Ruptures and repairs of group therapy alliance. an untold story in psychotherapy research

Although previous studies investigated the characteristics of therapeutic alliance in group treatments, there is still a dearth of research on group alliance ruptures and repairs. The model by Safran and Muran was originally developed to address therapeutic alliance in individual therapies, and the usefulness of this approach to group intervention needs to be demonstrated. Alliance ruptures are possible at member to therapist, member to member, member to group levels. Moreover, repairs of ruptures in group are quite complex, i.e., because other group members have to process the rupture even if not directly involved. The aim of the current study is to review the empirical research on group alliance, and to examine whether the rupture repair model can be a suitable framework for clinical understanding and research of the complexity of therapeutic alliance in group treatments. We provide clinical vignettes and commentary to illustrate theoretical and research aspects of therapeutic alliance rupture and repair in groups. Our colleague Jeremy Safran made a substantial contribution to research on therapeutic alliance, and the current paper illustrates the enduring legacy of this work and its potential application to the group therapy context

The differences of Slovenian and Italian daily practices experienced in the first wave of covid-19 pandemic

Background The COVID-19 pandemic situation with the lockdown of public life caused serious changes in people's everyday practices. The study evaluates the differences between Slovenia and Italy in health-related everyday practices induced by the restrictive measures during first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The cross-sectional cohort study examined changes through an online survey conducted in nine European countries from April 15-28, 2020. The survey included questions from a simple activity inventory questionnaire (SIMPAQ), the European Health Interview Survey, and some other questions. To compare difference in changes between European countries we examined Italy with severe and its neighbour country Slovenia with low incidence and victims of COVID-19 epidemic. 956 valid responses from Italy (N = 511; 50% males) and Slovenia (N = 445; 26% males) were investigated. Results During the survey, there was a 4.7-fold higher incidence and 12.1-fold more deaths (per 100,000) in Italy than in Slovenia. Barring periods and measures were similar, the latter more stringent in Italy. We found more changes in Italy than in Slovenia: physical inactivity increased (Italy: + 65% vs. Slovenia: + 21%; p < 0.001), walking time decreased (Italy: -68% vs. Slovenia: -4.4%; p < 0.001); physical work increased by 38% in Slovenia (p < 0.001), and recreation time decreased by 37% in Italy (p < 0.001). Italians reported a decrease in quality of general health, fitness level, psychological well-being, quality of life and care for own health (p < 0.001); Slovenians showed a decline in psychological well-being and quality of life (p < 0.001) but generally had a higher concern for their own health (p = 0.005). In pooled participants, changes in eating habits (meal size and consumption of unhealthy food), age and physical inactivity were positively correlated with increases in body mass, while changes in general well-being and concern for health were negatively correlated. Conclusion The study shows that the negative impact of COVID -19 measures is greater in Italy where the pandemic COVID -19 was more prevalent than in Slovenia with low prevalence. Additional consideration should be given to the negative impact of COVID-19 measures on some health-related lifestyle variables when implementing further measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic

Revision of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) for Use with Italian Students

Background: This multistudy report was aimed at examining the psychometric properties in the Italian context of the Student Adaptation College Questionnaire (SACQ) that represents the most important self-report measure for assessing how students adjust to university. Methods: Three studies were conducted in order to revise and improve the instrument for being more efficient in measuring adjustment to university. Results: The final result was the SACQ-SF consisting in 12 item assessing three dimensions: a) student’s perception of one’s study skills (Studying); b) student’s sense of satisfaction with courses and programs (Satisfaction with curriculum); c) student’s evaluation of the degree to which he has social skills and is making new friends (Social adjustment). Conclusions: Convergent and construct validity may be considered also adequate. In sum, the SACQSF can be considered a promising valuable and efficient instrument in measuring adjustment to university in the Italian context, and probably in the European one too. Further, as a brief instrument, it can be easily administered and used as a quick screening tool

Stroke after tadalafil use

No abstract availabl

Magic mirror on the wall: Selfie-related behavior as mediator of the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use

Objective: Recent research has suggested that problematic smartphone use is associated with several psychological factors and that mobile apps and smartphone-related behavior (i.e. selfi e behavior) may encourage the development of problematic smartphone use. However, little is known about how the interplay between dysfunctional personality characteristics and selfi e-related behavior can infl uence problematic smartphone use. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use, as well as the mediating role of selfi e-related behavior in this relationship among young men and women. Method: In the current study, a total of 627 undergraduate students (283 males and 344 females) completed a cross-sectional survey. A structural equation model was tested separately for males and females in order to evaluate the associations between narcissism, selfi e-related behavior and problematic smartphone use. Results: The results showed that greater narcissism was related to increased selfi e-related behavior, which in turn were positively associated with problematic smartphone use both for males and females. However, selfi e-related behavior mediated the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use only for females. Conclusions: The study provides fresh insight into our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying problematic smartphone use, which may inform prevention and treatment interventions

The patient-physician relationship in the face of oncological disease: A review of literature on the emotional and psychological reactions of patients and physician

