Openness buffers the impact of Belief in Conspiracy Theories on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from a large, representative Italian sample.

As COVID-19 continues to incur enormous personal and societal costs, widespread vaccination against the virus remains the most effective strategy to end the pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy is rampant and has been steadily rising for decades. Seeking to remedy this, personality psychologists have begun to explore psychological drivers of vaccine hesitancy, including the Big Five.

Conspiracy mentality and health-related behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multiwave survey in Italy.

Objectives: This study aimed to (1) explore the changes in conspiracy mentality across the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) assess the relationship between conspirative mentality and psychological/behavioural variables; (3) identify the predictors of conspirative mentality; and (4) explore the effect of conspirative mentality on COVID-19 protective behaviour.

Study Design: This was a multiwave survey.

Methods: A total of 10,013 Italian individuals, aged 18-70 years, were assessed across the four waves (from January to May 2021) through online survey.

Psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy assessed in a four-waves survey.

COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the mental health and well-being (WB) of citizens. This cross-sectional study included 4 waves of data collection aimed at identifying profiles of individuals with different levels of WB. The study included a representative stratified sample of 10,013 respondents in Italy.

Willingness to share contacts in case of COVID-19 positivity-predictors of collaboration resistance in a nation-wide Italian survey.

Background: The unwillingness to share contacts is one of the least explored aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we report the factors associated with resistance to collaborate on contact tracing, based on the results of a nation-wide survey conducted in Italy in January-March 2021.

Methods And Findings: The repeated cross-sectional on-line survey was conducted among 7,513 respondents (mean age 45.

Positive and negative syndrome scale in forensic patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Among forensic patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, the association between symptomatology and violence is still not entirely clear in literature, especially because symptoms shift both during the acute phase of the illness and after. The aims were to investigate the level of symptomatology in forensic patients and to evaluate if there are differences in the level of symptoms between forensic and non-forensic patients. According to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest, using the following key words: "forensic" AND "Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale" OR "PANSS".

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Italy: Predictors of Acceptance, Fence Sitting and Refusal of the COVID-19 Vaccination.

Background: The hesitancy in taking the COVID-19 vaccine is a global challenge. The need to identify predictors of COVID-19 vaccine reluctance is critical. Our objectives were to evaluate sociodemographic, psychological, and behavioral factors, as well as attitudes and beliefs that influence COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy in the general population of Italy.

Who is likely to vacillate in their COVID-19 vaccination decision? Free-riding intention and post-positive reluctance.

Despite the actual availability of COVID-19 vaccines to combat the pandemic, many people are still vacillating in their decision to vaccinate. In this study, we considered the effect of two relevant contextual issues on vaccination intention: the number of people infected with COVID-19 is increasing, and the pace of vaccination is gaining speed. Specifically, we hypothesized that having already contracted SARS-CoV-2 (post-positive reluctance) could lead people to underestimate the importance of vaccination.

Substance use disorders and violent behaviour in patients with severe mental disorders: A prospective, multicentre study.

Objective: The relationship between alcohol and substance use and the risk of violence exhibited by patients with mental disorders is under-researched. This prospective cohort study aims to compare patients with severe mental disorders and with different substance use behaviors in terms of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, hostility, impulsivity and aggressive behaviors. Furthermore, this study aims to assess differences in violent behaviors during a 1-year monitoring follow-up.

Aggressive behavior and metacognitive functions: a longitudinal study on patients with mental disorders.

Background: Metacognitive functions play a key role in understanding which psychological variables underlying the personality might lead a person with a severe mental disorder to commit violent acts against others. The aims of this study were to: (a) investigate the differences between patients with poor metacognitive functioning (PM group) and patients with good metacognitive functioning (GM group) in relation to a history of violence; (b) investigate the differences between the two groups in relation to aggressive behavior during a 1-year follow-up; and (c) analyze the predictors of aggressive behavior.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study, patients with severe mental disorders with and without a lifetime history of serious violence were assessed with a large set of standardized instruments and were evaluated bi-monthly with MOAS in order to monitor any aggressive behavior.

