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ABSTRACT Objectives This study, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and coordinated by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Naples SUN, aims to: 1) promote the use of a structured family psychoeducational intervention in... more
ABSTRACT Objectives This study, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and coordinated by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Naples SUN, aims to: 1) promote the use of a structured family psychoeducational intervention in patients with bipolar I disorder and their families in Italian mental health centres; 2) assess its implementation in routine care; c) evaluate its effects on psychopathological status and social functioning of patients and their relatives. Methods This study included the following phases: 1) random selection of 11 Italian mental health centres; 2) development of informative materials and of assessment instruments; 3) training of 2 mental health workers per centre; 4) selection of 8 families of patients with bipolar I disorder for each centre and administration of family psychoeducational intervention. The difficulties and benefits encountered by professionals in implementing the intervention were registered on the Family Intervention Schedule (FIS), a 46-item self-report instrument collecting information on: 1) number of families to whom the intervention was proposed; 2) clinical and organisational difficulties experienced by the staff in the provision of the intervention; 3) advantages reported by the staff. Results The intervention has been proposed to 79 patients and their relatives. Six of them did not accept it, further 9 families left the study after receiving the informative packages. Mental health workers reported several advantages in the conduction of the intervention, in particular, improvement of their professional skills and job satisfaction, which tend to increase over time. The most frequent difficulties in implementing the intervention are the integration of family work with other responsibilities and the allowance of time to perform the intervention. These difficulties are already high at the end of the training course and tend to be stable over time. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that family psychoeducational interventions are feasible in routine settings of Italian mental health centres for the treatment of bipolar I disorder. However, in order to facilitate the dissemination of this intervention on a large scale, organisational changes are needed.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Coping Strategies, Eating Disorders, Family, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Emotions, Italy, Humans, Female, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Family Members, Surveys and Questionnaires, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
While the efficacy of family psychoeducational interventions in the treatment of schizophrenia is now well documented, few data are available on its efficacy in major depression. This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of a family... more
While the efficacy of family psychoeducational interventions in the treatment of schizophrenia is now well documented, few data are available on its efficacy in major depression. This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of a family psychoeducational intervention according to the Falloon model on patients’ clinical status, social functioning and lifestyle and on relatives’ burden and social network.The study was coordinated by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Naples SUN and carried out in 7 Italian mental health centres. In each centre, 8 patients with major depression and their relatives were recruited if they fulfilled the following criteria: a) diagnosis of unipolar major depression according to the DSM-IV; b) aged between 18 and 65 years; c) in charge to the local mental health centre for at least 6 months; d) at least one depressive episode in the last two years; e) living with at least one relative aged between 18 and 70 years.Recruited families have been randomly allocated to the experimental group, which received the psychoducational intervention for 6 months, or to the control group, which received the treatment as usual plus an informative brief intervention.22 families have been treated with the experimental intervention and 22 with the control one. At the end of the intervention, patients’ clinical status and life-style significantly improved in the treated group, as well as family objective burden and social contacts.Family psychoeducational intervention are useful in reducing personal and family difficulties caused by depression and in improving patients’ lifestyles.
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Background Symptoms of depression are transdiagnostic heterogenous features frequently assessed in psychiatric disorders, that impact the response to first-line treatment and are associated with higher suicide risk. This study assessed... more
Background Symptoms of depression are transdiagnostic heterogenous features frequently assessed in psychiatric disorders, that impact the response to first-line treatment and are associated with higher suicide risk. This study assessed whether severe mental pain could characterize a specific phenotype of severely depressed high-risk psychiatric patients. We also aimed to analyze differences in treatments administered. Methods 2,297 adult patients (1,404 females and 893 males; mean age = 43.25 years, SD = 15.15) treated in several Italian psychiatric departments. Patients were assessed for psychiatric diagnoses, mental pain, symptoms of depression, hopelessness, and suicide risk. Results More than 23% of the patients reported high depression symptomatology and high mental pain (HI DEP/HI PAIN). Compared to patients with lower symptoms of depression, HI DEP/HI PAIN is more frequent among females admitted to an inpatient department and is associated with higher hopelessness and suicide...
