Official Journal of the Italian Society of Psychopathology, Jul 3, 2018
Neuroeconomics is a discipline aimed at investigating the neural substrate of decision-making usi... more Neuroeconomics is a discipline aimed at investigating the neural substrate of decision-making using, along an interdisciplinary way, research methods and information deriving from economics, cognitive and social psychology, and neuroscience. The combination of economic game theory and neuroscience has the potential to better describe the interactions of social, psychological and neural factors that may underlie mental illnesses. These concepts will allow a description of psychopathological disorders as deviation from optimal functioning. Neuroeconomic models can lead to identify quantitative phenotypes that will allow for further investigations in individuals with mental disorders. In this paper evidences from the interaction between neuroeconomics and psychiatry are reported, supporting the utility of economic concepts such as under ambiguity/risk and social decision making to psychiatric research, in order to improve diagnostic classification and therapy eventually.
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Mar 13, 2019
Personal values are motivational constructs which guide behavior. Associations between values and... more Personal values are motivational constructs which guide behavior. Associations between values and risky behaviors have been reported in student and non-clinical samples. We investigated the relationship between human values and variables related to interpersonal violence and maltreatment in a sample of 160 consecutively admitted people with mental disorders. The results found that human values related to openness to change and selfenhancement (i.e. Stimulation/Achievement) were positively correlated with interpersonal violence and maltreatment, while values related to conservation (i.e. Conformity/Tradition) were related to reported Support. This pattern of correlation was shared by people with psychosis and personality disorders but not by people with mood disorders. The results underlined the relations between human values and dysfunctional behaviors like interpersonal violence. This study suggests a need to consider a negotiation of human values when working on harm reduction models of treatment for those who are diagnosed with mental illness.
The term ‘decision making’ indicates the aspects of executive functions related to the ability to... more The term ‘decision making’ indicates the aspects of executive functions related to the ability to modulate the reward and punishment perception, in order to operate advantageous choices.Subjects with alcoholism exhibit poor decision making and high level of impulsivity.This study assesses the relationship between decision making ability, as measured by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and impulsivity and others temperamental and character traits in a long-term abstinent alcohol dependent sample.30 abstinent alcohol dependent subjects, referred to Drug Addiction Unit of National Health Service of L'Aquila were assessed using IGT, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11-item version (BIS-11) and the Temperament and Character Inventory - 125 items (TCI-125). The mean age was 44.53 (8.66 SD) years and educational level was 9.03 years (2.52).15 control subjects were recruited from general population and assessed with IGT only (age 41.38±11.10; educational level 12.23±3.44).The clinical and the control samples significantly differ in their performance on the IGT, the former making disadvantageous choices in the task leading to lower scores. We found only a significant correlation between IGT total score and the BIS factor Non-Planning Impulsivity.The alcoholic subjects, although in a abstinent status, show difficulties to learn the task strategies and/or earn from experience to orient toward an advantageous choice pattern, supporting the hypothesis of a decision making impairment.The lack of correlation with impulsivity factors and personality traits supports the results of other studies concluding that, at dimensional level, decision making abilities may be a distinct construct.
Background. Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern, especially in psychiatry pr... more Background. Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern, especially in psychiatry practice, over the last decades. Nevertheless, most patients with stable mental disorders do not present an increased risk of violence, and mental disorder is not a necessary or sufficient cause of violent behaviours. People with mental disorders endorse more often a number of risk factors for violence that could confound this association, such as young age and male gender. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age, gender, and diagnosis on reported levels of interpersonal violence in a sample of people with severe mental illness. Methods. The sample was composed of 160 inpatients: 73 with a psychosis within the schizophrenia spectrum, 53 with a mood disorder and 34 with a personality disorder. All patients enrolled in the study were assessed for experiences of victimization and perpetration of interpersonal violence using the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale interview. Demographic variables were also collected. Results. Both violence perpetration and victimization negatively correlated with age. Compared to males, females were exposed to higher degree of victimization in childhood and adulthood, whereas males were more involved in the perpetration of violence in childhood. Personality disorders were associated with higher levels of interpersonal violence, both perpetration and victimization; an interaction effect of gender and diagnosis was also observed for violence perpetration in adulthood. Distinct patterns of interpersonal violence did emerge for the diagnostic groups with mood disorder showing a victimization pattern, personality disorders a perpetration pattern and psychoses less defined patterns. Conclusions. The main finding is that psychotic disorders, mood disorders and personality disorders have different patterns of violent experiences interacting with age and gender. This study offers a better understanding of how gender and age could affect violent behaviours. Moreover, study findings may increase the comprehension of the reason why some mental disorders, compared to others, are more associated with the risk of victimization or perpetration of violence. These patterns could have pathophysiological or pathoplastic meaning addressing clinical and diagnostic trajectories and they could interact with other intervening risk factors.
