1,721,132 research outputs found
The role of aberrant salience and alexithymia in psychotic experiences of non-treatment-seeking adolescent immigrants compared with natives.
Full text linkIntroduction and objectives
Immigration in Europe is a challenge for health care systems. Psychotic experiences are not uncommon in the community. Meta-analyses showed that immigrants are at higher risk of psychotic symptoms and experiences than natives. In the international literature, there is little knowledge about the psychological processes explaining the relationship between immigrant status and psychotic experiences. Aberrant salience, the biased assignment of significance to otherwise innocuous stimuli, and alexithymia (difficulty identifying/verbalizing feelings and concrete speech/thinking) have been found to be vulnerability/maintenance factors of psychotic symptoms. This report presents a study investigating whether: 1) adolescent immigrants in Italy report more intense psychotic experiences than natives; 2) aberrant salience and alexithymia predict more intense psychotic experiences; and 3) these psychological processes moderate the effect of immigrant status on psychotic experiences. Knowledge about the role of these processes in psychotic experiences may suggest early detection or prevention strategies.
Methods
One hundred and forty-eight community adolescents were recruited (mean age =17.57 years, 47.30% females); of these, 75 were born in Italy (natives) and 73 were immigrants (born in countries other than Italy). The Aberrant Salience Inventory, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and the Screening for Psychotic Experiences were administered in classrooms.
Results
Immigrants had higher aberrant salience (F=4.38, p<0.05), alexithymia (F=8.93, p<0.01), and psychotic experiences (F=10.65, p<0.01) than natives. Higher aberrant salience and alexithymia predicted more intense psychotic experiences. An interaction effect between immigrant status and alexithymia emerged: immigrants with higher alexithymia had more intense psychotic experiences (β=0.17, p<0.001).
Conclusion
Early detection or prevention programs should focus on aberrant salience in the adolescent population and should consider young immigrants with higher alexithymia as a subgroup with higher psychotic experiences. Mindfulness-based programs may be implemented for this adolescent subgroup to promote emotional intelligence
Skin picking and hair pulling disorders in children and adolescents: The role of cognitive behavior therapy
No full textSkin picking and hair pulling disorders are psychopathological conditions characterized respectively by repetitive picking behaviors and pulling out of hair, which result in significant tissue damage and hair loss, accompanied by marked distress. Although symptoms may first appear in various age groups, onset is often observed in adolescence coinciding with the onset of signs of puberty, the average age of onset is reported to be between 12 and 16 years.
Skin picking and hair pulling disorders often present in comorbidity and have in common several clinical features such as age of onset, gender distribution, trigger situations, dysfunctional cognitions, difficulty in stopping repetitive behavior, presence of impulsivity, and difficulty in emotional regulation. Therefore, a psychotherapeutic approach aimed to target the vulnerability and maintenance factors of both disorders may be a useful strategy.
An increasingly large amount of data suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective psychological treatment for these conditions. It comprises behavioral components including habit reversal training and cognitive strategies (i.e., cognitive restructuring), and it may be combined with third-wave psychotherapeutic approaches such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
The present chapter focuses on the empirical data about the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral interventions for skin picking and hair pulling disorders, particularly in children and adolescents. The practical application of the cognitive behavioral techniques to clinical practice with youth who have these conditions is described
Case study: Cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescent skin picking disorder
No full textSkin picking disorder symptoms consist of repetitive picking behaviors which cause significant tissue damage and psychological marked distress. Such symptoms generally arise in adolescence with the occurrence of signs of puberty; the average age of onset is estimated to be between 12 and 16 years. Skin picking disorder often present in comorbidity with obsessive-compulsive disorder, mood and anxiety disorders, cluster B personality disorders.
