Psychopathological risk stability and change in a sample of mothers and preschool children before, during and after the peak of COVID-19 pandemic

Numerous studies have found that the COVID-19 epidemic and the measures to stop it have had a substantial impact on the mental health of the general population. Nevertheless, the majority of this research only looked at the variations in the degree of psychopathological symptoms in individuals before and after the first wave of the pandemic. In a sample of N = 380 preschoolers and their mothers assessed through the Symptom Check-List/90-R and of the Child Behaviour Check-List, the present study aimed at exploring psychopathological risk in mothers and their offspring's dysregulation levels before (T1), during (T2) and after (T3) the peak of COVID-19 pandemic. Our main results showed that mothers' relational distress increased from T1 to T2 and then increased again from T2 to T3. Moreover, maternal aggressiveness, hostility, and anxiety scores significantly decreased from T1 to T2 but slightly increased from T2 to T3. In children, dysregulation levels increased from T1 to T2 but decreased from T2 to T3. Children of mothers with clinical scores at the SCL-90/R showed significantly higher dysregulation problems at T1, T2 and T3 than children of mothers with scores below the clinical threshold. This study adds to previous literature in that it evaluates stability or change in maternal and offspring scores not only in the pre-pandemic period and during the first wave of the pandemic, but it also considers the subsequent months, focusing on a broad range of maternal symptoms, rather than assessing depressive and anxiety symptoms as most of previous research did.

Parental sensitivity to toddler's need for autonomy: An empirical study on mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions during feeding and play

During the second year of life, children's need for autonomy grows, and their behaviors become increasingly complex. Parental sensitivity to children's different cues is important in supporting adaptive psycho-emotional development. The present study assumes that mothers and fathers may respond with varying levels of sensitivity to the child's different cues, with particular attention to requests for greater autonomy. The study also examines the possible role played by interactive contexts (ie., play and feeding) and children's and parents' individual factors. The sample comprised N = 91 families with children aged between 12 and 24 months. Mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions were assessed during feeding and play. Parents completed questionnaires assessing children's temperament, psychopathological risk, and parenting stress. RESULTS: showed that toddlers' demands for autonomy were the most frequent cues in both play and feeding contexts, both with mothers and fathers. Furthermore, parents were more sensitive to toddlers' requests for cooperation than their requests for autonomy, in both interactive contexts. Moreover, mothers and fathers showed higher sensitivity to toddlers' demands for greater autonomy in the play context rather than in the feeding context. Mothers were more sensitive than fathers to toddlers' cues of resistance to parents' actions and to toddlers' requests for cooperation. Results showed differences and specificities in mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions in the two interactive contexts, showing associations between child negative emotionality, parental psychopathological risk and parenting stress, and maternal and paternal sensitivity to toddlers' demands for greater autonomy during play and feeding, respectively. These results confirm the initial hypotheses regarding parental sensitivity and its differential expression according to child cues. Implications are discussed.

Sexuality in breast cancer survivors: sexual experiences, emotions, and cognitions in a group of women under hormonal therapy

BACKGROUND

Earlier diagnosis and improved treatments have led to better outcomes in breast cancer, making quality of life a key issue. Sexuality represents a pillar of quality of life, although it is often neglected by both healthcare providers and patients when it comes to cancer. This study aims to explore the differences in sexual functioning, distress, psychopathology, emotions, and cognitions between breast cancer patients under hormonal treatment and controls.

METHODS

Seventy-nine women (age range between 24 and 69 years) in hormonal therapy for breast cancer completed a self-reported protocol. A matched control group of 103 women was randomly extracted from an Italian general population database. Eight self-report questionnaires exploring biopsychosocial factors were administered.

RESULTS

The current study showed an impaired sexuality in breast cancer patients compared to controls. Breast cancer women under hormonal treatment were characterized by diminished or absent sexual activity (chi² = 36.16; p < 0.001), lower level of sexual functioning in all areas except for pain (F_(1,180) = 8.1; p < 0.01), higher sexual (F_(1,180) = 10.08; p < 0.001) and psychological distress (F_(1,180) = 6.23; p < 0.05), higher scores in Difficulties in Identifying Feelings (F_(1,180) = 7.31; p < 0.01) and Externally Oriented Thinking (F_(1,180) = 6.64; p < 0.05), higher level of negative emotions related to sexuality (F_(1,180) = 11.13; p < 0.001), and more rigid cognition towards peculiar aspects of sexuality, such as Failure Disengagement Thoughts (F_(1,180) = 22.01; p < 0.001) and Age related Beliefs (F_(1,180) = 5.7; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Health care providers do not usually assess those issues in their routine practice, so that sexuality remains an unmet need with remarkable effects on general health and quality of life.

Preliminary results of the validation study of the italian version of the nature relatedness scale 6 items

Introduction

The construct of nature relatedness (NR) has received a growing attention in the last decades. Past research suggest that NR may be involved in both positive (e.g. well-being) and negative (e.g. technological addictions) psychological outcome.

Objectives

In addition, some evidences suggest that the construct may be tightly related to emotion regulation capacities. Despite Nisbet et al. (2009) recently developed a short measure to investigate the construct, this has not been still validated in the Italian context.

Methods

We performed three studies to validate the Italian version of the NRS-6 and to extend the nomological network of the construct. In the first study, we tested, throughout Structural Equation Modelling, the factorial structure of the instrument and gender invariance. In the second study, construct validity of the instrument was tested examining correlation pattern between NRS-6 scores and scores obtained on the Connection to Nature Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Ways of Savoring Checklist. Finally, a longitudinal study tested the temporal stability of the measure and the predictive role of NR on technological addiction.

