Improving Purpose in Life in School Settings.

The dimension of purpose in life (PiL) is one of the core features of eudaimonia and plays a crucial role in developmental settings. However, few studies have examined purpose in life in younger generations and verified if it is amenable to improvements following a wellbeing-promoting intervention. The aim of the present investigation is to explore correlates and predictors of purpose in life in school children and to test if it can be ameliorated after school-based wellbeing interventions.

The use of narrative strategies based on fairytales as a novel, integrative ingredient in CBT: a case report.

Even though cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often the recommended treatment for mental health problems, it may present limitations when dealing with existential or moral issues. The aim of this case report is to describe the introduction of narrative techniques based on traditional fairytales in the process of CBT, in order to overcome treatment resistances and to help the patient in dealing with major life crises. In the case presented, the joint use of these two techniques helped the patient to achieve the right self-distance from her problems, allowing her to reach a new, wider perspective and a subjective self-maturation.

Positive Narrative Group Psychotherapy: the use of traditional fairy tales to enhance psychological well-being and growth.

Background: Oral narrative strategies have rarely been applied in the positive psychology domain. Traditional folk and fairy tales are concerned with several concepts that are now scientifically investigated by research on positive psychology, such as resilience, self-realization, personal growth and meaning in life. The aim of this pilot study was to apply a new narrative approach based on fairy tales (Märchen, tales of magic, rise tales) told, discussed, and written in a group context for the purpose of promoting psychological well-being and growth.

Alexithymia in the medically ill. Analysis of 1190 patients in gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology and dermatology.

Objective: To use the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) for characterizing alexithymia in a large and heterogeneous medical population, in conjunction with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and other DCPR criteria.

Method: Of 1305 patients recruited from 4 medical centers in the Italian Health System, 1190 agreed to participate. They all underwent an assessment with DSM-IV and DCPR structured interviews.

[Promoting psychosocial well-being in adolescence. A controlled study].

Introduction: In the recent years a large body of literature has focused its attention to the study of the positive aspects of adolescence, in particular quality of life, happiness and social functioning. The school is an ideal setting for promoting learning abilities, educational processes and also optimal human and social development.

Aim: A new school program for the promotion of psychological well-being has been tested and compared to an attention-placebo intervention in a high school setting.

[Italian validation of Multiple Visual Analogue Scales for Bipolarity (MVAS-BP) of Ahearn and Carroll].

Aim: The aim of the present study was to validate the Italian version and to assess the clinimetric properties of Ahearn and Carroll's Visual Analogue Scales for Bipolarity (MVAS-BP), a self-rating questionnaire measuring affective state.

Method: MVAS-BP consist of 26 items: 1 item assesses overall mood, 2 items anger and 23 items are based on the Carroll model of bipolar disorder (Consummatory Reward, Incentive Reward, Central Pain, Psychomotor Regulation). MVAS-BP have been translated into Italian and administered with Kellner's Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWB), and Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) to a normative sample of 450 people.

The pregnant uterus as a psycho-endocrine organ.

The pathogenesis of preterm birth (PTB) is largely unknown and the endocrine stress pathway is likely to participate in the mechanisms allowing onset of labor. However, the vast majority of the studies evaluating psychosocial distress denied an association with PTB. Uterine contractility rather than PTB seems associated with distress in pregnancy.

[The use of Well-Being Therapy in childhood: clinical cases].

Anxiety, mood and somatoform disorders are among the most prevalent forms of psychological suffering during childhood and adolescence. If untreated, these problems can be predictors of more severe disorders in adulthood. New trends in clinical psychology suggest the relevance of focusing on child's competencies and developing optimal functioning in youth.

[What are the differences between well-being therapy and anxiety management in the school setting?].

Background: In the last decade there has been increasing interest in the potential of early preventive interventions capable of promoting psychological well being in order to reduce the risk of childhood psychological distress. This study analyzes the differential effects of strategies for promotion of psychological well-being (Well-Being Therapy, WBT) and removal of distress (Anxiety Management, AM) in a non clinical school setting.

Methods: Our sample consisted of eight classes (N=162 students) attending middle schools in Northern Italy which were randomly assigned to a protocol derived from WBT (4 classes) and to an anxiety-management protocol (AM) (4 classes).

Differential effects of well-being promoting and anxiety-management strategies in a non-clinical school setting.