Neuropsychological features in patients with severe mental disorders and risk of violence: A prospective multicenter study in Italy.

In Severe Mental Disorders (SMDs) the most important cognitive deficits involve the Executive Functions (EFs). In this study we examined the association between EFs and aggressive behaviour in outpatients with SMDs. We included a total of 247 outpatients divided into two groups: 'cases', patients with a history of violence (N=126) and 'non-violent' (N=121).

Prescribing Patterns of Psychotropic Drugs and Risk of Violent Behavior: A Prospective, Multicenter Study in Italy.

Background: This prospective cohort study aimed at evaluating patterns of polypharmacy and aggressive and violent behavior during a 1-year follow-up in patients with severe mental disorders.

Methods: A total of 340 patients (125 inpatients from residential facilities and 215 outpatients) were evaluated at baseline with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and II, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Specific Levels of Functioning scale, Brown-Goodwin Lifetime History of Aggression, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2. Aggressive behavior was rated every 15 days with the Modified Overt Aggression Scale and treatment compliance with the Medication Adherence Rating Scale.

Publisher Correction: Self-harm behaviour and externally-directed aggression in psychiatric outpatients: a multicentre, prospective study (viormed-2 study).

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The Long-Term Effectiveness of Psychoeducation for Bipolar Disorders in Mental Health Services. A 4-Year Follow-Up Study.

The aims of the present study were to assess: the effectiveness of psychoeducation in mental health service (MHSs) in terms of time to first hospitalization during 4-year follow-up; the number and the days of hospitalizations, and the number of people hospitalized at 4-year follow-up; and variables associated with better outcome in BD patients. This is a controlled study involving an experimental group (N = 57) and a control group (N = 52). The treatment phase consists of 21 weeks, in which all participants received TAU, while the experimental group received additional psychoeducation.

Self-harm behaviour and externally-directed aggression In psychiatric outpatients: a multicentre, prospective study (viormed-2 study).

The aim of the project was to investigate differences between outpatients with Severe Mental Disorders (SMDs) with and without a history of Self-Harm behaviour (SHb) and/or Violent behaviour against other people (Vb) in relation to: (a) socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, (b) violent behaviour during a 1-year FU, (c) predictors of SHb and Vb during the FU. Outpatients with SMDs, with and without a history of Vb were enrolled. They were divided in four groups: patients with lifetime Vb (V), patients with both Vb and SHb (V-SH), patients with only SHb (SH) and patients with no history of SHb and Vb (control group, CONT).

Personality, Schizophrenia, and Violence: A Longitudinal Study: The Second Wave of the VIORMED Project.

This study investigated the association between maladaptive personality traits, personality disorders (PDs), schizophrenia, and the risk of aggressive behavior. Ninety-four patients with a history of violence and 92 patients with no history of violence underwent a multidimensional baseline assessment. Aggressive behavior was monitored during a 1-year follow-up through the Modified Overt Aggression Scale.

Facial emotion recognition in people with schizophrenia and a history of violence: a mediation analysis.

Evidence for an association between impaired facial emotion recognition and violence in people with schizophrenia is inconclusive. In particular, the role of misidentification patterns involving specific emotions such as anger and the influence of clinical characteristics on this association remain unclear. In this study, we compared facial emotion recognition performance in age- and gender-matched schizophrenia spectrum disorders subjects with (N = 52) and without (N = 52) a history of violence.

Violence risk and mental disorders (VIORMED-2): A prospective multicenter study in Italy.

Background: The management of mentally ill offenders in the community is one of the great challenges imposed on community psychiatry.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors and violent behavior in a sample of outpatients with severe mental disorders.

Method: This was a prospective cohort study with a baseline cross-sectional design used to provide a detailed analysis of patients' profiles, followed by a longitudinal design to measure aggressive and violent behavior during a 1-year follow-up.