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental and physical health of the general population at any age, but it is expected to have a protracted and severe consequences for younger populations. The pandemic has had several consequences on... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental and physical health of the general population at any age, but it is expected to have a protracted and severe consequences for younger populations. The pandemic has had several consequences on mental health including anger and irritability, depressive symptoms and somatic complaints, insomnia, lack of motivation, and loneliness. In particular, loneliness and its related negative feelings are thought to be particularly pronounced during young adulthood because of the many social changes that young people deal with during this period of life. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the type of impact of the pandemic on the mental health of young people and their levels of loneliness experienced during the first phase of the lockdown. Based on the largest Italian study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of general population, in this paper we aim to: (1) describe the levels of loneliness in a national sample of Itali...
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The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on... more
The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population. In the period March–May 2020, an online survey was implemented as part of the Covid Mental Health Trial (COMET), a multicentric collaborative study carried out in Italy, one of the Western countries most severely hit by the pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the use of mental health resources during the first wave of the pandemic. The final sample consisted of 20,712 participants, mainly females (N = 14,712, 71%) with a mean age of 40.4 ± 14.3 years. Access to mental health services was reported in 7.7% of cases. Among those referred to mental health services, in 93.9% of cases (N = 1503 subjects) a psychological assessment was requested and in 15.7% of cases (N = 252) a psychiatric consulta...
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Background The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented traumatic event influencing the healthcare, economic, and social welfare systems worldwide. In order to slow the infection rates, lockdown has been... more
Background The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented traumatic event influencing the healthcare, economic, and social welfare systems worldwide. In order to slow the infection rates, lockdown has been implemented almost everywhere. Italy, one of the countries most severely affected, entered the “lockdown” on March 8, 2020. Methods The COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET) network includes 10 Italian university sites and the National Institute of Health. The whole study has three different phases. The first phase includes an online survey conducted between March and May 2020 in the Italian population. Recruitment took place through email invitation letters, social media, mailing lists of universities, national medical associations, and associations of stakeholders (e.g., associations of users/carers). In order to evaluate the impact of lockdown on depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, multivariate linear regression models were performed, weighted for the pro...
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Parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D and serum calcium play a key role in several physiological and pathological conditions. Vitamin D and PTH receptors are largely expressed in the central nervous system and are involved in the... more
Parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D and serum calcium play a key role in several physiological and pathological conditions. Vitamin D and PTH receptors are largely expressed in the central nervous system and are involved in the modulation of inflammatory responses. Few studies investigated the association between calcium homeostasis imbalance and psychiatric disorders. This study aims to assess calcium homeostasis imbalance in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and its impact on clinical outcome. We recruited 199 patients with BD, who were administered with validated assessment instruments to investigate depressive, manic and anxiety symptoms, affective temperaments, childhood trauma and global functioning. Serum calcium, vitamin D and PTH levels were assessed in all patients. Levels of PTH correlated with several clinical characteristics, including the diagnosis of bipolar disorder type I (BD-I), the presence of psychotic symptoms, lithium treatment, suicidality, total number of ...
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Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the most burdensome mental disorder, with a lifetime prevalence of 2.4%, with a prevalence of 0.6% for bipolar type I and 0.4% for bipolar type II. Several interventions have been developed to... more
Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the most burdensome mental disorder, with a lifetime prevalence of 2.4%, with a prevalence of 0.6% for bipolar type I and 0.4% for bipolar type II. Several interventions have been developed to implement the treatment strategy of bipolar disorder, including the Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT). This intervention has been specifically developed to manage patients’ stressful life events, improve the disruptions of social and circadian rhythms and increase adherence to medications. The aim of the present study is to assess the efficacy of IPSRT on affective and anxiety psychopathology, social functioning, response to pharmacological treatment and affective morbidity index (AMI) in BD patients. Methods BD patients were consecutively recruited at the Mood Disorder Unit of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” and randomly assigned to the experimental group receiving the IPSRT or to the Treatment as Usual (TAU) group. Patien...
