Alexithymia and coping style in women going to visit in a breast cancer center.

Childhood maltreatment, personality vulnerability profiles, and borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescents.

AbstractAdverse childhood experiences are significant risk factors in the development of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms (BPDs). Theorists have posited that two personality vulnerabilities factors, self-criticism and dependency, may inform our understanding of this relationship. However, no research has examined the associations between early negative experiences, personality vulnerabilities, and adolescent BPDs. The current study aimed to identify profiles of dependency and self-criticism to examine the associations of these profiles with cumulative forms of childhood maltreatment (CM) and BPDs as well as to explore the mediating and moderating role of vulnerable person…

Comunità di transito:l'assessment psicologico come processo di protezione dei minori a rischio.

Childhood Maltreatment, Pathological Personality Dimensions, and Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Several studies have demonstrated that child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and neglect) may be a significant factor in the development of pathological personality traits that increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Currently, the challenge is to understand how different forms of early negative experiences render an individual prone to develop specific personality traits and, in turn, be more vulnerable to suicide risk. To understand the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality dimensions in suicide risk, our study aims to explore the role of self-criticism and dependency, two different pathological per…

Emotional expression and coping style in female breast cancer.

Background: The study of the relationship of emotional status and tumor etiology has been investigated in order to elaborate a multifactorial model able to provide an answer integrating the different disciplines on cancer. The aim of this work is to investigate the knowledge on the alexithymia construct, exploring the presence of such trait in women affected by mammary carcinoma and analyzing the used coping strategies. The study has also examined personal thoughts related to event control (locus of control). Method: The Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced, and Locus of Control questionnaires were administered to a group of 86 women aged 31-55 years (mean =…

Aggressività e isolamento: il ruolo della reputazione sociale nell'adattamento

I test di livello: la WAIS-R.

Una misura breve del test multidimensionale dell’autostima di Bracken.

The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety: Comparing Vulnerability and Scar Model in the Italian Context

Abstract Background: The relationship between low self-esteem and depression and anxiety disorders has solicited a growing body of empirical research. The most important explanation models are two: the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and the scar model states that low self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause, of depression and anxiety. Method: In the present research we tested the two different models using a sample of Italian preadolescent, aged 11 to 14 years, recruited from an Italian secondary school. To test the models, the path analysis technique was used: one in which self-esteem predicted anxiety and depression (Model 1), an…

Le tecniche grafiche.

62 THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN ONCOGENETIC COUNSELLING

Introduzione alle tecniche per la valutazione della personalità

Il ruolo dello stile di attaccamento materno sull'autostima in età adolescenziale

Lo studio intende verificare l’incidenza dello stile relazionale materno sulla stima di sé degli adolescenti. Alla ricerca hanno partecipato 285 coppie madre-figlio. Agli adolescenti (122 ragazzi,163 ragazze), di età compresa tra i 13 e i 19 anni (età media = 16.23 anni, ds = 1.64), è stata somministrata la versione ridotta del Test Multidimensionale dell’Autostima (Manna, Mirisola e Boca, 2005); alle madri è stata somministrata la versione italiana dell’Attachment Style Questionnaire (Fossati, Feeney, Donati, Donini, Novella, Bagnato, Acquarini e Maffei, 2003). I risultati, ottenuti attraverso l’analisi della regressione multipla, mostrano che uno stile materno sicuro influenza positivamen…

Le tecniche grafiche come strumento di valutazione del trauma infantile

Per gli psicologi che operano nell’ambito del maltrattamento infantile, le tecniche grafiche sono uno strumento ampiamente utilizzato. Nel processo di valutazione del trauma, la lettura del disegno può facilitare la conoscenza e la comprensione di temi o contenuti relativi ad esperienze particolarmente dolorose, altrimenti indicibili. Il ricorso alle immagini, più che il linguaggio o la scrittura, permette di esprimere in modo indiretto timori, paure, angosce e conflitti, attribuendo significato all’esperienza traumatica stessa. L’utilizzo di strumenti quali il Disegno della Figura Umana e il Disegno Cinetico della Famiglia consente di esplorare le rappresentazioni che i bambini hanno di se…

Orientamento universitario, carriera accademica e benessere. Una valutazione sugli esiti di diverse esperienze di orientamento

La accurata valutazione dell’esito di una azione costituisce uno dei punti essenziali nel determinare la “salute” di un servizio offerto; a ciò non si sottraggono le attività di orientamento, soprattutto quando esse sono inserite all’interno di servizi pubblici quali Università, Scuole, Centri per l’Impiego, ecc. Negli scorsi anni il dibattito sui temi della valutazione di una azione di orientamento ha visto numerosi contributi da parte di studiosi ed esperti del settore (si veda ad esempio Fraccaroli, 2004): La maggior parte di essi ha concentrato la propria attenzione sulla modificazione, nei soggetti interessati, della rappresentazione del problema della scelta, in termini di auto-effica…

Le Tecniche grafiche nella valutazione del maltrattamento infantile

Il trattamento dei DCA in infanzia e adolescenza: l'esperienza del CE.DI.AL.

