Psychopathic Traits, Externalizing Problems, and Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Social Dominance Orientation.

Psychopathic traits in community and referred youths are strongly associated with severe externalizing problems and low prosocial behavior. However, less is known about the mechanisms that may link youth psychopathy and these outcomes. Social dominance orientation (SDO), defined as the general individual orientation toward unequal and dominant/subordinate relationships, might represent a valuable construct to explore to better understand the association between psychopathic traits, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. Based on this, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychopathic traits, SDO, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior in a community sample (N = 92, 45.57% females, mean age = 12.53, and SD = 0.60) and in a clinical (N = 29, 9% female, mean age = 12.57, and SD = 0.57) samples of adolescents with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder. Results showed that SDO mediated the relationship between psychopathic traits and externalizing problems and between psychopathic traits and prosocial behavior only in the clinical sample. These findings can provide valuable information on psychopathic trait correlates in youths with aggressive behavior disorders; treatment implications are discussed.

The impact of COVID-19 on Italian adolescents' sleep and its association with psychological factors.

Insomnia and circadian dysregulation during adolescence represent important risk factors for emotional and psychological problems. Recent studies have shown that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been linked to a high prevalence of behavioural sleep problems in the general population. This study aimed to provide two pictures of two different time points of the pandemic regarding the prevalence of sleep problems in adolescents and their association with psychological health variables. Two different independent large samples of Italian adolescents aged 13-17 years were recruited at two pandemic time points. A total of 1,146 adolescents at Time 1 (T1; April 2020) and 1,406 at Time 2 (T2; April 2021) took part in the study. Measures of insomnia symptoms, sleep hygiene, chronotype, psychological distress and emotion regulation were collected. Prevalence of insomnia was 12.13% at T1 and 23.19% at T2. Furthermore, high levels of poor sleep habits (late bedtime, poor sleep hygiene, use of electronic devices at bedtime) were also detected at both time points. Insomnia symptoms strongly correlated with poor sleep hygiene, higher psychological distress, and emotional suppression at both time points. Results highlighted an alarming picture for two large samples at two different time points of the pandemic that showed a potential negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in both the first outbreak and in the later phase of the pandemic, on sleep habits, psychological distress and insomnia symptoms in adolescents. This strongly suggests the need for monitoring these variables and their interaction in the post-pandemic period and to develop and promote interventions for insomnia and circadian disturbances during adolescence.

Sleep Characteristics in Italian Children During Home Confinement Due to Covid-19 Outbreak.

OBJECTIVE: Italy faced one of the first large clusters of COVID-19 infections worldwide. Home confinement and social distancing could have negatively impacted sleep habits and prevalence of sleep disorders in children, which may be also linked with altered emotional processes. The present study focused on clinical aspects related to sleep, insomnia and emotions in Italian children aged 0-to-12 years during home confinement due to COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: An online survey was systematically distributed in all Italian territories by contacting regional offices of the Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research (MIUR) and schools with available contact. All respondents had to be parents of at least one child aged 0 to 12 years old. Information on sociodemographic variables, sleep habits, sleep health behaviors, sleep disorders and mood were collected. RESULTS: Parents of 2361 children (mean age: 8.1 ± 2.62 years; 1148 females; 1213 males) answered the survey. 1.2% of children was between 0 and 2 years old; 15.3% within 3 to 5 years and 83.3% within 6 and 12 years. In all group ages, late bedtime was observed (most of them after 9 p.m.). 59.4% of all children presented at least one clinical diagnostic criterion for childhood insomnia. Logistic regression model showed that presence of at least one criterion for childhood insomnia was associated to younger age, negative mood, current parental insomnia, being the only child, presence of any other sleep disorder, and sleep hygiene behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Data indicate an alarming increase of prevalence of insomnia related problems in Italian children during home confinement with respect to previous data. This was found to be associated with poor sleep hygiene and negative mood. Clinical programs targeting insomnia, sleep health behaviors and emotional processes should be implemented in pediatric primary care in order to prevent the development of sleep problems in a post-pandemic situation.

Validation of the Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder (PSCD) Scale in a Sample of Italian Students.

