1,721,014 research outputs found
Cooperation in psychotherapy increases metacognitive abilities: A single-case study
No full textIntroduction. Both clinical observations and empirical data suggest that the ability to think about the mental states of themselves and others (i.e., metacognition) is a crucial factor strongly associated to the outcome of individual psychotherapies. Although it has been hypothesized that the activation of cooperation between patient and psychotherapist within psychotherapy sessions may increase metacognitive abilities, few data is still available to support this hypothesis. Methods. We explore the association between cooperation of patient and psychotherapist and the modifications of metacognition abilities along five sessions of a patient with a personality disorder using the Assessing Interpersonal Motivations in Transcripts method (AIMIT) and the Metacognition Assessment Scale (MAS). Results. Our data showed that the activation of cooperation was positively associated with both the MAS total scores and all MAS sub-scales. Discussion and Conclusion. Our results demonstrate that the activation of the cooperation within therapeutic relationship can increase patient’s metacognition and its subsystem (e.g. self-monitoring)
Italian Validation of the Short Version of the Failure to Mentalize Trauma Questionnaire in Adults at Risk Due to Childhood Trauma
Full text linkThe impact of recurrent traumatic experiences during childhood may impede the integration of mentalization abilities and lead to psychopathology. Recently, the Failure to Mentalize Trauma Questionnaire (FMTQ), a comprehensive 29-item self-report scale aimed at identifying deficits in mentalization arising from childhood trauma, was developed. However, the length of the FMTQ may render it impractical for epidemiological studies involving multiple variables and measures. Furthermore, the initial testing revealed inadequate factor reliabilities for the two first-order factors. Therefore, this study aimed to shorten and create a unidimensional version (FMTQ-s) and investigate its psychometric properties, including internal consistency and convergent and concurrent validity, in a non-clinical Italian adult sample. The factor analysis supported a 13-item unidimensional version of the FMTQ with acceptable internal consistency (ordinal alpha = 0.88) and satisfactory convergent and concurrent validity. The FMTQ-s obtained scalar invariance between individuals with and without self-reported childhood traumas. Overall, the FMTQ-s appears to be a feasible and reliable tool for assessing deficits in mentalization resulting from childhood trauma
Is the dissociative experiences scale able to identify detachment and compartmentalization symptoms? Factor structure of the dissociative experiences scale in a large sample of psychiatric and nonpsychiatric subjects
No full textBackground: In this study, we explored the ability of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) to catch detachment and compartmentalization symptoms.
Participants and methods: The DES factor structure was evaluated in 768 psychiatric patients (546 women and 222 men) and in 2,403 subjects enrolled in nonpsychiatric settings (1,857 women and 546 men). All participants were administered the Italian version of DES. Twenty senior psychiatric experts in the treatment of dissociative symptoms independently assessed the DES items and categorized each of them as follows: “C” for compartmentalization, “D” for detachment, and “NC” for noncongruence with either C or D.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of DES in both clinical and nonclinical samples and its invariance across the two groups. Moreover, factor analyses results overlapped with those from the expert classification procedure.
