Commentary: Preliminary evaluation of an analog procedure to assess acceptability of intimate partner violence against women: The partner violence acceptability Movie Task

Preliminary evaluation of an analog procedure to assess acceptability of intimate partner violence against women: the Partner Violence Acceptability Movie Task

The Clinical Assessment in the Legal Field: An Empirical Study of Bias and Limitations in Forensic Expertise

According to the literature, psychological assessment in forensic contexts is one of the most controversial application areas for clinical psychology. This paper presents a review of systematic judgment errors in the forensic field. Forty-six psychological reports written by psychologists, court consultants, have been analyzed with content analysis to identify typical judgment errors related to the following areas: (a) distortions in the attribution of causality, (b) inferential errors, and (c) epistemological inconsistencies. Results indicated that systematic errors of judgment, usually referred also as "the man in the street," are widely present in the forensic evaluations of specialist consultants. Clinical and practical implications are taken into account. This article could lead to significant benefits for clinical psychologists who want to deal with this sensitive issue and are interested in improving the quality of their contribution to the justice system

The Construction of “Discomfort Psychological”: An Exploration of Italians Teachers\u27 Reports

Although there are several studies on youth problems in school, there are few studies on how teachers report psychological discomfort of the students and on what criteria does their procedure. Considering that schools increasingly make such reports to social or neuropsychiatry services, we wanted to find out whether it is flawless (bias, etc.) and how it can affect a student\u27s career. This research presents an investigation on how the practice of signaling psychological discomfort at school is set up. Objects of the survey are the procedures used by the teachers to submit the psychological problems. The research subjects were Secondary School teachers. In this research, we used qualitative research methods. We specifically chose to use a semi-structured interview. The data analysis was conducted in line with the analysis of the conventional content. From an analysis of the responses, it is possible to highlight that there is no generally agreed description of psychological discomfort, that the criteria for identifying distress are different and that the way in which they follow the reporting procedure varies very much from teacher to teacher. Finally, we discuss the implications of individualized reports both for the school course of the student and for the requirements of the teachers

Understanding and Managing Gender Identity Variance in Minors: A Qualitative Research on the Parental Role in Italy

Identities that differ from what is expected of each gender challenge the crystallised binary form of social organisation. Furthermore, having a gender-variant child is an experience that confronts parents with something unknown to them that questions most of their assumptions. In the Italian context, there is a lack of awareness about the population of transgender and gender-variant minors, and what their or their families' needs are. In the present study, we interviewed the parents of gender-variant minors from Italy and asked them to describe the ways they got to know their child's gender identity and how they managed such a completely new situation. The interviews were transcribed literally and analysed through discourse analysis. We carried out descriptions of how parents configure this topic and the different positionings adopted thorough their experience of understanding and managing gender variance. Overall, we discussed and promoted parent-children interacting modalities aimed at co-constructing and sharing the process of gender identity development, instead of adopting self-referential or ideological positionings. The present article offers a qualitative exploratory study of gender-variant minors and their families in the Italian context. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also presented

New drugs and polydrug use: implications for clinical psychology

New drugs and polydrug use: implications for clinical psycholog

Getting better acquainted with Auditory Voice Hallucinations (AVHs): A need for clinical and social change

The phenomenon of hearing voices (AVHs) is very much a subject of current scientific interest, both clinically1 and socially. For a long time, auditory hallucinations—perceiving sounds without external stimuli (David, 2004)—were considered an obvious sign of schizophrenic or psychotic psychopathology (Goodwin et al., 1971; Larøi et al., 2012), but these days such an association is no longer taken for granted. Various recent studies in the areas of psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience have brought a renewal of interest in AVHs. First of all, the move beyond Kraepelinian logic (van Os, 2009; Fusar-Poli et al., 2014) has led us to see AVHs as a phenomenon in their own right, and not just a characteristic of schizophrenia (Fernyhough, 2004). Furthermore, a number of studies in imaging techniques have allowed us to study the phenomenon live, as it occurs, collecting various new data (Shergill et al., 2000). On the other hand, psychological studies with attempts at modeling, have boosted the idea that AVHs are linked to the linguistic and verbal qualities of the subject, thus reducing the association between voice hallucinations and signs of pathology (Johns and van Os, 2001; Pearson et al., 2001; Stanghellini and Cutting, 2003). Other researchers have theorized that hearing voices is a different manifestation of self-awareness (Salvini and Bottini, 2011; Salvini and Quarato, 2011). Even DSM-5 has modified the importance it attaches to hallucinations, in fact although the 4th edition diagnosed “schizophrenia” simply on the basis of the symptom “hallucinations,” in the new edition hallucinations on their own are not considered a sufficient symptom to diagnose the specter of schizophrenia” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many of those suffering from this condition are not under treatment and are not diagnosable in psychopathological terms, which asks ever more questions of health professionals (Iudici, 2015), and which brings with it the risk that the phenomenon of hearing voices may be considered pathological because of a lack of understanding of the problem. One direct implication of this risk concerns non-psychotic and non-schizophrenic hearers of voices who are afraid of being considered mad or disturbed, who very often live in fear for years without talking about it with anyone, although realizing that hearing voices causes no general maladjustment in their lives (Andrew et al., 2008). In the long term this can lead to feelings of alarm in some of them, and when such situations result in a visit to a clinic or a psychiatrist, there are often “suffering and conflicted confessions” about such experiences, especially by people who have never had psychiatric experience (Iudici and Gagliardo Corsi, 2017). These people consequently do not have appropriate information to help them understand their experiences (Faccio et al., 2013). This fact raises further doubts about the direct juxtaposition of auditory hallucinations and diagnoses of mental disturbance, and consequently our interest is in sensitizing clinicians to a broader interpretation of the phenomenon than the traditional view, highlighting the importance of considering more perspectives

