Combining Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment for assessing the clinical efficacy of cholinesterase inhibitors in mild Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study.

Current drugs for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), such as cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), exert only symptomatic activity. Different psychometric tools are needed to assess cognitive and non-cognitive dimensions during pharmacological treatment. In this pilot study, we monitored 33 mild-AD patients treated with ChEIs.

Impact of Stress during COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: A Study on Dispositional and Behavioral Dimensions for Supporting Evidence-Based Targeted Strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused critical mental health issues and lifestyle disruptions. The aim of this study was to explore, during the lockdown of second-wave contagions in Italy, how stress was affected by dispositional (personality factors and intolerance to uncertainty) and behavioral (coping strategies) dimensions, how these variables differed among sex, age, educational, professional, and health groups, and how the various changes in work and daily routine intervened in the psychological impact of the emergency. Our results highlight that women, the youngs, students/trainees, those with chronic diseases, those who stopped their jobs due to restrictions, and those who left home less than twice a week were more stressed, while health professionals showed lower levels of the same construct.

Physical Activity, Sun Exposure, Vitamin D Intake and Perceived Stress in Italian Adults.

The last decades of global development have, due to rapid urbanization, pressuring entire populations to changes in lifestyle and dietary habits, led to an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders, including stress. This study explored how lifestyle and dietary factors, such as physical activity, sun exposure, and vitamin D intake are related to perceived stress in a Mediterranean-based population. Physical activity level was evaluated using the international physical activity questionnaires (IPAQ), sun exposure was evaluated using the sunlight exposure measurement questionnaire (SEM-Q), and validated food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were used to assess dietary intakes.

New Psychometric Strategies for the Evaluation of Affective, Cognitive, and Psychosocial Functioning in Unipolar Bipolar Depression: Impact of Drug Treatment.

Background: Different studies have been conducted to understand how patients with unipolar and bipolar depression differ in terms of cognitive and affective symptoms as well as in psychosocial function. Furthermore, the impact of antidepressants, second-generation antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers on these dimensions needs to be characterized, as well as the best psychometric approach to measure changes after pharmacological treatment.

Objectives: This study aims to analyze the impact of psychotropic drugs on cognitive, affective, and psychosocial functioning in MDD and BD patients; to test the sensitivity of psychometric tools for measuring those changes; also, to understand how psychosocial abilities are associated with affective and cognitive dimensions in patients with MDD and BD.

Predictors of functional outcome in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder: A dynamic network approach to identify distinct patterns of interacting symptoms.

The purpose of this study is to use a dynamic network approach as an innovative way to identify distinct patterns of interacting symptoms in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and patients with Bipolar Type I Disorder (BD). More precisely, the hypothesis will be testing that the phenotype of patients is driven by disease specific connectivity and interdependencies among various domains of functioning even in the presence of underlying common mechanisms. In a prospective observational cohort study, hundred-forty-three patients were recruited at the Psychiatric Clinic "Villa dei Gerani" (Catania, Italy), 87 patients with MDD and 56 with BD with a depressive episode.

Professional quality of life and psychopathological symptoms among first-line healthcare workers facing COVID-19 pandemic: an exploratory study in an Italian southern hospital.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of healthcare workers, who have taken on the major problems triggered by the emergency. The mental consequences concern high levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression and burnout, which inevitably affect their professional quality of life too.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between psychopathological symptoms (tested with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, DASS-21) and professional quality of life (measured with the Professional Quality of Life Scale, ProQol) in a hospital of southern Italy.

"Don't Touch Your Face!" The Contribution of Habit Reversal in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Habit Reversal Training (HRT) is a behavioral procedure for treating the so-called nervous habits, such as nail biting, hair pulling and thumb sucking. In addition to being an established clinical procedure, HRT is also a strategy for behavioral change that can serve the entire community. For this reason, this review aims to explore the studies proposing the use of HRT for the reduction of hand-to-face habits in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.