Publications by authors named "Lucia Sideli"

: Accurate prediction of neurorehabilitation outcomes following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is crucial for optimizing healthcare resource allocation and improving rehabilitation strategies. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) may identify complex prognostic factors in patients with SCI. However, the influence of psychological variables on rehabilitation outcomes remains underexplored despite their potential impact on recovery success.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study proposes a general psychopathology factor (p-factor) that reflects shared psychological issues across different disorders, particularly in adolescents during a vulnerable developmental stage.
  • The research analyzed a large group of adolescents to identify characteristics of the p-factor, focusing on aspects like emotional challenges and behavioral problems, and its relationship with emerging personality issues.
  • Findings indicate that difficulties in self-perception and interpersonal relationships correlate with higher general psychopathology, suggesting that positive peer connections may serve as a protective factor against mental health issues.
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Objective: Syncope is defined as a spontaneous and transient loss of consciousness and postural tone due to brief and reversible cerebral hypoperfusion. This review aimed to summarize the research findings regarding the psychological correlates associated with pediatric syncope. Moreover, the study aimed to deepen the understanding of the relationship between psychological disorders and the onset of syncopal episodes in childhood, focusing on clinical features and different clinical classifications.

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  • - The study investigates the link between urban living conditions (urbanicity) and schizotypy, a potential precursor to psychosis, suggesting this relationship varies significantly between North-western and Southern Europe.
  • - Researchers assessed 1080 individuals across 14 sites in both regions, measuring urbanicity through local population density and controlling for factors like age and childhood experiences.
  • - Findings reveal that higher population density is strongly associated with increased schizotypy in North-western Europe, while the effect is notably weaker in Southern Europe, indicating that urbanization’s impact on mental health is not uniform across different contexts.
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Childhood adversity is associated with various clinical dimensions in psychosis; however, how genetic vulnerability shapes the adversity-associated psychopathological signature is yet to be studied. We studied data of 583 First Episode Psychosis (FEP) cases from the EU-GEI FEP case-control study, including Polygenic risk scores for major depressive disorder (MDD-PRS), bipolar disorder (BD-PRS) and schizophrenia (SZ-PRS); childhood adversity measured with the total score of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ); and positive, negative, depressive and manic psychopathological domains from a factor model of transdiagnostic dimensions. Genes and environment interactions were explored as a departure from a multiplicative effect of PRSs and total CTQ on each dimension.

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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.

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Emerging adulthood represents a critical stage characterized by heightened risks for anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms development. Research has shown that difficulties in emotional identification, expression, and processing, as well as dysfunctional parenting styles, may exacerbate symptoms in emerging adults. The present study aimed at examining the interplay between mentalized affectivity (i.

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Background: This study aimed to investigate the mediation role of reflective functioning (i.e., certainty and uncertainty about mental states) in the relationship between insecure attachment (i.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the variation of subclinical psychosis (SP) measures, such as schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), across different geographic regions and how this correlates with the incidence of first-episode psychosis (FEP) in those areas.
  • - Through analysis of data from 1497 controls in 16 sites across 6 countries, researchers found that schizotypy showed significant variation related to site characteristics, while PLEs exhibited less variation; local incidences of FEP were associated with reduced unexplained variance in schizotypy.
  • - Findings highlight that younger, migrant, unmarried, unemployed, and less educated individuals, along with factors like cannabis use and childhood adversity, are linked to SP
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Both interpersonal trauma (IPT) and substance use are linked to mental health problems, however their interplay is understudied. This study will investigate the relationship between IPT, substance use and mental health in a large population-based sample. Participants included 3756 individuals, mainly young university students using a snowball sampling method.

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Background: Childhood adversity and cannabis use are considered independent risk factors for psychosis, but whether different patterns of cannabis use may be acting as mediator between adversity and psychotic disorders has not yet been explored. The aim of this study is to examine whether cannabis use mediates the relationship between childhood adversity and psychosis.

Methods: Data were utilised on 881 first-episode psychosis patients and 1231 controls from the European network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study.

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Background: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the prevalence of feeding and eating disorder (FED) symptoms or dysfunctional eating behaviours (DEB) in the general population during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Method: We searched eligible articles in biomedical databases from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2022. Prevalence rates of FED or DEB changes between pre-pandemic and pandemic time and correlation with psychological distress were pooled with a meta-analysis using a random-effects model.

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Literature suggests that narcissistic traits may affect socio-affective development from early adolescence. Two interrelated narcissistic domains have been identified, i.e.

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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.

