Childhood adversity, symptoms, and cortisol in first episode psychosis: a cross-sectional, secondary, observational analysis of a subsample of FEP patients.

Background: Although it has been proposed that childhood adversities (CAs) may affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and psychotic symptoms severity, these associations have not been fully confirmed in first-episode psychosis (FEP). This study explored the association between CA, cortisol and psychotic symptoms in FEP patients.

Methods: 81 FEP patients were enrolled.

Underestimated Needs for Lymphoma Patients: An Assessment Issue.

Background And Aim Of The Work: The aim of the current study was to explore under-considered psychosocial needs for lymphoma cancer group. A model of the role of psychosocial factors and Stressful Life Events was operationalized.

Method: We used Discriminant Analysis to test predictive power of the model.

Stressful life events and psychosis: Gender differences.

There is evidence that stressful events are associated with psychosis. This study aimed to explore sex differences in the association between stressful life events occurring during childhood and adulthood and psychosis. A total of 78 psychotic patients and 156 controls were enrolled.

Assessing psychological needs in female cancer patients: a tailored model.

Background And Aim Of The Work: Psychosocial needs in cancer patients seem to be underestimated and undertreated. The present research was designed to explore under-considered psychosocial needs (e.g.

The Burden of Agoraphobia in Worsening Quality of Life in a Community Survey in Italy.

Objective: Current nosology redefined agoraphobia as an autonomous diagnosis distinct from panic disorder. We investigated the lifetime prevalence of agoraphobia, its association with other mental disorders, and its impact on the health-related quality of life (HR-QoL).

Methods: Community survey in 2,338 randomly selected adult subjects.

The lifetime prevalence and impact of generalized anxiety disorders in an epidemiologic Italian National Survey carried out by clinicians by means of semi-structured interviews.

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most reported diagnoses in psychiatry, but there is some discrepancy between the cases identified in community studies and those identified in tertiary care. This study set out to evaluate whether the use of clinicians as interviewers may provide estimates in a community survey close to those observed in primary or specialized care.

Methods: This is a community survey on a randomly selected sample of 2338 adult subjects.

The Burden of Comorbidity Between Bipolar Spectrum and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in an Italian Community Survey.

The impact of the comorbidity between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Bipolar Disorder Spectrum (BDS) remains to be clarified. The objective of this study was to examine the lifetime prevalence of OCD, the strength of the association of OCD with comorbid BDS and the role of comorbidity of OCD with BDS in the impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in an Italian community survey. The study is a community survey.

Childhood trauma and glucose metabolism in patients with first-episode psychosis.

Although the associations between first-episode psychosis (FEP) and metabolic abnormalities on one side, and childhood trauma (CT) and risk of developing psychosis on the other are both well established, evidence on the relationship between CT and metabolic dysregulation in terms of abnormal glucose metabolism is very limited. We tested whether, already at illness onset, FEP patients with a history of CT show dysregulation of a broad range of glucose metabolism markers. In particular, in 148 FEP patients we evaluated serum concentrations of c-peptide, insulin, plasminogen-activator-inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), resistin, visfatin, glucagon, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), gastric-inhibitor-peptide (GIP), leptin, and ghrelin.

Impairment of Quality of Life Associated With Lifetime Diagnosis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Women - A National Survey in Italy.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to measure the lifetime prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among women of an Italian community sample, the comorbidity of PTSD with mood and anxiety disorders and the burden attributable to PTSD in worsening the Quality of Life (QoL).

Methods: Community survey on a sample of 1961 adult women randomly selected. Tools: psychiatric clinical interview ANTAS partially derived from the SCID-DSM-IV, administered by psychologists or medical doctors; Short Form Health Survey (SF-12); Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

The Prevalence of Specific Phobia by Age in an Italian Nationwide Survey: How Much Does it Affect the Quality of Life?

Introduction: The study aimed to see if a community survey conducted by clinical interviewers with semi-structured psychiatric interviews shows lifetime prevalence rates of Specific Phobia (SP) similar to those found by surveys carried out by lay interviewers and if the high level of impairment found in SP may be confirmed.

Methods: This is a community survey on an Italian nationwide sample randomly selected from registers of municipalities. Tools: semi-structured ANTAS psychiatric interview derived from the SCID-DSM-IV, carried out by clinicians (psychologists or physicians); Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) as a measure of Quality of Life (QoL).

Parental style and Cloninger's model in psychosis.

Parental style and Cloninger's dimensions are associated with psychosis, but it is still unclear whether temperament, character and parenting variables are linked to specific psychotic symptoms. This study extends previous research exploring these issues. 78 patients with psychosis and 156 control subjects were recruited.

Influence of childhood trauma on diagnosis and substance use in first-episode psychosis.

Childhood trauma has been significantly associated with first-episode psychosis, affective dysfunction and substance use.To test whether people with first-episode psychosis who had experienced childhood trauma, when compared with those who had not, showed a higher rate of affective psychosis and an increased lifetime rate of substance use.The sample comprised 345 participants with first-episode psychosis (58% male, mean age 29.

Recent life events and psychosis: The role of childhood adversities.