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This article aims to (1) explore the levels of perceived insecurity in a sample of patients with mood or anxiety disorders and (2) assess whether living in 'big cities' can influence the levels of patients' perceived... more
This article aims to (1) explore the levels of perceived insecurity in a sample of patients with mood or anxiety disorders and (2) assess whether living in 'big cities' can influence the levels of patients' perceived insecurity and social contacts compared to living in a non-urbanized context. A total of 24 Italian mental health centers (MHCs) have been invited to participate. Twenty patients consecutively accessing the MHC have been recruited. All patients have been assessed using validated assessment tools. The sample consisted of 426 patients, mostly female, with a mean age of 45 years. Globally, 52.2% of patients had a diagnosis of mood disorders, and 37.8% had anxiety disorders. Half of the sample declared that the main feeling toward life is uncertainty; higher levels of pessimistic views toward life have been detected in patients living in urban areas. A positive association between negative attitudes toward life and higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptom...
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Despite several guidelines recommend the use of psychoeducational family interventions (PFIs) as add-on in the treatment of patients with bipolar I disorder, their implementation on a large scale remains limited. The aim of the present... more
Despite several guidelines recommend the use of psychoeducational family interventions (PFIs) as add-on in the treatment of patients with bipolar I disorder, their implementation on a large scale remains limited. The aim of the present study is to identify obstacles for the feasibility of PFIs in routine care. This was a multicentre, real-world, controlled, outpatient trial, carried out in 11 randomly recruited Italian mental health centres. Two mental health professionals from each center attended a modular training course on PFI and provided the intervention. Difficulties and benefits experienced by mental health professionals in implementing the intervention were assessed through the Family Intervention Schedule (FIS-R), which was administered six times. Sixteen out of the 22 recruited professionals completed the training and administered the PFI to 70 patients with bipolar I disorder and their relatives. The retention rate of families receiving the intervention was 93%. Mental health professionals reported high levels of organizational difficulties, several benefits in their daily clinical work and low levels of intervention-related difficulties. The most important organizational obstacles were related to the need to integrate the intervention with other work responsibilities and to the lack of time to carry out the intervention. These difficulties did not decrease over time. Intervention-related difficulties were rated as less problematic since the first time assessment and tended to improve over time. Low number of recruited professionals; use of a not previously validated assessment instrument. PFIs are feasible in routine care for the treatment of patients with bipolar I disorder and their relatives, and main obstacles are related to the organization/structure of mental health centres, and not to the characteristics of the intervention itself.
Research Interests: Family Therapy, Psychiatry, Mental Health, Bipolar Disorder, Health Education, and 15 moreMedicine, Italy, Humans, Affective Disorders, Female, Feasibility Studies, Male, Psychological Intervention, Mental health services, Caregivers, Middle Aged, Adult, professional patient relations, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
Introduction: The ROAMER project, funded by the European Commission, has been designed to develop a comprehensive, consensus-based roadmap to promote research on mental health in Europe. It has been repeatedly affirmed that the different... more
Introduction: The ROAMER project, funded by the European Commission, has been designed to develop a comprehensive, consensus-based roadmap to promote research on mental health in Europe. It has been repeatedly affirmed that the different people involved in the mental health field hold different views about the desirability of clinical outcomes and the general principle is that research agenda should reflect the needs and values of the people who use health services. Objectives: To involve different stakeholders in the development of the agenda for mental health research. Aims: To identify priorities in mental health research in Europe for the next ten years. Methods: An online survey was conducted with national associations/organizations of psychiatrists, other mental health professionals, users and/or carers, and psychiatric trainees in the 27countries of the European Union. Results: One hundred and eight associations/organizations out of the 154 contacted returned the questionnaire(response rate:70%). According to all categories of stakeholders, the five most frequently selected research priorities were early detection and management of mental disorders, quality of mental health services, prevention of mental disorders, rehabilitation and social inclusion, and new medications for mental disorders. The top five research areas in terms of importance were quality of mental health services, suicide prevention, early detection and management of mental disorders, rehabilitation and social inclusion, prevention of mental disorders. The least developed research areas in each country were molecular bases of mental disorders, environmental risk/protective factors for mental disorders, resilience and mental health, prevention of mental disorders, health and well-being of carers. Conclusions: These results show that some rebalancing in favour of psychosocial and health service research is needed.