This study aimed to further validate the self-reported version of the Proposed Specifiers Conduct Disorder (PSCD) scale, testing the associations between the PSCD with a scale that measures emotional/behavioral difficulties and prosocial behaviors (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ). A total of 536 Italian students (47.76% male; 11-14 years) completed the PSCD, while their caregivers and teachers completed the SDQ. A series of confirmatory factor analyses to test the best fitting model were run. The internal consistency of the PSCD was evaluated, and the correlations between the PSCD self-reported scores and SDQ Parent and Teacher report scores were examined. A bi-factor model was fitted with a refined 19-item version of the scale, which showed adequate fit indices. The PSCD total score was strongly associated with higher parent- and teacher-rated conduct problems, hyperactivity, and lower prosocial behavioral symptoms. In conclusion, this study indicated that the self-report PSCD shows preliminary promise as a reliable, easy-to-use tool, for measuring psychopathic traits in Italian children and young adolescents.

Forgiveness in the Modulation of Responsibility in a Sample of Italian Adolescents with a Tendency towards Conduct or Obsessive-Compulsive Problems.

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the conduct disorders (CD) express a contrasting symptomatology, they could represent different answers to a common matrix about morality. In the literature, some theoretical models describe people with OCD as individuals who experience high levels of responsibility and guilt. On the other hand, adolescents with a CD are described as if they do not feel guilty at all or consider anti-social purposes as more important than existing moral purposes. The aims of this study were to investigate the role of forgiveness in responsibility and guilt levels and to test whether this putative relation was influenced by tendencies towards obsessive-compulsive problems (OCP) or conduct problems (CP). In total, 231 adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years were self-assessed using a Youth Self-Report, Child Responsibility Attitudes Questionnaire, Heartland Forgiveness Scale, and Test Of Self-Conscious Affect. The results show that self-forgiveness predicted responsibility levels, while guilt was predicted by self-forgiveness and situation-forgiveness. Moreover, mediation analyses revealed that the effects of OCP on responsibility and guilt were mediated by self-forgiveness and situation-forgiveness. Regarding CP, no mediated effects were found. In conclusion, lower proneness to forgive increases responsibility and guilt, and this is particularly evident in subjects with higher levels of OCP.

The Apple of Daddy's Eye: Parental Overvaluation Links the Narcissistic Traits of Father and Child.

This study contributes to the literature on the parental correlates of children's narcissism. It addresses whether parental overvaluation may drive the putative link between parents' narcissism and children's narcissism and self-esteem. The cross-sectional design involved a community sample of 519 school-age children (age ranging from 9 to 11 years old) and their parents from an Italian urban context. Child-reported measures included narcissistic traits and self-esteem, while parent-reported measures included narcissistic traits and overvaluation, as well as parenting styles. A series of structural equation models, run separately for mothers and fathers, showed that both parents' narcissism was directly and positively related to overvaluation and the children's narcissistic traits; overvaluation partially mediated the indirect link between the fathers' and children's narcissistic traits. None of the parenting-style dimensions were related to the children's outcomes, with the exception of the mothers' positive parenting being directly and positively related to children's self-esteem. These findings shed new light upon the parental correlates of child narcissism by suggesting that mothers and fathers convey their narcissism to their offspring through differential pathways. Our findings may be understood from universal as well as cultural specifics regarding the parenting roles of mothers and fathers. Clinical implications for the treatment of youth narcissism suggest the potential of targeting not only children but also their parents.

[Origins and evaluation of youth narcissism]. / Eziopatogenesi e valutazione dei tratti narcisistici in età evolutiva.

Recently, studies have focused on narcissism as a personality trait, which can be detected during childhood, and can lead to negative outcomes, such as emotional and behavioral problems. After illustrating the main hypotheses on the development of narcissistic traits in children, this paper aims to outline the relation between narcissism, self-esteem and emotional, and behavioral problems in children. Finally, are presented measures for the assessment of narcissistic traits in children and adolescents.

Insomnia in the Italian Population During Covid-19 Outbreak: A Snapshot on One Major Risk Factor for Depression and Anxiety.

