Does alexithymia have a mediating effect between impulsivity and emotional-behavioral functioning in adolescents with binge eating disorder?

Objective: Binge eating Disorder (BeD) has recently been included in the Dsm-5. like many other eating disorder symptoms, BED is often present in adolescence. No studies have specifically investigated the influence of impulsivity and alexithymia on the emotional-behavioural functioning of adolescents diagnosed with BeD. Method: in this study, we recruited n = 162 adolescents (age range: 14-18) and divided them into two groups: 78 adolescents diagnosed with BeD, according to the Dsm-5 criteria (group A), and 84 healthy controls (group B). participants completed the youth self-report (ysr/11-18), the toronto Alexithymia scale (tAs-20) and the Barratt impulsiveness scale (Bis-11). Results: the results showed that group A had higher scores of alexithymia, impulsivity and maladaptive emotionalbehavioural functioning than Group B. Furthermore, alexithymia had a mediating effect on the relationship between impulsivity and emotional-behavioural functioning. Conclusions: These results allow us to hypothesise that alexithymia is a key variable influencing the emotional and behavioural problems of adolescents affected by BED. Our data confirms the previous studies underlining the association of impulsivity and alexithymia with the diagnosis of BeD in adolescents, and our study contributes to the previous literature, emphasising the central role of alexithymia in the mediating effect between impulsivity and emotional and behavioural problems. these results suggest the importance of promoting prevention and treatment polices focused on alexithymia

Nanotransfer Printing of Organic and Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors on Plastic Substrates

A printing process for high-resolution transfer of all components for organic electronic devices on plastic substrates has been developed and demonstrated for pentacene (Pn), poly (3-hexylthiophene) and carbon nanotube (CNT) thin-film transistors (TFTs). The nanotransfer printing process allows fabrication of an entire device without exposing any component to incompatible processes and with reduced need for special chemical preparation of transfer or device substrates. Devices on plastic substrates include a Pn TFT with a saturation, field-effect mobility of 0.09 cm^2 (Vs)^-1 and on/off ratio approximately 10^4 and a CNT TFT which exhibits ambipolar behavior and no hysteresis.Comment: to appear in Applied Physics Letter

Facile fabrication of suspended as-grown carbon nanotube devices

A simple scalable scheme is reported for fabricating suspended carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT-FETs) without exposing pristine as-grown carbon nanotubes to subsequent chemical processing. Versatility and ease of the technique is demonstrated by controlling the density of suspended nanotubes and reproducing devices multiple times on the same electrode set. Suspending the carbon nanotubes results in ambipolar transport behavior with negligible hysteresis. The Hooges constant of the suspended CNT-FETs (2.6 x 10-3) is about 20 times lower than for control CNT-FETs on SiO2 (5.6 x 10-2).Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

From emotional mutual to self-regulation in attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder: A pilot study on a sample of preschool-age children and their parents

The present study aimed to verify the relationship between parent-child interaction characteristics and the ability of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to self-regulate their emotions. The sample included 60 participants: 20 mothers, 20 fathers, and 20 preschool-age males with a diagnosis of ADHD. Parents completed the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The Child Emotional Abilities Task was administered to the child and Autobiographical Emotional Events Dialogues were administered to mother-child and father-child dyads. Several characteristics of parent-child interactions, such as maternal ability to accept an active role of the child during the task, correlated with the child’s ability to identify and describe his own feelings. Parental abilities to involve the child in a reciprocal narrative and avoid boundary dissolution also correlated with the individual capability of the child in imaginative processes. In conclusion, parental emotional abilities were related to the ways in which parents interacted with their children with ADHD during an emotional task. The characteristics of these interactions were related to child emotional self-regulation abilities

Physical problems in early adolescence: a study on early parental loss

International literature underlined that early parental loss represents a potentially traumatic experience, that could expose children to higher risk development, with the onset of psychopathological symptoms. In particular, empirical research has widely confirmed that childhood parental loss is a crucial risk factor for the adolescent’s onset and maintaining of both internalizing and externalizing psychopathological difficulties. Furthermore, early parental loss was correlated with physical illness in adolescence, but few attention was given to the mechanism underpinning. The present longitudinal study aims to better understand the link between parental death in infancy and physical illness during adolescence, considering the role played by youths’ and surviving parents’ psychological profiles

Family profiles in eating disorders: family functioning and psychopathology

Luca Cerniglia,1 Silvia Cimino,2 Mimma Tafà,2 Eleonora Marzilli,2 Giulia Ballarotto,2 Fabrizia Bracaglia2 1Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, 2Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy Abstract: Research has studied family functioning in families of patients suffering from eating disorders (EDs), particularly investigating the associations between mothers’ and daughters’ psychopathological symptoms, but limited studies have examined whether there are specific maladaptive psychological profiles characterizing the family as a whole when it includes adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Through the collaboration of a network of public and private consultants, we recruited n=181 adolescents diagnosed for EDs (n=61 with AN, n=60 with BN, and n=60 with BEDs) and their parents. Mothers, fathers, and youths were assessed through a self-report measure evaluating family functioning, and adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire assessing psychopathological symptoms. Results showed specific family functioning and psychopathological profiles based on adolescents’ diagnosis. Regression analyses also showed that family functioning characterized by rigidity predicted higher psychopathological symptoms. Our study underlines the importance of involving all members of the family in assessment and intervention programs when adolescent offspring suffer from EDs. Keywords: family functioning, eating disorders, adolescents, psychopathological ris