Personality, Schizophrenia, and Violence: A Longitudinal Study.

The aims of this study were (a) to investigate the presence of clinically significant personality traits and personality disorders (PD) in patients living in residential facilities, with or without a history of violence (69 and 46, respectively); and (b) to investigate any associations between clinically significant personality traits and PDs, aggression, impulsivity, hostility, and violent behavior during a 1-year follow-up. The most frequent primary diagnoses were schizophrenia (58.3%) and PD (20.

Clinical and neuropsychological features of violence in schizophrenia: A prospective cohort study.

The increased risk of violence in schizophrenia has been linked to several environmental, clinical and neuropsychological factors, including executive dysfunction. However, data about the nature of these effects are mixed and controversial. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between clinical and neuropsychological factors with violence risk in patients with schizophrenia, taking into account current psychopathology and lifetime alcohol use.

Monitoring and predicting the risk of violence in residential facilities. No difference between patients with history or with no history of violence.

Background: Most people with mental disorders are not violent. However, the lack of specific studies in this area and recent radical changes in Italy, including the closure of six Forensic Mental Hospitals, has prompted a more detailed investigation of patients with aggressive behaviour.

Aims: To compare socio-demographic, clinical and treatment-related characteristics of long-term inpatients with a lifetime history of serious violence with controls; to identify predictors of verbal and physical aggressive behaviour during 1-year follow-up.

Violent behavior of patients living in psychiatric residential facilities: a comparison of male patients with different violence histories.

People with severe mental disorders and a history of violence are often seen as a difficult-to-manage segment of the population. In addition, this group is usually characterized by a high risk of crime recidivism, and poor compliance with community and aftercare programs. To investigate a sample of male patients living in Residential Facilities (RFs) with a history of violent behavior against people and to compare their characteristics with those of never-violent residents; to analyze the associations between aggressive behaviors in the last two years and a history of previous violence; and, to assess the predictors of aggressive behaviors.

Frequency of trauma exposure and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Italy: analysis from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

Epidemiological studies have examined the relative importance of Traumatic Events (TEs) in accounting for the societal burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, most studies used the worst trauma experienced, which can lead to an overestimation of the conditional risk of PTSD. Although a number of epidemiological surveys on PTSD have been carried out in the United States, only a few studies in limited sample have been conducted in Italy.

Monitoring and evaluating the Italian mental health system: the "Progetto Residenze" study and beyond.

Filling an alarming gap in evidence-based data on the post-1978 reformed Italian psychiatric system, two turn-of-millennium nationwide projects, Progetto Residenze (PROGRES) and PROGRES-Acute, provided detailed qualitative-quantitative information about care facilities. In 2000, there were 2.9 residential beds per 10,000 inhabitants, hospital care being delivered through small (15-bed) psychiatric units.

The effect of service satisfaction and spiritual well-being on the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia.

Quality of life (QOL) has been considered an important outcome measure in psychiatric research and determinants of QOL have been widely investigated. We aimed at detecting predictors of QOL at baseline and at testing the longitudinal interrelations of the baseline predictors with QOL scores at a 1-year follow-up in a sample of patients living in Residential Facilities (RFs). Logistic regression models were adopted to evaluate the association between WHOQoL-Bref scores and potential determinants of QOL.

Is structured group psychoeducation for bipolar patients effective in ordinary mental health services? A controlled trial in Italy.

Background: Recent reviews of evidence-based guidelines for the clinical management of Bipolar Disorders (BD) have recommended that "all patients with BD be offered group or individual psychoeducation" to prevent relapse, improve treatment adherence, quality of life, and functioning. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of psychoeducation in routine mental health services in reducing number of hospitalisations and number of days spent in hospital, at a 1-year follow-up.

Methods: A total of 102 outpatients were recruited from two Italian Departments of Mental Health.