Publications by authors named "Andrea Zagaria"

Background: The Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS) is a 12-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess cognitive flexibility. Despite its widespread use, its psychometric properties have yet to be evaluated in the Italian context. Furthermore, while cognitive flexibility has emerged as a central correlate in Feeding and Eating Disorders, only a limited number of studies have investigated its association with Orthorexia Nervosa (ON), a clinical condition characterized by a pathological fixation with healthy eating.

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Psychological safety has recently emerged as a central construct, strictly implicated in mental health and emotional well-being. The Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) is the first scale designed to assess feelings of psychological safety from a multidimensional perspective. However, the robustness of its factorial structure requires further examination in large community samples, and evidence of construct validity along with measurement invariance across genders is scarce.

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Insomnia, i.e., difficulties in sleep onset and sleep maintenance, may increase the risk of anxiety symptoms, although long-term follow-up studies are rarely reported.

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Dysregulated eating behaviors, comprising subthreshold and clinical binge-eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN), are increasing among the general population, with a consequent negative impact on one's health and well-being. Despite the severity of these outcomes, people with BED and BN often face a delay in receiving a diagnosis or treatment, often due to difficulties in accessing care. Hence, evidence-based and sustainable interventions for eating symptomatology are needed.

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Previous evidence showed that Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is positively associated with different Problematic Online Behaviors (POBs). This study aimed to investigate the mutual relationship between MD and several POBs. Data were collected from 1209 participants, aged 18-73 (M = 30.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Depression
  • : Childhood trauma (ACEs) is linked to a higher likelihood of developing depression in adults, and the role of inflammation in this connection is being explored.
  • Study Overview and Findings
  • : A systematic review involved 22 studies analyzing inflammatory markers (like CRP and IL-6) in relation to ACEs and adult depression. Initial findings indicated that inflammation significantly mediated the ACE-depression link, though this effect diminished when considering body mass index (BMI).
  • Complex Interactions Identified
  • : Although findings suggest a relationship between ACEs, inflammation, and depression, caution is advised due to the study's cross-sectional nature. The results imply that
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Vital Exhaustion (VE) refers to a physical and mental state of excessive fatigue, feelings of demoralization, hopelessness, and increased irritability. The short form of the Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire (MVEQ) is a widely used measure to assess VE. Despite its utility is broadly recognized, the validity and reliability of the scale have yet to be examined in the Italian context.

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Introduction: Body shaming (BS) is a growing phenomenon within the school context, especially among adolescents. Recently, it has been described as an unrepeated act in which a person expresses unsolicited, mostly negative comments about an individual's body. The targeted person perceives these comments as negative, offensive or body shame-inducing.

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Background: Parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may experience a lower quality of life (QoL) than parents of offspring with typical development. However, factors associated with parental QoL are not yet fully understood.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between parental QoL, child adjustment and adult attachment among parents of children and adolescents with ASD.

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Objective: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often comorbid with mood disorders and depressive symptoms. The aetiology of depressive symptoms in IBD, however, remains largely unknown. Consistent with the inflammatory hypothesis of depression, the aim of this study was to explore the prospective associations between inflammatory biomarkers and depressive symptoms in a cohort of IBD patients with and without a previous clinical diagnosis of mood disorder.

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Background: Existing research has revealed a robust association between bullying victimization and psychological distress, but less is known about the underlying mechanism of this link. cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies could be a potential mediator. The current study examined the role of functional and dysfunctional CER strategies as potential mediators of the association between bullying victimization and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among 638 high school students (53.

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Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the occurrence of psychological disturbances, such as depressive and anxiety symptomatology, thereby significantly impacting individuals' lifestyles by disrupting sleep patterns. This study aimed to elucidate the interconnections between emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, and daytime sleepiness.

Method: We recruited 632 community adults who underwent an online survey of self-report questionnaires, including the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).

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Purpose: The importance of sociality in psychology and psychotherapy is quite undisputed; however, this construct risks being underestimated in psychiatric nosography. The aim of the review was to assess the relevance of sociality in DSM 5 criteria.

Method: Sociality-laden criteria of 192 selected DSM categories have been identified through a textual grid.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how sleep problems changed during three stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on factors that influenced these changes and the role of poor sleep hygiene.
  • A total of 352 participants filled out questionnaires online at three different points: Spring 2020, Autumn-Winter 2020, and Spring 2021.
  • Results showed an increase in sleep issues from the first to the second wave, which correlated with bad sleep hygiene, suggesting that improving sleep habits could help reduce pandemic-related sleep disruptions.*
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Article Synopsis
  • - The systematic review examines university counseling services (UCSs) to understand their role in mental health assessment and interventions aimed at helping students manage psychological issues; it follows PRISMA guidelines and analyzed 152 eligible articles.
  • - The findings reveal that both face-to-face and web-based counseling effectively enhance mental health among university students, though there are significant biases in help-seeking behaviors, particularly among international students.
  • - The review emphasizes the need to address cultural barriers in seeking help, highlights the limited resources available for UCSs, and calls for more randomized clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of these psychological interventions.
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Background: Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is an emerging clinical condition characterized by a pathological fixation with healthy eating. Recently, the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory (ONI) has emerged as a promising tool for assessing orthorexic tendencies and behaviours, aiming to overcome the well-established limitations of existing measures for ON. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the ONI.

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Purpose: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) refers to an individual's perception of their physical and mental health status over time. Although emerging evidence has documented a negative association between weight stigma (i.e.

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While difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are consistently linked to poor mental health in adulthood, findings in adolescence have been more mixed. Cognitive ER strategies, which involve the ability to manage emotions through mental processes, may be particularly important during different stages of development due to age-specific adjustments. We conducted two exploratory and cross-sectional studies to examine the relationships between cognitive ER strategies and mental health (i.

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Article Synopsis
  • Psychological interventions can effectively improve inflammation-related conditions, showing some impact on immune responses, although this is still under debate.
  • A systematic review analyzed data from 104 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 7,820 participants, using various types of interventions.
  • Cognitive therapy, lifestyle changes, and mindfulness practices significantly reduced proinflammatory markers, with mindfulness also increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines, while results for natural killer cell activity were inconclusive.
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High variability of influenza vaccine efficacy requires the identification of modulators of immunisation that may be targeted as adjuvants in health psychology interventions. Psychosocial and behavioural variables such as psychological stress, greater negative and lower positive affectivity, poor sleep, loneliness, and lack of social support, have been associated with abnormal immune and inflammatory responses and negative health outcomes, yet their effects in modulating vaccine efficacy are yet to be fully understood. We conducted an updated systematic review of longitudinal and experimental studies examining the effects of such variables in predicting immune response to influenza vaccine.

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Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), including persecutory ideation, bizarre experiences, and perceptual abnormalities, are considered risk factors for psychotic disorders and mental distress in the general population. The cognitive-affective mechanisms associated with PLEs remain under-investigated. We aimed to longitudinally assess the reciprocal associations between perseverative cognition (PC), an emerging transdiagnostic factor of psychopathology, and PLEs facets in young adults.

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