Neurology Psychiatry and Brain Research, Dec 1, 2019
Emotional reactivity (ER) and neuropsychological (Np) status were investigated in a case series o... more Emotional reactivity (ER) and neuropsychological (Np) status were investigated in a case series of patients that underwent a surgical ablation of temporal lobe tumors (TLT). Methods: Ten patients (6 females, 4 males) who had undergone surgical ablation of TLT and 10 controls matched for age and gender were recruited. ER was tested using International Affective Picture System (IAPS); Clinical Global Impression evaluated behavioral disturbances, affective symptoms and emotional involvement/reaction to the pathological condition. Np assessment was carried out using well established measures; anatomopathological, neuroradiological and clinical data were also collected. Results: Patients showed more positive valence and higher arousal upon viewing neutral images compared to controls. To a lesser extent, the same pattern was observed with socially pleasant images. No affective symptoms were observed at CGI-BP evaluation. Arousal to negative images, with or without social involvement, revealed a moderately strong relationship with the patient's subjective emotional appraisal of the consequences of the illness. Conclusion: We observed an optimistic emotional environment perception and a detachment from the pathological condition related to lowered emotional involvement and reactivity to negative emotional cues. This pattern of emotional reactivity leads to the hypothesis of an effective coping strategy development to a severe pathological condition.
We report a case of a 17-year-old man presenting with new onset psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic re... more We report a case of a 17-year-old man presenting with new onset psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy revealed some lesions in the right cerebellar hemisphere and ipsilateral cerebellar tonsil suggestive of encephalitis. An extensive workup was negative for both infectious and neoplastic diseases and he was afterward diagnosed with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis. This disorder is an autoimmune encephalitis, highly lethal but curable, predominantly found in young female with ovarian teratoma. He received methylprednisolone. His clinical findings gradually improve and he made a complete recovery. Accordingly, repeated brain MRI and proton MR spectroscopy showed a gradual reduction of the lesions; MRI taken six months after starting therapy showed complete resolution of the lesions. Our case shows that, although rare, anti-NMDAR encephalitis should be considered also in young men for whom a rapid onset of psychiatric neurological disorders cannot be explained by more frequent causes. Our report underlines also the usefulness of MRI and proton MR spectroscopic findings in the diagnosis and follow-up of this disease.
ObjectivesThis study assesses the psychopathological distress experienced by doctors working in a... more ObjectivesThis study assesses the psychopathological distress experienced by doctors working in an Intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These doctors were the same who faced the consequences of a previous natural disaster, a severe 6.3 magnitude earthquake. A second objective is to evaluate their current mental attitude, professional performances and coping strategies adopted in the pandemic in relation to the conditioning effect of that first emergency, the earthquake.MethodsThirty-seven ICU medical doctors were recruited and assessed using Rapid Stress Assessment (RSA) rating scale, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III. Comparison between exposure to the earthquake and COVID pandemic has been made in terms of professional role and psychological burden.ResultsComparison between 2009 earthquake catastrophe and COVID pandemic conditions e...
INTRODUCTION Patients with severe mental disorders (namely schizophrenia, major depression and bi... more INTRODUCTION Patients with severe mental disorders (namely schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder) have a reduced life expectancy of at least 10 to 25 years compared with the general population. This mortality gap is due to the higher prevalence of comorbid physical disorders (such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases) in these patients compared to the general population. Factors contributing to the mortality gap include lack of access to primary care services, severity of clinical symptoms, internalized stigma and discrimination by healthcare professionals, pharmacological treatments and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. Several international studies have highlighted the high prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in patients with severe mental disorders, but a few data are available from Italian real-world settings. AIM The present study aims to: 1) describe the lifestyle behaviours adopted by a sample of real-world patients affected by severe me...
