Evaluating Craving in Alcohol Use Disorder: Psychometric Characteristics of the Craving Typology Questionnaire-15 (CTQ-15).

AIMS: The Craving Typology Questionnaire (CTQ) is a psychometric instrument used to assess alcohol craving in normal controls and subjects with alcohol use disorder (AUD). It allows a dimensional self-rating assessment of craving according to a three-pathway psychobiological model of craving distinguishing craving into a reward, relief and obsessive component. The aim of the present study is to evaluate psychometric properties of the CTQ-15, a revised version of CTQ with 15 items. METHODS: The CTQ-15 was firstly administered to two groups of control subjects, one (414 subjects) used for the exploratory factor analysis and the other one (415 subjects) for the confirmatory factor analysis. A three-factor model was assessed and compared to alternative models. RESULTS: The resulting structure was in line with the original scale CTQ. Obsessive craving accounted for 15.20% of the total variance, relief craving for the 13.99% and reward craving for 13.13% of the total variance. The three-factor model (M1) reached good fit indices (CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.06 and SRMR = 0.05) and was significantly better than other alternative models. Reliability showed good internal consistency for each scale, i.e. obsessive craving (α = 0.92), relief craving (α = 0.82) and reward craving (α = 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The CTQ-15 proved to be reliable and practical for identifying the three dimensions of craving in clinical practice. Craving plays a crucial role in the mechanisms of dependence and relapse; thus, characterizing the craving can be fundamental to a targeted drug therapy.

Development and Validation of the Interview of Personality Organization Processes in Adolescence (IPOP-A).

The assessment of personality and personality pathology in adolescence represents a critical topic to understand adolescent's difficulties, predict long-term outcome in adulthood, and indicate adequate treatment. Personality Organization, and its underlying dimensions, plays an essential role in shaping how adolescents face their developmental tasks as they are connected with psychosocial functioning and psychopathological severity. However, few measures are available to assess personality organization during adolescence. The aim of the present research is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Interview of Personality Organization Processes in Adolescence (IPOP-A), a semi-structured interview designed for the assessment of the main personality organization dimensions in adolescence. Three studies were performed to explore the psychometric properties of the IPOP-A, in terms of factor structure, reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported the IPOP-A construct validity. Furthermore, IPOP-A showed good reliability and evidenced a convergent and discriminant validity with DSM-oriented personality patterns, emotion dysregulation, identity disturbance, and psychopathology. Our results provide evidence of IPOP-A validity to assess emerging personality organization in adolescence. Furthermore, the IPOP-A is a promising tool to use in the clinical consultation and treatment planning for the adolescent.

Clinical applicability of the Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Relaciones Familiares Básicas (CERFB) in eating disorders: marital and parental relationships in traditional family structures.

Family interventions occupy a leading po- sition for eating disorders (EDs) among psychological treat- ments. However, the unavailability of family measures spe- cifically validated in such disorders in Spanish population has been documented, to evaluate family dynamics and design appropriate interventions. This study aims to validate the clinical application of the Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Relaciones Familiares Básicas (CERFB; in English, Basic Family Relations Assessment Questionnaire) in EDs.

Exploring Anger Among Offenders: The Role of Emotion Dysregulation and Alexithymia.

This study tests whether specific dimensions of emotion dysregulation predict maladaptive anger expression among offenders from Italy and Australia. In particular, it examines the unique associations among emotion dysregulation dimensions and different aspects of anger expression and control, in both inmates and offenders on parole. Multiple regression analyses reveal that difficulties controlling impulsive behaviour when distressed are related to state anger, trait anger, and chronic anger expression. On the other hand, alexithymia predicts the maladaptive expression of anger inwardly directed. Finally, lack of emotional awareness and limited access to emotion regulation (ER) strategies are negatively related to anger control, suggesting that they may represent useful treatment targets. Interestingly, incarcerated offenders reported significantly higher levels of state anger and lower levels of anger control out (i.e. seeking support from others) than offenders living on parole in the community, highlighting the importance of contextual influences in the emotional life of offenders.

Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in major depressed and bipolar subjects: role of personality traits and clinical implications.

