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There is evidence that anxiety and avoidance toward close relationships (i.e., insecure attachment orientations), as well as posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs), are linked to a poor quality of life. The current study aimed to investigate the potential mediating effects of PTSSs on the associations between insecure attachment orientations and domains of quality of life. A convenience sample of 497 adults (375 females, 75.5%), ranging in age between 18 and 65 years old (M = 32.48, SD = 13.26), was recruited. Participants were administered self-report instruments assessing attachment anxiety and avoidance, PTSSs, and domains of quality of life, including physical health, psychological status, social relationships, and environment. A series of mediation analyses were performed to test the mediating role of PTSSs in the relationships between attachment orientations and domains of quality of life. Results showed that attachment anxiety was related to decreased levels of quality of life in all domains, and that their associations were mediated by PTSSs. Also, attachment avoidance was related to a worse quality of psychological status and social relationships, and PTSSs were a significant mediating variable in these associations. Prevention programs and clinical interventions focused on promoting effective strategies for managing distress might be critical in reducing the impact of distressing events on the quality of life of individuals with insecure attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to summarize existing studies on the association between solitary experiences and problematic social media use (PSMU) among young adults. Method: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines, implemented in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO. We selected studies if they presented original data, assessed solitary experiences and PSMU in young adults (i.e., 18-30 age range), were published in peer reviewed journals between 2004 and 2023, and were written in English. Results: After duplicate removal, 1,841 eligible studies were found. From these, 12 articles were selected, encompassing 4,009 participants. Most studies showed a positive association between general loneliness and PSMU. Some of these suggested that this relationship varies based on the facets of loneliness, other potential variables, and the type of social media. No mediating factors were found. Few studies assessed solitary experiences other than general loneliness, highlighting the need for a multidimensional perspective on solitary experience in investigating PSMU. Conclusions: Implications and future research orientations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence suggests that obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) are positively associated with exposure to traumatic experiences and dissociative symptoms in both clinical and community samples. The current study was aimed at investigating the relationships between traumatic experiences, dissociation, and OCSs. A sample of 333 community adults (56.8% females) aged from 18 to 56 years (mean [SD], 25.64 [6.70] years) completed measures on traumatic experiences, dissociative symptoms, and OCSs. A structural equation modeling (SEM) framework was used to test if dissociative symptoms mediated the relationship between traumatic experiences and OCSs. SEM analyses showed that dissociation fully mediated the predictive association between traumatic experiences of emotional neglect and abuse and OCSs in the sample. Accordingly, some individuals suffering from OCSs might benefit from clinical interventions aimed at processing and integrating traumatic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The positive association between problematic Internet use (PIU) and emotion dysregulation (ED) is well documented. Research has also found that interpersonal guilt is positively associated with ED. Nevertheless, the influence of interpersonal guilt on PIU has been scarcely examined. In the current study, we investigated the relationships among the three constructs, and tested if emotion dysregulation mediates the association between interpersonal guilt and different types of PIU, namely problematic online gaming, problematic social media use, and problematic online pornography use. Method: A sample of 434 adult participants (210 males, 48.4%) aged between 18 and 69 years old completed self-reported measures on interpersonal guilt, ED, and PIU. A structural equation modeling (SEM) framework was used to test the mediation models. Results: SEM analyses showed that ED mediates the relationship between interpersonal guilt as antecedent, and problematic online gaming, problematic social media use, and problematic online pornography use as outcomes. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that emotion dysregulation deriving from experiences of interpersonal guilt can amplify the risk of using gaming, social media, and online pornography in a problematic way. Implications for prevention and treatment of PIU are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual offending is a highly relevant public health problem. The effectiveness of policies and interventions aimed at the reduction of violent (sexual and nonsexual) recidivism depends on our ability to develop accurate risk assessment tools. To assess the association between violence risk and psychopathy and dysfunctional personality traits in sexual offending, a national sample of 82 male sex offenders were administered the Italian translations of the HCR-20 V-3, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. Selected demographic variables were significantly and non-negligibly associated with increased risk of violence; moreover, specific PID-5 traits were found to be significantly, positively, and non-negligibly associated with sexual offender's increased risk for violence. According to our findings, sexual offenders who were not working before conviction, have to serve a long time in jail, manifest prominent observer-rated psychopathy features, and report high scores on restricted affectivity, intimacy avoidance, callousness, distractibility, and irresponsibility, over and above their PID-5 psychopathy-related personality profile and PCL-R total score, are likely to have an increased risk for general violence. Our findings suggested that personality dysfunctions, as they are assessed relying on both PCL-R and PID-5, may play a major role as risk factors for general violence in male adult sexual offenders. Overall, our study provided useful data for increasing the understanding of the risk for general violence among male adult sexual offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article is aimed to discuss the construct of maladaptive daydreaming (MD), by examining its characteristics and its differences with common fantasies and with other psychopathological conditions. The MD can be defined as a disorder characterized by a widespread use of the imagination that compromise the individual's functioning. From a phenomenological and psychopathological perspective, MD shares several common features of other disorders that are currently conceptualized within the spectrum of behavioral addictions. It is characterized by obsessive, impulsive, compulsive and dissociative dynamics, including the use of rituals, such as listening to music and kinesthetic activity, which serve to increase the degree of absorption toward one's own internal world. MD has high levels of comorbidity with other disorders, which can lead to misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment. In fact, the dynamics underlying this disorder can generate symptoms belonging to different psychopathological conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive disorders, and dissociative disorders. Therefore, the clinician should be aware of the clinical elements that are useful for differentiating MD from other disorders, and should know the measures used to assess and quantify the symptoms of MD, in order to effectively treat the individuals who suffer from this disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Symptoms of problematic Internet use (PIU) may be increased in people who display an excessive involvement in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). Notably, impulsivity and alexithymia have not been investigated together in the literature addressing the predictors of PIU among gamers, despite evidence that these personality traits may play a pivotal role in the development of problematic gaming patterns. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between facets of alexithymia and impulsivity and PIU scores among MMORPG players. Method: In the current study, 364 World of Warcraft (WoW) players (272 males, 74.7%) aged 18 to 48 years old provided socio-demographic information and completed questionnaires on PIU, time spent online playing WoW, alexithymia, and impulsivity. Results: PIU scores were negatively associated with age and positively associated with alexithymia scores, impulsivity scores, and time spent online playing WoW. A linear regression analysis showed that PIU scores were predicted by time spent online playing WoW, the alexithymic features concerning difficulties identifying and describing feelings, and attentional impulsivity. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that MMORPG players with difficulties concerning affect awareness and a tendency to be distracted by novel stimuli may spend an excessive amount of time playing video games and may also show prominent symptoms of PIU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]