PURPOSE The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a... more PURPOSE The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a university student population and to clear up the relationship between NES, depression and chronotype. The relation between NES and seasonality was also investigated. METHODS The data were collected from a sample of 1136 students of the L'Aquila University, Italy. All subjects were invited to answer to the Sociodemographic Information Form and to take a self-report battery composed by four questionnaires: the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ), the Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS The 5.3% of our population (60 subjects) reached the criteria for NES. The distribution of chronotypes in the sample was: Morning Type 15.3%, Intermediate 64.3% and Evening Type 20.4%. The 36.7% of the participants reaching the criteria for NES, obtained low scores on the MEQ. The data indicated ...
Summary aim of this study was to explore the relationships among empathy processes in terms of se... more Summary aim of this study was to explore the relationships among empathy processes in terms of self-report empathy evaluation and recognition of emotional cues and Theory of Mind components. We used the Empathy Quotient – short form (EQ-s), the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA) system, a (ToM) Irony appreciation task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), respectively. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) were also used to investigate the relationship with symptomatology and functioning. The sample consisted of 30 participants with diagnosis of schizophrenia. Our results found no significant correlations between EQ-s and other cognitive or clinical variables. PoFA total score and recognition of fear correlated with time spent to give a correct response to the ToM irony comprehension. Time spent to correctly respond to both ToM and physical vignettes correlated with negative symptoms. Positive, negative and cognitive clusters...
BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to explore the effect of childhood family stress on depressio... more BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to explore the effect of childhood family stress on depression, personal, and social resilience in depressed patients. METHODS We assessed childhood family stress (RFQ), depression (BSI, depression subscale), and resilience (RSA) in 152 depressed patients, 70 males, and 82 females. We calculated the 33rd and 66th percentiles of RFQ scores to divide the sample among Low, Medium, and High RFQ subgroups. A one-way ANOVA has been carried out to explore the differences between the variables in the subgroups. Finally, two regression analyses with depression, as the dependent variable, and resilience, divided for stress-sensitive and no stress-sensitive factors as independent variables, have been implemented. RESULTS The one-way ANOVA showed that the Low subgroup had a positive profile, the Medium had an intermediate profile, while the High had a negative one for depression, personal (structured style and social competence), and interpersonal (social resources) resilience. The other factors (perception of self, planned future, and family cohesion) did not show differences in the subgroups, suggesting they are no stress sensitive. Regression analysis showed that no stress-sensitive factors have a constant and significant predictive value for depression in all subgroups; while, stress-sensitive ones showed a growing predictive value for depression from Low to Medium, but not in High, suggesting a ceiling effect. LIMITATIONS The use of self-report measures, the cross-sectional nature of the study, and the lack of a non-clinical and/or outpatient samples. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a contribution to the understanding of the effect of childhood family stress on adult resilience and depression.
Persons with epilepsy show a higher risk of suicidal ideation and behavior than the general popul... more Persons with epilepsy show a higher risk of suicidal ideation and behavior than the general population. Hopelessness, as a feature of demoralization, is considered an emerging risk factor for suicidal ideation. Psychopathological comorbidity, mainly depression, has to be taken into account to predict suicidal attempts but the relationship between suicidality and epilepsy has been also reported independently from depressive disorders. The aim of the study was to investigate hopelessness in a sample of persons suffering from epilepsy without comorbidity with psychiatric disorders and its association with demographic, social, and clinical variables, putatively predictive of suicidal behaviors. Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) has been used as measure of suicidal ideation in 72 consecutive outpatients afferent to a third level epilepsy center. Exclusion criterion was psychiatric comorbidity evaluated by clinical approach and quantified by Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Scale. Clinical (focus localization, age at onset, number of drugs), demographic, social variables, and intellectual level were considered. Age, age at onset, gender, intellectual level, socioeconomic status, duration of illness and therapy, number of drugs, seizure frequency, and localization of the epileptic focus and side involved were found associated with BHS score increase. In a sample of persons with epilepsy, without psychiatric comorbidity, our data show an association between factors related to the biological pathophysiology and the clinical course of the disease with the sociodemographic status, as a risk factor for suicidal ideation.