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In this paper we will describe cultural, social and scientific changes occurred in psychiatry in the last years, identifying the new target for mental health professionals. Groups of young psychiatrists from the Italian Psychiatric... more
In this paper we will describe cultural, social and scientific changes occurred in psychiatry in the last years, identifying the new target for mental health professionals. Groups of young psychiatrists from the Italian Psychiatric Association, the European Psychiatric Association and the World Psychiatric Association have established an international network that launched a debate on the future role of psychiatry. In a rapidly changing world, there is the need to: 1) adapt training in psychiatry to the modern world; 2) identify the new target of mental health professionals; 3) enhance the image of psychiatry in the society; 4) overcome stigma towards people with mental disorders. In recent years, socio-cultural and scientific changes have had a significant impact on the psychiatrists' clinical practice. Mental health professionals should deal with these changes appropriately in order to overcome the current "crisis" of psychiatry, which should be considered as a devel...
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Introduction: The practice of early interventions in psychiatry has became one of the most prevalent paradigms in modern psychiatry. in the routine care the dissemination remains frustratingly slow. However, little is known about the... more
Introduction: The practice of early interventions in psychiatry has became one of the most prevalent paradigms in modern psychiatry. in the routine care the dissemination remains frustratingly slow. However, little is known about the characteristics of training curricula. Aims: To describe:1) characteristics of training on prevention and early intervention in psychiatry;2) organizational and clinical differences of early intervention services in the different countries;3) trainees’ satisfaction and management of patients with mental disorders. Methods: Sixty early career psychiatrists have been invited to participate in the survey, recruited from the early career psychiatrists’ network of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA). Respondents were asked to provide the collective input of their trainees’ associations, and not the individual feedback of any officer of the association. Results: 36 out of 60 invited countries compiled the questionnaire. University training programs in early intervention for mental disorders are provided in 21 out of 36 countries (58%). Half of early career psychiatrists feel completely or enough confident to provide specialistic interventions to patients during early stages or at the onset of the disorder. Fifty-three percent of respondents are not satisfied with training on preventive psychiatry. Early intervention services most frequently available are those for schizophrenia (76%). Informative campaigns on mental disorders are usually conducted in 33 countries (87%). Conclusions: A huge variability exists as regards early intervention training and practice. Further efforts are needed in order to establish training programs according to the educational needs of trainees and early career psychiatrists.
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ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the long‐term efficacy of a psychoeducational family intervention (PFI) in bipolar I disorder at one and five years post‐intervention in terms of improvement of: (1) patients’ symptoms and global... more
ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the long‐term efficacy of a psychoeducational family intervention (PFI) in bipolar I disorder at one and five years post‐intervention in terms of improvement of: (1) patients’ symptoms and global functioning and (2) relatives’ objective and subjective burden and coping strategies.MethodsThis is a multicentre, real‐world, controlled, outpatient trial. Recruited patients and key‐relatives were consecutively allocated to the experimental intervention or treatment as usual. Patients were assessed at baseline, and after one and five years.ResultsOne hundred and thirty‐seventh number families have been recruited; 70 have been allocated to the experimental intervention, and 67 have been allocated to the control group. We observed an increasing positive effect of the PFI on patients’ clinical status, global functioning and objective and subjective burden after one year. We also found a reduction in the levels of relatives’ objective and subjective burden...