Conclusion: Our results showed that DES can be used as a valid instrument for clinicians to assess the frequency of different types of dissociative experiences including detachment and compartmentalizatio
Psychometric Properties of the Italian Mentalization Questionnaire: Assessing Structural Invariance and Construct Validity
No full textMentalization is an important interpersonal ability, necessary for adaptive interpersonal relationships and emotion regulation. Deficits in mentalization have been associated with poor psychological outcomes and have been observed in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder. The Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) has been developed as self-report measure of mentalization deficit. The aim of the study was to investigate the dimensionality of the MZQ in a nonclinical sample composed of Italian adults from the general population and to analyze its performance in categorizing individuals with higher risk of borderline symptoms. A non-clinical sample of 1,015 adults (709 women and 306 men) was administered the Italian versions of the MZQ, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), and a measure of borderline psychopathology. A revised single-factor solution fitted the data well and demonstrated metric invariance across gender. The internal consistency (Ordinal alpha = 0.87) and stability (r = 0.84) were satisfactory. The MZQ was moderately associated with the RFQ dimensions. The ROC curve analysis showed that the MZQ was able to discriminate satisfactorily people with higher risk for borderline symptomatology from those with lower risk. The MZQ may, therefore, be considered a reliable and valid measure of mentalization for categorizing people at higher risk for borderline pathology
Italian validation of the social anxiety scale for social media users (SAS-SMU) in a non-clinical sample
No full textPrior research has suggested that the use of social media could be associated with psycho- pathology (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms). To measure social anxiety associated with social media use, Alkis et al. (2017) developed the Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS-SMU). The aims of the present study were to investigate the factor structure of the SAS-SMU in a nonclinical sample of Italian adults and to analyze its psychometric properties. Three hundred and eighty participants (222 women and 158 men) were administered Italian versions of the SAS-SMU, the Social Phobia Inventory, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory Revised, the General Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. The original hierarchical model, with four first-order factors and one second order factor had good fit to the data (χ2185=405.81, RMSEA=0.06, 95%CI 0.05–0.06, CFI=0.99, TLI=0.98, SRMR=0.04). SAS-SMU had satisfactory internal consistency (ordinal α=0.94) as well as good convergent and divergent validity. Finally, different SAS-SMU scores were associated with different level of social anxiety. The SAS-SMU is, therefore, a reliable and valid measure of social anxiety in relation to social media use
Sleep-related modifications of EEG connectivity in the sensory-motor networks in Huntington Disease: An eLORETA study and review of the literature
No full textObjective: To evaluate EEG functional connectivity in the sensory-motor network, during wake and sleep, in patients with Huntington Disease (HD). Methods: 23 patients with HD and 23 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. EEG connectivity analysis was performed by means of exact Low Resolution Electric Tomography (eLORETA). Results: In wake, HD patients showed an increase of delta lagged phase synchronization (T = 3.60; p <. 0.05) among Broadman's Areas (BA) 6-8 bilaterally; right BA 6-8 and right BA 1-2-3; left BA 1-2-3 and left BA 4. In NREM, HD patients showed an increase of delta lagged phase synchronization (T = 3.56; p <. 0.05) among left BA 1-2-3 and right BA 6-8. In REM, HD patients showed an increase of lagged phase synchronization (T = 3.60; p <. 0.05) among the BA 6-8 bilaterally (delta band); left BA 1-2-3 and right BA 1-2-3 (theta); left BA 1-2-3 and right BA 4 (theta); left BA 1-2-3 and right BA 1-2-3 (alpha). Conclusions: Our results may reflect an abnormal function of the motor areas or an effort to counterbalance the pathological motor output. Significance: Our results may help to understand the pathophysiology of sleep-related movement disorders in Huntington's Disease, and to define therapeutically strategies
Psychometric properties of the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0 in an Italian non-clinical sample
No full textPurpose: To assess the dimensionality and psychometric properties of the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0) in an Italian non-clinical sample. Methods: 262 adults (184 women) were administered the Italian versions of the mYFAS 2.0, and questionnaires measuring binge eating severity, anxiety and depression symptoms, and emotional dysregulation. Results: 15 individuals (5.7%) met the criteria for a diagnosis of food addiction according to the mYFAS 2.0. Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis supported a single-factor solution for the mYFAS 2.0. The mYFAS 2.0 had good internal consistency (Ordinal α = 0.91), and convergent validity with binge eating severity (r = 0.67, p < 0.001), both anxiety (r = 0.31, p < 0.001) and depressive (r = 0.35, p < 0.001) symptoms, and difficulties in emotion regulation (r = 0.35, p < 0.001). Finally, both discriminant validity with dietary restraint (Gamma = 0.11; p = 0.52) and incremental validity in predicting binge eating severity over emotion dysregulation and psychopathology (b = 0.52; t = 11.11; p < 0.001) were confirmed. Conclusions: The Italian mYFAS 2.0 has satisfactory psychometric properties and can be used as a brief instrument for the assessment of addictive eating behaviors when time constraints prevent the use of the original version. Level of Evidence: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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