Intimate Female Partner Homicide Suicide: demographic and psychopathology aspects of perpetrators and a potential not yet classified diagnostic entityAnalyses of data taken from newspapers in Italy from 2009 to 2019.

INTRODUCTION: The homicide of the female partner followed by suicide of the perpetrator (Intimate Female Partner Homicide Suicide - IFPHS) has been a growing phenomenon over last years, but its psychosocial and psychopathological aspects have not been analyzed in-depth yet. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate common psychopathological elements in different IFPHS and a specific risk profile for both the couple and the male partner, with the possibility to define a new serial mental condition not classified to date. METHODS: A series of 50 cases of greater media coverage was reconstructed from the Italian newspapers in the period from 2009 to 2019 and information was collected through a predefined form. The characteristics of the perpetrators and the modalities through which the events occurred have been considered. RESULTS: No definite mental disorder is present in the history of almost all cases. A more common psychological profile is found for the homicide/suicide male partner, mainly characterized by jealousy, possessiveness, mood reactivity, rage, and impulsiveness. CONCLUSIONS: It can be hypothesized that such a severe act may express a form of mental disorder not yet classified, with main features of an acute state of mixed depressive mood, emotional discontrol and aggressive impulsiveness, on a personality basis of jealousy and possessiveness, possibly reinforced by previous dependent traits of the female partner. But the methodological limitations of gathering information from the press make it necessary the study in depth, based on more direct and objective methodologies, of such a highly dramatic and heterogeneous phenomenon.

Gender differences in ultradian serum levels of NGF and BDNF correlate with psychophysical traits in healthy humans.

We aimed at investigating the gender and/or ultradian pattern of serum levels of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Blood samples were collected at the 8.00, 13.00 and 20.00 hours of the day in healthy men and women, and the neurotrophins concentration was measured in the serum by ELISA. A further aim of the study was to evaluate whether or not the NGF/BDNF variations might be related to specific physiological or psychological traits as mood, feeling good and feeling rested, sexual desire and energy. Heart rate and blood pressure were also monitored at the same hours in each enrolled subject. The anxiety (STAI-T and STAI-S score) and sleeping quality were once evaluated in the morning too. We found that serum BDNF increases in men and decreases in women from morning to evening, while NGF shows a similar ultradian profile between men and women, but with higher concentrations in women. Both neurotrophins also show gender-related associations with psychophysiological variables. High NGF levels correlated with a high score for all the psychological variables in men, but with a low score in women. An inverse correlation was found between BDNF and energy and sexual desire in women, while no correlations were found in men. These data disclose that the condition of well-being (or activity/arousal status) is featured by an increasing NGF profile in men and a negative BDNF/NGF trend in women. The clinical relevance of the present data is discussed.

Assessment of premenstrual symptoms: validation of the Italian version of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to provide an Italian validation of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST). The PSST is a retrospective questionnaire, originally developed in English language, used for the screening of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). PMDD and PMS are common, but are often not adequately recognized and treated, although they can heavily interfere on women's quality of life. METHODS: An Italian version of the PSST from English was prepared using the "forward-backward" procedure, and submitted to a sample of 520 women over 18 years of age (mean age of 23.6; DS=±3.1). The content validity, the internal consistency, the test-retest reliability, and the convergent validity were evaluated. The factorial structure underlying the questionnaire was assessed with the use of both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). RESULTS: Among the 520 participants to the study, 337 experienced no or mild premenstrual symptoms (64.8%), while 158 women evidenced a positive screening for moderate or severe PMS (30.4%), and 23 for PMDD (4.4%). The Italian PSST displayed adequate content validity and a very good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. The test-retest reliability showed satisfactory results, with a Spearman's ρ for the overall score of 0.80, and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.810 (95% CI=0.761-0.862; p<0.001). The EFA was performed using the principal component analysis, followed by varimax rotation. The CFA was conducted on EFA results and supported a four-factor model, yielding the best fit indices [χ2/df=1.76; CFI=0.920; TLI=0.904; RMSEA=0.054 (0.043-0.065)]. The convergent validity, evaluated using the Spearman's correlation coefficient between the overall score of the Italian version of PSST and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score showed a good value (ρ=0.647 p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results support the cross-cultural validity of the questionnaire, suggesting that the Italian version is a reliable and valid tool, as well as easy to use, to screen women in need of treatment for their premenstrual symptoms.

An Italian validation of the Psychological Maltreatment Review (PMR).

PURPOSE: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the construct validity and the internal consistence of the Italian version of the Psychological Maltreatment Review (PMR), and to assess the concurrent validity to provide adequate and reliable instruments to measure retrospectively child psychological maltreatment in the Italian population. METHODS: The participants to our study were 209 patients and 217 nonclinical subjects. The first group consisted in 209 adult patients, 106 males and 103 females (mean age of 41.43 years; SD=12.34) consecutively admitted at the psychiatric unit of the L'Aquila San Salvatore Hospital. The second group consisted in 217 non-clinical subjects, 96 males and 121 females (mean age of 36.38; SD=10.38) that completed an online survey, including the self-report version of the PMR and the Risky Families Questionnaire (RFQ). All subjects were invited to answer to Sociodemographic Information Form and to take a self-report battery composed by two instruments: the Psychological Maltreatment Review (PMR) and the RFQ. RESULTS: Internal consistency reliability analyses were performed separately for the two samples, all the scales had very good internal consistency in both samples, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients equal or greater than .88. An EFA was performed, using exploratory principal axis factoring, on the data of individuals from the non-clinical sample, separately for paternal and maternal scales, followed by varimax rotation and scree testing. The CFA was performed on the data of the patients' sample, separately for paternal and maternal scales, supported a three factor model yielding the best fit indexes, both for paternal scales, χ 2 =725, p<.001; df=402, CFI=0.92; TLI=0.91, SRMR=0.053, RMSEA=0.063, 90% CI [0.056, 0.07]; and maternal scales, χ 2 =758, p<.001; df=374, CFI=0.89; TLI=0.88, SRMR=0.064, RMSEA=0.07, 90% CI [0.06, 0.07]. The CFA performed on the patient' sample supported a three factor model yielding the best fit indexes. The convergence of the EFA and the CFA in different samples supported the structural validity of the PMR and replicated its factorial structure, for both maternal and paternal ratings. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence on the appropriateness of the Italian version of the PMR to retrospectively measure childhood psychological maltreatment. The three PMR scales (psychological abuse, psychological neglect and psychological support) demonstrated good internal consistency with average alpha coefficients, equal or greater than .88. The findings provide evidence of the construct validity, according to the literature, suggesting that psychological abuse, psychological neglect and parental support are dimensionally separated constructs, as defined in the literature.