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Methods In the period July-December 2013, the early career psychiatrists’ representatives of national associations recruited from the early career psychiatrists’ council of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) were invited to... more
Methods In the period July-December 2013, the early career psychiatrists’ representatives of national associations recruited from the early career psychiatrists’ council of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) were invited to participate to an online survey. Each respondent was asked to provide the collective feedback of his/her association rather than that of any individual officer or member of their association.
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The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health are now well documented, however, few studies have been focused on the role of coping strategies and resilience in counterbalancing these detrimental effects. Data are derived from the... more
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health are now well documented, however, few studies have been focused on the role of coping strategies and resilience in counterbalancing these detrimental effects. Data are derived from the COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET), a national multicentric trial carried out in the Italian general population. The final sample consisted of 20,720 participants, 53.1% (n = 11,000) of the sample reported low levels of resilience. Adaptive coping strategies and resilience levels did not have any significant protective impact on the levels of depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Only self-distraction was a risk factor for poor mental health (Beta Coefficient, B = 0.1, 95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.003 to 0.267 for stress symptoms; B = 0.2; 95% CI: 0.077 to 0.324 for anxiety symptoms and B = 0.2, 95% CI: 0.105 to 0.382 for depressive symptoms). High levels of resilience were predicted by adaptive coping strategies, such as acceptance (B = 1.8, ...
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The decision to adopt forced medication in psychiatric care is particularly relevant from a clinical and ethical viewpoint. The European Commission has funded the EUNOMIA study in order to develop European recommendations for good... more
The decision to adopt forced medication in psychiatric care is particularly relevant from a clinical and ethical viewpoint. The European Commission has funded the EUNOMIA study in order to develop European recommendations for good clinical practice on coercive measures, including forced medication. The recommendations on forced medication have been developed in 11 countries with the involvement of national clinical leaders, key-professionals and stakeholders' representatives. The national recommendations have been subsequently summarized into a European shared document. Several cross-national differences exist in the use of forced medication. These differences are mainly due to legal and policy making aspects, rather than to clinical situations. In fact, countries agreed that forced medication can be allowed only if the following criteria are present: 1) a therapeutic intervention is urgently needed; 2) the voluntary intake of medications is consistently rejected; 3) the patient...
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Patients with severe mental disorders die on average 20 years prior to the general population. This mortality gap is mainly due to the higher prevalence of physical diseases and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.The LIFESTYLE... more
Patients with severe mental disorders die on average 20 years prior to the general population. This mortality gap is mainly due to the higher prevalence of physical diseases and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.The LIFESTYLE trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a new psychosocial group intervention (including psychoeducational, motivational, and problem-solving techniques) focused on healthy lifestyle behavior compared to a brief educational group intervention in a community sample of patients with severe mental disorders. The trial is a national-funded, multicentric, randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessments, which is carried out in six outpatient units of the Universities of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" in Naples, Bari, Genova, L'Aquila, Pisa, and Rome-Tor Vergata. All patients are assessed at the following time points: baseline (T0); 2 months post-randomization (T1); 4 months post-randomization (T2); 6 months post-randomization (T3);...
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Psychoeducational family intervention (PFI) has been proven to be effective in improving the levels of family burden and patients' personal functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders (BDs). Less is known about the impact of... more
Psychoeducational family intervention (PFI) has been proven to be effective in improving the levels of family burden and patients' personal functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders (BDs). Less is known about the impact of PFI on relatives' coping strategies in BD. A multicenter, controlled, outpatient trial funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and coordinated by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" has been conducted in patients with bipolar I disorder (BD-I) and their key relatives consecutively recruited in 11 randomly selected Italian community mental health centers. We aim to test the hypothesis that PFI improves problem-oriented coping strategies in relatives of BD-I patients compared to the Treatment As Usual (TAU) group. The final sample was constituted of 123 patients and 139 relatives. At baseline assessment (T0), the vast majority of relatives already adopted problem-oriented coping strategies more fr...
