Predictive factors for further suicide attempts in individuals presenting to an emergency service for an attempted suicide. A one-year longitudinal study

Suicide attempts (SA) have been recognized among the most important predictors of suicide

Psychological well-being (PWB): A natural life outlook? An Italian twin study on heritability of PWB in young adults

Background To date, the genetic and environmental architecture of the dimensions of psychological well-being (PWB) remains unexplored.Method PWB of 742 twins aged 23-24 years and enrolled in the Italian Twin Registry was assessed with the three-item version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB). These scales include items for evaluating the PWB dimensions of self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. A twin design was used to obtain correlations in the PWB dimensions for monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins and to estimate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to variation and covariation in the dimensions.Results Genetic factors explained moderate to substantial proportions of variance in the six SPWB dimensions, with heritability estimates between 37% and 64%. The estimates of genetic correlations were very high (range 0.77-0.99), indicating that genetic factors that influence the expression of the different dimensions of PWB may be shared to a large extent. Non-shared environmental correlations ranged from substantial to high, with the exception of the correlation between autonomy and the dimensions of purpose in life, self-acceptance and personal growth.Conclusions This study presents a twin analysis of PWB measured by the SPWB dimensions; it was found that both genes and non-shared environment play a role in individual differences. The genetic and non-shared environmental correlations between SPWB dimensions suggest that common underlying genetic and non-shared environmental factors influence the expression of the different facets of PWB. © 2011 Cambridge University Press

An Italian twin study on psychological well-being in young adulthood

The twin method was applied to investigate the genetic and environmental architecture of six dimensions of psychological wellbeing (PWB), that is, autonomy, positive relations, purpose in life, selfacceptance, environmental mastery and personal growth, as assessed by the shortest 18-item version of the Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being. The study sample included 742 twins (284 complete pairs, 174 unmatched twins) aged 23–24 years from the populationbased Italian Twin Registry. Genetic factors accounted for a moderate to substantial roportion of variance in the six PWB dimensions, with heritabilities between 37 and 64%. Genetic correlations were very high (range: .77–.99), indicating that genetic factors that influence the expression of the different facets of PWB may be shared to a large extent. Unshared environmental correlations were also substantial to high, with the exception of autonomy with the dimensions of purpose in life (.22), self-acceptance (.09) and personal growth (.01). These findings may guide attempts to design intervention strategies aimed at promoting physical and mental health, which are known to be linked with PWB

Measuring depression with questions about well-being: A study on psychiatric outpatients

SUMMARY. Background. Most depression rating scales are characterized by negatively-phrased questions, exploring the presence of various symptoms. Questions such as those regarding suicidal ideation or painful experiences may reduce acceptability or even lead the reader to withdraw participation in the study. Although positively-worded items may be useful, it should be acknowledged that without formal testing they cannot be assumed to be equivalent to negatively-worded ones. The aim of the present study was to test the reliability and validity of a depression rating scale including only positively-phrased items. Methods. Two groups were enrolled in the study: the first comprised 104 adult psychiatric outpatients, the second 88 undergraduate students. All participants completed the depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Zung Self- Rating Depression Scale, and the Positively-phrased Depression Scale (PDS), a 10-item self-report instrument in which the items are phrased in a positive way to reflect the absence of symptoms. Psychiatric outpatients also were rated by their clinician on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results. The internal consistency of the PDS was satisfactory. The correlations between scores on the PDS and on the other depression scales were moderate to high. Mean PDS scores of patients with a diagnosis of depressive disorder were significantly higher than those of patients with other mental disorders. Conclusions. Despite some limitations, this study suggests that the PDS a valid and reliable instrument which might prove particularly useful for the assessment of depressive symptoms in studies where issues of acceptability are important, such as studies on non-clinical populations, occupational samples, and patients drawn from non-psychiatric settings. © Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore

Evaluating the activity of the Italian Mental Health Services inpatient and residential facilities: the PRISM (Process Indicator System for Mental health) indicators

This article describes the activities of a project aimed at developing a system of process and process/outcome indicators suitable to monitor over time the quality of psychiatric care of Italian inpatient and residential psychiatric facilities. This system, named PRISM (Process Indicator System for Mental health), was developed by means of a standardized evaluation made by a panel of experts and a consecutive pilot study in 17 inpatient and 13 residential psychiatric facilities

Parental Burden and its Correlates in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multicentre Study with Two Comparison Groups

Background: The effects of having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on parents are multifaceted and pervasive. While ample evidence has been provided that these families are under severe stress, there are still several knowledge gaps and unresolved questions. Objective: This study aimed at quantifying the subjective and objective burden of ASD in mothers and fathers, and at improving the understanding of the interplay between parental burden, child’s characteristics, and parents’ coping resources and strategies. Methods: The parents of 359 children/adolescents with ASD were compared to parents of age-matched patients with Down syndrome (N=145) and Type 1 diabetes mellitus (N=155). Child’s clinical characteristics and parents’ caregiving burden, psychological distress, coping resources and strategies were assessed. Results: The parents of children with ASD reported higher objective and subjective burden, more frequent psychological distress, lower social support. Mothers reported greater subjective burden than fathers. Structural equation modeling showed that the most consistent positive and negative predictors of objective and subjective burden were ASD symptom severity and social support, respectively. Other positive predictors were engagement, distraction and disengagement coping, intellectual disability, and adaptive functioning. Other negative predictors were spiritual wellbeing and hardiness. Some effects were indirect through social support and coping strategies. Conclusion: This study confirmed that parents of children with ASD carry a huge caregiving burden, and added to our understanding of the factors associated with burden. The findings may help inform the design of effective interventions aimed at reducing burden among the parents of children with ASD