Results

Data documented a good factorial structure of the instrument, satisfying invariance proprieties and a good test-retest reliability. Also, analyses supported the good convergent and predictive validity of the instrument.

Conclusions

The Italian version of the NRS-6 appears a reliable and useful tool that can be used in future research. Our studies extend the nomological network of the construct shedding light on the tight relationship of NR with the capacity to regulate positive emotions.

The stable component of maternal depressive symptoms predicts offspring emotional and behavioral symptoms: a 9-years longitudinal study

Background

Maternal sub-threshold and non-clinical depression and its possible outcomes on offspring internalizing/externalizing symptoms has received growing attention in recent years because of its significant worldwide prevalence.

Methods

Through a Latent State-Trait Analysis approach (LST), this longitudinal study aimed to identify a stable component of non-clinical maternal depression across a temporal interval of 6 years (measured through the Symptom Check-List-90/R) and to determine the effect of this component on children’s emotional and behavioral functioning (measured through the Child Behaviour Check-List) at age 12 years.

Results

LST analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms tended to remain stable within individuals across 6 years of observation strongly contributing to children’s internalizing/externalizing and dysregulation symptoms.

Conclusions

The current longitudinal analysis of maternal and child data revealed that a stable component of maternal depressive symptoms reliably predicted a wide range of child emotional and behavioral symptoms at 12 years of age.

Linguistic analysis of autobiographical narratives in unipolar and bipolar mood disorders in light of multiple code theory

BACKGROUND

Discriminating bipolar disorder (BD) from unipolar disorder (UD) is crucial in diagnosing mood disorders. Neurophysiological studies have identified different correlates of emotional regulation in BD and UD. According to the Multiple Code Theory, bodily modifications relate to linguistic styles, as highlighted by studies on the language of depression. Our purpose is to verify the existence in the Italian language of linguistic features of depression differentiating BD from UD to provide tools for clinicians to use beyond self-report measures.

METHODS

The sample included 20 BD, 20 UD (all diagnosed using DSM-5), and 20 Control Group (CG) participants. Participants completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and an audio-recorded Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm Interview, transcribed and analyzed by the Discourse Attributes Analysis Program for Referential Process Linguistic Measures.

RESULTS

One-way ANOVAs confirmed that specific linguistic features characterized BD, UD and CG. The use of Sensory-Somatic words was significantly different in the groups: higher in BD, intermediate in UD, and lower in CG. Individuals with BD produced higher scores on the Referential Activity Intensity Index and the use of singular pronoun "I". Negative Affect, as well as several POMS subscales, distinguished UD and BD from CG.

LIMITATIONS

Narrow sample size, use of a single self-report instrument and treatment effects on measures in the clinical groups are limitations of the study.

CONCLUSION

Individuals with UD and BD appear to use sensory-somatic language in predictably different patterns from each other and from the non-clinical population. Observation and assessment of linguistic features could improve diagnostic accuracy.

Behavioural, psychological, and temperamental predictors of risk suicide trend after brief psychodynamic psychotherapy

BACKGROUND

Evidence has shown that psychotherapy is effective for depression, whereas the outcome for suicide risk is unclear.

AIM

It was to investigate whether possible pre-treatment predictors of suicide risk (SR) decrease after a brief psychodynamic psychotherapy treatment and at follow-up.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Forty-one patients were assessed at: baseline (T0) for clinical history, clinical family history, physical diseases, type of suffered abuse; after the treatment (T1); and, at six-month follow-up (T2) for mood ratings, temperamental features, and SR levels.

RESULTS

The levels of depression and cyclothymia decreased at T1 and T2 compared to T0; however, the distribution of the patients with high SR level was similar between T0 and T1, and at T2 it increased. T1-T0 SR (Δ1SR) was correlated with suicidality in the last month and with depression levels at T0; T2-T0 SR (Δ2SR) was correlated with many historical, clinical, and temperamental variables; T2-T1 SR (Δ3SR) was correlated with the presence of previous psychotherapy, abuse, and anxiety. Linear regression models revealed that Δ1SR was predicted by the suicidality in the last month; Δ2SR was not significantly predicted by any variable; and, Δ3SR was predicted by anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

The treatment was able to decrease the depression but not the SR. Findings confirm the difficulty of affecting SR and the importance of carefully considering the anxiety and the previous experiences of abuse in order to manage the interruption of the psychotherapy.

Internal working models of attachment during late childhood and early adolescence: an exploration of stability and change

This article addresses the question of how the transition from late childhood to early adolescence influences the organization of attachment. The applicability of a measure for attachment representations in early adolescence, the Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence (AICA), was explored. The AICA is based on the Adult Attachment Interview, which was adapted in minor ways to the early adolescent age-group. It was hypothesized that attachment shows considerable stability from late childhood to early adolescence, although some changes might become manifest especially because distancing mechanisms toward the parents may be activated in this period. Also, stability may be different for the various secure and insecure attachment classifications. Lastly, because gender differences become larger during the transition from childhood to adolescence, attachment differences between boys and girls were explored. The same 31 Italian participants (14 girls, 17 boys) completed the AICA at 10 years and at 14 years of age. The AICA attachment classification distributions did not differ from Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) distributions in comparable but older adolescent or young adult samples. The stability of attachment security was considerable: 74% (k = .48). The stability of the dismissing and secure categories was somewhat higher than the stability of the (small) preoccupied and unresolved categories. The participants tended to show more dismissing strategies across the four years, and to report more rejection from their parents. It was suggested that the activation of dismissing defense mechanisms might be necessary to keep parental figures at some distance in order to achieve a more definite personal identity. Finally, no significant gender differences in attachment emerged during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence.