Journal of Psychopathology 2016;22:229-235 Summary This article proposes a reflection on the impa... more Journal of Psychopathology 2016;22:229-235 Summary This article proposes a reflection on the impact that some postmodern features can have on the sense of identity and on mental functioning to propose possible explanations for identity changes and new forms of psychopathology. After revisiting the most recent literature on the theme, this study proposes a clinical consideration for a possible link between new forms of psychopathology and mental suffering. It particularly suggests that the changes observed in affectivity (including increase in dysphoria, irritability, restlessness, boredom, feeling of emptiness) and behaviour (reduction in impulse control ability, in interpersonal skills and reflective function, etc.) are important indices of a bigger change that involves the entire personality and indicates a shifting towards a borderline level of personality functioning. Finally, the article offers a possible explanation for this shift and advances therapeutic questions.
Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2020
Professionals who work in residential children’s communities face many difficulties and, when the... more Professionals who work in residential children’s communities face many difficulties and, when the hosted children have a history of abuse and maltreatment, the risk of vicarious traumatization and professional burn-out, which has a negative effect on the professional’s work and well-being as well as on the effectiveness at work, is very high. This qualitative study aims to explore, via the content analysis of text recorded in some Photolangage® groups, the representations of social workers and educators in residential children’s communities on the theme of work management of physical and sexual abuse victims. The participants were 37 social workers from 6 residential communities for 0-6 years old child in the region of Palermo (Italy). The analysis of the discourse revealed four main themes: “emotional responses”, “difficulty in coping with emotions related to abuse”, “relationship with the institutional network” and “work methods/strategies”, which seem to guide and inform the soci...
This work presents the adaptation to the Italian context of the "Community of Communities st... more This work presents the adaptation to the Italian context of the "Community of Communities standards" (by O'Sullivan & Paget). We have tried to remain as faithful as possible to the Community of Communities clinical sense, organizational and psychodynamic statements, while still trying to locate the huge experience behind the philosophy of the therapeutic community in the socio-political Italian context. In Italy, health work is heavily regulated within public institutions with their own competences that cover specific administrative services, different types of users and particular territorial areas. Especially in the health services to childhood, the institutional and legal powers that law administration attaches to families, public schools, social services of territorial competence and local health authorities, require an articulated taking charge, involving all these institutions, which is often added to the Juvenile Court of Justice, with its almost limitless power...
Objective Stereotyped beliefs about schizophrenia are well-established in the society and relativ... more 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. Results Students who labelled the description as schizophrenia were more pessimistic regarding full recovery from the disorder. Those who acknowledged greater relevance to biogenetic risk factors were more convinced of the efficacy of medications. Respondents’ opinions on the efficacy of psychological interventions were more positive among psychology students than among nursing students. Conclusions The study confirmed the associations of schizophrenia labelling with prognostic pessimism and beliefs about the e...
This work is part of a research that aims at introducing empirical investigation methods for unde... more This work is part of a research that aims at introducing empirical investigation methods for understanding and evaluating treatments in Mental Health. A commitment that is attributable to a more general clinical and social requirements: the ethical and scientific interest of the professional community of Mental Health for the promotion of effective care interventions as well as the entrepreneurization processes of the health sector which is designed to identify and consolidate proven effective care practices. The aim of this paper is the evaluation of the functioning of residential therapeutic communities for severe patients (Angelini et al. 2017). Therapeutic communities are complex settings where numerous organizational and relational variables act (structures, activities, care characteristics, relationship between members, group dynamics). The empirical assessment of their functioning is a complex challenge, with clear implications for the promotion of effective interventions and...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2015
This study examined the relationships among group process measured by the Group Climate Questionn... more This study examined the relationships among group process measured by the Group Climate Questionnaire, the Cohesion to the Therapist Scale and Cohesion to the Group Scale, and the Curative Climate Instrument to explore higher order factors that explained the group relationship, in a sample of 91 female university students attending 6 interpersonal growth groups. Furthermore, the study examined how group member’s attachment dimensions, anxiety and avoidance, were associated to his/her perception of group relationship. We found that a three-factor model consisting of positive bond, positive work, and negative relationship, approached conventional standards of model fit. Moreover, the results of the study also supported a model with three latent second-order constructs (bond, work, and negative relationship) and two structural perspectives as first-order factors (member-group and member-leader). Contrary to the hypothesis, the theoretical model on the associations between individua...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2011
Questo articolo prova ad esaminare alcuni risultati principali nella ricerca sulla terapia di gru... more Questo articolo prova ad esaminare alcuni risultati principali nella ricerca sulla terapia di gruppo, così come le direzioni future di ricerca in questo ambito. Sono stati esaminati i risultati degli studi raccolti dal gruppo di ricerca del Dipartimento di Psicologia dell’Università di Palermo. In particolare, in questo articolo vengono esaminate le questioni teoriche e metodologiche sulla psicoterapia di gruppo, l'efficacia clinica della terapia di gruppo con diverse popolazioni cliniche (disturbi alimentari, disturbi d’ansia) e la relazione tra caratteristiche del paziente, variabili di processo (clima ed alleanza di gruppo) e l'esito della terapia. Complessivamente, da questa rassegna emerge come siano presenti alcuni studi italiani che testimoniano l'efficacia clinica della psicoterapia di gruppo, anche se sarà necessaria maggiore ricerca sull’analisi dei meccanismi sottostanti di cambiamento nei gruppi, soprattutto nelle terapie a lungo termine.
Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue, Nov 4, 2015
Both donors and non-donors have a positive image of blood donation, so donors and non-donors do n... more Both donors and non-donors have a positive image of blood donation, so donors and non-donors do not differ regarding their views on donation but do differ in converting their opinion into an active deed of donation. Several studies have identified altruism and empathy as the main factors underlying blood donation. However, a mixture of various motivational factors mould the complex behaviour of donation. This paper presents an exploratory study on differences of social representations of blood donation between blood donors and non-donors, in order to understand the reasons that bring someone to take the decision to become a blood donor. Participants filled in the Adapted Self-Report Altruism Scale, Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and answered a test of verbal association. Descriptive and correlation analyses were carried out on quantitative data, while a prototypic analysis was used for qualitative data. The study was carried out on a convenience sample of 786 individuals, 583 donors ...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2020
The Group Questionnaire (GQ) is a measure recently developed by Krogel et al. (2013) for the eval... more The Group Questionnaire (GQ) is a measure recently developed by Krogel et al. (2013) for the evaluation of the therapeutic relationship in group. The GQ identifies a three-factor model of the relationship that allows to measure quality (Positive Bonding, Positive Working and Negative Relationship) and structure (member-member, member-leader and member-group), dimensions in group. This work shows the results of a first study on the Italian validation of the GQ. In this study the GQ was administered to 536 subjects from 32 non-clinical groups of undergraduate students. The cross-cultural validity of the GQ in the Italian population has been examined by comparing the psychometric properties and equivalence in factor structure and scores of the Italian GQ with the original American version. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine both the between- and within-group structures. Data concerning reliability and validity of GQ and the results for different SEM in Multilev...
International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education, 2018
Aim of this work is to highlight some psychic consequences of post-modernity and particularly the... more Aim of this work is to highlight some psychic consequences of post-modernity and particularly the sliding towards more archaic levels of functioning. Therefore, after presenting some distinctive characteristics of post-modernity, we briefly report some data related to the last Censis report on the social situation in Italy, we continue highlighting the emergence of some specific behavioral and relational difficulties show by the recent clinical literature and, finally, using as a vertex of analysis the groupanalytic theory, we propose a key of reading still little explored, on the link between the changes registered at the social level and those recorded at the psychic level (affects, thoughts, behaviors) that can explain the general shift towards more archaic levels of operation.
Numerosi studi dimostrano efficacia ed effectiveness delle terapie di gruppo, ma ancora pochi son... more Numerosi studi dimostrano efficacia ed effectiveness delle terapie di gruppo, ma ancora pochi sono gli studi empirici sulle terapie di gruppo di orientamento psicodinamico, soprattutto a lungo termine, una carenza dovuta alla dispendiosit\ue0 e complessit\ue0 dei disegni di ricerca da predisporre in quest\u2019ambito che tuttavia riveste notevole interesse clinico, per sua la diffusione, in Italia e in Europa. In particolare importante \ue8 l\u2019analisi delle relazioni tra variabili di esito e processo, nei diversi momenti terapeutici che scandiscono sia il percorso gruppale che quello individuale. Il presente contributo analizza la relazione tra le variabili d\u2019esito e processo (sia in termini gruppali che individuali) di un gruppo terapeutico long-term, semi-aperto, a conduzione gruppoanalitica. Obiettivi specifici del progetto sono: 1) valutare in che modo l'alleanza, la coesione e altri fattori terapeutici sono correlati con l'esito della terapia; 2) analizzare la relazione tra alleanza ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale; 3) valutare la relazione tra coesione ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale; 4) valutare la relazione tra \u201cimpatto della seduta\u201d ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale. Gli strumenti utilizzati sono: OQ-45.2 (Lambert, Burlingame, 1996; Lo Coco, Prestano, Gullo, Di Stefano, Lambert, 2006); DSQ (San Martini, Roma, Sarti, Lingiardi, Bond, 2004); SCL 90-R (Derogatis L., 1991); CALPAS (Marmar et al., 1986; 1989; 1989a; Gaston, 1991; Gaston e Marmar, 1994); GMLCS (Piper et al. 1983; 1984; 2002 Jones, Lacroix, Marrache, Richardson, 1984); S.I.S (Elliott R., Wexler M., 1994). I risultati sono stati analizzati applicando l'RCI (Reliable Change Index) per valutare statisticamente e clinicamente l'esito dei singoli pazienti, indici di effetto (effect size) per valutare l'entit\ue0 dei cambiamenti verificatisi ed ottenere un indice medio dell'outcome del gruppo, e infine analisi correlazionali tra le scale dell\u2019esito e quelle di processo
Objective: Despite growing evidence on risk-factors of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a... more Objective: Despite growing evidence on risk-factors of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adults, there is a paucity of research on such specific characteristics of BPD in youth. Furthermore, studies on adolescence BPD in clinical setting are still rare. This study aimed to investigate adverse childhood experiences, parental bonding and family functioning in a sample of female adolescent inpatients with BPD, and to compare them with a clinical control group with mixed psychiatric diagnoses. Method: A consecutive sample of 91 female adolescents inpatients (ages 12-18 years) was recruited within a psychiatric university hospital. BPD was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. The Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) was used to assess childhood abuse history, the Parental Bonding Instruments (PBI) was used to evaluate the parent\u2013child bonding, and the Family Assessment Device (FAD) was used to evaluate familial functioning perceived by the adolescent. Results: A history of childhood abuse and maltreatment was significantly (p = <.001) more common in patients with BPD compared to their clinical controls. Using univariate regression, significant associations were found for all adverse childhood experiences, except for physical abuse from mother. Univariate regression analyses also showed significant associations for all subscale of the FAD and PBI. In the stepwise logistic regression model (p < .001), experiences of sexual abuse (OR = 14.11, CI = 3.21 \u2013 62.04), problematic General Functioning (OR = 9.38, CI = 2.23 \u2013 39.44), and low Care from mother (OR = 7.35, CI = 1.88 \u2013 28.80) remained in the best predictive model of BPD. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering familial variables and a broad variety of adverse childhood experience in the etiology of BPD in adolescence. They have important implications for family involvement in the treatment of adolescent BPD
La Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse\u2013CECA (Bifulco et al. 1994), recentemente adattata ... more La Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse\u2013CECA (Bifulco et al. 1994), recentemente adattata per la popolazione italiana (Giannone, Schimmenti et al. 2011) \ue8 considerata il criterio gold standard per la rilevazione delle esperienze di cura ed abuso vissute in et\ue0 infantile e adolescenziale. Si tratta di un\u2019intervista retrospettiva semistrutturata, utilizzabile con soggetti giovani e adulti, che esplora le esperienze vissute fino ai 16 anni di et\ue0 con i genitori ed altre figure significative. \uc8 ampiamente riconosciuto in letteratura come contesti relazionali ed esperienze infantili abbiano un ruolo determinante nella strutturazione del S\ue9 (Bifulco e Moran 1998; Fonagy et al. 2002; Giannone et al. 2010, Stern 1971,1998). Tali esperienze necessitano, pertanto, di un\u2019accurata valutazione. Il compito centrale della CECA consiste nell\u2019identificare configurazioni relazionali specifiche, classificate secondo criteri condivisi, che associano a particolari \u201cstorie sulle relazioni\u201d peculiari dimensioni dell\u2019esperienza. Le rilevazioni effettuate mediante la CECA sono behavioral-oriented, basate sulla descrizione di specifici comportamenti ed eventi vissuti piuttosto che rappresentazioni e risonanze emotive, fornendo cos\uec al clinico informazioni accurate e sensibili su cui effettuare la valutazione (Bifulco, Moran, 1998). L\u2019uso di un\u2019intervista clinica quale la CECA, pur potendo andare incontro a specifiche difficolt\ue0 di categorizzazione fornisce, se somministrata con cura, utili informazioni sulla storia evolutiva degli individui, evidenziando le condizioni di rischio psicologico e psicosociale presenti nel contesto in cui i soggetti erano inseriti ed i fattori che possono aver assunto una funzione protettiva nello sviluppo (Schimmenti e Bifulco 2008). Ci\uf2 pu\uf2 consentire di prendere decisioni pi\uf9 consapevoli circa il trattamento clinico, affinando (con l\u2019ausilio dei dati empirici) la conoscenza del fenomeno e l\u2019elaborazione di obiettivi, strategie e metodologie di lavoro
Journal of Psychopathology 2016;22:229-235 Summary This article proposes a reflection on the impa... more Journal of Psychopathology 2016;22:229-235 Summary This article proposes a reflection on the impact that some postmodern features can have on the sense of identity and on mental functioning to propose possible explanations for identity changes and new forms of psychopathology. After revisiting the most recent literature on the theme, this study proposes a clinical consideration for a possible link between new forms of psychopathology and mental suffering. It particularly suggests that the changes observed in affectivity (including increase in dysphoria, irritability, restlessness, boredom, feeling of emptiness) and behaviour (reduction in impulse control ability, in interpersonal skills and reflective function, etc.) are important indices of a bigger change that involves the entire personality and indicates a shifting towards a borderline level of personality functioning. Finally, the article offers a possible explanation for this shift and advances therapeutic questions.
Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2020
Professionals who work in residential children’s communities face many difficulties and, when the... more Professionals who work in residential children’s communities face many difficulties and, when the hosted children have a history of abuse and maltreatment, the risk of vicarious traumatization and professional burn-out, which has a negative effect on the professional’s work and well-being as well as on the effectiveness at work, is very high. This qualitative study aims to explore, via the content analysis of text recorded in some Photolangage® groups, the representations of social workers and educators in residential children’s communities on the theme of work management of physical and sexual abuse victims. The participants were 37 social workers from 6 residential communities for 0-6 years old child in the region of Palermo (Italy). The analysis of the discourse revealed four main themes: “emotional responses”, “difficulty in coping with emotions related to abuse”, “relationship with the institutional network” and “work methods/strategies”, which seem to guide and inform the soci...
This work presents the adaptation to the Italian context of the "Community of Communities st... more This work presents the adaptation to the Italian context of the "Community of Communities standards" (by O'Sullivan & Paget). We have tried to remain as faithful as possible to the Community of Communities clinical sense, organizational and psychodynamic statements, while still trying to locate the huge experience behind the philosophy of the therapeutic community in the socio-political Italian context. In Italy, health work is heavily regulated within public institutions with their own competences that cover specific administrative services, different types of users and particular territorial areas. Especially in the health services to childhood, the institutional and legal powers that law administration attaches to families, public schools, social services of territorial competence and local health authorities, require an articulated taking charge, involving all these institutions, which is often added to the Juvenile Court of Justice, with its almost limitless power...
Objective Stereotyped beliefs about schizophrenia are well-established in the society and relativ... more 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. Results Students who labelled the description as schizophrenia were more pessimistic regarding full recovery from the disorder. Those who acknowledged greater relevance to biogenetic risk factors were more convinced of the efficacy of medications. Respondents’ opinions on the efficacy of psychological interventions were more positive among psychology students than among nursing students. Conclusions The study confirmed the associations of schizophrenia labelling with prognostic pessimism and beliefs about the e...
This work is part of a research that aims at introducing empirical investigation methods for unde... more This work is part of a research that aims at introducing empirical investigation methods for understanding and evaluating treatments in Mental Health. A commitment that is attributable to a more general clinical and social requirements: the ethical and scientific interest of the professional community of Mental Health for the promotion of effective care interventions as well as the entrepreneurization processes of the health sector which is designed to identify and consolidate proven effective care practices. The aim of this paper is the evaluation of the functioning of residential therapeutic communities for severe patients (Angelini et al. 2017). Therapeutic communities are complex settings where numerous organizational and relational variables act (structures, activities, care characteristics, relationship between members, group dynamics). The empirical assessment of their functioning is a complex challenge, with clear implications for the promotion of effective interventions and...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2015
This study examined the relationships among group process measured by the Group Climate Questionn... more This study examined the relationships among group process measured by the Group Climate Questionnaire, the Cohesion to the Therapist Scale and Cohesion to the Group Scale, and the Curative Climate Instrument to explore higher order factors that explained the group relationship, in a sample of 91 female university students attending 6 interpersonal growth groups. Furthermore, the study examined how group member’s attachment dimensions, anxiety and avoidance, were associated to his/her perception of group relationship. We found that a three-factor model consisting of positive bond, positive work, and negative relationship, approached conventional standards of model fit. Moreover, the results of the study also supported a model with three latent second-order constructs (bond, work, and negative relationship) and two structural perspectives as first-order factors (member-group and member-leader). Contrary to the hypothesis, the theoretical model on the associations between individua...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2011
Questo articolo prova ad esaminare alcuni risultati principali nella ricerca sulla terapia di gru... more Questo articolo prova ad esaminare alcuni risultati principali nella ricerca sulla terapia di gruppo, così come le direzioni future di ricerca in questo ambito. Sono stati esaminati i risultati degli studi raccolti dal gruppo di ricerca del Dipartimento di Psicologia dell’Università di Palermo. In particolare, in questo articolo vengono esaminate le questioni teoriche e metodologiche sulla psicoterapia di gruppo, l'efficacia clinica della terapia di gruppo con diverse popolazioni cliniche (disturbi alimentari, disturbi d’ansia) e la relazione tra caratteristiche del paziente, variabili di processo (clima ed alleanza di gruppo) e l'esito della terapia. Complessivamente, da questa rassegna emerge come siano presenti alcuni studi italiani che testimoniano l'efficacia clinica della psicoterapia di gruppo, anche se sarà necessaria maggiore ricerca sull’analisi dei meccanismi sottostanti di cambiamento nei gruppi, soprattutto nelle terapie a lungo termine.
Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue, Nov 4, 2015
Both donors and non-donors have a positive image of blood donation, so donors and non-donors do n... more Both donors and non-donors have a positive image of blood donation, so donors and non-donors do not differ regarding their views on donation but do differ in converting their opinion into an active deed of donation. Several studies have identified altruism and empathy as the main factors underlying blood donation. However, a mixture of various motivational factors mould the complex behaviour of donation. This paper presents an exploratory study on differences of social representations of blood donation between blood donors and non-donors, in order to understand the reasons that bring someone to take the decision to become a blood donor. Participants filled in the Adapted Self-Report Altruism Scale, Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and answered a test of verbal association. Descriptive and correlation analyses were carried out on quantitative data, while a prototypic analysis was used for qualitative data. The study was carried out on a convenience sample of 786 individuals, 583 donors ...