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The association between mental illness and war has been repeatedly investigated. Higher levels of depressive symptoms and an increased suicidal risk have been found in veterans. In this study we investigated the mental health conditions... more
The association between mental illness and war has been repeatedly investigated. Higher levels of depressive symptoms and an increased suicidal risk have been found in veterans. In this study we investigated the mental health conditions among Italian soldiers during the “Great War”, who were hospitalized in a mental health hospital in Italy. The study sample consists of 498 soldiers who were admitted during the World War I between 1915 and 1918, and 498 civilian patients admitted in two different periods (1898-1914, 1919- 1932). Psychiatric diagnoses have been recorded retrospectively by a detailed examination of clinical records. Socio-demographic informations, diagnosis at first admission, number of admissions, and deployment in war zones were collected. A logistic regression analysis was performed, the diagnosis of depression was considered as dependent variable while clinical and demographic variables as independent predictors. Soldiers deployed in war zones were more likely to ...
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The objectives of this article are to describe current trends in the treatment of schizophrenia and the most interesting new approaches to optimizing outcome and fostering the development of new schizophrenia treatments. Increasing... more
The objectives of this article are to describe current trends in the treatment of schizophrenia and the most interesting new approaches to optimizing outcome and fostering the development of new schizophrenia treatments. Increasing utilization of diverse types of atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs), e.g. clozapine-type serotonin (5-HT)2A and weak dopamine (DA) D2 antagonist, amisulpride, a D2/D3/5-HT7 antagonist, and cariprazine, a D3 partial agonist with additional neurotransmitter targets, is occurring as their advantages in efficacy, especially for cognitive impairment and mood symptoms, and side effects is becoming appreciated. Typical APDs, e.g. haloperidol, are diminishing in favor because of their EPS, especially, tardive dyskinesia (T D) and appreciation that reducing D2 receptor stimulation is not the only means to treat psychosis. Some of the mechanisms inherent in various AAPDs, e.g. 5-HT2A inverse agonism, and D3 receptor partial agonism, are now recognized as effective...
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The study explored relationships between preferences for and experiences of clinical decision making (CDM) with service use among persons with severe mental illness. Data from a prospective observational study in six European countries... more
The study explored relationships between preferences for and experiences of clinical decision making (CDM) with service use among persons with severe mental illness. Data from a prospective observational study in six European countries were examined. Associations of baseline staff-rated (N=213) and patient-rated (N=588) preferred and experienced decision making with service use were examined at baseline by using binomial regressions and at 12-month follow-up by using multilevel models. A preference by patients and staff for active patient involvement in decision making, rather than shared or passive decision making, was associated with longer hospital admissions and higher costs at baseline and with increases in admissions over 12 months (p=.043). Low patient-rated satisfaction with an experienced clinical decision was also related to increased costs over the study period (p=.005). A preference for shared decision making may reduce health care costs by reducing inpatient admissions....
Research Interests: Mental Health, Adolescent, Medicine, Clinical Decision Making, Prospective studies, and 15 moreHumans, Europe, Female, Journal Article, Male, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Preference, Mental Disorders, Mental health services, Patient Admission, Middle Aged, Adult, Patient Participation, Observational Study, and Preference
People with severe mental disorders have a mortality rate that is more than two times higher than the general population, with at least a decade of potential years of life lost. People with mental disorders have a significantly higher... more
People with severe mental disorders have a mortality rate that is more than two times higher than the general population, with at least a decade of potential years of life lost. People with mental disorders have a significantly higher risk of obesity, hyperglycemia and metabolic syndrome, which are related to modifiable risk factors, such as heavy smoking, poor physical activities, and inappropriate unhealthy diet, which can be improved through lifestyle changes. Areas covered: Lifestyle behaviours are amenable to change through the adoption of specific psychosocial interventions, and several approaches have been promoted. In the present review, the authors aim to: 1) critically analyze studies involving multimodal lifestyle interventions; 2) discuss the way forward to integrate these interventions in clinical routine care. Expert commentary: The psychoeducational approaches developed for the improvement of healthy lifestyle behaviours differ for several aspects: 1) the format (indi...