Official Journal of the Italian Society of Psychopathology, Jul 3, 2018
Neuroeconomics is a discipline aimed at investigating the neural substrate of decision-making usi... more Neuroeconomics is a discipline aimed at investigating the neural substrate of decision-making using, along an interdisciplinary way, research methods and information deriving from economics, cognitive and social psychology, and neuroscience. The combination of economic game theory and neuroscience has the potential to better describe the interactions of social, psychological and neural factors that may underlie mental illnesses. These concepts will allow a description of psychopathological disorders as deviation from optimal functioning. Neuroeconomic models can lead to identify quantitative phenotypes that will allow for further investigations in individuals with mental disorders. In this paper evidences from the interaction between neuroeconomics and psychiatry are reported, supporting the utility of economic concepts such as under ambiguity/risk and social decision making to psychiatric research, in order to improve diagnostic classification and therapy eventually.
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Mar 13, 2019
Personal values are motivational constructs which guide behavior. Associations between values and... more Personal values are motivational constructs which guide behavior. Associations between values and risky behaviors have been reported in student and non-clinical samples. We investigated the relationship between human values and variables related to interpersonal violence and maltreatment in a sample of 160 consecutively admitted people with mental disorders. The results found that human values related to openness to change and selfenhancement (i.e. Stimulation/Achievement) were positively correlated with interpersonal violence and maltreatment, while values related to conservation (i.e. Conformity/Tradition) were related to reported Support. This pattern of correlation was shared by people with psychosis and personality disorders but not by people with mood disorders. The results underlined the relations between human values and dysfunctional behaviors like interpersonal violence. This study suggests a need to consider a negotiation of human values when working on harm reduction models of treatment for those who are diagnosed with mental illness.
The term ‘decision making’ indicates the aspects of executive functions related to the ability to... more The term ‘decision making’ indicates the aspects of executive functions related to the ability to modulate the reward and punishment perception, in order to operate advantageous choices.Subjects with alcoholism exhibit poor decision making and high level of impulsivity.This study assesses the relationship between decision making ability, as measured by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and impulsivity and others temperamental and character traits in a long-term abstinent alcohol dependent sample.30 abstinent alcohol dependent subjects, referred to Drug Addiction Unit of National Health Service of L'Aquila were assessed using IGT, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11-item version (BIS-11) and the Temperament and Character Inventory - 125 items (TCI-125). The mean age was 44.53 (8.66 SD) years and educational level was 9.03 years (2.52).15 control subjects were recruited from general population and assessed with IGT only (age 41.38±11.10; educational level 12.23±3.44).The clinical and the control samples significantly differ in their performance on the IGT, the former making disadvantageous choices in the task leading to lower scores. We found only a significant correlation between IGT total score and the BIS factor Non-Planning Impulsivity.The alcoholic subjects, although in a abstinent status, show difficulties to learn the task strategies and/or earn from experience to orient toward an advantageous choice pattern, supporting the hypothesis of a decision making impairment.The lack of correlation with impulsivity factors and personality traits supports the results of other studies concluding that, at dimensional level, decision making abilities may be a distinct construct.
Background. Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern, especially in psychiatry pr... more Background. Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern, especially in psychiatry practice, over the last decades. Nevertheless, most patients with stable mental disorders do not present an increased risk of violence, and mental disorder is not a necessary or sufficient cause of violent behaviours. People with mental disorders endorse more often a number of risk factors for violence that could confound this association, such as young age and male gender. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age, gender, and diagnosis on reported levels of interpersonal violence in a sample of people with severe mental illness. Methods. The sample was composed of 160 inpatients: 73 with a psychosis within the schizophrenia spectrum, 53 with a mood disorder and 34 with a personality disorder. All patients enrolled in the study were assessed for experiences of victimization and perpetration of interpersonal violence using the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale interview. Demographic variables were also collected. Results. Both violence perpetration and victimization negatively correlated with age. Compared to males, females were exposed to higher degree of victimization in childhood and adulthood, whereas males were more involved in the perpetration of violence in childhood. Personality disorders were associated with higher levels of interpersonal violence, both perpetration and victimization; an interaction effect of gender and diagnosis was also observed for violence perpetration in adulthood. Distinct patterns of interpersonal violence did emerge for the diagnostic groups with mood disorder showing a victimization pattern, personality disorders a perpetration pattern and psychoses less defined patterns. Conclusions. The main finding is that psychotic disorders, mood disorders and personality disorders have different patterns of violent experiences interacting with age and gender. This study offers a better understanding of how gender and age could affect violent behaviours. Moreover, study findings may increase the comprehension of the reason why some mental disorders, compared to others, are more associated with the risk of victimization or perpetration of violence. These patterns could have pathophysiological or pathoplastic meaning addressing clinical and diagnostic trajectories and they could interact with other intervening risk factors.