A significant comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and affective disorders has been consistently reported in adults. Less data regarding the role of personality traits and the influence of ADHD co-occurrence on clinical characteristics and outcome of mood disorders are currently available. One hundred and six remitted major depressed, 102 euthymic bipolar subjects, and 120 healthy controls, homogeneous with respect to demographic characteristics, were included in the study. ADHD diagnosis was based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. Childhood and adult ADHD features were measured with the Wender Utah Rating Scale, the Adult ADHD Self-rating Scale, and the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scale. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory was also administered to the clinical groups, in order to investigate personality dimensions. The occurrence of adult ADHD in subjects with bipolar disorders (BD) or major depressive disorder (MDD) was 15.7 and 7.5 %, respectively, compared to 3.3 % in healthy controls (HC). Significant associations (p < .001) between personality traits (neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion) and ADHD features were observed. Logistic regression analysis of all clinical subjects (n = 208) showed that those with lower levels of neuroticism (OR = 1.031; p = .025) had a lower frequency of ADHD comorbidity. The present study emphasizes the close relationship between affective disorders, especially BD, and ADHD in adults. Our findings support the need to assess subjects with mood disorders in the clinical setting for possible coexisting ADHD and to further investigate personality traits to better understand the etiology of affective disorders and ADHD co-occurrence.

Individual and Organizational Ductility: Conceptualization, Development, and Validation of a New Scale.

In this article, we conceptualize a new construct named "ductility" and propose a measurement instrument. We examine psychometric properties-the factorial validity and reliability of the Ductility Scale in Italy. The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that the scale has a two-factor structure, namely, individual and organizational ductility. The scale reliability was excellent for both dimensions (individual ω = 0.82; organizational ω = 0.85). The participants were employees from private and public organizations (n = 466). We tested the construct validity of the Ductility Scale. The invariance of the measurement model tested via multigroup confirmative factor analysis showed that the Ductility Scale was invariant across gender. In addition, we found ductility to be positively related to proactive personality and work engagement. These preliminary results show that the Ductility Scale is a reliable and valid measure. In addition, our findings illustrate the potential usefulness of the ductility construct via the newly developed scale.

Craving Typology Questionnaire (CTQ): a scale for alcohol craving in normal controls and alcoholics.

INTRODUCTION: Craving is commonly thought to play a crucial role both in the transition from controlled drinking to alcohol dependence and in the mechanism underlying relapse. However there is no consensus on its definition, and on its correct assessment. Another significant hindrance is that craving is almost certainly a multi-faceted construct. To this respect a three pathway psychobiological model able to differentiate craving into a reward, relief, and obsessive component has been suggested. METHODS: CTQ was administered to 547 control subjects and to 100 alcohol dependent patients. The dimensional structure of the questionnaire, through the principal component analysis, the reliability and the threshold values were evaluated in both the control and clinical sample. RESULTS: The results showed and confirmed that the CTQ is composed of three dimensions. Cronbach's alpha coefficients suggest that the questionnaire is reliable. Alcohol-dependent subjects had a significantly higher mean score as compared to the normative sample in both Reward, Relief, Obsessive craving. Younger age correlated with higher scores on Reward craving (r=0.38; p<0.001) and males reported significantly higher scores than women on Reward craving (t=4.36; p<0.001). DISCUSSION: CTQ showed to be a reliable and valid questionnaire to distinguish a normative sample from pathological individuals. The average scores obtained represent the first normative data available for this questionnaire. Identifying a craving type may represent an important predicting or matching variable for anti-craving psychotropics. More research is needed with respect to CTQ's external validity, i.e. correlations with phenotypic, endophenotypic and genetic indicators of relief, reward and obsessive drinking.

Resilience and Attachment in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Resilience represents one of the fundamental elements of attachment and has often been investigated in mood disorders. This study aims to investigate possible correlations between attachment and resilience in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). METHODS: 106 patients (51 MDD, 55 BD) and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D-21), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Experiences in Close Relationship (ECR). RESULTS: MDD and BD patients did not significantly differ from each other according to the HAM-D-21, HAM-A, YMRS, SHAPS, and TAS, while they scored higher than HCs on all these scales. Patients in the clinical group scored significantly lower on CD-RISC resilience than HCs (p < 0.01). A lower proportion of secure attachment was found among patients with MDD (27.4%) and BD (18.2%) compared to HCs (90%). In both clinical groups, fearful attachment prevailed (39.2% patients with MDD; 60% BD). CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the central role played by early life experiences and attachment in participants with mood disorders. Our study confirms the data from previous research showing a significant positive correlation between the quality of attachment and the development of resilience capacity, and supports the hypothesis that attachment constitutes a fundamental aspect of resilience capacity.

