1,720,969 research outputs found
Assessment of self-disturances in high risk adolescents and clinical controls: preliminary findings from a multicentre psychosis prevention programme.
No full textBackground: Two sets of high risk criteria are commonly used in the early detection of psychosis: the ultra-high risk (UHR) and the Cognitive Disturbances (COGDIS) criteria. Besides these, Parnas and colleagues have developed the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE) for the assessment of Self-Disturbances (SD), which are considered a specific subjective phenotype of schizophrenia.
Methods: This is a multi-centre study. The sample consists to date of 79 non-psychotic adolescents aged 14–18. The following instruments were administered: (i) The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version; (ii) The Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes; (iii) The Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument – Child and Youth version; (iv) The EASE; (v) The Global Functioning Role and Social Scales. Data were analysed using non-parametric tests.
Results: 48 subjects were classified at High Risk (HR) for psychosis, according to UHR or COGDIS criteria; 31 subjects were classified as clinical controls (CC). Compared to CC, HR had higher total EASE scores (10.1 ± 4.8 vs. 5.6 ± 4.1, p = 0.001), as well as higher domain scores of ‘Cognition and Stream of Consciousness’ (4.3 ± 2.5 vs. 2.1 ± 2.0, p = 0.001), ‘Self-Awareness’ (4.1 ± 2.8 vs. 2.8 ± 2.3, p = 0.040) and ‘Presence and Existential Reorientation’ (0.6 ± 1.0 vs. 0.1 ± 0.4, p = 0.009). No correlations were found between SD and Global Functioning scores.
Discussion: SD seem to be confirmed as a specific subjective phenotype of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Thus, the EASE may be a valid early detection instrument
Diagnostic distribution of self-disorders in help-seeking adolescents: an early faeature of the schizophrenia spectrum
No full textSelf-disorders (SD) have been considered as a core feature of schizophrenia in both classical and recent psychopathological literature. However, the specificity of SD to the schizophrenia spectrum has mainly been tested in adult samples, with studies in adolescents being scarce. Thus, the aims of this study were: 1) to examine the specificity of SD to the schizophrenia spectrum in a help-seeking adolescent sample; 2) to explore the correlations between SD and social and role functioning. One hundred 13-18-year-old inpatients underwent a comprehensive psychopathological examination. SD were assessed using the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experiences (EASE), and social and role functioning were assessed using the Global Functioning: Social (GF:S) and Role (GF:R) scales. The diagnostic distribution of the EASE scores was tested using Mann–Whitney U test, the correlations between the EASE scores and the GF:S and GF:R scores were tested using Spearman's ρ. EASE scores were significantly higher in schizophrenia spectrum disorders than in other spectrum disorders, whereas in schizophrenia spectrum psychoses and schizotypal personalities did not differ. Furthermore, higher EASE scores significantly correlated with lower GF:S and GF:R scores. This findings confirm the validity of SD as an experiential vulnerability phenotype of the schizophrenia spectrum, even in adolescents
Dream interpretation: a possible diagnostic method during the “prodromal” phase of psychosis
No full textThe shift from the identification of first episode psychosis to the prodromal phase has revealed a critical blind spot in our classificatory systems. UHR state has been defined as pluripotent: baseline UHR psychopathology may reflect the emergence of psychotic disorders, of other non-psychotic conditions, i.e. depression or may be psychopathological variations that spontaneously remit. It is well known that correct diagnosis is the first step for suitable therapy. We think that one way to try to go beyond this blind spot might be to evaluate not only rational thinking and behavioural symptoms, but also assess not conscious content of mind, in particular dreams. Since historically psychoanalysis has not contributed to psychiatric research, we propose a different approach to dreams and their interpretation. According to Massimo Fagioli's Human Birth Theory, dreams are a not conscious way of thinking through images, which expresses an original and creative transformation of interpersonal experiences felt during wakefulness. Dreams might be considered a kind of x-ray of patients’ mental health condition: they might reveal healthy conditions or very early subtle signs of detachment from reality and fragmentation of inner self, when manifest symptoms are subjective, a-specific or even absent. Fagioli described a psychopathological dynamic, called negazione, which negatively modifies and deformed (at a non conscious level) positive qualities felt in human relationships and might be considered a first step of thought disturbances. Thus, dreams’ images, disclosing failures or vacuums in personal relationships in early phase of illness, might be an important therapist's diagnostic guide
Youth mental health services in Italy. an achievable dream?