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This study investigated if the association between childhood maltreatment and cognition among psychosis patients and community controls was partially accounted for by genetic liability for psychosis. Patients with first-episode psychosis (N = 755) and unaffected controls (N = 1219) from the EU-GEI study were assessed for childhood maltreatment, intelligence quotient (IQ), family history of psychosis (FH), and polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (SZ-PRS). Controlling for FH and SZ-PRS did not attenuate the association between childhood maltreatment and IQ in cases or controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • Studies suggest that DNA-methylation (DNAm) may be influenced by childhood adversity (CA) and could play a role in the development of psychotic disorders, although the specific mediating effects remain unexplored.
  • Researchers conducted an epigenome-wide association study comparing first-episode psychosis patients (n=366) to healthy controls (n=517) using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to create adversity scores, but found that no specific CpG sites significantly mediated the relationship between CA and psychosis after statistical corrections.
  • While several genes showed differential methylation related to CA, and previous studies linked some of these genes to psychosis, the analysis did not identify conclusive biological pathways, hinting at potential factors such as mitochondrial
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This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between dissociation and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and disorder (OCD). Specifically, the study aimed to (a) estimate the pooled prevalence of dissociative disorders among individuals with OCD; (b) systematically review the prevalence of OCD among individuals with dissociative disorders; (c) compare the severity of dissociative symptoms between individuals with OCD and non-clinical controls; (d) estimate the association between OCS and dissociative symptoms in the clinical and non-clinical populations. A systematic search was carried out in biomedical databases from inception to January 2022 according to PRISMA guidelines.

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  • * Researchers found that individuals from migrant backgrounds, particularly those from non-Western countries, experienced higher rates of CM and that this exposure was linked to greater incidence of FEP.
  • * The findings suggest that although migrant status weakens the direct link between CM and FEP, these groups still face a significant risk and should be targeted in policies aimed at reducing child maltreatment.
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Background And Hypothesis: Despite the accepted link between childhood adversity (CA) and psychotic disorders, evidence on the relationship between CA and poor functional outcome remains less consistent and has never been reviewed quantitatively. The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically examine the association between CA and functional outcomes in people with psychotic disorders.

Study Design: The study protocol was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42021254201).

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  • A study examined 802 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and identified four distinct clusters based on their premorbid social and academic functioning and current IQ levels.* -
  • These clusters varied in their genetic risk scores for psychotic disorders and showed differing patterns of cannabis use, with one cluster having a notable connection to high-potency cannabis.* -
  • Most FEP patients did not show marked premorbid deterioration; however, the deteriorating group indicated a relationship between their decline in functioning and frequent use of high-potency cannabis.*
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Background And Hypothesis: Evidence suggests that childhood maltreatment (ie, childhood abuse and childhood neglect) affects educational attainment and cognition. However, the association between childhood maltreatment and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) seems stronger among controls compared to people with psychosis. We hypothesised that: the association between childhood maltreatment and poor cognition would be stronger among community controls than among people with first-episode of psychosis (FEP); compared to abuse, neglect would show stronger associations with educational attainment and cognition; the association between childhood maltreatment and IQ would be partially accounted for by other risk factors; and the association between childhood maltreatment, educational attainment, and IQ would be stronger among patients with affective psychoses compared to those with nonaffective psychoses.

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Objective: To investigate the association between prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia, autonomic activity, and personality functioning.

Method: 10 adolescents underwent semi-structured interviews assessing prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia and personality functioning. Cardiac activity was recorded at baseline, during the clinical interviews, and at recovery to assess concurrent changes in autonomic functioning.

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Objective: Stereotyped beliefs about schizophrenia are well-established in the society and relatively common among healthcare professionals and students. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions about the causes, treatment, and outcome of schizophrenia among healthcare students.

Method: Undergraduate nursing and psychology students completed selected items of the Opinion on Mental Illness Questionnaire after reading a clinical vignette of undiagnosed schizophrenia.

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Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine: the pooled prevalence of symptomatic behaviours and mental health deterioration amongst individuals with eating disorders (EDs) and obesity during the COVID-19 confinement. Moreover, we examined changes in EDs and distress before and during the confinement, and the association between psychosocial factors and EDs symptoms.

Method: A systematic search was carried out in biomedical databases from January 2020 to January 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • * It found that better premorbid social functioning was linked to fewer negative and depressive symptoms, while a lower IQ was associated with more symptoms overall.
  • * Specific cognitive skills, like perceptual reasoning and processing speed, correlated with the presence of manic and negative symptoms, indicating they may reflect different neurodevelopmental issues in psychosis.
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