Description and validation of a questionnaire for the detection of meteoropathy and meteorosensitivity: the METEO-Q.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest for the effects of weather changes on both healthy and psychiatric individuals. This study aims to validate a short questionnaire (METEO-Q) for the detection of meteoropathy and meteorosensitivity. METHODS: The METEO-Q was administered to 1099 (528 men, 571 women) healthy subjects. Factor analyses, internal consistency, and item analysis were undertaken to examine the factorial structure of the questionnaire. RESULTS: The METEO-Q has satisfactory factorial structure and internal reliability. Our results demonstrate that women have higher scores than man and, therefore, women mostly have meteoropathy. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the use of the METEO-Q for collecting information regarding the effects of weather changes on healthy subjects and potentially on psychiatric patients.

Living in Liquid Times: The Relationships among Job Insecurity, Life Uncertainty, and Psychosocial Well-Being.

Stress research has widely documented how uncertainty represents a strong stressor that, in general, is negatively associated with well-being. While the literature on job insecurity about this topic is extensive and exhaustive, empirical research on the outcomes of life uncertainty, namely the perception and feeling of precariousness regarding the present and future of one's own life, is yet to be fully explored. In the present paper, we aimed to investigate the relationships among job insecurity, life uncertainty, and psychosocial well-being outcomes, specifically, with a focus on job satisfaction and burnout. The participants were 357 workers (M = 146 and F = 211), with an average age of 41.78 y.o. (SD = 13.49), who completed an online questionnaire containing, in addition to sociodemographics information, measures of the study variables, namely job insecurity, life uncertainty, job satisfaction, and burnout. The results pointed out negative relationships of both job insecurity and life uncertainty with individual well-being, as they were negatively associated with job satisfaction and positively related to burnout. In a path analysis with latent variables, life uncertainty proved to fully mediate the relationship between job insecurity and psychosocial well-being.

Italian Validation of the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI-2): Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure.

OBJECTIVE: Sexual desire is a psychological state that prompts individuals to engage in sexual activity. Although interest about this topic is constantly increasing, there are no validated instruments to measure sexual desire in Italy, making scientific studies difficult. This paper aims to provide a contribution to validation of the Sexual Desire Inventory-2 (SDI-2) for the Italian population, investigating factorial structure, invariance, reliability and validity. METHOD: The sample was composed of 389 Italian participants from a nonclinical population. The thirteen-item SDI-2 and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) for measuring impulsiveness were administered. RESULTS: The results supported two dimensions, i.e. dyadic and solitary desire, and partially measurement invariance across gender. Furthermore, good validity and reliability indicators have been gained. CONCLUSIONS: the Italian version of the SDI-2 supports good psychometrics properties. It may be considered a valid and reliable measure for assessing dyadic and solitary sexual desire. Therefore, the present inventory may be used, in the research and clinical field, as an innovative instrument in order to investigate sexual desire and its relationship with clinical disorders.

The Effect of Job Insecurity and Life Uncertainty on Everyday Consumptions and Broader Life Projects during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Contemporary society is characterized by a high level of uncertainty in many domains of everyday life. The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a deep economic crisis, exacerbating worldwide feelings of uncertainty and precarity. Individuals with insecure jobs have (and will) probably suffered the most from this situation. Workers with higher job insecurity have poorer psychological and physical health, display more negative work attitudes and are less satisfied about their life. However, much less is known about the impact of job insecurity and life uncertainty on consumer behavior. Using the Conservation of Resources theory as a framework, the present study examines a model in which job insecurity and life uncertainty would have a negative effect on everyday consumptions and broader life projects of individuals. Data collection was conducted in Italy in June and July 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic, in the immediate aftermath of the national lockdown. In a sample of 830 workers, the results of a mediation analysis showed that job insecurity and life uncertainty had a detrimental impact of consumer behaviors, since they were significantly associated with higher propensity to sacrifice and reduce everyday short-term consumptions (e.g., buying food) and greater perceived unaffordability of broader long-term life projects (e.g., buying a house).

Promoting Individual and Organizational OCBs: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement.