Prevenzione della violenza sui minori e strategie di azione interistituzionale: un modello di intervento psicosociale

The moderating effect of attachment styles on the relationships between maltreatment experiences and internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents: Implications for custody issues

Multiple studies have documented the relationship between child maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing problems. Evidence suggests that the link between child maltreatment and these psychopathological outcomes may be moderated by various factors. Attachment styles may be one such moderating factor in this relationship. This study seeks to explore whether different attachment style profiles are associated with different forms of maltreatment as well as internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and whether attachment styles may moderate the link between different forms of maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing problems. For this purpose, 387 students from Italian public hi…

THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN ONCOGENETIC COUNSELLING

Background: As result of the recent developments in DNA testing and the knowledge that cancer can be hereditary, it is now possible to offer genetic counselling to people within identified “cancer families”, and to inform them about their assumed increased risk for developing cancer. The aim of this study was to test the role of psychological aspect in oncogenetic counselling. The primary purpose of the research was to evaluate the difference between Anxiety Trait and Anxiety State in subjects going to oncogenetic counselling. The secondary aim was to explore the relationships between alexithymia, personality trait, coping style, psychological distress, in subjects attending genetic counsel…

The role of eating disorders features, psychopathology, and defense mechanisms in the comprehension of orthorexic tendencies

Abstract Purpose Recent studies pointed out the importance to distinguish orthorexia nervosa (ON) from non-problematic forms of interest with healthy eating. This distinction needs to be further explored since it may favor a better comprehension of the relationship between orthorexic behaviors and psychopathology and lead to an improved understanding of the psychological processes implicated in ON. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between ON and the core features of eating disorders (EDs), psychopathological symptoms and defense mechanisms, by differentiating three groups of individuals: an ON symptoms group, a healthy-eating control group, and a n…

Cumulative Childhood Maltreatment and Non‐Suicidal Self‐Injury: the Mediating and Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support in a Sample of University Students

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in young adults is recognized as a major public health concern. Some studies have identi- fied cumulative childhood maltreatment (CCM) as a significant vulnerability factor for NSSI, although the nature of this association remains unclear. Specifically, some theorists have investigated the role of perceived social support (PSS), con- sidered an important factor closely associated with both CCM and NSSI. The aim of the current study was to simultaneously investigate the potential mediating and moderating role of PSS from family and friends in the association between CCM and NSSI in a university student sample. Participants were 474 students (73.4% female; Mage…

Gli effetti dell’abuso sui processi di funzionamento del pensiero. Uno studio con il metodo Rorschach.

Prevenzione della violenza all'infanzia e strategie di intervento interistituzionale

Introduzione I progetti di prevenzione della violenza sui minori enfatizzano l’importanza del coordinamento interistituzionale multidisciplinare per contrastare un fenomeno complesso come quello del maltrattamento e abuso all’infanzia (Bertotti, 2001; Ehrle, Scarcella e Green, 2004; Bianchi, 2006; Jent et al., 2009). La conoscenza delle relazioni interorganizzative permette di individuare la capacità delle istituzioni di rispondere efficacemente ai bisogni dei minori e delle loro famiglie. Gli studi evidenziano l’esistenza di una relazione tra l’efficacia degli interventi e la coesione tra i professionisti (Malacrea e Vassalli, 1990; Cantatore e Turetti, 2003; Di Blasio, Milani e Acquistapa…

Childhood Maltreatment, Pathological Personality Dimensions, and Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Several studies have demonstrated that child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and neglect) may be a significant factor in the development of pathological personality traits that increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Currently, the challenge is to understand how different forms of early negative experiences render an individual prone to develop specific personality traits and, in turn, be more vulnerable to suicide risk. To understand the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality dimensions in suicide risk, our study aims to explore the role of self-criticism and dependency, two different pathological per…

Factorial Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Sensation Seeking Scale – Form V (SSS-V) in a Sample of Italian Adolescents

The present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sensation Seeking Scale – Form V (SSS-V) for the Italian-speaking population. The instrument was administered to 1,530 high school and college students. A second group of 268 high school students completed the SSS-V and the Impulsiveness Questionnaire (IVE). Exploratory factor analysis highlighted a 2-factor structure, Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) and Disinhibition (Dis). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an adequate model fit. Internal consistency of the subscales was marginally supported using the alpha reliability measure. Convergent validity was supported by significant positive correlations between …

Prevention of Violence against Children and Psychosocial Models of Intervention: Network Analysis of an Inter-Institutional Service

This study describes an Italian service, the Inter-institutional Groups Operating against child Abuse and Maltreatment (GOIAM), which specializes in the treatment of child abuse. The GOIAM service is composed of 53 professionals divided into four different categories: social workers, psychologists, child neuropsychiatrists, and psychopedagogists. With the aim of detecting strengths and weaknesses of the operative model adopted by GOIAM, the whole service was analyzed through the application of social network analysis (SNA). The analysis revealed a low-density network, while the study of centrality yielded different distributions of power indicators (degree, closeness, and betweenness): pres…

The Predictive Role of Ideological, Personality and Psychopathological Factors in Homonegative Attitudes in Italy

Homonegativity refers to a series of prejudicial and discriminatory attitudes towards individuals perceived as homosexuals. Previous studies indicated that some person- ality traits (i.e., neuroticism, low openness to experience), as well as specific ideo- logical attitudes (i.e., conservatism, authoritarianism) and higher levels of psychopa- thology make individuals more prone to show homonegative attitudes. However, no studies have compared these three dimensions in order to identify their different role in homonegativity. For this reason, the aim of this study was to simultaneously eval- uate the association of ideological, personality, and psychopathological factors with homonegativity …

I disegni dei bambini maltrattati come mezzo di comunicazione del trauma