No full textAbstract
AIM:
"Liberiamo il futuro" (LIF) project was designed to assess psychological problems of adolescents and young adults and to identify individuals at high-risk for developing a psychosis through a collaboration between a University team, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Adult Mental Health Services. This paper presents the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort, particularly the nature and severity of psychopathology.
METHOD:
All help-seeking young people aged 12-35 years residing in the health district involved in LIF were invited to participate in the study and completed a battery of self- report and interviewer-administered measures of psychopathology and functioning at baseline.
RESULTS:
A total of 338 adolescents and young people (mean age 17.42) participated in the study. The majority of the sample (n = 107, 35%) had an anxiety disorder, followed by mood disorders (n = 62, 21%). Only 35 (12%) participants had no psychiatric diagnosis. After a screening phase, 166 (52%) individuals were assessed to detect the presence of an Ultra High Risk (UHR) state. Of these, 38.60% (n = 64) met UHR criteria. Overall, the majority of the sample resulted moderately functionally impaired at baseline.
CONCLUSIONS:
LIF project showed that psychological problems, associated with impaired psychosocial functioning, are very common among help-seeking young people. The help-seeking behaviour of young people is in contrast with the barriers presented by the Italian community mental health system that is modelled around adults' requirements. A need of a strong, stigma-free, young oriented system of care for young people up to the mid-20s emerged.AIM:
"Liberiamo il futuro" (LIF) project was designed to assess psychological problems of adolescents and young adults and to identify individuals at high-risk for developing a psychosis through a collaboration between a University team, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Adult Mental Health Services. This paper presents the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort, particularly the nature and severity of psychopathology.
METHOD:
All help-seeking young people aged 12-35 years residing in the health district involved in LIF were invited to participate in the study and completed a battery of self- report and interviewer-administered measures of psychopathology and functioning at baseline.
RESULTS:
A total of 338 adolescents and young people (mean age 17.42) participated in the study. The majority of the sample (n = 107, 35%) had an anxiety disorder, followed by mood disorders (n = 62, 21%). Only 35 (12%) participants had no psychiatric diagnosis. After a screening phase, 166 (52%) individuals were assessed to detect the presence of an Ultra High Risk (UHR) state. Of these, 38.60% (n = 64) met UHR criteria. Overall, the majority of the sample resulted moderately functionally impaired at baseline.
CONCLUSIONS:
LIF project showed that psychological problems, associated with impaired psychosocial functioning, are very common among help-seeking young people. The help-seeking behaviour of young people is in contrast with the barriers presented by the Italian community mental health system that is modelled around adults' requirements. A need of a strong, stigma-free, young oriented system of care for young people up to the mid-20s emerged
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
Interpersonal sensitivity, bullying victimization and paranoid ideation among help-seeking adolescents and young adults
Full text linkAim: The effects of a negative interpersonal experience, such as bullying victimization in childhood
and adolescence, can be strong and long lasting. Bullying victimization is associated with
paranoid ideation and suspiciousness. Few studies have focused on personality traits of victims
of bullying. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a particular personality trait called
interpersonal sensitivity may be related to suspiciousness in those who experienced bullying
victimization.
Methods: The study sample consisted of 147 help-seeking adolescents (mean age 17 years)
selected after a screening phase (Prodromal Questionnaire) and evaluated with the Structured
Interview for Psychosis-risk Syndromes (SIPS). All participants were specifically asked if they
had experienced either psychological bullying or physical bullying, and they completed the
Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM).
Results: Of the whole sample, 30 (20%) participants had experienced psychological bullying or
physical bullying at least once in their life. Performing a multiple regression, bullying victimization
was found to be an independent predictor of subtle paranoid ideation and suspiciousness.
Interpersonal sensitivity was also found to be an independent predictor of subtle paranoid ideation;
in particular, two IPSM subscales, fragile inner-self and separation anxiety, showed a significant
correlation with subtle paranoid ideation.
Conclusions: Our results confirmed that bullying victimization is a negative interpersonal experience
associated with paranoid ideation and suspiciousness. However, being overly sensitive
and having negative beliefs about the self as fragile and vulnerable to threat also lead to a tendency
to attribute experiences as externally caused and, in turn, facilitate the formation and
maintenance of paranoid ideation
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