Research Interests: Mental Health, Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Medicine, and 11 morePhysical Health, Psychological Intervention, Psychosocial, Clinical Neurology, Severe Mental Illness, Medical Pharmacology, Guidance and Counseling Intervention Programs, Neurosciences, Mortality rate, Psychosocial Intervention, and Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
Research Interests: Psychology, Coping Strategies, Eating Disorders, Family, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Emotions, Italy, Humans, Female, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Family Members, Surveys and Questionnaires, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
Since its first edition, the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental disorders (DSM) has had a great impact on the scientific community and the public opinion as well. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth... more
Since its first edition, the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental disorders (DSM) has had a great impact on the scientific community and the public opinion as well. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of the manual and - as for the previous versions - several criticisms raised. In particular, the persistence of the categorical approach to mental disorders represents one of the main debated topics, as well as the introduction of new diagnostic syndromes, which are not based on an adequate evidences. Moreover, the threshold of diagnostic criteria for many mental disorders has been lowered, with the consequence that the boundaries between "normality" and "pathology" is not so clear. In this paper, we will: 1) report the historical development of the DSM from the publication of its first edition; 2) describe the main changes introduced in the DSM-5; 3) discuss critical elements in the DSM-5. The current debate regarding the...
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Stigma associated with mental disorders represents one main obstacle to receive appropriate care for people with mental disorders. Compared to adults, university students have higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with... more
Stigma associated with mental disorders represents one main obstacle to receive appropriate care for people with mental disorders. Compared to adults, university students have higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with schizophrenia. The primary aim of this case-control study was to assess university students' ability to identify stigma toward schizophrenia in Italian newspapers. Secondary aims were: a) to explore differences in stigmatizing attitudes among two different groups of university students (health professionals [HP] and nonhealth professionals [n-HP]) and b) to compare the attitudes of these two groups with those of a sample of expert psychiatrists. The electronic archives of two Italian newspapers were searched using the term "schizo" (as a word or part of it). One hundred seventy articles published between January and December 2011 were identified. Students from the HP group and expert psychiatrists had a higher ability to detect stigmati...
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Research Interests: Mental Health, European Union, Public Health, Mental Health Promotion, Research, and 15 moreMedicine, European Public Health Policies, Strategy, Health and biomedical research strategy, Humans, Europe, Public mental health, Life, Psychological Intervention, Mental Disorders, Horizon, Public health systems and services research, Delphi method, Disorders, and wos
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Research Interests: Anxiety Disorders, Mental Health, Fear, Fear of Crime, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Anxiety, Italy, Humans, Crime, Female, Male, Mental Disorders, Feeling, Aged, Middle Aged, Insecurity, Adult, ANXIETY, and Inpatients
The role and responsibilities of psychiatry and psychiatrists have changed significantly in recent decades as a consequence of changes in society. The target of psychiatrists has moved from the treatment of specific mental disorders to... more
The role and responsibilities of psychiatry and psychiatrists have changed significantly in recent decades as a consequence of changes in society. The target of psychiatrists has moved from the treatment of specific mental disorders to the management of a wide range of psychological conditions. Following these changes, a public health approach has been claimed as necessary for psychiatric practice and research, given the current ongoing crisis in mental health. If we want to promote a public health approach, the following actions should be responsibly taken by modern mental health professionals: (1) the identification of causes of mental disorders, (2) the refinement of diagnoses, (3) the social inclusion of patients, (4) the involvement of users and carers in mental health research and practice, and (5) the improvement of psychiatric treatments and services. This crisis should represent a stimulus for all psychiatrists and a reconceptualization of psychiatry as public health is not in question.