The role of emotional instability in borderline personality disorder: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The emotional regulation process plays a pivotal role in daily-life functioning, modulating goal-directed and adaptive behavior. Conversely, altering this cognitive function can disrupt self-regulation and bring emotional dysregulation. Emotional instability could represent a core characteristic of BPD, also modulating the BPD symptom's onset. This systematic review aims to summarize the existing literature reporting the role of emotional instability in BPD to better define the role of the impairment of the emotional processes in the onset of the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of this complex mental disorder. METHODS: MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science were independently searched for relevant studies. Eligible studies had to be identifiable through database searching, published and accessible. This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The search period was from 2012 to 14 September 2022. RESULTS: A pool of 120 studies was identified, out of which 11 met the selection criteria and were included. Overall, the studies confirm a relationship between emotional instability and borderline personality disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The evidences retrieved seem to point out the role of the emotional impairment not only in worsening of the disorder, but could also be one of the risk factors for its onset.

Suicide and COVID-19: a rapid scoping review.

There is considerable interest in exploring effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health. Suicide is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and changes in daily life brought by the pandemic may be additional risk factors in people with pre-existing mental disorders. This rapid PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) scoping review aims to identify and analyze current evidence about the relation between COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, along with COVID-19 disease and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection, and suicide in individuals with previously diagnosed mental disorders. First, we conducted a comprehensive review of the literature, then proceeded to discuss findings in a narrative way. Tables were constructed and articles sorted according to the studies' methodologies. 53 papers were eventually identified as eligible, among which 33 are cross-sectional studies, 9 are longitudinal studies, and 11 studies using other methodologies. Despite suffering from a mental disorder is a risk factor for suicidal behavior per se, the advent of COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate this relation. Nevertheless, data addressing a clear correlation between suicidal behavior and the pandemic outbreak are still controversial. Longitudinal analysis using validated suicide scales and multicenter studies could provide deeper insight and knowledge about this topic.

Psychometric and factorial validity of the International Adjustment Disorder Questionnaire (IADQ) in an Italian sample: A validation and prevalence estimate study.

INTRODUCTION: Adjustment disorder (AjD) is a is a maladaptive emotional or behavioural reaction to a stressful event or change in a person's life. Compared to other previously validated tools, the International Adjustment Disorder Questionnaire (IADQ) stands out as one of the most reliable and handy one for AjD. Since no homologous instrument exists now, in this study, we aimed to validate an Italian version of the IADQ. METHODS: Twenty-one thousand two hundred and six subjects (80.4% females) during the initial stages of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were recruited. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), testing two latent models, a monofactorial and a bifactorial one. Concurrent validity by correlating the total and the two factors' scores with measures of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress was then estimated. We finally estimated the rates of AjD among the population, and a binary logistic regression was conducted to analyse the predictors of such disorder. RESULTS: CFA showed a bifactorial validity, with both excellent incremental and comparative fit indices. The IADQ scores correlated strongly with symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. In the Italian sample, the prevalence of probable AjD was 8.23%. Female gender, being engaged, widowed and having COVID-19-related stressors resulted as significant independent risk factors for AjD. CONCLUSIONS: IADQ is an easy-to-use, brief and psychometrically sound self-report measure for AjD. Thus, it may be considered a reliable tool for both research and clinical settings. To the best of our knowledge, our study reported for the first time the prevalence of AjD during COVID-19 pandemic.

Personality disorders (PD) and interpersonal violence (IV) during COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.

Not only did the ongoing CoronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic cause a massive number of casualties, but also there is growing concern that the burden of its psychological aftermaths will only show up years down the road. This systematic review summarises the existing literature reporting the impact of COVID-19 on personality disorders (PDs)-related violence. MEDLINE and APA PsycINFO were independently searched for relevant studies by two authors. Eligible studies had to be identifiable through database searching, published and fully accessible. This systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. An initial pool of 241 studies were found, out of which 69 met the selection criteria and were, therefore, included. The majority reported a worse Mental Health Outcome (MHO) during the pandemic as related to dysfunctional personality and positive personality traits predicting a better outcome. Furthermore, increased levels of interpersonal violence (IV) and self-directed violence were reported. Further research should be conducted on the reciprocal interaction of PDs and IV during the time of pandemic. Nevertheless, the dramatic impact of restrictive measures on PDs has still to be appropriately addressed.

