Transition to parenthood in infertile couples

Pregnancy and parenting could be complex psychologically for infertile couples who conceived through Assisted Reproduction Treatment (ART). This study examines transition to parenthood of women and men during their first pregnancy obtained with ART. A face-to-face semi-structured interview was administered to 15 Italian couples waiting for the first child after a conception with ART. The interview, aimed to investigate the story of pregnancy, self-imagine as parents and the imagine of child, was analyzed in order to merge principal themes. Results: Medically assisted pregnancy constitutes an extremely stressful, highly medicalised experience, that the couple, however, narrated according to a basic plot consisting in four phases: doubt, final sentence, victory, monitoring. Results suggest need of psychological support and health intervention for infertile couples who conceived through ART

Doctor-patient care relationship in genetic cardiomyopathies: An exploratory study on clinical consultations

BackgroundThe present study aims to explore the setting of consultation and communication between physicians and patients affected by genetic cardiomyopathies, investigating how the two parts of the therapeutic relationship participate and share information.Methods and results45 adult patients affected by various cardiomyopathies took part in a prospective case study while attending consultations at a cardiologic outpatient clinic constituting an Italian referral centre for cardiomyopathies. A researcher observed the consultations, which were audio-recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded and an analysis of setting, type of communication implemented and participation of doctors and patients in terms of word-count and type of questions/answers was carried out. Overall word-count was significantly higher for physicians than for patients (t(44) = 9,506; pConclusionsFindings emphasize patients' need for adequate time and space to share their subjective illness experience with the physician, within an approach informed by the insights and recommendations of Narrative Medicine. These findings are instrumental to improving the specific clinical setting for individuals with genetic cardiomyopathies

The impact of Covid-19 restrictions on depressive symptoms in low-risk and high-risk pregnant women: a cross-sectional study before and during pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 social restrictions have increased the risk for depression compared to the previous period in Italian women with Low-Risk Pregnancy (LRP). lLess is known about the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on High-Risk Pregnancy (HRP). This study aimed: 1) to explore levels of depression in women who become pregnant before and during COVID-19 pandemic, distinguishing between LRP and HRP; 2) to analyze the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on pregnancy experience in LRP and HRP. Methods: A before-during COVID-19 pandemic cross-sectional study was carried out on 155 pregnant women (Mean age = 34.18), between 23 and 32 weeks of gestation. 77 women were recruited before COVID-19 pandemic (51.9% LRP; 48.1% HRP) and 78 women were recruited during COVID-19 pandemic (51.3% LRP; 48.7% HRP). HRP group was enrolled during hospitalization for high-risk pregnancy. Participants filled out Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Moreover, only COVID-19 group answered an open-ended question about the impact of restriction on pregnancy experience. Results: HRP women reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than LRP. No difference emerged for COVID (before/during) but an interaction effect between COVID-19 and obstetric condition was found. The qualitative results showed the impact of restrictions on emotions and concerns. Conclusion: Respect to the previous period, LRP women during COVID-19 presented an increased risk for depressive symptoms than HRP. The HRP women during COVID-19 seemed to use hospitalization as a resource to find a social support network with other pregnant women and to be reassured on the clinical ongoing of pregnancy

Continuità delle cure e gestione ambulatoriale dei pazienti con malattie primitive del miocardio durante la pandemia COVID-19: l’esperienza della Unit Cardiomiopatie dell’Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Careggi

Le misure restrittive imposte dalla pandemia COVID-19 hanno reso necessario una veloce riorganizzazione del lavoro dei sanitari per garantire una continuità delle cure per i pazienti affetti da malattie croniche, spesso cambiando strategie in corso d’opera. Riportiamo un'esperienza nel complesso molto positiva vissuta presso la Unit Cardiomiopatie dell’Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Careggi durante il recente lockdown

The Italian language postpartum specific anxiety scale [PSAS-IT]: translation, psychometric evaluation, and validation

IntroductionWhile often positive, the lifecourse transition to motherhood is susceptible to the risk for developing mood disorders. Postpartum anxiety has often been overshadowed by other perinatal-specific mental health disorders, such as postpartum depression, and therefore has not been at the forefront or center of as much empirical study. This has meant there is a lack of effective and reliable tools with which to measure it, despite growing evidence suggesting its detrimental impact on mothers, their babies, wider family and social contacts, and on healthcare systems. This current study aimed to translate and validate the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale [PSAS] into the Italian language, and to validate the tool for its use in detecting anxiety specific to motherhood.MethodsThe study (N = 457) comprised 4 stages: English-Italian translation and back-translation to obtain the Italian version [PSAS-IT]; a preliminary pilot study to adapt the PSAS to the characteristics of the Italian population; measurement invariance; and internal reliability of subscales.ResultsThe PSAS-IT demonstrates similar psychometric properties as the original English-language PSAS, with acceptable acceptability, construct and convergent validity, and internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis for multiple groups (Italy and United Kingdom) showed that the factor structure of the PSAS was valid for both groups [χ2 (2436) = 4679.481, p < 0.001, TLI = 0.969, CFI =0.972, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR =0.064].DiscussionThe resulting findings offer a reliable measure of postpartum anxiety in Italian language up to six months after birth

The Italian language postpartum specific anxiety scale [PSAS-IT]: translation, psychometric evaluation, and validation.

