. 40.96 ± 15.76; p=0.005) and older age at illness onset emerged (43.5 ± 11.92 vs. 29.22 ± 14.26; p<0.001). Females showed a significantly higher rate of psychiatric comorbidities, lifetime suicide ideation, stressful events at GD onset, and positive family history for GD compared to males. A predictive effect of male gender was found for the GABS questionnaires by performing a linear regression model, with males showing a higher risk to reach higher scores compared to females (B= 11.833; t=2.177; p=0.034).

Conclusions: Our study seems to confirm the hypotheses that gender in GD may influence psychopathological profiles, course, and comorbidity. GD in female gender is frequently a comorbid condition with other specific clinical characteristics compared to males. Identifying specific clinical factors by gender may prompt more focus on the public health of women in relation to gambling, while still recognizing that males are at-risk of earlier gambling problems. These findings should be considered in therapeutic perspectives.

Objective: Euthymia is a transdiagnostic construct characterized by the presence of positive mood states, psychological flexibility and resilience. These components contribute to psychological wellbeing and support mental functioning. Exposure to suffering and high levels of stress can lead to the onset of burnout and secondary traumatic stress, but also lack of compassion satisfaction. The study aimed to test the existing relationships between euthymia, psychological well-being, and factors associated with quality of life of healthy participants involved in medical settings.

Method: The sample was composed of 177 healthy participants involved in medical settings, 118 women (66.7%) and 59 men (33.3%) aged between 19 and 69 years old (mean = 27.16; SD = 8.47). Standardized psychodiagnostics instruments were used to assess euthymia (Euthymia Scale-ES), psychological well-being (The Well-Being Index scale-WHO-5) and the quality of life of the involved participants (Professional Quality of Life Measure-ProQOL-5).

Results: The results showed that gender, well-being and psychological well-being were predictors of compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress. Specifically, female gender predicted higher levels of compassion satisfaction. Well-being and psychological flexibility predicted higher levels of compassion satisfaction and lower secondary traumatic stress. Psychological well-being predicted higher levels of compassion satisfaction.

Conclusions: Promoting euthymia and well-being helps individuals to preserve psychological well-being and increase tolerance to stressful life situations. Results highlighted the need for promoting health care professionals' euthymia and well-being. In line with evidence, encouraging interventions based on evidence appears relevant.

Objective: Research so far has investigated the bivariate relationships between psychopathic traits, romantic attachment, and emotion dysregulation. However, no research thus far has examined these concepts in their interrelatedness. The aim of the present study was therefore to shed light on the possible linking mechanisms among these concepts, examining the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the psychopathic traits-romantic attachment link.

Method: The present study was based on an undergraduate (N = 238, M age = 20.36 years) and a community sample (N = 521, M age = 35.27 years) from the Dutch population. Participants were administered self-report measures of psychopathic traits (measured with both the Self-Report Psychopathy Short-Form and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale - Brief Version) and romantic attachment (Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised). Correlation analyses and mediation analyses using a bootstrapping approach were conducted.

Results: Results showed that all the dimensions of psychopathic traits were related to both romantic attachment avoidance and anxiety, and that emotion dysregulation mediated all these associations (with only few exceptions). Except for boldness, all other dimensions of psychopathic traits were related to greater emotion dysregulation and, in turn, to insecure romantic attachment.

Conclusions: It is argued that the role of emotion regulation processes deserves more attention for the theoretical and clinical understanding of psychopathic traits and their correlates in the interpersonal domain, such as romantic attachment (in)security. When their interrelationships will be better understood, emotion regulation and attachment could represent relevant targets for intervention with individuals presenting psychopathic traits.

Objective: This study was conducted to summarize existing studies on the association between solitary experiences and problematic social media use (PSMU) among young adults.

Method: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines, implemented in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO. We selected studies if they presented original data, assessed solitary experiences and PSMU in young adults (i.e., 18-30 age range), were published in peer reviewed journals between 2004 and 2023, and were written in English.

Results: After duplicate removal, 1,841 eligible studies were found. From these, 12 articles were selected, encompassing 4,009 participants. Most studies showed a positive association between general loneliness and PSMU. Some of these suggested that this relationship varies based on the facets of loneliness, other potential variables, and the type of social media. No mediating factors were found. Few studies assessed solitary experiences other than general loneliness, highlighting the need for a multidimensional perspective on solitary experience in investigating PSMU.

Conclusions: Implications and future research orientations are discussed.

Objective: Obsessive and compulsive symptoms (OCS) are cross-cutting psychopathological manifestations frequently detected in a variety of clinical and non-clinical samples. It has been suggested that impaired mentalization abilities and traumatic experiences during childhood may be relevant etiopathogenetic factors in the development of OCS. The purpose of the current study was to cross-sectionally assess these variables in a non-clinical sample, testing the mediational role of mentalization abilities in the association between childhood trauma (CT) and OCS.

Method: 667 participants (488 females; mean age= 29.76 ± 11.87 years; age range: 18-80) answered a survey including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Mentalization Questionnaire and the Obsession-Compulsion subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory.

Results: The mediation model was significant for the total effect (p< .001), showing that CT was positively associated with OCS (95% CI: .006; .019) and that this association was mediated by reduced levels of mentalization capacity (95% CI: .003; .009). Such results were significant controlling for potential sociodemographic and clinical confounding variables.

Conclusions: The findings contribute to elucidate the complex relationships between CT, mentalization capacity, and OCS, supporting the possibility that mentalization impairments, arising from CT, may affect top-down control mechanisms thus contributing to the development of OCS.

Objective: Relationship obsessive-compulsive disorder (ROCD), a clinical variant of OCD, is associated with personality traits and guilt sensitivity. Previous studies have not investigated whether the guilt associated with ROCD stems from deontological or altruistic morality. The main aim of the present study was to explore the differentiated impact of deontological and altruistic guilt on ROCD symptoms in romantic relationships. The study also aimed to test the mediating role of guilt in the relationships between personality traits and ROCD symptoms.

Method: Through linear regressions and path analysis, we examined the results of an online survey administered to 659 emerging adults, assessing the Big-5 personality traits, ROCD symptoms, and the moral orientation of guilt feelings (deontological/altruistic).

Results: Results revealed the negative influence of agreeableness and emotionality on ROCD symptoms. Moral dirtiness, as a facet of deontological moral orientation, was found to mediate the effects of personality predictors on relationship-centred but not on partner-focused ROCD symptoms, providing support for differential diagnosis.

Conclusions: These findings provide a clearer understanding of the cognitive determinants that sustain ROCD symptoms and offer evidence on associated personality traits. These results may represent a valuable source of knowledge for researchers as well as clinical therapists dealing with ROCD symptoms, couple disorders, and sexual dysfunction.