Illness Experiences and Attitudes towards Medication in Online Communities for People with Fibromyalgia

Abstract: Fibromyalgia is a chronic disabling syndrome, and the legitimacy of its diagnosis is still debated. Internet and online communities may become a relevant resource for affected people. This present study aims to understand the role of online communities relating to fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients’ illness experiences and their attitudes towards medication. A qualitative content analysis based on the grounded theory approach was conducted on 19 conversations from an online forum, and 14 online interviews. Illness experience, lack of reference points, online communities, personal role and attitude towards medication were the five categories identified, with the search for recognition as the core category. The study highlighted that online communities represent a resource that allows users to express and share their needs, especially in terms of legitimacy and recognition

Quali prospettive per la telepsicologia nell’ambito della salute? Le esperienze di psicolog* e psicoterapeut* Italian* con la consulenza online nel periodo COVID

La telepsicologia rappresenta un’importante risorsa per sperimentare nuove opportunità di cura e rispondere a specifiche necessità con interventi mirati e/o trasversali. Quest’ultimo è il caso della consulenza online che durante la pandemia è stata utilizzata dalla maggioranza degli psicologi e psicoterapeuti italiani per rispondere al blocco forzato delle attività e all’aumento del malessere psicologico. Per esplorare la loro esperienza con tale pratica è stata creata una survey online, completata da 368 professionisti (febbraio-luglio 2021). Le analisi descrittive e tematiche sono state condotte con Jamovi e Atlas.ti9. I risultati hanno sottolineato che il 62% dei partecipanti non aveva mai utilizzato interventi online prima della pandemia, il 45,3% ha riportato di sentirsi poco esperto nel praticare online, il 77,1% ha sperimentato difficoltà tecniche e, ad un anno dall’inizio della pandemia, il 79,3% ha intenzione di continuare a praticare online. Sentirsi presenti nel setting online è riportato come legato alla costruzione di un “terzo spazio”, alla ridefinizione del setting terapeutico e alla risonanza emotiva. La pandemia ha “forzatamente” promosso un uso estensivo degli strumenti digitali nella pratica clinica, evidenziando criticità, richieste, risorse e modi di essere in relazione attraverso lo schermo che aprono a riflessioni sul futuro della pratica online in Italia

A blended (in presence and online) group intervention to promote social connectedness and wellbeing among international university students enrolled to the University of Padua (Italy).

A pilot evaluation study and a qualitative inquiry of a blended (in presence and online) group intervention to promote social connectedness and wellbeing among international university student

Italian Adolescents and COVID-19: risk perception and preventive behaviours

The present mixed method study explores throughout interviews and a questionnaire, risk perception and preventive behaviours in Italian adolescents during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Social support contrasts loneliness and promotes well-being among college students going out of the COVID-19 emergency

The aim of this study is to analyze college students’ mental-health and loneliness in relation to the perceived impact of COVID-19 pandemic, social support, socio-demographic variables, living conditions and leisure activities during the restoring of social contacts after the strictest phase of pandemic restrictions. A total of 291 college students filled in an online questionnaire. Results showed that higher levels loneliness, depression and anxiety were associated with a higher perceived impact of the pandemic with some differences related to the gender, culture, and search for professional support. Social support and activities with others were associated with lower loneliness and mental-health symptoms. These results are important to inform interventions to support college students’ wellbeing and foster social connections among them

We are all in this together - construing loneliness and social isolation together by playing with Personal Construct Psychology self-help materials

Social isolation and loneliness have increased during and after the pandemic, greatly impacting the general population well-being and mental health, especially of those populations at higher risks such as international college students. To tackle those challenges and foster well-being and adaptation to the new environment, authors have developed and implemented a blended intervention involving international students composed of 8 in presence group activities and 8 online self-help materials, construed ad hoc in light of the PCP. The PCP self-help materials were construed to foster anticipation, construction, socialisation and meaning making on different topics while dealing with a new environment and post-pandemic personal and relational fatigue. The present workshop aims to create a synergic and creative space to explore together the constructs of social isolation and loneliness by playing with the self-help materials. Participants will be actively engaged in elaborating their personal meanings and their patients’ ones while reflecting on clinical implications

Italian psychologists and online psychological interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic

The present project aims to explore the attitudes and experiences of Italian psychologists and psychotherapists with the online clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Stories of Life during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: A Qualitative Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on people the need to find meaning in many unprecedented ways. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how the general Italian population dealt with government restrictions and to understand personal experiences connected with the first wave of the pandemic in light of the personal construct theory (PCT) framework. One hundred and sixteen people (over 18 years old) completed an online survey between May and June 2020. Two independent researchers ran inductive thematic content analysis on data using a specifically developed international codebook. Five major themes were identified in the participants’ narrations: difficulties, emotions, coping with lockdown measures, going back to normal, and change. The results, interpreted within the PCT transitions, showed that the pandemic represented a threat to participants’ life plans, beliefs, and certainties. Some coped with it mainly by waiting for the pandemic to end and remaining firm in their beliefs and certainties, whereas others coped by trying to find alternative ways of giving sense to this experience and reconstructing personal meanings, claiming a change in their life and in society. Differentiating personal experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic is fundamental for designing personalised strategies to promote well-being