Neurology Psychiatry and Brain Research, Dec 1, 2019
Emotional reactivity (ER) and neuropsychological (Np) status were investigated in a case series o... more Emotional reactivity (ER) and neuropsychological (Np) status were investigated in a case series of patients that underwent a surgical ablation of temporal lobe tumors (TLT). Methods: Ten patients (6 females, 4 males) who had undergone surgical ablation of TLT and 10 controls matched for age and gender were recruited. ER was tested using International Affective Picture System (IAPS); Clinical Global Impression evaluated behavioral disturbances, affective symptoms and emotional involvement/reaction to the pathological condition. Np assessment was carried out using well established measures; anatomopathological, neuroradiological and clinical data were also collected. Results: Patients showed more positive valence and higher arousal upon viewing neutral images compared to controls. To a lesser extent, the same pattern was observed with socially pleasant images. No affective symptoms were observed at CGI-BP evaluation. Arousal to negative images, with or without social involvement, revealed a moderately strong relationship with the patient's subjective emotional appraisal of the consequences of the illness. Conclusion: We observed an optimistic emotional environment perception and a detachment from the pathological condition related to lowered emotional involvement and reactivity to negative emotional cues. This pattern of emotional reactivity leads to the hypothesis of an effective coping strategy development to a severe pathological condition.
We report a case of a 17-year-old man presenting with new onset psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic re... more We report a case of a 17-year-old man presenting with new onset psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy revealed some lesions in the right cerebellar hemisphere and ipsilateral cerebellar tonsil suggestive of encephalitis. An extensive workup was negative for both infectious and neoplastic diseases and he was afterward diagnosed with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis. This disorder is an autoimmune encephalitis, highly lethal but curable, predominantly found in young female with ovarian teratoma. He received methylprednisolone. His clinical findings gradually improve and he made a complete recovery. Accordingly, repeated brain MRI and proton MR spectroscopy showed a gradual reduction of the lesions; MRI taken six months after starting therapy showed complete resolution of the lesions. Our case shows that, although rare, anti-NMDAR encephalitis should be considered also in young men for whom a rapid onset of psychiatric neurological disorders cannot be explained by more frequent causes. Our report underlines also the usefulness of MRI and proton MR spectroscopic findings in the diagnosis and follow-up of this disease.
ObjectivesThis study assesses the psychopathological distress experienced by doctors working in a... more ObjectivesThis study assesses the psychopathological distress experienced by doctors working in an Intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These doctors were the same who faced the consequences of a previous natural disaster, a severe 6.3 magnitude earthquake. A second objective is to evaluate their current mental attitude, professional performances and coping strategies adopted in the pandemic in relation to the conditioning effect of that first emergency, the earthquake.MethodsThirty-seven ICU medical doctors were recruited and assessed using Rapid Stress Assessment (RSA) rating scale, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III. Comparison between exposure to the earthquake and COVID pandemic has been made in terms of professional role and psychological burden.ResultsComparison between 2009 earthquake catastrophe and COVID pandemic conditions e...
INTRODUCTION Patients with severe mental disorders (namely schizophrenia, major depression and bi... more INTRODUCTION Patients with severe mental disorders (namely schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder) have a reduced life expectancy of at least 10 to 25 years compared with the general population. This mortality gap is due to the higher prevalence of comorbid physical disorders (such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases) in these patients compared to the general population. Factors contributing to the mortality gap include lack of access to primary care services, severity of clinical symptoms, internalized stigma and discrimination by healthcare professionals, pharmacological treatments and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. Several international studies have highlighted the high prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in patients with severe mental disorders, but a few data are available from Italian real-world settings. AIM The present study aims to: 1) describe the lifestyle behaviours adopted by a sample of real-world patients affected by severe me...
PURPOSE The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a... more PURPOSE The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a university student population and to clear up the relationship between NES, depression and chronotype. The relation between NES and seasonality was also investigated. METHODS The data were collected from a sample of 1136 students of the L'Aquila University, Italy. All subjects were invited to answer to the Sociodemographic Information Form and to take a self-report battery composed by four questionnaires: the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ), the Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS The 5.3% of our population (60 subjects) reached the criteria for NES. The distribution of chronotypes in the sample was: Morning Type 15.3%, Intermediate 64.3% and Evening Type 20.4%. The 36.7% of the participants reaching the criteria for NES, obtained low scores on the MEQ. The data indicated ...
Summary aim of this study was to explore the relationships among empathy processes in terms of se... more Summary aim of this study was to explore the relationships among empathy processes in terms of self-report empathy evaluation and recognition of emotional cues and Theory of Mind components. We used the Empathy Quotient – short form (EQ-s), the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA) system, a (ToM) Irony appreciation task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), respectively. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) were also used to investigate the relationship with symptomatology and functioning. The sample consisted of 30 participants with diagnosis of schizophrenia. Our results found no significant correlations between EQ-s and other cognitive or clinical variables. PoFA total score and recognition of fear correlated with time spent to give a correct response to the ToM irony comprehension. Time spent to correctly respond to both ToM and physical vignettes correlated with negative symptoms. Positive, negative and cognitive clusters...
BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to explore the effect of childhood family stress on depressio... more BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to explore the effect of childhood family stress on depression, personal, and social resilience in depressed patients. METHODS We assessed childhood family stress (RFQ), depression (BSI, depression subscale), and resilience (RSA) in 152 depressed patients, 70 males, and 82 females. We calculated the 33rd and 66th percentiles of RFQ scores to divide the sample among Low, Medium, and High RFQ subgroups. A one-way ANOVA has been carried out to explore the differences between the variables in the subgroups. Finally, two regression analyses with depression, as the dependent variable, and resilience, divided for stress-sensitive and no stress-sensitive factors as independent variables, have been implemented. RESULTS The one-way ANOVA showed that the Low subgroup had a positive profile, the Medium had an intermediate profile, while the High had a negative one for depression, personal (structured style and social competence), and interpersonal (social resources) resilience. The other factors (perception of self, planned future, and family cohesion) did not show differences in the subgroups, suggesting they are no stress sensitive. Regression analysis showed that no stress-sensitive factors have a constant and significant predictive value for depression in all subgroups; while, stress-sensitive ones showed a growing predictive value for depression from Low to Medium, but not in High, suggesting a ceiling effect. LIMITATIONS The use of self-report measures, the cross-sectional nature of the study, and the lack of a non-clinical and/or outpatient samples. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a contribution to the understanding of the effect of childhood family stress on adult resilience and depression.
Persons with epilepsy show a higher risk of suicidal ideation and behavior than the general popul... more Persons with epilepsy show a higher risk of suicidal ideation and behavior than the general population. Hopelessness, as a feature of demoralization, is considered an emerging risk factor for suicidal ideation. Psychopathological comorbidity, mainly depression, has to be taken into account to predict suicidal attempts but the relationship between suicidality and epilepsy has been also reported independently from depressive disorders. The aim of the study was to investigate hopelessness in a sample of persons suffering from epilepsy without comorbidity with psychiatric disorders and its association with demographic, social, and clinical variables, putatively predictive of suicidal behaviors. Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) has been used as measure of suicidal ideation in 72 consecutive outpatients afferent to a third level epilepsy center. Exclusion criterion was psychiatric comorbidity evaluated by clinical approach and quantified by Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Scale. Clinical (focus localization, age at onset, number of drugs), demographic, social variables, and intellectual level were considered. Age, age at onset, gender, intellectual level, socioeconomic status, duration of illness and therapy, number of drugs, seizure frequency, and localization of the epileptic focus and side involved were found associated with BHS score increase. In a sample of persons with epilepsy, without psychiatric comorbidity, our data show an association between factors related to the biological pathophysiology and the clinical course of the disease with the sociodemographic status, as a risk factor for suicidal ideation.
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Papers by Paolo Stratta