Introduction: While often positive, the lifecourse transition to motherhood is susceptible to the risk for developing mood disorders. Postpartum anxiety has often been overshadowed by other perinatal-specific mental health disorders, such as postpartum depression, and therefore has not been at the forefront or center of as much empirical study. This has meant there is a lack of effective and reliable tools with which to measure it, despite growing evidence suggesting its detrimental impact on mothers, their babies, wider family and social contacts, and on healthcare systems. This current study aimed to translate and validate the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale [PSAS] into the Italian language, and to validate the tool for its use in detecting anxiety specific to motherhood. Methods: The study (N = 457) comprised 4 stages: English-Italian translation and back-translation to obtain the Italian version [PSAS-IT]; a preliminary pilot study to adapt the PSAS to the characteristics of the Italian population; measurement invariance; and internal reliability of subscales. Results: The PSAS-IT demonstrates similar psychometric properties as the original English-language PSAS, with acceptable acceptability, construct and convergent validity, and internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis for multiple groups (Italy and United Kingdom) showed that the factor structure of the PSAS was valid for both groups [χ2 (2436) = 4679.481, p < 0.001, TLI = 0.969, CFI =0.972, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR =0.064]. Discussion: The resulting findings offer a reliable measure of postpartum anxiety in Italian language up to six months after birth

Medical successes and couples' psychological problems in Assisted Reproduction Treatment: A narrative based medicine approach

Objective: 1) To explore the psychological processes that develop in women and men during their first pregnancy obtained with assisted reproduction treatment; 2) to individuate the main plot that women and men use to recount their transition to parenthood. Methods: A face-to-face semi-structured autobiographical interview was administered. The interview was aimed to investigate the story of pregnancy. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in order to merge principal themes. Participants: 15 Italian couples waiting for the first child after a conception with assisted reproductive technologies. Results: Medically assisted pregnancy constitutes an extremely stressful, highly medicalised experience, that the couple, however, narrated according to a basic plot consisting in four phases: doubt, final sentence, victory, monitoring. Conclusions: Results suggest that physicians can benefit from knowing the phases that infertile couples experience during pregnancy because these can serve as a framework to use in monitoring their transition to parenthood and in planning psychological support and health interventions for them. Objective: 1) To explore the psychological processes that develop in women and men during their first pregnancy obtained with assisted reproduction treatment; 2) to individuate the main plot that women and men use to recount their transition to parenthood. Methods: A face-to-face semi-structured autobiographical interview was administered. The interview was aimed to investigate the story of pregnancy. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in order to merge principal themes. Participants: 15 Italian couples waiting for the first child after a conception with assisted reproductive technologies. Results: Medically assisted pregnancy constitutes an extremely stressful, highly medicalised experience, that the couple, however, narrated according to a basic plot consisting in four phases: doubt, final sentence, victory, monitoring. Conclusions: Results suggest that physicians can benefit from knowing the phases that infertile couples experience during pregnancy because these can serve as a framework to use in monitoring their transition to parenthood and in planning psychological support and health interventions for them

Stili di monitoring genitoriale, strategie di coping e capacità di resilienza negli adolescenti

Il presente lavoro ha lo scopo di valutare l’influenza del monitoring genitoriale sullo svilup­po delle capacità di coping e di resilienza durante l’adolescenza. Il Coping Strategy Indicator e la Ego Resiliency Scale sono stati impiegati per misurare queste capacità. Per misurare il monitoring è stata applicata sugli adolescenti e i loro genitori una duplice forma di questio­nario che prendeva in esame due dimensioni: la comunicazione genitore-figlio e il controllo genitoriale. Questi strumenti sono stati applicati su 442 adolescenti di età compresa fra i 14 e i 17 anni (240 maschi e 202 femmine) e i loro rispettivi genitori. I risultati hanno mostrato che gli adolescenti che appartengono a famiglie caratterizzate da un miglior livello di comu­nicazione tra genitori e figli usano strategie di coping centrate sulla soluzione del problema e sulla ricerca del supporto sociale e un più alto livello di resilienz