The physician-patient relationship is daily destabilized by emotional reactions and psychic defenses that cancer arises in the two partners. Continued scientific and technological progresses which were reached by medicine in recent years, and particularly oncologic clinical discoveries, increased the chance of not only survival but also healing. Nevertheless, cancer diagnosis is still a hard existential text that destabilizes everyday life, all the psychic and relational balance, inevitably causing a psychological and social change not only in the patient who is affected but also into the wide social network around him (family, friends, doctors, healthcare team). The aim of this review is to understand how problems, feelings, emotions, distresses or defense mechanisms could garble the relation and the communication dynamics between physician and patients and then prejudicing the efficacy of oncologic therapeutic compliance. Pubmed and Scopus were searched, using strings related to "cancer", "physician-patient relations", burn-out", "compliance", and "communication", identifying literature published from 2000 to January 2015. Extracted papers were assessed for their relevance (10 of 412 papers initially reviewed). Results indicate that a good and empathetic relationship between physician and patient were related to good therapeutic adherence. In particular, a good physician-patient relation maximizes the impact of clinical therapies and reduces psychophysical implications

The impact of Facebook use on self-reported eating disorders during the COVID-19 lockdown

Background: The social isolation due to the COVID-19-related lockdown has had an impact on social media consumption around the world. This study examines the relationship between fear of COVID-19, Facebook use and disordered eating. Methods: Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyse two-wave survey data (T0: Italian first lockdown; T1: after two months) during the pandemic. Young adults with self-reported dysfunctional eating behaviors (N = 115; 91.3% females; mean age = 28.60 ± 7.31) were recruited to complete an online survey at T0; 66 participants (92.4% females; mean age = 28.85 ± 7.85) completed the survey at T1. They were assessed on Facebook use, dysfunctional eating cognitions, and fear of COVID-19. Results: Participants’ disordered eating cognitions increased during the pandemic. At T0, higher fear of COVID-19 was positively associated to time spent on Facebook, which in turn predicted disordered eating cognitions at T1. Moreover, maladaptive Facebook use mediated the relationship between daily time on Facebook and Shape concerns. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest an influence of dysfunctional Facebook use in increasing disordered eating cognitions during the pandemic

The psychological impact of COVID-19 on people suffering from dysfunctional eating behaviours: A linguistic analysis of the contents shared in an online community during the lockdown

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread several months ago from China and it is now a global pandemic. The experience of lockdown has been an undesirable condition for people with mental health problems, including eating disorders. The present study has the aim of understanding the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with selfreported disordered eating behaviours. A linguistic analysis was carried out with regard to the online posts and comments published by 1971 individuals (86% women) in a Facebook online community focusing on EDs during the lockdown. A total of 244 posts and 3603 comments were collected during the 56 days of lockdown (from the 10th of March until the 4th of May 2020) in Italy and were analysed by Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. The results showed that words related to peer support decreased in posts over time, and that anxiety and anger increased in the published comments. Moreover, greater feelings of negativity and anxiety were found in posts and comments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as lesser use of words related to positive emotions. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed eight themes that described the main subjective components of ED symptomatology and distress during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The current findings can help in delivering tailored treatments to people with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Determination of Cadmium and Lead in Vegetables by Stripping Chronopotentiometry

A method for the determination of cadmium and lead in vegetables by stripping chronopotentiometry, after digestion of the sample with concentrated sulphuric acid and dry-ashing, is described. Metal ions were concentrated as their amalgams on a glassy carbon-working electrode previously coated with a thin mercury film and then stripped by a suitable oxidant. Potential and time data were digitally derived and E was plotted versus dt/dE, thus increasing both the sensitivity of the method and the resolution of the analysis. Quantitative analysis was carried out by the method of standard additions; a good linearity was obtained in the range of examined concentrations, as was shown by the determination coefficients, which were 0.998 (n= 4) for cadmium and 0.993 (n= 4) for lead. Recoveries of 85\u2013100% for cadmium and of 84\u201397% for lead were obtained from a sample spiked at different levels. Accuracy was demonstrated by analysis of a matching reference sample of cabbage. The detection limits were 1.8 ng/g of wet mass for cadmium and 5.1 ng/g of wet mass for lead. The relative standard deviations (mean of nine determinations), evaluated on a real sample, were 6.7 and 6.2%, respectively. Results obtained on 10 different commercial samples of pepper (Capsicum annuum) and egg plant (Solanum melongena) were not significantly different from those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The average content was in the range 3.1\u201318.6 ng/g for cadmium and 38.2\u201364.3 ng/g for lead

Imatinib-mesylate for all patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome?

Some recent papers have focused on the activity of imatinib-mesylate, a selective inhibitor of tyrosine kinase, in idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) [1], [2], [3] and [4]. In this setting, a possible therapeutic target was identified by Cools et al. [2], who described the fusion tyrosine-kinase gene FIP1L1/PDGFRA as the result of an interstitial deletion within chromosome 4 in nine out of sixteen (56%) patients affected by HES. Of interest, although in this study the response to imatinib was strictly correlated with the presence of FIP1L1/PDGFRA rearrangement (all patients with such a molecular lesion treated with imatinib responded), only five out of nine responding patients evidenced the abnormal transcript [2]. Among the possible alternative mechanisms for the activation of the PDGFRA tyrosine-kinase domain, these authors suggested there may be a different fusion gene