An increasingly large amount of data suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective form of psychotherapy for this clinical condition. It comprises behavioral techniques including habit reversal training and cognitive strategies (i.e., cognitive restructuring) which may be combined with third-wave psychotherapeutic approaches such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
Within the present chapter, the practical application of the cognitive behavioral techniques to clinical practice with adolescents is described and discussed through a clinical case study
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN TUSCANY WITHIN THE MOBILE OPPORTUNITY AGAINST STRESS (MOST) PROJECT
No full textStudio qualitativo sull'impatto del Covid nell'ambito del progetto MOS
Health service outpatient experience questionnarie: factor validity and reliability of a patient- centered outcome measure for outpatient settings in Italy
Full text linkPURPOSE:
The patient-centered approach to health care does not seem to be sufficiently developed in the Italian context, and is still characterized by the biomedical model. In addition, there is a lack of validated outcome measures to assess outpatient experience as an aspect common to a variety of settings. The current study aimed to evaluate the factorial validity, reliability, and invariance across sex of the Health Services OutPatient Experience (HSOPE) questionnaire, a short ten-item measure of patient-centeredness for Italian adult outpatients. The rationale for unidimensionality of the measure was that it could cover global patient experience as a process common to patients with a variety of diseases and irrespective of the phase of treatment course.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
The HSOPE was compiled by 1,532 adult outpatients (51% females, mean age 59.22 years, standard deviation 16.26) receiving care in ten facilities at the Santa Maria alle Scotte University Hospital of Siena, Italy. The sample represented all the age cohorts. Twelve percent were young adults, 57% were adults, and 32% were older adults. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate factor structure. Reliability was evaluated as internal consistency using Cronbach's α. Factor invariance was assessed through multigroup analyses.
RESULTS:
Both exploratory and confirmatory analyses suggested a clearly defined unidimensional structure of the measure, with all the ten items having salient loadings on a single factor. Internal consistency was excellent (α=0.95). Indices of model fit supported a single-factor structure for both male and female outpatient groups. Young adult outpatients had significantly lower scores on perceived patient-centeredness relative to older adults. No significant difference emerged on patient-centeredness between male and female outpatients.
CONCLUSION:
The HSOPE questionnaire seemed to be a tool with high acceptability and excellent psychometric properties to measure patient-centeredness as a unidimensional construct. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed
“Was it real or did I imagine it?” Perfectionistic beliefs are associated with dissociative absorption and imaginative involvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Full text linkBackground and objectives
In the literature there are inconsistent data regarding the role of dissociation in OCD. No study explored the association between obsessive beliefs and dissociative symptoms in OCD. It is important to understand which clinical factors are related to dissociation in OCD as more severe dissociative symptoms, particularly absorption, have been found to be predictors of treatment non-response. In the present short report we describe the results of an exploratory study aimed to investigate the role of the obsessive beliefs as predictors of the different dissociative symptoms controlling for anxiety and OCD severity in a group of OCD patients.
Methods
Sixty treatment-seeking patients consecutively referred to psychiatric services were included (mean age=31.17 years, 53.30% females). The Dissociative Experiences Scale-II, the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-46, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were administered.
Results
Higher anxious symptoms predicted higher Dissociative Amnesia, Depersonalization/Derealization, and Absorption/Imaginative Involvement. Higher OCD severity predicted higher Dissociative Amnesia. More severe Perfectionism predicted higher Absorption/Imaginative Involvement.
Conclusion
Perfectionism in OCD patients may be associated with a higher tendency to absorption and imaginative involvement. Future research should explore whether a psychotherapeutic intervention on perfectionism might improve the outcomes of the OCD patients with higher absorption tendencies. © 2019 Pozza and Dèttore
Modular cognitive‐behavioral therapy for affective symptoms in young individuals at ultra‐high risk of first episode of psychosis: Randomized controlled trial.
Full text linkObjectives: Individuals at ultra‐high risk of psychosis often present concurrent affective symptoms (depression/anxiety). This study investigated whether modular cognitive‐behavioral therapy (CBT) targeting both ultra‐high risk and affective symptoms (a) reduced/delayed risk of a first psychotic episode at posttreatment and 14‐month follow‐up compared with a supportive intervention, (b) was more effective than control condition in producing remission on depression/anxiety.
