Publications by authors named "Rebecca Ciacchini"

Objective: A significant body of research has suggested that the contraction of SARS-CoV-2 may cause memory impairment, even in the months following recovery. In this regard, studies suggest that COVID-19 predominantly targets structures and cortices within the temporal lobe, and the hippocampus, a critical brain structure for memory and spatial navigation.The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective memory complaints, which represent an individual's perception of subtle changes in memory in the absence of an objective memory impairment.

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Objective: To investigate mindfulness traits/attitudes as protective factors against chronic pain related distress, depression and anxiety.

Method: Fifty patients (25 with chronic non-oncologic pain-NOP; 25 with chronic oncologic pain-COP) were administered with the following scales: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Pain Disability Index (PDI), Italian Questionnaire for Pain (QUID), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), State and Trait Anxiety Scale (STAY-y1 module), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWBI), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).

Results: MAAS value ≥ 4.

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Objective: The present study explores, retrospectively, the link between anti-vaccination attitude and vaccination intentions and extends this relationship to the effect of media consumption style on attitude.

Method: Generalized linear mixed-models were used to estimate vaccination intentions (related to each of the four available vaccines at the time of the survey) relying on anti-vaccination attitude measured using the Italian translation of the Vaccination Attitude Examination (VAX) scale. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate which media type and which consumption frequency were responsible for variation in the anti-vaccination attitude.

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Objective: Alexithymic traits are associated with the difficulty of perceiving ', and are related to a problematic management of stressful life events (SLEs). The main purpose of this study was to quantify the psychological response of the general population to COVID-19 pandemic stress and to evaluate potential correlations with the presence of ' and ' (study protocol # 0077794/2022).

Method: 175 subjects from general population were assessed with the Toronto-Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Event-Revised Impact Scale (IES-R), the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS), and the Interoceptive Confusion Questionnaire (ICQ).

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Objective: During and after the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic period, a strain was put on young adults who have taken refuge in the problematic use of internet, social media, gaming, and gambling. This paper aims to investigate possible correlates of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), hypothesizing anxiety, depression and perceived stress would promote addiction, while mindfulness skills, resilience and socialization would, conversely, hamper IAD, and promote, consequently, a more functional internet use.

Method: A pilot study was carried out with a sample of 31 young adults, recruited through a snowball sampling using social networks.

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Psychological inflexibility is related to depressive symptoms through the 'ruminative response style' (RR) and 'cognitive fusion' (CF). We aimed at exploring whether university students were more exposed to CF, RR and depressive symptoms because of their intellectual performance than non-university students of the same age. We compared university students (US) ( = 105) vs.

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Considering the growing interest in the possible effects of internet's addiction on adoles-cent's mental health, this study aimed at exploring the psychological correlates of social media and internet problematic use during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of secondary school students (N = 258); participants were asked to complete an online survey, investigating social media addiction (BSMAS), self-esteem (RSES), feelings of isolation (CSIQ-A) and anxiety (STAI-Y). Data analysis (descriptive statistics, correlational and regression analyses) was conducted through XLSTAT software ©.

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Article Synopsis
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves troubling thoughts and repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety, with specific brain circuits (CSTC) believed to play a key role in its symptoms.* -
  • A systematic review was conducted on studies analyzing the neurobiological effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in adults with OCD, yielding 26 relevant studies that utilized various imaging techniques.* -
  • The findings revealed that CBT led to significant neurobiological changes, including decreased activity in key brain regions (OFC and striatum) and increased activity in the cerebellum, often correlating with reduced severity of OCD symptoms.*
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Emotion regulation is an important aspect of psychological functioning that influences subjective experience and moderates emotional responses throughout the lifetime. Adaptive responses to stressful life events depend on the positive interaction between explicit and implicit emotion regulation strategies, such as mindfulness and defense mechanisms. This study demonstrates how these emotion regulation strategies predict psychological health during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused not only significant physical health problems but also mental health disorders. Anxiety and fear appear to be the main psychological symptoms associated with COVID-19. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anxiety and fear related to COVID-19 are influenced by sociodemographics and whether specific conditions, such as positivity for COVID-19 or death among relatives and friends, can further enhance these symptoms.