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 2020
The Group Questionnaire (GQ) is a measure recently developed by Krogel et al. (2013) for the eval... more The Group Questionnaire (GQ) is a measure recently developed by Krogel et al. (2013) for the evaluation of the therapeutic relationship in group. The GQ identifies a three-factor model of the relationship that allows to measure quality (Positive Bonding, Positive Working and Negative Relationship) and structure (member-member, member-leader and member-group), dimensions in group. This work shows the results of a first study on the Italian validation of the GQ. In this study the GQ was administered to 536 subjects from 32 non-clinical groups of undergraduate students. The cross-cultural validity of the GQ in the Italian population has been examined by comparing the psychometric properties and equivalence in factor structure and scores of the Italian GQ with the original American version. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine both the between- and within-group structures. Data concerning reliability and validity of GQ and the results for different SEM in Multilev...
International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education, 2018
Aim of this work is to highlight some psychic consequences of post-modernity and particularly the... more Aim of this work is to highlight some psychic consequences of post-modernity and particularly the sliding towards more archaic levels of functioning. Therefore, after presenting some distinctive characteristics of post-modernity, we briefly report some data related to the last Censis report on the social situation in Italy, we continue highlighting the emergence of some specific behavioral and relational difficulties show by the recent clinical literature and, finally, using as a vertex of analysis the groupanalytic theory, we propose a key of reading still little explored, on the link between the changes registered at the social level and those recorded at the psychic level (affects, thoughts, behaviors) that can explain the general shift towards more archaic levels of operation.
Numerosi studi dimostrano efficacia ed effectiveness delle terapie di gruppo, ma ancora pochi son... more Numerosi studi dimostrano efficacia ed effectiveness delle terapie di gruppo, ma ancora pochi sono gli studi empirici sulle terapie di gruppo di orientamento psicodinamico, soprattutto a lungo termine, una carenza dovuta alla dispendiosit\ue0 e complessit\ue0 dei disegni di ricerca da predisporre in quest\u2019ambito che tuttavia riveste notevole interesse clinico, per sua la diffusione, in Italia e in Europa. In particolare importante \ue8 l\u2019analisi delle relazioni tra variabili di esito e processo, nei diversi momenti terapeutici che scandiscono sia il percorso gruppale che quello individuale. Il presente contributo analizza la relazione tra le variabili d\u2019esito e processo (sia in termini gruppali che individuali) di un gruppo terapeutico long-term, semi-aperto, a conduzione gruppoanalitica. Obiettivi specifici del progetto sono: 1) valutare in che modo l'alleanza, la coesione e altri fattori terapeutici sono correlati con l'esito della terapia; 2) analizzare la relazione tra alleanza ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale; 3) valutare la relazione tra coesione ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale; 4) valutare la relazione tra \u201cimpatto della seduta\u201d ed esiti sul piano sintomatologico, di struttura di personalit\ue0 ed interpersonale. Gli strumenti utilizzati sono: OQ-45.2 (Lambert, Burlingame, 1996; Lo Coco, Prestano, Gullo, Di Stefano, Lambert, 2006); DSQ (San Martini, Roma, Sarti, Lingiardi, Bond, 2004); SCL 90-R (Derogatis L., 1991); CALPAS (Marmar et al., 1986; 1989; 1989a; Gaston, 1991; Gaston e Marmar, 1994); GMLCS (Piper et al. 1983; 1984; 2002 Jones, Lacroix, Marrache, Richardson, 1984); S.I.S (Elliott R., Wexler M., 1994). I risultati sono stati analizzati applicando l'RCI (Reliable Change Index) per valutare statisticamente e clinicamente l'esito dei singoli pazienti, indici di effetto (effect size) per valutare l'entit\ue0 dei cambiamenti verificatisi ed ottenere un indice medio dell'outcome del gruppo, e infine analisi correlazionali tra le scale dell\u2019esito e quelle di processo