What works for promoting health at school: Improving programs against the substance abuse

The school is one of the most important contexts for carrying out health promotion programs related to the abuse of substances. Over the years, methods and intervention models have changed a great deal, both in relation to the evolution of health goals and to the role played by experts, students, parents, and teachers. We would like to offer a different perspective on health promotion at school by discussing the weaknesses and strengths of the most used methods, in order to identify the appropriate methodology, based on recent evidence research findings. We used Scopus as database for reviewing existing literature. The evolution in the methodology of health promotion programs can be synthesized through a sequence of three phases, from the 1960s to the present day

Health Professionals Working with Persons with Alzheimer's. Reflections for New Training Courses

AbstractHealth professionals working with a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease have to face with considerable communicational and relational difficulties. Therefore, training programs focused on the cognitive or medical aspects of the disease may not be sufficient to deal with the complexity of this condition. Starting from the contributions of Kitwood (1997) and the approach of Bender (2003), this study aims to discuss an alternative paradigm to dementia-care, providing suggestions about the daily care work of health professionals. Some expressive and narrative activities are presented in order to facilitate an effective relationship between operators and patients

The Representation of the “Science” Construct in the Diagnostic Manuals. An Exploratory Research on the Use of the Scientific Term in the icd-10, in the dsm-5 and in the pdm

Ogni disciplina e approccio teorico si caratterizzano per la ricerca di un definito grado di scientificità che li possa legittimare. Nella comprensione dei fenomeni psicologici e nel campo  terogeneo della psicologia clinica si possono trovare espressioni linguistiche e criteri legati alla scienza differenti tra loro, con altrettante ricadute pragmatiche. In questa ricerca si sono esplorati i significati legati all’uso del termine “scientifico” in alcuni manuali diagnostici: icd-10, dsm-5 e pdm. Il método usato è stato quello della rappresentazione perspicua, ovvero un sistema di analisi linguistica volta a individuare alcune unità simboliche presenti nei manuali. I risultati hanno  onsentito di sottolineare i significati legati ai diversi modi di intendere la scientificità e di avanzare  lcune proposte operative. In conclusione, si può mettere in evidenza come l’uso del costrutto “scienza” e le espressioni linguistiche ad esso collegate sia molto differente nei tre manuali indagati e fa riferimento a campi di significato molto differenti l’uno dalle altre. Si evidenzia infine l’importanza di fondare il costrutto “scienza” in funzione dei propri specifici riferimenti concettuali.Parole chiave: linguaggio, diagnosi, epistemología, rappresentazione perspicua.Cada disciplina teórica se caracteriza por la búsqueda de un grado definido de carácter científico que la puede legitimar. En la comprensión de los fenómenos psicológicos en psicología se pueden encontrar expresiones lingüísticas, criterios científicos e implicaciones pragmáticas diferentes. En  sta investigación intentamos de explorar los significados de la utilización del término “científico”  en  algunos manuales diagnósticos: icd-10,  dsm-5 y pdm. El método utilizado fue el de la representación perspicaz, es decir, un sistema de análisis lingüístico destinado a identificar algunas unidades simbólicas presentes en los manuales. Los resultados obtenidos permitieron subrayar los significados relacionados con diferentes formas de entender la cientificidad y presentar algunas propuestas prácticas. En conclusión, puede destacarse cómo el uso de la construcción “ciencia” y las expresiones lingüísticas relacionadas con esta, son muy diferentes en los tres manuales investigados y se refieren a campos de significado muy diferentes entre sí. Finalmente, se subraya la importancia de fundar la construcción “ciencia” según sus propias referencias conceptuales específicas.Palabras clave: ciencia, lenguaje, diagnosis, epistemología, representación perspicua.Disciplines and theoretical approaches are characterized by the research of a defined scientific status in order to legitimate them. To understand psychological phenomena in the heterogeneous field of clinical psychology, different linguistic expressions and scientific criteria can be found, as well as many pragmatic consequences. In this research we tried to explore the meanings related to the use of the term “scientific” in some diagnostic manuals: the icd-10, the dsm-5 and the pdm. The method used was that of perspicuous representation, i.e. a system of linguistic analysis aimed at identifying some symbolic units present in the manuals. The results allowed to highlight the meanings related to the different understandings of science and to advance some operative suggestions. In conclusion, it can be highlighted how the use of the construct “science” and the linguistic expressions related to it are very different in the three manuals investigated and refers to fields of meaning very different from each other. Finally, the importance of founding the construct “science” according to its own specific conceptual references is underlined.Keywords: Science, language, diagnosis, epistemology, perspicuous representation