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Objectives: In the present study we investigate the putative differences in pain catastrophising (PC), pain perception (PP), sexual functioning (SF), satisfaction (SS), and overall quality of life between fibromyalgia (FM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients as compared to healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Fifty-seven native Italian-speaking female individuals suffering either from FM or RA and thirty-eight healthy female controls (FM = 40; RA = 17; HC = 38) were submitted to a semi-structured interview aimed at assessing PP intensity (Visual Analog Scale; VAS), general health conditions (36-items Short-Form Health Survey; SF-36), PC (Pain Catastrophising Scale; PCS), SF and SS (Index of Sexual Satisfaction; ISS/ Female Sexual Function Index; FSFI).

Results: FM patients had a significantly higher PP both as compared to RA and HC (p<0.

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Background: Emerging aspects of the Covid-19 clinical presentation are its long-term effects, which are characteristic of the so-called "long COVID". The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of physical, psychological, and sleep disturbances and the quality of life in the general population during the ongoing pandemic.

Methods: This study, based on an online survey, collected demographic data, information related to COVID-19, sleep disturbances, and quality of life data from 507 individuals.

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: Hypertension is among the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, which are considered high mortality risk medical conditions. To date, several studies have reported positive effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) interventions on physical and psychological well-being in other medical conditions, but no meta-analysis on MBSR programs for hypertension has been conducted. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of MBSR programs for hypertension.

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(1) Background: The present study aims to assess the level of professional burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS), and to identify potential risk or protective factors among health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study, based on an online survey, collected demographic data and mental distress outcomes from 184 HCWs from 1 May 2020, to 15 June 2020, from 45 different countries. The degree of STS, perceived stress and burnout was assessed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Service Survey (MBI-HSS) respectively.

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Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is highly prevalent in the female gender. Scarce attention has been given to the exploration and description of this syndrome, from a psychological point of view, when occurring in males. The aim of the present study is to develop further knowledge, and to summarise the literature regarding subjective psychological experience, characteristics of symptoms presentation (both onset and development), and treatment options for FM in male patients, in order to highlight differences with FM in females.

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Objective: Mindfulness disposition is associated with various psychological factors and prevents emotional distress in chronic diseases. In the present study, we analyzed the key role of mindfulness dispositions in protecting the individual against psychological distress consequent to COVID-19 social distancing and quarantining.

Methods: An online survey was launched on March 13, 2020, with 6,412 responses by April 6, 2020.

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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has shocked the whole world with its unexpected rapid spread. The virus responsible for the disease, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), enters host cells by means of the envelope spike protein, which binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors. These receptors are highly expressed in heart, lungs, respiratory tract epithelium, endothelial cells and brain.

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Health care professionals (HCPs) are a population at risk for high levels of burnout and compassion fatigue. The aim of the present systematic review was to give an overview on recent literature about mindfulness and compassion characteristics of HCPs, while exploring the effectiveness of techniques, involving the two aspects, such as MBSR or mindfulness intervention and compassion fatigue-related programs. A search of databases, including PubMed and PsycINFO, was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and the methodological quality for this systematic review was appraised using AMSTAR-2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2).

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Objective: Psychological distress is common in cancer patients during the diagnostic phase. Research demonstrated that anxiety, depression and defense mechanisms may influence physical and psychological well-being in patients with malignant tumors. The present retrospective study investigated the associations between clinical and psychological characteristics of cancer patients waiting for the diagnosis, focusing on metastatic cancer (MC) and breast cancer (BC).

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The current period of transition due to COVID-19 emergency may negatively affect the psychological functioning of children and require resources aimed at supporting post-transition adaptation. Few contributions exist which specifically focus on what to do in such circumstances in order to assist the mental health of both children and parents. It seems therefore critical to provide strategies, which support the adjustment of children during the pre-existing and post-transition periods.

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The health emergency we are experiencing due to the spread of the COVID-19 disease has strongly influenced the psychological and physical health of the general population, including the health care professionals. The aim of this brief article is a preliminary analysis of the psychological interventions following the infectious disease outbreak in order to 1) implement guidelines for the existing emerging psychological crisis for people directly and indirectly affected by COVID-19, and 2) establish adequate procedures and prompt responses.

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Here, we report an investigation on the accuracy of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, a measure to assess alexithymia, a multidimensional construct often associate to fibromyalgia. Two groups of participants, patients with fibromyalgia ( = 38), healthy controls ( = 38) were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and background tests. Machine learning models achieved an overall accuracy higher than 80% in detecting both patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls.

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