In today's dynamic organizational environment, employees with a tendency to display discretional behaviors beyond their prescribed formal job duties represent a plus. Underpinned by the theories of social exchange and conservation of resources, these behaviors can be influenced by their level of job satisfaction (JS), defined as the extent to which employees like their work, and work engagement (WE), defined as a positive work-related state of mind. The present study investigates the mediating mechanism of WE in the relationship between JS and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), which refer to discretionary behaviors that could benefit an organization (OCBs-O) and/or its members (OCBs-I). The mediational hypothesis is examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) among 719 Italian private and public sector employees. The significance of total, direct, and indirect effects was tested via bootstrapping. The results showed that JS was positively related to WE, which, in turn, was positively related to both OCBs-I and OCBs-O. The SEM results supported the hypotheses: WE fully mediated the relationship between JS and OCBs-I, and it partially mediated the relationship between JS and OCBs-O. This study sheds new light on this mechanism. Consequently, it is useful for HRM policy. It also helps us to better understand how satisfied and engaged employees are willing to adopt positive organizational behaviors.

Alexithymia in Young people's academic career: The mediating role of anxiety and resilience.

Alexithymia prevents people from understanding and adopting verbal language to describe and regulate one's emotions. Recent studies have found that alexithymia symptoms also impact on young people's academic achievement. Nevertheless, it is worth investigating risk and protective roles played by students' academic anxiety and resilience, respectively. The authors expected that students' anxiety and resilience mediated the effect of alexithymia symptoms on students' academic burnout and performance. A sample of 257 university students answered self-report questionnaires about alexithymia, academic anxiety and resilience, and academic burnout and performance. Mediation analyses were performed by the structural equation model. Anxiety acted as a mediator between alexithymia and academic burnout and performance. Furthermore, resilience mediated the effect of alexithymia on burnout, but not on academic performance. The study provides support for preventing alexithymia consequences on young people's academic career by reducing their anxiety and promoting academic resilience. Implications of intervention programs were discussed.

Measuring Family Relations: Italian Validation of the "Cuestionario de Evaluación de Las Relaciones Familiares Básicas" (CERFB).

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the gap between research into family therapy and clinical practice in the field has been growing larger. In the Italian context, a major issue concerns the lack of any single instrument that can be used to assess a range of different family functions. In order to fill this research gap, the present paper aims to validate the Italian version of the "Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Relaciones Familiares Básicas" (CERFB), a questionnaire that evaluates family relations by measuring conjugal and parenting functions. This validation will be carried out by testing the instrument's factorial structure, reliability and construct validity using an Italian non-clinical sample. METHOD: For this study, 114 couples as family units (228 participants) were recruited from the general population (mean age: 51.70, SD: 6.04). The 25-item CERFB, the six Domains of FACES IV, the FCS and the FSS were administered. RESULTS: Results from confirmatory factor analysis supported the original two-factor structure regarding conjugal and parenting functions. Furthermore, results supported excellent internal consistency and construct validity with conceptually related family measures. Finally, normative scores were calculated in order to explain clinical results. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian version of the CERFB shows good psychometric properties and can be considered a valid and reliable measure for assessing both conjugal and parenting functions. It can be used in research and for clinical purposes as an innovative instrument applied to prevent risks to the health of children and to carry out and evaluate family interventions.

The Nature of Job Crafting: Positive and Negative Relations with Job Satisfaction and Work-Family Conflict.

This study investigated job crafting as mediator and its relation with job satisfaction and work-family conflict, considering job autonomy as antecedent. The research involved 389 participants working in a public organization. A structural equations model was estimated revealing that job autonomy is positively associated with job crafting and job satisfaction, and negatively associated with work-family conflict. Job crafting is positively related with job satisfaction and work-family conflict, as adverse effect of job crafting. As regards mediated effects, results show positive associations between job autonomy and both job satisfaction and work-family conflict through job crafting. This study contributes to literature, considering positive and negative outcomes, covering the lacking literature on job crafting and work-family conflict, and suggesting implications for employees' well-being.

Team performance in the Italian NHS: the role of reflexivity.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the goodness of the input-process-output (IPO) model in order to evaluate work team performance within the Italian National Health Care System (NHS); and second, to test the mediating role of reflexivity as an overarching process factor between input and output. Design/methodology/approach The Italian version of the Aston Team Performance Inventory was administered to 351 employees working in teams in the Italian NHS. Mediation analyses with latent variables were performed via structural equation modeling (SEM); the significance of total, direct, and indirect effect was tested via bootstrapping. Findings Underpinned by the IPO framework, the results of SEM supported mediational hypotheses. First, the application of the IPO model in the Italian NHS showed adequate fit indices, showing that the process mediates the relationship between input and output factors. Second, reflexivity mediated the relationship between input and output, influencing some aspects of team performance. Practical implications The results provide useful information for HRM policies improving process dimensions of the IPO model via the mediating role of reflexivity as a key role in team performance. Originality/value This study is one of a limited number of studies that applied the IPO model in the Italian NHS. Moreover, no study has yet examined the role of reflexivity as a mediator between input and output factors in the IPO model.

