Alexithymia and fibromyalgia: clinical evidence

This review proposes a critical discussion of the latest studies investigating the presence of alexithymia in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and its relation to other psychological disorders. The focus is on the most relevant literature exploring the relationship between FM, a chronic pain syndrome, and alexithymia, an affective dysregulation, largely observed in psychosomatic diseases. The articles were selected from the Medline/Pubmed database using the search terms “Fibromyalgia,” “Alexithymia,” and “Psychological Distress.” Of the seven studies fulfilling these criteria, one found no differences between FM patients and the control group, four found significant differences, with higher levels of alexithymia in the FM sample, while two showed unclear results. Overall, the majority of findings highlighted the high prevalence of alexithymia in FM patients. Future studies should clarify the role of alexithymia in FM, paying attention to two principal aspects: the use, as a control group, of patients with chronic pain conditions but a low psychosomatic component, and the use of other measures, in addition to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), to assess alexithymia

Editorial: PsychOncology: clinical psychology for cancer patients—Cancer: the key role of clinical psychology

PsychOncology: clinical psychology for cancer patients-Cancer: the key role of clinical psycholog

Psychological Preparedness of Psychologists during the COVID-19 Emergency: Are There Any Individual Differences?

The COVID-19 outbreak has posed an unprecedented global challenge. However, despite the large amount of evidence on the psychological consequences of the pandemic, very few studies have focused on psychologists themselves. (1) Background: The present study aimed to characterise the professional and clinical profile of psychologists facing the COVID-19 outbreak and to investigate the relationship between psychological preparedness and a series of potential predictors (e.g., sociodemographic and professional variables and psychological distress). (2) Methods: A total of 1115 psychologists fully completed an online survey. The data collection period started with the first wave of the pandemic. Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic and professional data and to complete three questionnaires assessing psychological preparedness, worry, and anxiety symptoms. (3) Results: Descriptive results showed that the COVID-19 outbreak did not cause an interruption to the psychological practice of professionals (both in the public and in private sectors) and that psychologists accepted the introduction of technological devices within their regime of work in order to guarantee their service to clients. Only a minority of participants reported clinically significant levels of symptoms of anxiety and worry. Regression analyses revealed that being older, having taken part in training courses on the COVID-19 emergency, and experiencing lower levels of worry and anxiety were all significant predictors of both cognitive and affective psychological preparedness. (4) Conclusions: Taken together, these findings seem to highlight that specific factors can enhance psychological preparedness among psychologists. Therefore, it is vital to inform authorities about the importance of providing emergency programmes to train healthcare workers, especially psychologists, on how to develop psychological preparedness when facing the negative consequences of critical incidents at a universal level, given their crucial role in promoting mental health