Objective: Despite growing evidence on risk-factors of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a... more Objective: Despite growing evidence on risk-factors of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adults, there is a paucity of research on such specific characteristics of BPD in youth. Furthermore, studies on adolescence BPD in clinical setting are still rare. This study aimed to investigate adverse childhood experiences, parental bonding and family functioning in a sample of female adolescent inpatients with BPD, and to compare them with a clinical control group with mixed psychiatric diagnoses. Method: A consecutive sample of 91 female adolescents inpatients (ages 12-18 years) was recruited within a psychiatric university hospital. BPD was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. The Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) was used to assess childhood abuse history, the Parental Bonding Instruments (PBI) was used to evaluate the parent\u2013child bonding, and the Family Assessment Device (FAD) was used to evaluate familial functioning perceived by the adolescent. Results: A history of childhood abuse and maltreatment was significantly (p = <.001) more common in patients with BPD compared to their clinical controls. Using univariate regression, significant associations were found for all adverse childhood experiences, except for physical abuse from mother. Univariate regression analyses also showed significant associations for all subscale of the FAD and PBI. In the stepwise logistic regression model (p < .001), experiences of sexual abuse (OR = 14.11, CI = 3.21 \u2013 62.04), problematic General Functioning (OR = 9.38, CI = 2.23 \u2013 39.44), and low Care from mother (OR = 7.35, CI = 1.88 \u2013 28.80) remained in the best predictive model of BPD. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering familial variables and a broad variety of adverse childhood experience in the etiology of BPD in adolescence. They have important implications for family involvement in the treatment of adolescent BPD
La Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse\u2013CECA (Bifulco et al. 1994), recentemente adattata ... more La Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse\u2013CECA (Bifulco et al. 1994), recentemente adattata per la popolazione italiana (Giannone, Schimmenti et al. 2011) \ue8 considerata il criterio gold standard per la rilevazione delle esperienze di cura ed abuso vissute in et\ue0 infantile e adolescenziale. Si tratta di un\u2019intervista retrospettiva semistrutturata, utilizzabile con soggetti giovani e adulti, che esplora le esperienze vissute fino ai 16 anni di et\ue0 con i genitori ed altre figure significative. \uc8 ampiamente riconosciuto in letteratura come contesti relazionali ed esperienze infantili abbiano un ruolo determinante nella strutturazione del S\ue9 (Bifulco e Moran 1998; Fonagy et al. 2002; Giannone et al. 2010, Stern 1971,1998). Tali esperienze necessitano, pertanto, di un\u2019accurata valutazione. Il compito centrale della CECA consiste nell\u2019identificare configurazioni relazionali specifiche, classificate secondo criteri condivisi, che associano a particolari \u201cstorie sulle relazioni\u201d peculiari dimensioni dell\u2019esperienza. Le rilevazioni effettuate mediante la CECA sono behavioral-oriented, basate sulla descrizione di specifici comportamenti ed eventi vissuti piuttosto che rappresentazioni e risonanze emotive, fornendo cos\uec al clinico informazioni accurate e sensibili su cui effettuare la valutazione (Bifulco, Moran, 1998). L\u2019uso di un\u2019intervista clinica quale la CECA, pur potendo andare incontro a specifiche difficolt\ue0 di categorizzazione fornisce, se somministrata con cura, utili informazioni sulla storia evolutiva degli individui, evidenziando le condizioni di rischio psicologico e psicosociale presenti nel contesto in cui i soggetti erano inseriti ed i fattori che possono aver assunto una funzione protettiva nello sviluppo (Schimmenti e Bifulco 2008). Ci\uf2 pu\uf2 consentire di prendere decisioni pi\uf9 consapevoli circa il trattamento clinico, affinando (con l\u2019ausilio dei dati empirici) la conoscenza del fenomeno e l\u2019elaborazione di obiettivi, strategie e metodologie di lavoro
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