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Objective: Obsessive and compulsive symptoms (OCS) are cross-cutting psychopathological manifestations frequently detected in a variety of clinical and non-clinical samples. It has been suggested that impaired mentalization abilities and traumatic experiences during childhood may be relevant etiopathogenetic factors in the development of OCS. The purpose of the current study was to cross-sectionally assess these variables in a non-clinical sample, testing the mediational role of mentalization abilities in the association between childhood trauma (CT) and OCS. Method: 667 participants (488 females; mean age= 29.76 ± 11.87 years; age range: 18-80) answered a survey including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Mentalization Questionnaire and the Obsession-Compulsion subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Results: The mediation model was significant for the total effect (p< .001), showing that CT was positively associated with OCS (95% CI: .006; .019) and that this association was mediated by reduced levels of mentalization capacity (95% CI: .003; .009). Such results were significant controlling for potential sociodemographic and clinical confounding variables. Conclusions: The findings contribute to elucidate the complex relationships between CT, mentalization capacity, and OCS, supporting the possibility that mentalization impairments, arising from CT, may affect top-down control mechanisms thus contributing to the development of OCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite its high prevalence in all psychiatric disorders and its widely demonstrated clinical relevance as a marker of both clinical severity and poorer treatment response, a scientifically validated definition of dissociation remains controversial, and the understanding of its pathogenesis is still somewhat lacking. Furthermore, although most clinicians commonly refer to dissociation as a single unitary concept, the empirical evidence strongly supports the paucity of a one-dimensional approach to dissociation. Summary: Resonating with the clinical and neuroscientific data on this topic, this article aimed to provide a working hypothesis, suggesting that the wide variety of psychopathological phenomena that are currently improperly lumped into the category of dissociation are in fact produced by at least three different pathogenic processes involved in developmental trauma, namely, traumatic disintegration, detachment responses, and dissociation. Key Messages: This hypothesis should, therefore, be considered a starting point for a better understanding of the complex manifestations and processes that currently overly, attributed to dissociation per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may have more negative effects on women than men. Accordingly, we hypothesized that women would experience greater COVID-19 related distress and more psychopathological symptoms than men during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Moreover, we expected emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, as protective and risk factors respectively) to interact with gender in shaping psychological health. We administered an online questionnaire to 1519 participants during the first national COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. As predicted, women reported greater COVID-19 related distress and more psychopathological symptoms than men. Furthermore, women who made greater use of reappraisal reported lower levels of distress and fewer psychopathological symptoms. Suppression was associated with more psychopathological symptoms, but there were no interaction effects with gender. Our findings have implications for policymakers wishing to sustain women's health during stressful situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Child maltreatment (CM) is a recognized public health problem, and epidemiologic data suggest that it is a widespread phenomenon, albeit with widely varying estimates. Indeed, CM as well as child abuse (CA) and neglect (CN) are complex phenomena that are difficult to study for several reasons, including terminological and definitional problems that pose a hurdle to estimating epidemiological rates. Therefore, the main aim of this umbrella review is to revise recent review data on the epidemiology of CM, CA, and CN. A second aim was to revise the definitions used. Method: A systematic search of three databases was performed in March 2022. Recent reviews (published in the last 5 years: 2017-March 2022) addressing the epidemiological rates of CM, CA, and/or CN were included. Results: Of the 314 documents retrieved by the selected search strategy, the eligibility assessment yielded a total of 29 eligible documents. Because of the great heterogeneity among them, a qualitative rather than a quantitative synthesis was performed. Conclusions: The data from this umbrella review show that the different age groups, methods, and instruments used in the literature to collect the data on the epidemiology of CM make it difficult to compare the results. Although definitions appear to be quite homogeneous, CM categorization varies widely across studies. Furthermore, this umbrella review shows that the CM reviews considered do not examine some particular forms of CM such as parental overprotection. The results are discussed in detail throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mentalization is an important interpersonal ability, necessary for adaptive interpersonal relationships and emotion regulation. Deficits in mentalization have been associated with poor psychological outcomes and have been observed in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder. The Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) has been developed as self-report measure of mentalization deficit. The aim of the study was to investigate the dimensionality of the MZQ in a nonclinical sample composed of Italian adults from the general population and to analyze its performance in categorizing individuals with higher risk of borderline symptoms. A non-clinical sample of 1,015 adults (709 women and 306 men) was administered the Italian versions of the MZQ, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), and a measure of borderline psychopathology. A revised single-factor solution fitted the data well and demonstrated metric invariance across gender. The internal consistency (Ordinal α = 0.87) and stability (r = 0.84) were satisfactory. The MZQ was moderately associated with the RFQ dimensions. The ROC curve analysis showed that the MZQ was able to discriminate satisfactorily people with higher risk for borderline symptomatology from those with lower risk. The MZQ may, therefore, be considered a reliable and valid measure of mentalization for categorizing people at higher risk for borderline pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main objective of the present study was to use the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to identify cut-off points for a selfreport measure assessing parental style, i.e., the Measure of Parental Style (MOPS), that are able to discriminate individuals with disorganized internal working models (IWMs) of attachment with adequate accuracy, in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Establishing cut-off points for the MOPS could provide clinicians and researchers with a valuable tool to investigate the role of disorganized IWMs as a link between parental styles and mental health. Method: A sample of 90 university students (mean age = 21.21 ± 2.05, females = 66) was enrolled in the study. We used the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to assess disorganized IWM and the MOPS to assess parental styles. Subsequently, we used ROC curve analysis to pursue the objective of the study. Results: The ROC curve analysis showed that the MOPS total score (i.e., the combination of maternal and paternal dimensions) was able to discriminate individuals with disorganized IWMs from individuals with organized IWMs (AUC= 0.77). Specifically, a score ≥ 25 (Youden index= 0.497) categorized individuals with a sensitivity of 0.69 (69% of participants with disorganized IWMs were correctly identified) and a specificity of 0.81 (19% of participants were incorrectly identified as having disorganized IWMs). Conclusions: Although the AAI has demonstrated high psychometric properties for assessing attachment representations in adulthood, its use is difficult when studies with large samples are to be conducted. As an alternative to the AAI, the MOPS can be used in studies with large populations, but no cut-off has yet been proposed. Here, we have identified cut-off points for the MOPS that are capable of detecting disorganized IWMs of attachment with adequate accuracy, and we suggest that this self-report is a useful brief instrument for detecting disorganized IWMs when time constraints prevent the use of the AAI (e.g., in studies with large samples or epidemiological studies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although the study of the Triple Network (TN) model has gained attention in the exploration of stress-related processes, the neurophysiological mechanisms of TN in relation to perceived stress have been relatively understudied in nonclinical samples so far. The main objective of the present study was to investigate, in a sample of university students, the association of perceived stress with resting state electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity in the TN. Methods: Ninety university students (40 males and 50 females; mean age 22.30 ± 2.43 years; mean educational level 16.60 ± 1.62 years) were enrolled. EEG data were analyzed through the exact low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA). Results: Higher levels of perceived stress were associated with decreased delta EEG connectivity within the central executive network (CEN) and between the CEN and the salience network (SN). Higher levels of perceived stress were also associated with decreased theta EEG connectivity between the CEN and the SN. The associations between perceived stress and EEG connectivity data were significant even when relevant confounding factors (i.e., sex, age, educational level, and psychopathological symptoms) were controlled for. Discussion: Taken together, our results suggest that higher levels of perceived stress are associated with a dysfunctional synchronization within the CEN and between the SN and the CEN. This functional pattern might in part reflect the negative impact of high levels of perceived stress on cognitive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty to thirty percent of patients experience weight regain at mid and long-term follow-up. Impaired cognitive functions are prevalent in people suffering from obesity and in those with binge eating disorder, thereby, affecting the weight-loss outcomes. The aim of our study was to investigate neurocognitive and psychopathological predictors of surgical efficacy in terms of percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) at follow-up intervals of one year and 4-year. Psychosocial evaluation was completed in a sample of 78 bariatric surgery candidates and included psychometric instruments and a cognitive battery of neuropsychological tests. A schedule of 1-year and 4-year follow-ups was implemented. Wisconsin Sorting Card Test total correct responses, scores on the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test, and age predicted %EWL at, both, early and long-term periods after surgery while the severity of pre-operative binge eating (BED) symptoms were associated with lower %EWL only four years after the operation. Due to the role of pre-operative BED in weight loss maintenance, the affected patients are at risk of suboptimal response requiring ongoing clinical monitoring, and psychological and pharmacological interventions when needed. As a result of our findings and in keeping with the latest guidelines we encourage neuropsychological assessment of bariatric surgery candidates. This data substantiated the rationale of providing rehabilitative interventions tailored to cognitive domains and time specific to the goal of supporting patients in their post-surgical course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the worrying concomitants of problematic use of Internet (PUI) is aggression. Although the mechanisms underlying such link have not been completely clarified, it has been suggested that problematic use of social media and online videogames (i.e., two common forms of PUI among young adults) lead to increased sleep disturbances which, in turn, represent a relevant trigger for aggression. We have tested this hypothesis in a sample (N = 480) of young individuals (351 females and 129 males; mean age: 21.76 ± 1.92 years; range: 18–24). Self‐report measures investigating symptoms related to social media addiction (SMA), Internet gaming disorder (IGD), insomnia severity, and aggression were used. Mediational models analyzing the direct and indirect associations of SMA‐ and IGD‐related symptoms on aggression severity through insomnia‐related symptoms were performed controlling for confounding factors. The models showed that the total effects of SMA‐related symptoms (B = 0.018; p =.010) and of IGD‐related symptoms (B = 0.018; p =.041) on aggression severity were significant and that these associations were mediated by insomnia‐related symptoms (respectively, p <.001 and p =.003). Our findings support the potential mediating role of insomnia severity in the association of SMA‐ and IGD‐related disturbances with levels of aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented discusses the neuropsychiatric consequences of COVID-19 that appeared to be due to several factors, such as the direct effect of the infection, the body's responses against the infection, or the psychological squeal of social isolation, unemployment, and fear for health and well-being. It focuses psychological stress related to the pandemic, several biological mechanisms were thought to be responsible for post-COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The therapist's self-disclosure (TSD) interventions are considered beneficial and often used by psychotherapists. However, their use remains controversial for several reasons, including the use of broad definitions neglecting the distinction between the TSD and the therapist's self-involving (TSI) interventions. The TSD interventions involve the revelation of personal information to the patient, while the TSI implicates the direct expressions of the therapist's reaction to the patient's statements and behaviors within the session. To compare the immediate therapeutic effects of the TSD and TSI interventions, we conducted a study on 57 total interventions (i.e., 35 TSI and 22 TSD, respectively) performed during 17 psychotherapy sessions in a sample of 6 patients, evaluating the effects of each intervention (TSD or TSI) based on two parameters: patient's cooperative attunement and patient's metacognitive functioning. Results show that, compared to the TSD, the TSI interventions were followed by a higher cooperative attitude and metacognitive functioning of the patients. The difference in the short-term effects of these two interventions suggests the usefulness of considering TSD and TSI distinctly to evaluate their psychotherapeutic effectiveness.

Several studies showed the effectiveness of theta/beta Neurofeedback (NF) training (i.e., decrease theta power and simultaneously increase beta power) in treating different psychiatric conditions characterized by impaired cognitive control. However, investigations concerning Gambling Disorder (GD) have not yet been conducted. Thus, the main aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of 11 theta/beta NF sessions in the treatment of a patient with GD. A psychological and neuropsychological assessment was performed before and after NF. A general improvement in symptoms severity (i.e., general psychopathology, dissociative symptoms, and impulsivity) as well as in cognitive performance (i.e., executive functioning) was observed after NF. Moreover, a decrease of theta/beta ratio (i.e., a marker of executive control and cognitive processing capacity) was mainly detected in the mid-frontal cortex at the end of NF training. Taken together our results provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of theta/beta NF in enhancing top-down cognitive control in patients with GD.

Both clinical observations and empirical data suggest that metacognitive functioning is a factor strongly associated with a good psychotherapeutic outcome. It has been suggested that some interpersonal social motivations (i.e., attachment and cooperation) may be associated with different levels of metacognitive functioning also within the therapeutic relationship. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between cooperation and metacognitive monitoring within 58 psychotherapy sessions from seven different patients. All patients were initially assessed through a detailed psychiatric interview. Patients' adult attachment styles were evaluated using the Attachment Style Questionnaire. The association between the activation of patients' interpersonal social motivations (e.g., cooperation and attachment) and the modifications of metacognitive abilities during sessions was investigated using the Assessing Interpersonal Motivations in Transcripts method and the Metacognition Assessment Scale have been used. Our results showed that the activation of the patient's cooperative system is positively associated with an increase in metacognitive functioning, while the activation of attachment is not. The results of the present study have important implications for clinicians: they give empirical support for the role of cooperation in fostering metacognition within the therapeutic relationship.

Background: Depression and anxiety belong to a family of mental disturbances that have increased significantly in recent years. The etiology of both disorders comprises multiple and complex factors, from genetic background to environmental influence. Since depression and anxiety present severe symptoms, they represent a greater clinical burden and greater therapeutic difficulty. Currently, standardized diagnostic procedures for depression and anxiety allow for the addition of further treatments, including psychotherapy and/or pharmacological intervention, with effective outcomes. However, further steps should be considered with regard to consideration of the endocannabinoid system's role in depression and anxiety., Objective: This study aimed to review the evidence from animal research and clinical studies on the role of cannabinoid receptors, the major endocannabinoids -anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)- and the enzymes related to the synthesis and degradation of these chemicals as putative biomarkers for diagnostic and therapeutic elements of depression and anxiety., Methods: This review included the online search, identification, and analysis of articles (basic and clinical trials) published in English in PubMed linked to the role of cannabinoid receptors, AEA, 2- AG, and the enzymes associated with the synthesis and degradation of these endocannabinoids in depression and anxiety., Results: The neurobiological relevance of the endocannabinoid system offers genetic or pharmacological manipulation of this system as a potential strategy for the diagnostic and clinical management of mood disorders, including depression and anxiety., Conclusion: Although the described approach in this review is promising, no solid evidence is yet available, and along with additional experiments using animal models that mimic human depression and anxiety, clinical trials are needed to explore the role of the endocannabinoid system's elements as well as the anandamide membrane transporter, none of which have been adequately studied in depression and anxiety., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)