Attitudes of Catholic Priests Regarding the Participation of People with Schizophrenia and Depression in Religious Practices: Relationships with Prejudices and Community Size

This study investigated whether priests’ attitudes regarding individuals with schizophrenia and depression participating in religious practices varied in relation to priests’ adherence to prejudices about these mental disorders (MD). A sample of 559 Italian priests completed a questionnaire on their views of either schizophrenia or depression. Data were analyzed using a multiple-group structural equation in which the diagnostic group was a moderator and the size of the municipalities in which the churches were located was a covariate. The study revealed that: priests’ attitudes towards churchgoers with MDs are related to views of these individuals as dangerous, easy to recognize and poorly aware of their MDs; community size has a direct effect on priests’ attitudes and an indirect effect through perceived dangerousness; the above-mentioned relationships do not differ by type of disorder. Sensitizing priests on stigma may be helpful to facilitate the participation of believers with MDs to religious practices

Views of Catholic Priests Regarding Causes, Treatments and Psychosocial Consequences of Schizophrenia and Depression: A Comparative Study in Italy

This study explored views of Catholic priests about schizophrenia and depression in Italy. Participants completed a questionnaire on their views about either schizophrenia (N = 282) or depression (N = 277). The depression group was surer than the schizophrenia group that: the disorder was due to psychosocial causes; curable; non-requiring long-term pharmacotherapy; the persons with depression could participate in religious activities. The older priests were more convinced than the younger priests that: the prayer and long-term pharmacotherapy are useful; the persons with mental disorders had affective difficulties, are recognizable and kept at distance. Priests should receive education on stigma in mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia

The Impact of Personal Values, Gender Stereotypes, and School Climate on Homophobic Bullying: a Multilevel Analysis

Abstract Introduction Schools are among the most homophobic social contexts, where students who do not conform to gender norms are at high risk of stigma and discrimination. Method Using a multilevel approach, the aim of the current was to examine whether adolescents' engagement in homophobic bullying behavior was associated with personal values and stereotyped victim-blaming attributions at individual level, and perceptions of school as a community and frequency of teachers' reaction to bullying incidents at classroom level. Data were collected in 2010. The sample consisted of 2718 Italian middle and high school students (53.2% females; mean age = 15.36, SD = .85) from 144 classrooms. Results Results showed that self-transcendence values reduced the risk of engaging in homophobic bullying, whereas both self-enhancement values and stereotyped victim-blaming attributions were positively associated with homophobic bullying. At classroom level, only negative perceptions of school as a community had a unique positive contribution on homophobic bullying, over and above other individual and contextual factors. Two cross-level interactions were found, indicating that self-transcendence values had a significant effect in decreasing homophobic bullying in classrooms where teacher support was perceived as low, whereas stereotyped victim-blaming attributions had a significant effect in increasing homophobic bullying in classrooms where teacher support was perceived as high. Conclusion These findings provide further support to the social-ecological perspective as a useful guiding framework for understanding the complexity of factors predicting homophobic bullying. Policy Implications Efforts should be made to develop clear anti-bullying school policies explicitly dealing with the issue of homophobic bullying

Bullying Victimization: Investigating the Unique Contribution of Homophobic Bias on Adolescent Non-suicidal Self-injury and the Buffering Role of School Support

AbstractResearch on bullying victimization has expanded to specific forms of harassment based on discriminatory bias, which involve aggressive behavior targeting an individual's identity characteristics, such as sexual orientation and/or gender expression. Recent studies have documented elevated health risks associated with victimization based on homophobic bias, above and beyond general victimization. The aim of the current study was to test the unique contribution of homophobic victimization on adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and to analyze the buffering role of teachers and classmates support. Participants were 770 adolescents (55.5% females; Mage = 15.35, SD = 1.62) enrolled in Italian public schools in grade nine (N = 483) and 12 (N = 287). All measures were collected during Spring 2016 using self-reported questionnaires. Zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses suggested that homophobic victimization had a unique contribution on NSSI frequency of engagement once initiated, but not on the probability of engaging in NSSI at least once. High classmates support was negatively associated with adolescents' engagement in NSSI. Furthermore, higher levels of classmates support were associated with a lower NSSI frequency only for youth who reported low levels of homophobic victimization. In contrast, the association between classmates support and NSSI frequency was nonsignificant when youth reported high levels of homophobic victimization. No significant effects were found for teachers support. Overall, our findings underscore the need to address the serious concern of homophobic victimization within schools and the importance of promoting healthy and positive identity development in adolescence

Effects of the diagnostic label “schizophrenia”, actively used or passively accepted, on general practitioners’ views of this disorder.

