1,720,994 research outputs found
Forensic Aspects of Sexual Abuse
No full textSexual abuse is defined as the act of making someone take part in unwanted sexual activities, against their will, or without their agreement. Sexual activities encompass not only the sexual intercourse but also different forms of nonconsensual erotic contact and other forms not involving direct contact such as voyeurism or exhibitionism. A sexual offender or abuser is defined as someone who performs sexual acts through violence, threat, deception, coercion, or psychological manipulation, sometimes by taking advantage of the victim’s condition of physical and mental inferiority. But from a juridical perspective, a sexual offender may also refer to someone who exploits (mostly) women or children for prostitution or pornography. Given the breadth of the boundaries of this definition and the dozens of nuances of the classification of sexual abuse and sexual offending in the literature, the Italian legislature has also had to modify and update the different cases of sexual abuse to include the various behaviors that amount to a crime. As a result, the assessment and treatment of sexual offending have undergone a shift in perspective and in the evaluation methods over time, affecting the role and competencies of the forensic psychologist in the criminal justice process. In this chapter, we will illustrate the challenges faced by psychologists and the principles of good practices to operate in the forensic context, in particular with children
The role of sexual communication in the relationship between emotion regulation and sexual functioning in women: The impact of age and relationship status
Full text linkObjective: The aim of this study was to investigate sexual communication as a mechanism involved in the link between emotion regulation and sexual functioning in a sample of adult women, also testing the moderating role of relationship status and age in this association.
Method: 1344 sexually active cisgender women (aged 18–57, M = 27.34; SD= 6.484) were recruited from March 30, 2021, to April 12, 2021, through an online survey. From the initial sample, 1280 women were retained and included in the analysis. Participants were asked to respond to three self-report questionnaires: the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Communication subscale of the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSS- W), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI).
Results: We found that sexual communication mediated the link between emotion regulation abilities and female sexual functioning. Moreover, we found that age, but not relationship status, moderated the association between emotion regulation and sexual communication, so that older women with difficulties in emotion regulation processes showed worse sexual communication abilities as compared to younger women.
Conclusions: According to this study’s results, clinicians and sexual therapists should carefully consider emotion regulation abilities and sexual communication as crucial factors in promoting women’s sexual well-being
The Effect of Parent Psychological Distress on Child Hyperactivity/Inattention During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Testing the Mediation of Parent Verbal Hostility and Child Emotional Symptoms
Full text linkThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population. According to a very recent literature, the imposed lockdown and social distancing measures have generated a series of negative outcomes, including fear of the future, anxiety, and somatization symptoms. Few studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of parents and children, and still fewer studies have assessed the relationship between the psychological health of parents and children. The present study aimed at understanding the effect of parents’ psychological distress and verbal aggression on behavioral and emotional symptoms of children during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using an online survey administered in the first weeks of the lockdown in Italy, we explored the mediating effects of parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms on the relationship between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention in a sample of 878 Italian parents (87.4% mothers; meanage = 40.58). Two hypotheses were proposed: (1) parent distress would significantly predict child hyperactivity/inattention, and (2) parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms would mediate the association between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention. The serial mediated model confirmed both hypotheses, suggesting that higher rates of psychological distress in parents were associated with higher levels of hyperactivity/inattention in children. Parent verbal hostility and child emotional problems were also found to positively mediate this relation. Our results may be used to improve sociopsychological interventions in the general population in the near future. They may also contribute to the clinical definition of therapeutic paths for parents and families
The COVID-19 lockdown and psychological distress among Italian parents: Influence of parental role, parent personality, and child difficulties
Full text linkThe Italian lockdown following the spread of COVID-19 exposed residents to a long and unexpected period of managing offspring at home. Throughout this time, most parents continued to work remotely. The present research aimed at assessing multiple sociodemographic and psychological variables for parental well-being during the lockdown. An online survey was administered from 6 to 11 April 2020. Respondents were 917 parents aged 23–67 years with up to six children, aged 3–13 years. The measures employed were: 14 demographic questions, the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), the Emotional Symptoms and Hyperactivity-Inattention subscales of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-P), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Multiple moderated linear regression analyses were performed. Motherhood, higher levels of education, higher neuroticism, lower extroversion, and more child emotional and hyperactivity-inattention symptoms were found to be significant predictors of parent distress. Furthermore, a significant two-way interaction between child emotional problems and parent extroversion was found. Overall, parents showed high rates of psychological distress, signalling severe difficulties during the lockdown. Families with a child suffering from emotional and behavioural difficulties should immediately be detected by social services to activate support interventions to prevent chronic and amplified manifestations of these problems
Child maltreatment, personality vulnerability, and the development of borderline experience
Full text linkINTRODUCTION: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental disorder characterized by an intense and pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships and identity (Leichsenring et al., 2011; Skodol et al., 2002). It is widely recognized as child maltreatment is a robust predictor of later borderline personality pathology (Zanarini et al., 1997; Infurna et al., 2014). The considerable heterogeneity among patients with BPD makes the psychological assessment and comprehension highly complex (Eaton et al., 2011). Nevertheless, significant progresses were achieved using a dimensional perspective (Fossati et al., 2014), able to highlight the “subjective experience of BPD in terms of problematic themes” (PDM-2, 2017). Blatt proposal of two subtypes (dependency and self-criticism) of borderline experience (Blatt & Luyten, 2009; Kopala-Sibley et al., 2012), may provide important information for the dimensional understanding of the borderline functioning. Based on these considerations, we aim to (1) explore the Blatt’s proposal of different borderline subtypes and (2) examine the link between various forms of maltreatments with different borderline features.
