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Introduction: Body image concerns related to breast cancer surgery may challenge patients' quality of life and their treatment outcomes, thus representing a key aspect to be assessed in the psycho-oncological settings. The present longitudinal study is aimed to (1) investigate the association between preoperative body image and postoperative psychological symptoms in breast cancer patients; (2) explore the impact of pre-/post-surgery variation in body image on psychological symptomatology., Methods: N = 72 women undergoing breast cancer surgery were preoperatively screened (T1) using the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) and were assessed postoperatively (T2) using the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R) and re-administered the BUT. Spearman's correlation was used to investigate the relationship between age, preoperative body image and postoperative psychological symptoms, and variation in body image. To predict post-surgical psychological symptomatology, two separated multiple regression models were used to evaluate preoperative body image and its variation after surgery controlling for covariates (i.e., education; intervention type). P significance was set as 0.05 for all analyses and adjusted for multiple comparisons., Results: At T1, anxiety in relation to body image scores emerged as the most frequently experienced psychological symptomatology after surgery (all adjusted p < 0.05). Significant correlations were observed between all SCL-90-R scores at T2 and avoidance behaviors and depersonalization scores at T1. The associations were most significantly strong for somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility (all adjusted p < 0.05). However, change in body image between pre- and post-intervention was not associated with psychological symptomatology at T2 (all adjusted p > 0.05). Pre-surgery body avoidance was significantly associated with post-intervention psychological symptoms (SOMβ = 0.453, p = 0.0001; DEPβ = 0.507, p = 0.0001; AXβ = 0.459, p = 0.0001; HOSβ = 0.410, p =. 0001). However, increased weight phobia between pre- and post-surgery was statistically associated with increased somatization, anxiety, depression and hostility at T2 (βSOM = 0.439, p = 0.0001; βDEP = 0.454, p = 0.0001; βANX = 0.471, p = 0.0001)., Discussion: Overall, pre-/post-intervention body concerns were significantly associated with primary psychological symptoms in breast cancer patients undergoing surgery. Higher levels of body avoidance and weight phobia were significantly associated with the primary psychological dimensions assessed. As body concerns might act as quality-of-life predictors, their evaluation is crucial in fostering patients' well-being and treatment adherence., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Verri, Pepe, Abbatantuono, Bottalico, Semeraro, Moschetta, De Caro, Taurisano, Antonucci and Taurino.)

Introduction: Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of any corresponding external sound source. Current research suggests a relationship among emotional, cognitive, and psychosomatic symptoms and the occurrence or maintenance of chronic tinnitus. This study aimed to detect the prevalence and role of psychosomatic conditions, as defined by the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR), and cognitive functioning in a group of patients with tinnitus., Methods: Sixty-two patients with subjective tinnitus and 62 non-tinnitus controls were recruited from the Otorhinolaryngology Unit of the University of Bari. Pure-tone audiometry was performed in all tinnitus subjects, and sound level tolerance was evaluated. Additionally, tinnitus handicap (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory [THI]), psychopathological symptoms (Symptom Checklist-90, Revised [SCL-90-R]), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI-Y1/2]), depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]), cognitive impairment (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), executive functions (Frontal Assessment Battery [FAB]), and psychosomatic syndromes (DCPR) were evaluated. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used to detect cognitive and symptomatological differences between patients and controls. The predictivity of these factors for tinnitus severity was studied using multiple regression (Backward Elimination). All tests were considered significant at p  < 0.05 (family wise error corrected for each comparison)., Results: 69.4% tinnitus patients met multiple DCPR criteria, compared to 32.3% of controls. Tinnitus patients exhibited elevated rates of illness denial (ꭓ 2  = 9.02; p  < 0.009), demoralization (ꭓ 2  = 8.05; p  < 0.018), somatization (ꭓ 2  = 4.92; p  < 0.063) and functional symptoms (ꭓ 2  = 5.21; p  < 0.06) scoring significantly higher on the BDI, STAI-Y1, and STAI-Y2, and SCL-90-R compared to controls. Patients with tinnitus showed lower MMSE scores, compared to controls ( t  = -2.282; p  < 0.001). No association between tinnitus severity and global cognitive impairment emerged. Conversely, executive function deficits were associated to tinnitus severity. Among the cognitive and psychological factors, only trait anxiety, one or more psychosomatic syndromes, and somatization clusters were strongly correlated with tinnitus severity., Discussion: Our findings suggest a relationship between tinnitus severity, psychological, psychosomatic symptoms, and frontal impairment. Additionally, the influence of tinnitus on cognitive functions paves the way for integrated, multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment options for patients. Although preliminary, our findings highlight the importance of early cognitive and psychological screening to improve patients' quality of life., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gasparre, Pepe, Laera, Abbatantuono, De Caro, Taurino, D’Erasmo, Fanizzi, Antonucci, Pantaleo, Cavallaro, Pontillo, Taurisano and Quaranta.)

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event entailing long-term consequences on population health and welfare. Those who contracted the coronavirus may have suffered from both physical and mental health issues that unfold the need for tailored intervention strategies. Hence, our study aims to investigate the psychological and social consequences of COVID-19 on a sample of 86 participants, encompassing 43 patients (clinical group; 25 women; mean age = 50.4 ± 10.1 years) recruited from Bari University Hospital, 19 of whom were hospitalized due to the disease. The remaining 43 were individuals not fallen ill with COVID-19 to date (control group; 25 women; mean age = 50.4 ± 10.1 years). The investigation yielded significant gender differences in post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and representation of interpersonal distance (IPD), evaluated through the IES-R, the BDI-II, and the IVAS task, respectively. This pattern of results was not replicated in the control group. In general, participants who reported having experienced the most intense post-traumatic symptoms also presented a greater mood deflection and, more specifically, within the clinical group women obtained the highest scores on both scales. Women reported higher IES-R and BDI-II scores compared to men, that could indicate that women who have contracted COVID-19 are more exposed to post-traumatic and depressive symptoms. Our results also showed a significant effect of COVID-19 on IPD with a tendency of disease-experienced individuals to increase their preferred IPD from adults, children, and elderly people. Regarding gender differences in mood and proxemic behavior, a correlation between depressive symptoms and probable PTSD and a further correlation between probable PTSD and greater IPD were found in women from both clinical and control group. Overall, these findings might contribute to a better understanding of gender-based implications of the current pandemic on mental health, also leading to the development of integrated yet personalized intervention strategies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Taurisano, Lanciano, Alfeo, Bisceglie, Monaco, Sbordone, Abbatantuono, Costadura, Losole, Ruggiero, Iachini, Vimercati, Vacca, De Caro and Curci.)