An instrument for the evaluation of muscle dysmorphia: The Italian validation of the adonis complex questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Muscle dysmorphia (MDM), or bigorexia, is a subcategory of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known as "Adonis Complex" in nonscientific contexts. One of the most used tools to investigate MDM is the Adonis Complex Questionnaire (ACQ). The ACQ is a 13-item US questionnaire, designed for male subjects only, related to the dissatisfaction and concerns about physical appearance. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the validity of the Italian version of the ACQ. METHODS: The instrument was administered to a sample of 322 male adults, recruited from the general population. We used the maximum-likelihood confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), analyzing the covariance matrices with AMOS 24.0, to evaluate the different factorial models proposed in the literature. RESULTS: The evaluation of the factorial structure of the Italian version of the ACQ demonstrates the greater stability and internal consistency of the two-factor model, compared to the original three-factor model. The factors have no correlation with the demographic characteristics of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms the validity and the reliability of the Italian two-factor version of the ACQ and highlights the general tendency, among Italian males, to have concerns about their own physical appearance with recurring thoughts and eating behaviors finalized to improve it. Our study represents an advance in the use of adequate and reliable instruments to assess concerns about physical appearance in the Italian male population.

Night Eating Syndrome, circadian rhythms and seasonality: a study in a population of Italian university students.

PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a university student population and to clear up the relationship between NES, depression and chronotype. The relation between NES and seasonality was also investigated. METHODS: The data were collected from a sample of 1136 students of the L'Aquila University, Italy. All subjects were invited to answer to the Sociodemographic Information Form and to take a self-report battery composed by four questionnaires: the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ), the Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: The 5.3% of our population (60 subjects) reached the criteria for NES. The distribution of chronotypes in the sample was: Morning Type 15.3%, Intermediate 64.3% and Evening Type 20.4%. The 36.7% of the participants reaching the criteria for NES, obtained low scores on the MEQ. The data indicated that NEQ and MEQ scores are significantly inversely correlated (r=-.22; p<.01, two-tailed test). The 3.6% of our population (41 subjects) reached the criteria for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and 10.7% for subclinical SAD (121 subjects). Furthermore, the 11.7% of subjects with NES presented SAD and the 5% presented Subclinical SAD. The data demonstrated that NES and Global Seasonality Score (GSS) are significantly associated (r=.22; p<0.01, two-tailed test). CONCLUSIONS: The main finding of this study is the strong relation between NES and eveningness dimension. Our results help to clear up the literature debate about the role of eveningness dimension in the night eating, suggesting that subjects with NES present a circadian delay, not only in the food intake, but in the entire functioning. At the best of one knowledge this study is the first one to examine the relationship between NES and seasonality. This research found preliminary evidence that, similarly to the findings of previous studies in subjects with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge Eating Disorder (BED), night eating symptoms may vary significantly across the seasons; subjects with NES experience seasonal variation in their mood and in their eating patterns.

The relationship between Night Eating Syndrome, depression and chronotype in a non-clinical adolescent population.

PURPOSE: The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a population of non-clinical adolescents and to investigate the relationship between NES, depression and eveningness dimension. METHODS: The data were collected from a sample of 301 subjects, 181 females and 120 males, aged between 15 and 19 (mean value 17.64, SD=1.3). All subjects were invited to answer demographic questions and to take a self-report battery composed by three questionnaires: the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ), the Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: The distribution of chronotypes in the sample was: morning type 9%, intermediate 68.4% and evening type 22.6%. 4% of the participants (12 subjects) reached the criteria for NES. The data indicate that MEQ and NEQ scores are significantly inversely correlated (r=-0.157; p<0.01); 58.3% of the participants who reached the criteria for NES received low scores on the MEQ. The BDI scores resulted significantly associated with the NEQ variable (r=0.275; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study, as far as we are aware, which has investigated the relationship between chronotype, depression and NES in an adolescent non-clinical population. The findings of our study highlight the high prevalence of NES in the adolescent population and indicate a significant association between eveningness dimension, Depression and NES.

Psychodynamically Oriented Psychopharmacotherapy: Towards a Necessary Synthesis.

The discovery of psychoanalysis and of psychotropic medications represent two radical events in understanding and treatment of mental suffering. The growth of both disciplines together with the awareness of the impracticality of curing mental suffering only through pharmacological molecules-the collapse of the "Great Illusion"-and the experience of psychoanalysts using psychotropic medications along with depth psychotherapeutic treatment, have led to integrated therapies which are arguably more effective than either modality alone. The authors review studies on the role of pharmacotherapy with psychoanalysis, and the role of the analyst as the prescriber. The psychotic disorders have specifically been considered from this perspective.