METHOD: Two samples of adolescents, the first recruited from high-school (N = 174), and the second comprising outpatients (N = 67) followed in private and public units, completed the DEQ- A, the CECA.Q, the PDQ-4, and the BPI.
RESULTS: Preliminary results seem partially to suggest the existence of different vulnerabilities related to self-criticism and dependency themes in adolescents with borderline features. The influence of various types of childhood maltreatment on pathological personality styles and specific borderline features will be also analyzed.
CONCLUSIONS: This study may contribute to the literature interested on providing a better understanding of differences between adolescents with borderline features to inform for the development of effective treatments for BPD
The Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Parents: A Call to Adopt Urgent Measures
No full textThe COVID-19 health crisis is strongly affecting the mental health of the general population. In particular, the pandemic may be producing psychological distress and collateral concerns for parents in lockdown, due to unstable financial circumstances, school closures, and suspended educational services for children. A call for measures to increase family-based interventions during the emergency is urgently needed to forestall psychopathological trajectories and prevent the exacerbation of vulnerable conditions
Mental pain and suicide: A systematic review of the literature
Full text linkBackground: Mental pain, defined as a subjective experience characterized by perception of strong negative feelings and changes in the self and its function, is no less real than other types of grief. Mental pain has been considered to be a distinct entity from depression. We have performed a systematic review analyzing the relationship between mental pain and suicide by providing a qualitative data synthesis of the studies. Methods: We have conducted, in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search for the literature in PubMed, Web Of Science, and Scopus. Search terms were "mental pain" "OR" "psychological pain" OR "psychache" combined with the Boolean "AND" operator with "suicid*." In addition, a manual search of the literature, only including the term "psychache," was performed on Google Scholar for further studies not yet identified. Results: Initial search identified 1450 citations. A total of 42 research reports met the predefined inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Mental pain was found to be a significant predictive factor of suicide risk, even in the absence of a diagnosed mental disorder. Specifically, mental pain is a stronger factor of vulnerability of suicidal ideation than depression. Conclusion: Mental pain is a core clinical factor for understanding suicide, both in the context of mood disorders and independently from depression. Health care professionals need to be aware of the higher suicidal risk in patients reporting mental pain. In this regard, psychological assessment should include a clinimetric evaluation of mental pain in order to further detect its contribution to suicidal tendency
How personality relates to distress in parents during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of child’s emotional and behavioral difficulties and the moderating effect of living with other people
Full text linkSince the initiation of the COVID-19 lockdown, Italian parents have been forced to manage their children at home. The present study aimed at investigating the psychological distress of parents during the lockdown, identifying contributing factors. An online survey was administered to 833 participants from 3 to 15 April 2020. Mediation and moderated mediation models were run to explore the association between parent neuroticism and parent distress, mediated by child hyperactivity–inattention and child emotional symptoms, and the moderating effect of living only with child(ren) on the direct and indirect effects of parent neuroticism on parent distress. For parents living only with child(ren), high levels of psychological distress depended exclusively on their levels of neuroticism. For parents living with at least one other person in addition to child(ren), distress levels were also mediated by child behavioral and emotional difficulties. Motherhood emerged as a significant factor contributing to greater distress. Furthermore, parent psychological distress decreased in line with increased child age. The results confirm that neuroticism is an important risk factor for mental health. Preventive measures should be primarily target multicomponent families with younger children and directed towards parents who are already known to present emotional instability and to parents of children who have received local mental health assistance for behavioral and/or emotional difficulties
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