Life events are commonly reported to be related to psychosis. However, less attention has been given to the role that recent events play on psychosis, in relation to exposure to childhood adversity. The current study aimed to evaluate the relationship between recent events and psychosis, taking into account the role of early adversities.

Childhood Adversity, Cortisol Levels, and Psychosis: A Retrospective Investigation.

Although it has been proposed that the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may act as a possible pathway linking early life stress to psychosis, this relationship has not yet been fully confirmed. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood adversity (CA), cortisol levels, and psychosis. Eighty-five patients with psychosis and 170 control subjects were enrolled in the study.

Does Mood Disorder Questionnaire identify sub-threshold bipolarity? Evidence studying worsening of quality of life.

Objective: It is debated whether the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) can generate false positives by screening other disorders as bipolar, or identify sub-threshold bipolarity. The aim is to verify if Quality of Life (QoL) impairment in MQD positives in the community is due to MDQ positivity itself, or to psychiatric diagnosis associated with MDQ positivity (supporting the former hypothesis).

Method: Community survey.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Multi-Element Psychosocial Intervention for First-Episode Psychosis: Results From the Cluster-Randomized Controlled GET UP PIANO Trial in a Catchment Area of 10 Million Inhabitants.

Integrated multi-element psychosocial interventions have been suggested to improve the outcomes of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, but they have been studied primarily in experimental settings and in nonepidemiologically representative samples. Thus, we performed a cluster-randomized controlled trial, comparing an integrated multi-element psychosocial intervention, comprising cognitive behavioral therapy, family intervention, and case management, with treatment as usual (TAU) for FEP patients in 117 community mental health centers (CMHCs) in a large area of northern Italy (10 million inhabitants). The randomized units (clusters) were the CMHCs, and the units of observation the patients (and, when available, their family members).

The attributable burden of panic disorder in the impairment of quality of life in a national survey in Italy.

Introduction/objective: The aim was to measure the lifetime prevalence of panic disorder (PD) in an Italian community sample, and to estimate the burden attributable to PD in compromising the quality of life (QoL) of people diagnosed with it.

Methods: Community survey was conducted on a sample of 4,999 randomly selected adult subjects. Instruments used were semi-structured clinical interview Advanced Neuropsychiatric Tools and Assessment Schedule (ANTAS), administered by clinicians and allowing diagnosis according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (4th ed.

Temperament and emotional eating: a crucial relationship in eating disorders.

Specific personality traits are related to Eating Disorders (EDs) specific and general psychopathology. Recent studies suggested that Emotional Eating (EE) is a common dimension in all EDs, irrespective of binge eating. The present study was aimed to explore the relationship of temperamental features with EE and eating symptomatology in a sample of EDs patients, adjusting for general psychopathology.

Is feeling extraneous from one's own body a core vulnerability feature in eating disorders?

Objective: To identify core vulnerability features capable of discriminating subjects who are more prone to develop eating disorders.

Sampling And Methods: A nonclinical group composed of 253 university students was studied by means of the Identity and Eating Disorders questionnaire (IDEA), exploring abnormal attitudes toward one's own body and difficulties in the definition of one's own identity, the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) and different self-reported questionnaires evaluating the specific and general psychopathology of eating disorders. The results were compared with those of a clinical eating disorder group.

Eating disorders as a public health issue: prevalence and attributable impairment of quality of life in an Italian community sample.

The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) in the community is still under debate, as well as the measure of their impact on the well-being of individuals. It was decided to evaluate the prevalence of eating disorders in an Italian community sample as well as to measure the burden of the quality of life of people and to compare it to those attributable to other chronic illnesses. A community survey of 4,999 people using a questionnaire on health services utilization, the Advanced Neuropsychiatric Tools and Assessment Schedule (ANTAS), a semi-structured clinical interview derived from the non-patient version of the DSM-IV (SCID/NP) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was conducted.

Religion orientations and eating disorders.

Background: The aim of the present case-control study was to evaluate the relationships between eating disorder (ED) psychopathology and two different religious orientations: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Methods: Twenty-three anorexia nervosa, 10 bulimia nervosa and 39 binge eating disorder patients were compared with 72 healthy control subjects, using the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS).

Results: ED patients showed higher scores on the extrinsic subscale and lower intrinsic religiousness subscale compared to healthy controls.

Course and moderators of emotional eating in anorectic and bulimic patients: a follow-up study.

Emotion dysregulation has been found to be associated with specific eating attitudes and behavior in Eating Disorder (ED) patients. The present study evaluated whether emotional eating profile of ED patients changes over time and the possible effects of a psychotherapeutic intervention on the emotional eating dimension. One hundred and two ED patients (28 with Anorexia Nervosa restricting type [AN-R], 35 with Anorexia Nervosa binge/purging subtype [AN-B/P] and 39 with Bulimia Nervosa [BN]) were evaluated at baseline, at the end of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, at 3 and 6 year follow-up.

Brain Circulation during Panic Attack: A Transcranial Doppler Study with Clomipramine Challenge.

Introduction. Cerebral blood flow has been well studied in patients with panic disorder, but only few studies analyzed the mechanisms underlying the onset of a panic attack. The aim of the present study was to monitor the cerebral hemodynamics modifications during a panic attack.