Objectives: One of the largest clusters of Covid-19 infections was observed in Italy. The population was forced to home confinement, exposing individuals to increased risk for insomnia, which is, in turn, associated with depression and anxiety. Through a cross-sectional online survey targeting all Italian adult population (≥18 yrs), insomnia prevalence and its interactions with relevant factors were investigated. Methods: The survey was distributed from 1st April to 4th May 2020. We collected information on insomnia severity, depression, anxiety, sleep hygiene behaviors, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, circadian preference, emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, perceived stress, health habits, self-report of mental disorders, and variables related to individual difference in life changes due to the pandemic's outbreak. Results: The final sample comprised 1,989 persons (38.4 ± 12.8 yrs). Prevalence of clinical insomnia was 18.6%. Results from multivariable linear regression showed that insomnia severity was associated with poor sleep hygiene behaviors [ß = 0.11, 95% CI (0.07-0.14)]; dysfunctional beliefs about sleep [ß = 0.09, 95% CI (0.08-0.11)]; self-reported mental disorder [ß = 2.51, 95% CI (1.8-3.1)]; anxiety [ß = 0.33, 95% CI (0.25-0.42)]; and depression [ß = 0.24, 95% CI (0.16-0.32)] symptoms. Conclusion: An alarming high prevalence of clinical insomnia was observed. Results suggest that clinical attention should be devoted to problems of insomnia in the Italian population with respect to both prevention and treatment.

Reducing Probability Overestimation of Threatening Events: An Italian Study on the Efficacy of Cognitive Techniques in Non-Clinical Subjects.

OBJECTIVE: Our study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy and stability of the "Pie Technique", "Cumulative Probability" and "Inverted Pyramid", cognitive techniques applied in a clinical context to reduce overestimation of the probability of threatening events. METHOD: 319 healthy participants were randomly assigned to one of 8 groups. Groups differed on the level of trait anxiety (high vs. low), and on the cognitive techniques they were to receive (Pie Technique, Cumulative Probability, Inverted Pyramid, Control task). All groups were exposed to an intervention aimed at reassigning the initial probability estimate. RESULTS: In both high and low trait anxiety individuals, all the techniques successfully produced a statistically significant reduction in the estimation of the perceived probability, while no significant outcome was found in the control task group. This effect was significantly maintained at a 4 week follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the Pie Technique, the Cumulative Probability and the Inverted Pyramid reduce the estimation of the perceived probability of negative events occurring in both high and low trait anxiety individuals. This effect was considerably maintained at a 4 week follow up. The reduction should mainly be attributed to the technique's power in contrasting the cognitive mechanism of hyper-focalization. The present study takes into account only general threatening events, and not threats specifically related to the different disorders. Moreover, it demonstrates that all the techniques are useful to reduce danger overestimation but in a group of non-clinical individuals. We can't thus generalize our results to anxious patients.

Considering Sleep, Mood, and Stress in a Family Context: A Preliminary Study.

BACKGROUND: During the first years of life, parental sleep strongly depends on child's sleep quality. Poor parental sleep may relate to increased stress and negative mood. However, there is a lack of sleep studies focusing on all family members. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep, mood, and stress in mothers, fathers and children. METHODS: Data were obtained from 65 parental couples and 65 children (2 to 36 months). Data on sleep for all family members and stress of parents were completed by both mothers and fathers through questionnaires and sleep diaries. RESULTS: Toddlers' positive mood before nocturnal sleep was significantly associated with reduced wake times after sleep onset. Mothers reported worse sleep quality compared to fathers. Shorter sleep onset latency in fathers and better sleep efficiency in mothers were linked with better self-reported mood upon awakening. In mothers, but not in fathers, poor sleep quality was associated with higher perceived stress. CONCLUSION: Results suggest bidirectional relationships between sleep and mood in children, mothers and fathers. Moreover, results evidence poorer sleep in mothers, compared to fathers, which was linked with increased parenting stress. This gender gap should be further considered in studies with larger samples and in clinical contexts.

Personal Values and Moral Disengagement Promote Aggressive and Rule-Breaking Behaviours in Adolescents With Disruptive Behaviour Disorders: A Pilot Study.

