1
|
Vicario CM, Mucciardi M, Faraone G, Lucifora C, Schade HM, Falzone A, Salehinejad MA, Craparo G, Nitsche MA. Individual predictors of vaccine hesitancy in the Italian post COVID-19 pandemic era. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2024; 20:2306677. [PMID: 38289323 PMCID: PMC10829816 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2024.2306677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
A wide range of survey studies have explored vaccination hesitancy/resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided evidence that this can be explained by several individual variables from the ideological, clinical, and socio-affective domain. However, evidence about which individual variables predict vaccine hesitancy in the post-pandemic state of COVID-19 is meager. We administered a battery of questionnaires to a group of 120 Italian participants with high and low scores on the adult vaccine hesitancy scale (aVHS) to investigate the predictive role of ideological (i.e. political orientation), clinical (i.e. anxiety, interoceptive accuracy), and socio-affective (i.e. alexithymia, disgust sensitivity/propensity, empathy) variables on vaccine hesitancy/resistance. This study provides evidence that lower interoceptive awareness and cognitive empathy are predictors of a greater hesitancy to get vaccinated in the post-pandemic COVID-19 state.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo M Vicario
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Massimo Mucciardi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giulia Faraone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Chiara Lucifora
- Dipartimento di Filosofia e Comunicazione, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Hannah M Schade
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Alessandra Falzone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Mohammad A Salehinejad
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
- School of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Giuseppe Craparo
- Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, Enna, Italy
| | - Michael A Nitsche
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
- University Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and University Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation, University Hospital OWL, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Bochum, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Capodici A, Pennisi A, Rizzo G, Falzone A, Vicario CM. Interoceptive and Affective Alterations in Body Integrity Dysphoria: An Online Self-Reporting Study. Psychopathology 2023; 57:102-110. [PMID: 37820588 DOI: 10.1159/000532076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Body integrity dysphoria (BID) is a rare condition in which individuals experience a long-lasting desire to achieve a specific physical disability. In this study, we tested the hypothesis of interoceptive and affective abnormalities in BID, in line with the evidence of structural and functional alteration of the interoceptive-affective neural system in these individuals. METHOD Our study involved 68 participants with BID (mean age: 35.6, SD: 16.4). Among these participants, 47 expressed a desire for amputation, 14 desired paralysis, 3 sought sensory deprivation, and 3 desired a combination of these forms. For comparisons, we recruited a control group of 79 participants (mean age: 35.2, SD: 15.8). We administered assessment measures to investigate alexithymia level (TAS-20), disgust sensitivity (DS-R), interoceptive awareness (MAIA-2), and (affective and cognitive) empathy (QCAE). We also administered the Short Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) to identify psychiatric comorbidities. Subgroups with low O-LIFE scores (BID = 31; controls = 43) and subgroups with high O-LIFE scores (BID = 37; controls = 36) were derived through a median-split procedure. RESULTS Within the BID low O-LIFE group, we found reduced interoceptive sensibility, reduced disgust sensitivity, and increased difficulty in identifying feelings, which refers to a dimension of the alexithymia trait. Within the BID high O-LIFE group, we observed a reduced disgust sensitivity and interoceptive sensibility, accompanied by a diminished score in cognitive empathy. CONCLUSION Our study suggests that BID can be associated with altered interoceptive and affective processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Capodici
- Department of Cognitive Science, Psychological, Pedagogical and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Antonio Pennisi
- Department of Cognitive Science, Psychological, Pedagogical and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Gaetano Rizzo
- Department of Cognitive Science, Psychological, Pedagogical and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Alessandra Falzone
- Department of Cognitive Science, Psychological, Pedagogical and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Carmelo Mario Vicario
- Department of Cognitive Science, Psychological, Pedagogical and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Coppini S, Lucifora C, Vicario CM, Gangemi A. Experiments on real-life emotions challenge Ekman's model. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9511. [PMID: 37308555 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36201-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Ekman's emotions (1992) are defined as universal basic emotions. Over the years, alternative models have emerged (e.g. Greene and Haidt 2002; Barrett 2017) describing emotions as social and linguistic constructions. The variety of models existing today raises the question of whether the abstraction provided by such models is sufficient as a descriptive/predictive tool for representing real-life emotional situations. Our study presents a social inquiry to test whether traditional models are sufficient to capture the complexity of daily life emotions, reported in a textual context. The intent of the study is to establish the human-subject agreement rate in an annotated corpus based on Ekman's theory (Entity-Level Tweets Emotional Analysis) and the human-subject agreement rate when using Ekman's emotions to annotate sentences that don't respect the Ekman's model (The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows). Furthermore, we investigated how much alexithymia can influence the human ability to detect and categorise emotions. On a total sample of 114 subjects, our results show low within subjects agreement rates for both datasets, particularly for subjects with low levels of alexithymia; low levels of agreement with the original annotations; frequent use of emotions based on Ekman model, particularly negative one, in people with high levels of alexithymia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Coppini
- Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Chiara Lucifora
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
- Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Carmelo M Vicario
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Aldo Gangemi
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
- Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Vicario CM, Scavone V, Lucifora C, Falzone A, Pioggia G, Gangemi S, Craparo G, Martino G. Evidence of abnormal scalar timing property in alexithymia. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0278881. [PMID: 36689490 PMCID: PMC9870170 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence suggests that incidental modulation of affective states affects the ability to keep track of time. Alexithymia represents an ideal condition to further address the emotion-time processing link, as it refers to a trait characterized by a deficit of affective processing. 31 healthy participants completed an online version of the TAS-20 scale, which measures alexithymia, and a time reproduction task of visual stimuli related to positive (i.e., happiness) and negative (i.e., anger) facial expressions. Results documented a positive correlation between TAS-20 score and the variability in reproducing sub-second durations of the anger expression stimuli We also found an overestimation of sub-second durations of non-affective expressions in borderline/alexithymic participants. Finally, in line with the literature, we confirmed the overall tendency to overestimate the duration of anger expression stimuli. These findings, which can be interpreted in terms of abnormal scalar timing property in alexithymia, expand previous investigations linking this personality trait with abnormal processing of negative emotions. The evidence that alexithymia predicts the reproduction variability of sub-second durations of negative affective stimuli corroborates previous neuroimaging studies documenting cerebellar deficits in these individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo Mario Vicario