Emotion dysregulation, impulsivity and personality disorder traits: A community sample study.

The present study was designed to test an emotion regulation framework to understand individual differences in personality disorder (PD) traits in a non-clinical sample. Specifically, we tested whether: selected dimensions of emotion dysregulation were differentially related to PD traits; and whether emotion dysregulation and impulsivity had independent associations with PD traits. A community sample of 399 individuals (mean age = 37.91; 56.6% males) completed self-report measures of PDs, emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Emotion dysregulation facets and impulsivity had uniform bivariate associations with PD traits, but also evidenced unique associations in multiple regression analyses. Nonacceptance of emotional responses was the emotion dysregulation dimension underlying a wide array of PD. A limited repertoire of effective emotion regulation strategies was characteristic of cluster C PD, whereas emotional unawareness distinctly predicted schizoid PD. Antisocial PD traits were uniquely related to difficulties controlling impulsive behavior when upset. Finally, histrionic, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive PD were related to better self-reported emotion regulation. Impulsivity further explained a significant amount of variance in schizotypal, antisocial, borderline (positively), and obsessive-compulsive PD traits (negatively). If replicated in clinical samples, our findings will support the usefulness of targeting both emotional dysregulation and impulsivity in PDs psychotherapy.

Neuropsychological Performance in Alcohol Dependent Patients: A One-Year Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: Despite several studies that have highlighted the harmful effects of alcohol consumption on cognitive functions it remains unclear whether certain brain areas are more sensitive than others are or whether alcohol causes widespread cognitive deficit. Moreover, the role of continued abstinence has yet to be clarified regarding the quality of recovery on the different cognitive domains. The aim of this 1-year longitudinal study was to evaluate the recovery of cognitive deficits in the medium (6 months) and long term (12 months) after the interruption of drinking. METHODS: Forty-one alcohol-dependent patients were recruited from two outpatient treatment facilities and cognitive functions were compared on a control group of forty healthy controls. The patients were then re-assessed at 6 and 12 months. Changes in neuropsychological measures were evaluated with repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). We also compared 1-year follow-up scores with control data (unpaired t tests) to identify tests on which significant differences persisted. RESULTS: Patients performed significantly worse than controls in all cognitive domains investigated and this cognitive impairment was evident in recently abstinent patients. A year of abstinence resulted in a significant improvement in all cognitive domains assessed after detoxification from alcohol. After year 1, alcoholic subjects had returned to normal levels compared to healthy controls on all domains except for general non-verbal intelligence, verbal memory and some visuospatial skills. CONCLUSION: Our results support the hypothesis of widespread impairment resulting from alcohol consumption. The recovery of cognitive functions is not homogeneous during prolonged abstinence.

Psychopathological Features of Bipolar Depression: Italian Validation of the Bipolar Depression Rating Scale (I-BDRS).

Background: Aim of the study was the validation of the Bipolar Disorder Rating Scale (BDRS) in an Italian population. Secondary aim was the evaluation of differences between unipolar and bipolar depression and between bipolar I and II depressed patients. Method: 125 Bipolar Disorder and 60 Major Depressive Disorder patients were administered an Italian translation of the BDRS (I-BDRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R). Results: I-BDRS showed considerable validity and reliability. Factor analysis found 3 subscales, two linked to depressive symptoms and one to mixed symptoms. Measures concerning depression (MADRS and HAM-D) were positively related to the I-BDRS's subscales, but mostly to the two subscales measuring depression. In mixed symptoms, the mean of the bipolar group was significantly higher than the unipolar group suggesting that the BDRS was able to distinguish between unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. Conclusion: I-BDRS is a valid scale for the measurement of depression in BD patients, with a notable internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.82), a significant consistency between items/total (Cronbach's α from 0.80 to 0.82) and positive correlation with other scales (MADRS r = 0.67, p < 0.001; HDRS r = 0.81, p < 0.001; YMRS r = 0.46 p < 0.0001). The mixed state sub-scale shows usefulness in differentiating bipolar from unipolar patients. I-BDRS could be a sensitive tool, both in pure depression and in mixed states, and could be used in the everyday screening and treatment of Bipolar Disorder.