The pilot study presented in this article investigated the role of moral-cognitive features in understanding aggressive and rule-breaking behaviours in adolescents with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD). We collected two samples. The community sample was composed of 85 adolescents, whereas the DBD sample was composed of 30 adolescents. Compared with a community sample, adolescents with DBD are more inclined to use moral disengagement (MD) to legitimize their aggressive and rule-breaking behaviours. Moreover, regression models showed that self-enhancement values and MD foster externalizing behaviours taking into account both gender and the group they belonged to, that is, either clinical or community sample. Instead, self-transcendence values could prevent externalizing problems by inhibiting MD. Implications of these findings for assessment and therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Moral disengagement and callous-unemotional traits: A longitudinal study of Italian adolescents with a disruptive behaviour disorder.

BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional traits have been proposed as risk factors for a poorer prognosis in young people with disruptive behaviour disorders. Identification of factors that may cause or maintain elevated levels of such traits could help in developing targeted therapeutic interventions. Some previous studies have investigated the role of moral cognitive mechanisms, such as moral disengagement, but these previous studies focused primarily on normal or 'at-risk' samples. AIM: We aimed to evaluate associations and possible interactions between moral disengagement as a cognitive dimension and callous-unemotional traits as an affective dimension in adolescents with disruptive behaviour disorders. METHOD: We recruited 55 adolescents with a disruptive behaviour disorder from a community care hospital in Pisa. They were evaluated at baseline and after one year with measures that included a moral disengagement scale, the Antisocial Process Screening Device, to assess callous traits, and the Youth Self-Report, to explore externalising behaviour problems. RESULTS: Structural equation modelling showed that higher initial moral disengagement scores were associated with later higher levels of callous-unemotional traits in adolescents and vice versa, even after, respectively, controlling for previous levels of callous traits and moral disengagement. CONCLUSION: As impairments in either cognitive or affective traits may predispose to problematic development of the other, our findings would suggest that screening at the earliest opportunity possible for both moral disengagement and callous-unemotional traits among children with disruptive behaviour disorders could help to map natural outcome pathways and thus tailor more accurate interventions for prevention of antisocial or criminal behaviour. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reducing the Meta-Emotional Problem Decreases Physiological Fear Response during Exposure in Phobics.

Anxiety disorders may not only be characterized by specific symptomatology (e.g., tachycardia) in response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem or first-level emotion) but also by the tendency to negatively evaluate oneself for having those symptoms (secondary problem or negative meta-emotion). An exploratory study was conducted driven by the hypothesis that reducing the secondary or meta-emotional problem would also diminish the fear response to the phobic stimulus. Thirty-three phobic participants were exposed to the phobic target before and after undergoing a psychotherapeutic intervention addressed to reduce the meta-emotional problem or a control condition. The electrocardiogram was continuously recorded to derive heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) and affect ratings were obtained. Addressing the meta-emotional problem had the effect of reducing the physiological but not the subjective symptoms of anxiety after phobic exposure. Preliminary findings support the role of the meta-emotional problem in the maintenance of response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem).

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for externalizing disorders: A meta-analysis of treatment effectiveness.

Externalizing disorders are the most common and persistent forms of maladjustment in childhood. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to reduce externalizing symptoms in two disorders: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositive Defiant Disorder (ODD). The efficacy of CBT to improve social competence and positive parenting and reduce internalizing behaviors, parent stress and maternal depression was also explored. The database PsycInfo, PsycARTICLES, Medline and PubMed were searched to identify relevant studies. Twenty-one trials met the inclusion criteria. Results showed that the biggest improvement, after CBT, was in ODD symptoms (-0.879) followed by parental stress (-0.607), externalizing symptoms (-0.52), parenting skills (-0.381), social competence (-0.390) and ADHD symptoms (-0.343). CBT was also associated with improved attention (-0.378), aggressive behaviors (-0.284), internalizing symptoms (-0.272) and maternal depressive symptoms (-0.231). Overall, CBT is an effective treatment option for externalizing disorders and is also associated with reduced parental distress and maternal depressive symptoms. Multimodal treatments targeting both children and caregivers' symptoms (e.g. maternal depressive symptoms) appear important to produce sustained and generalized benefits.