Methods: Fifty‐eight ultrahigh risk individuals were randomly assigned to CBT or control condition. CBT consisted of 30 sessions, including CBT for psychotic experiences and depression/anxiety.
Results: In the CBT group, the cumulative number of participants who developed a first psychotic episode (n = 3, 10.34%) at follow‐up was lower than in the control group (n = 8, 27.60%; logrank χ2(1) = 3.68, p = .05). In the CBT group, a higher number of participants achieved remission than in control condition on affective symptoms at posttreatment/follow‐up.
Conclusion: CBT can prevent psychosis risk and produce better outcomes on depression/anxiety than supportive intervention
Therapists’ Emotional Reactions to Patients with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: The Role of Therapists’ Orientation and Perfectionism
Full text linkTherapist’s emotional response towards patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is under-investigated. This aspect might provide valuable information about therapists’ difficulties during sessions and support supervisory practice, since a proportion of OCD patients drop out due to issues related to the therapeutic relationship. In a sample of therapists, we explored the effects of therapists’ orientation (cognitive behavioural versus psychodynamic) and perfectionistic traits on their emotional responses towards patients with OCD, controlling for other variables potentially related to emotional response towards patients (i.e., therapists’ gender/age and patient’s comorbid personality disorders). Ninety-four therapists (74 women and 20 men; mean age = 42.07 ± 10.17 years), of which 47 (50%) had a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and 47 (50%) a psychodynamic orientation matched on gender and age, completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire and Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Therapists with a CBT orientation reported less negative emotional responses, i.e., lower overwhelmed/disorganized, hostile/angry, criticised/devalued, parental/protective and special/over-involved emotions towards patients than therapists with a psychodynamic orientation. Therapists with higher perfectionistic traits (i.e., parents’ expectations/evaluation) had higher hostile/angry reactions, those with higher concerns over mistakes and doubts about actions had more intense criticised/devalued emotions, while those with stronger concerns with precision, order and organization had lower disengagement responses. The present study is the first investigation which sheds some light on the emotional responses of therapists towards OCD patients. Therapists’ CBT orientation and lower perfectionistic traits might be associated with better emotions. Therapists’ emotional responses, their psychotherapeutic orientation and levels of perfectionism should be considered during supervisory practice. © 2022, The Author(s)
Incidenza e fattori di rischio per disturbi psicotici nelle popolazioni migranti in Europa:una meta analisi di studi trasversali
No full textAttraverso l'utilizzo di tecniche meta-anaitiche , il presente studio ha l'obiettivo di fornire una sintesi quantitativa delle evidenze emerse sull'incidenza e su alcuni fattori di rischio di psicosi nelle popolazioni migranti in Europa
Organizational well-being and work-related stress in health care organizations: Validation of the Work-related Stress Assessment Scale [Benessere organizzativo e stress lavoro-correlato nelle organizzazioni sanitarie : validazione della Work-related Stress Assessment Scale]
No full textThe issue of the assessment of work-related stress has stimulated in recent years, the production of several theoretical paradigms and assessment tools. In this paper we present a new scale for the assessment of organizational well-being and work-related stress specific for healthcare organizations (Work-related Stress Assessment Scale - WS AS). The goal of the authors is to examine the psychometric properties of the scale, so that it can be used in the healthcare setting as a work-related stress assessment tool. The answers of 230 healthcare professionals belonging to different roles have been analyzed. The study was realized in 16 Units of the University Hospital "S. Maria alle Scotte "of Siena. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed the presence of five factors with good internal consistency and reliability, "relationship to the structure of proximity" (α = 0.93) "change" (α =0.92), "organization of work "(α = 0.81)," relationship with the company I Governance "(α = 0.87)" working environment "(α = 0.83). The analysis of SEM (Structural Equation Models) has confirmed the goodness of the factor solution (NNFI = 0.835, CFI = 0.921, RMSEA = 0.060). The good psychometric qualities, the shortness and simplicity of the scale WS AS makes it a useful aid in the assessment of work-related stress in health care organizations. © PI-ME, Pavia 2015
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