The aim of the present study was to examine the differential effects of strategies for promotion of psychological well-being (Well-Being Therapy, WBT) and removal of distress (Anxiety Management, AM) in a non-clinical school setting.162 students attending middle schools in Northern Italy were randomly assigned to: (a) a protocol derived from WBT; (b) an anxiety-management protocol (AM). The students were assessed immediately before and after the interventions, and after 6 months using: Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWB), Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS).

School intervention for promoting psychological well-being in adolescence.

Objective: to test the efficacy of a new school program for the promotion of psychological well-being. In this study a school program for promoting psychological well-being has been compared to an attention-placebo intervention in a high school setting.

Methods: Nine classes (227 students) were randomly assigned to: a) Well-Being intervention (5 classes); b)attention-placebo (4 classes).

Assessing somatization with various diagnostic criteria.

Background: Somatization is a widespread clinical phenomenon that cuts across diagnostic categories, both psychiatric and medical.

Objective: This study investigates whether somatization can be assessed with a comprehensive diagnostic system, the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in gastroenterology and cardiology (myocardial infarction) patients.

Method: Authors assessed a group of 343 outpatients, 190 gastroenterology and 153 cardiology outpatients, with functional gastrointestinal disorders and recent first myocardial infarction.

Psychosocial factors associated with preterm uterine contractions.

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate how sociodemographic factors, psychosocial adaptation to pregnancy and well-being levels are associated with the onset of preterm uterine contractions allowing symptomatic preterm labor.

Methods: In a prospective case-control design, 51 consecutive women admitted for threatened preterm labor were enrolled. The patients received standard care.

Psychological factors affecting cardiologic conditions.

There are substantial data supporting a strong relationship between cardiovascular diseases and psychological conditions. However, the criteria for scientific validation of the entities currently subsumed under the DSM-IV category of 'Psychological factors affecting a medical condition' have never been clearly enumerated and the terms 'psychological symptoms' and 'personality traits' that do not satisfy traditional psychiatric criteria are not well defined; moreover, it is difficult to measure these subtypes of distress and there is always the need for a clinical judgment. In recent years psychosomatic research has focused increasing attention on these clinical and methodological issues.

Psychosocial impairment in patients treated for pituitary disease: a controlled study.

Objective: To verify whether patients with pituitary disorders in remission and on appropriate treatment display significant differences in psychological distress compared to healthy controls and other patients treated for nonpituitary endocrine disorders.

Design: A single-centred, controlled study.

Patients: Eighty-six outpatients cured or in remission for at least 9 months following appropriate treatment by surgery, irradiation and/or pharmacological interventions for pituitary disease were compared with 86 healthy subjects.

Psychosomatic characterization of adjustment disorders in the medical setting: some suggestions for DSM-V.

Background: Adjustment disorders have been found to be the most frequent psychiatric diagnosis in the medically ill. Problems have been raised, however, as to their clinical value. The aim of the study was to characterize the psychosomatic features of adjustment disorders.

Irritable mood in Italian patients with medical disease.

Irritability may be a mood state independent of other moods and anxiety disorders, even though it may be symptomatic of several psychiatric disorders, such as major depression. The aims of this exploratory study were to verify the presence of irritable mood in a group of medical outpatients with a variety of clinical conditions (functional gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular disorders, endocrine diseases and cancer) and to examine its relationship with major depression. A total of 609 consecutive outpatients recruited from different medical settings were assessed according to DSM-IV and Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research using semistructured research interviews.

Prodromal symptoms in myocardial infarction.

Background: Little is known about the prodromal phase of myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of this study was to explore this phase with methodologies which have been standardized in affective disorders. The psychological evaluation of patients with MI diagnosis is currently based on DSM-IV criteria.

Assessing demoralization and depression in the setting of medical disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the presence of demoralization and major depression in the setting of medical disease.

Method: 807 consecutive outpatients recruited from different medical settings (gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology, and oncology) were assessed according to DSM-IV criteria and Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, using semistructured research interviews.

Results: Demoralization was identified in 245 patients (30.

Persistent psychological distress in patients treated for endocrine disease.

Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the frequency and characteristics of psychological distress, even after adequate treatment, in the heterogeneous population of an endocrine outpatient clinic.

Methods: 146 endocrine patients (31 males/115 females; age 39.4 +/- 12.

The relationship of psychological well-being to distress and personality.

Background: The concept of psychological well-being has been neglected for a long time in scientific literature. Over the last decades, however, many psychometric instruments have been developed to measure it. The aim of the present study was to analyze the concept of psychological well-being and its relationship to distress and personality traits.