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e degli studi culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Vito Scavone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e degli studi culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | | | - Alessandra Falzone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e degli studi culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giovanni Pioggia
- Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, Italy
| | - Sebastiano Gangemi
- Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Craparo
- Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, Enna, Italy
| | - Gabriella Martino
- Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Di Giuseppe M, Orrù G, Gemignani A, Ciacchini R, Miniati M, Conversano C. Mindfulness and Defense Mechanisms as Explicit and Implicit Emotion Regulation Strategies against Psychological Distress during Massive Catastrophic Events. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph191912690. [PMID: 36231993 PMCID: PMC9566362 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
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. A convenience sample of 6385 subjects, recruited via snowball sampling on various social media platforms, responded to an online survey assessing psychological reaction to social restrictions imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. Psychological distress, post-traumatic stress symptoms, mindfulness, and defense mechanisms were assessed using SCL-90, IES-R, MAAS, and DMRS-30-SR, respectively. Higher mindfulness was significantly associated with higher overall defensive maturity and a greater use of high-adaptive defenses (p < 0.0001). Both mindfulness and defense mechanisms acted as good predictors of psychological health (R2 = 0.541) and posttraumatic symptoms (R2 = 0.332), confirming the role of emotion regulation in protecting against maladaptive responses to stressful situations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
- Department of History, Culture and Society, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Graziella Orrù
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Angelo Gemignani
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Rebecca Ciacchini
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Mario Miniati
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Ciro Conversano
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Caputo A, Vicario CM, Cazzato V, Martino G. Editorial: Psychological Factors as Determinants of Medical Conditions, Volume II. Front Psychol 2022; 13:865235. [PMID: 35386893 PMCID: PMC8977586 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Caputo
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy
| | - Carmelo Mario Vicario
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Valentina Cazzato
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriella Martino
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Muayqil TA, Alhaidari GM, Alkuwaiz LA, Alotaibi NA, Awartani HK, Almufarrej AA, Alqarni GS, Alkeridy W, Alanazy MH. Effect of Culturally Mediated Right-Favoritism on the Direction of Pseudoneglect on Line Bisection Tasks. Front Psychol 2021; 12:756492. [PMID: 34744933 PMCID: PMC8569126 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Arabs have a right-to-left language and engage in favoring of the right side or limb when implementing daily routine practices. The purpose of this research is to explore the effect this cultural attitude might have on pseudoneglect, by comparing with a southeast Asian sample that has a left-to-right language structure. Methods: Participants were from two separate ethnic groups (Arabs and Filipinos), residing in Saudi Arabia, healthy individals 18 years and above were allowed to volunteer in the study. The participants were recruited at King Saud University Medical City and the general community by both convenience and snowball sampling. Social demographic information such as gender, age, years of education, dominant hand, was also documented. The line bisection task (LBT) contained 36 randomly assorted lines of three different lengths placed at five different locations on a white sheet. The percent deviation score (PDS) was used to quantify pseudo-neglect. Tests of statistical significance including t-tests and mixed-effects regression were performed to determine if differences existed among different demographic variables or among line properties, respectively. Results: A total of 256 were enrolled (Arabs 52.3%). The overall PDS mean and standard deviation (SD) was -0.64 (2.87), p = 0.0004, which shows a significant leftward deviation in the entire cohort. PDS was -1.26 (2.68) in Filipinos, and -0.08 (2.94) in Arabs. The difference was statically significant (p < 0.0001). Mixed effects model showed positive changes in the PDS value as the length of the line increased (p < 0.0001) and as the line was more rightward placed (p < 0.0001). However, Filipino participants would still exhibit negative changes in the PDS value in comparison to Arabs (p < 0.0001); There were no significant associations between PDS and other factors such as age, years of education and gender. Conclusion: Differences found here between two distinct ethnic groups support the hypothesis that certain cultural aspects such as language direction and other cultural practices influence direction and degree of pseudo-neglect.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Taim A Muayqil
- Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | - Nouf A Alotaibi
- College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | | | - Walid Alkeridy
- Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.,Department of Medicine, Geriatric Division, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Mohammed H Alanazy
- Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Alexithymia Is Linked with a Negative Bias for Past and Current Events in Healthy Humans. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18136696. [PMID: 34206284 PMCID: PMC8296935 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18136696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Although research provides a rich literature about the influence of emotional states on temporal cognition, evidence about the influence of the style of emotion processing, as a personality trait, on temporal cognition is extremely limited. We provide a novel contribution to the field by exploring the relationship between difficulties of identifying and describing feelings and emotions (alexithymia) and time perspective. One hundred and forty-two healthy participants completed an online version of the TAS-20 scale, which measures alexithymia, and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, which monitors individual differences in time-orientation regarding the past, present, and future. The results show greater attention to past negative aspects in participants whose TAS-20 score was indicating borderline or manifest alexithymia, as compared to non-alexithymic individuals. Moreover, the higher the TAS-20 score, the higher the tendency was to focus on negative aspects of the past and interpret the present fatalistically. These results suggest that difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and emotions are associated with a negative bias for past and present events. Theoretical and clinical implications of this finding are discussed.
Collapse
|