Background. General Practitioners (GPs) play a key-role in the care of somatic and psychiatric problems in People With Schizophrenia (PWS). It is probable that, like other health professionals, GPs are not all free of prejudices towards PWS. In clinical practice, GPs sometimes interact with clients diagnosed with schizophrenia by specialists, passively accepting this diagnosis. Other times, GPs interact with clients having symptoms of schizophrenia but who have not been diagnosed. In this case, GPs are expected to actively make a diagnosis. Giving the key-role of GPs in the process of care, it is worthwhile examining whether passive acceptance and active usage of the diagnosis schizophrenia have differential effects on GPs’ attitudes toward people with this disorder. Aims. To investigate GPs’ views of schizophrenia and whether they were influenced by a “schizophrenia” label, passively accepted or actively used. Methods. Four-hundred and thirty randomly selected GPs were invited to complete a questionnaire about their views of schizophrenia, either after reading a description of this disorder and making a diagnosis, or without being provided with a description but passively accepting the label “schizophrenia” given in the questionnaire. Results. The GPs who passively accepted the label schizophrenia (N=195) and those who actively identified schizophrenia from the description (N=127) had similar views. Compared to the GPs who did not identify schizophrenia in the description (N=65), those who used the diagnosis, actively or passively: more frequently reported heredity and less frequently psychosocial factors as causes of the disorder; were more sceptical about recovery; were more convinced of the need for long-term pharmacotherapies, believed more strongly that PWS should be discriminated against when in medical hospital; and perceived PWS as more dangerous and as kept at greater social distance. Conclusions. The diagnosis “schizophrenia”, however used, is associated with pessimistic views. Stigma education should be provided to GPs

Medindo a Percepção dos Estilos Parentais de Adolescentes Durante a Infância:: As Propriedades Psicométricas do Estilo Parental e do Questionário de Dimensões

The paper analyzes the psychometric properties of the G1 version of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, a self-report instrument designed to investigate how adolescents or adults were parented during childhood. The sample included 1451 Italian adolescents in high school. Three studies tested the scale’s structure, invariance, and convergent validity. The first found slightly acceptable fit indexes for a 40-item scale measuring three factors (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive styles); the factors presented good reliability (Ïc .62-.96). Multigroup confirmative analyses found factor loadings invariant in the father version, whereas 12 items resulted not invariant in the mother version (second study). Good convergent validity was found with the Parental Bonding Index and the Parental Monitoring Scale (third study). Discussion of results is provided within the parenting styles literature.Nos últimos 15 anos houve um interesse crescente na avaliação de estilos parentais de forma retrospectiva, especialmente com o Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire (Questionário de Estilos Parentais). No entanto, poucos estudos efetuaram a análise psicométrica desta escala com análises fatoriais confirmatórias (AFC). O presente estudo analisou as características psicométricas do instrumento numa amostra de 1465 adolescentes italianos que avaliaram o estilo parental do pai e da mãe durante a sua infância. Foram utilizadas AFCs e análises multi-grupo para avaliar a estrutura e consistência da escala. Os resultados demonstram que 22 dos 62 itens não mediram bem a constructo. A versão final do instrumento, composto por 40 itens, apresenta propriedades psicométricas satisfatórias e validade convergente nas duas versões

Views of Mental Health Professionals on Positive Changes in Service Practices and Staff-User Relationships After One Year of Covid-19 Pandemic in Italy

This study explored views of mental health services (MHS) professionals regarding positive changes in service practices and organizations, and staff-user relationships after one year of COVID-19 in Italy. Professionals from a community-oriented MHS completed online the Questionnaire on MHS Transformations during the COVID-19 pandemic, a 30-item tool developed by a participatory approach and validated. Of the 184 participants, 91.8% felt it was ‘‘true/definitely true’’ that during the pandemic they had informed users on procedures to reduce contagion risks, and 82.1% stated that they had increased telephone contact with users. Sixty-nine percent of professionals reported that staff revised treatment plans according to new needs of care and 78.6% stated that they had been able to mediate between user needs and safe working procedures. Moreover, 79.4% of respondents stated that they had rediscovered the importance of gestures and habits, and 65% that they had gained strength among colleagues to face fear. Fifty-four percent of participants admitted that they had discovered unexpected personal resources in users. Overall, 59.6% of participants stated that they found some positives in the COVID-19 experience. Perceived positive changes was greater among professionals from community facilities vs. those from hospital and residential facilities. In community-oriented MHS, the pandemic offered an opportunity to change practices and rethink the meaning of relationships between people. This data may be useful in generating a more balanced understanding of COVID-19’s impact on MHS and for MHS planning in the pandemic era