Inverse correlation between plasma 2-arachidonoylglycerol levels and subjective severity of depression.

OBJECTIVE: Endocannabinoids have been implicated in the pathophysiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and might represent potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Objectives of the study were: (1) to measure plasma levels of endocannabinoids in a group of antidepressant-free depressed outpatients; (2) to explore their relationship with the severity of depressive symptoms as subjectively perceived by the patients; and (3) to investigate the effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram on endocannabinoid levels. METHODS: We measured plasma levels of the two major endocannabinoids, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anadamide), in 12 drug-free outpatients diagnosed with MDD and in 12 matched healthy controls. In the patient group, endocannabinoids plasma levels were assessed at baseline and after 2 months of treatment with escitalopram. RESULTS: Baseline plasma levels of the two endocannabinoids did not differ between depressed patients and healthy controls. However, there was a significant inverse correlation between 2-arachidonoylglycerol levels and the severity of subjectively perceived depressive symptoms. Treatment with escitalopram did not change endocannabinoid levels in depressed patients, although it caused the expected improvement of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that 2-arachidonylglycerol, the most abundant endocannabinoid in the central nervous system, might act to mitigate depressive symptoms, and raise the interesting possibility that 2-arachidonylglycerol and anandamide are differentially regulated in patients affected by MDD. Also, our data suggest but do not prove that the endocannabinoid system is not regulated by serotonergic transmission, at least in depressed patients.

Could the severity of symptoms of schizophrenia affect ability of self-appraisal of cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia? Lack of insight as a mediator between the two domains.

The relationship between subjective appraisal of cognitive deficits and symptom severity in schizophrenia is unclear. Insight reportedly affects both factors. Our aim is to further asses the relationship between subjective perception of cognitive deficits, symptom severity and lack of insight as a mediator variable. 109 subjects with schizophrenia were evaluated. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was modelled as independent variable, Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS) as dependent and "Lack of Insight" (LoI) PANSS Item as mediator one. Mediation was assessed using bootstrap estimation approach. LoI acts as a suppressor variable (i.e., it enhances the relation between the independent and dependent variable) between Negative Symptoms and SSTICS, while showing a mediation effect between Depressive symptoms and SSTICS. LoI has a central role in mediating the relationship between negative and depressed symptoms on the one hand and self-appraisals of cognitive deficits (SACD) assessed with SSTICS on the other. Its suppressor role between negative symptoms and STICSS favour a direct effect of negative symptoms on SACD. On the other hand, its mediator role between depression and SSTICS is consistent with several reports of the 'insight paradox' of an enhanced severity of depression in patients with higher awareness of their disability.

Cues for different diagnostic patterns of interpersonal violence in a psychiatric sample: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern, especially in psychiatry practice, over the last decades. Nevertheless, most patients with stable mental disorders do not present an increased risk of violence, and mental disorder is not a necessary or sufficient cause of violent behaviours. People with mental disorders endorse more often a number of risk factors for violence that could confound this association, such as young age and male gender. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age, gender, and diagnosis on reported levels of interpersonal violence in a sample of people with severe mental illness. METHODS: The sample was composed of 160 inpatients: 73 with a psychosis within the schizophrenia spectrum, 53 with a mood disorder and 34 with a personality disorder. All patients enrolled in the study were assessed for experiences of victimization and perpetration of interpersonal violence using the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale interview. Demographic variables were also collected. RESULTS: Both violence perpetration and victimization negatively correlated with age. Compared to males, females were exposed to higher degree of victimization in childhood and adulthood, whereas males were more involved in the perpetration of violence in childhood. Personality disorders were associated with higher levels of interpersonal violence, both perpetration and victimization; an interaction effect of gender and diagnosis was also observed for violence perpetration in adulthood. Distinct patterns of interpersonal violence did emerge for the diagnostic groups with mood disorder showing a victimization pattern, personality disorders a perpetration pattern and psychoses less defined patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The main finding is that psychotic disorders, mood disorders and personality disorders have different patterns of violent experiences interacting with age and gender. This study offers a better understanding of how gender and age could affect violent behaviours. Moreover, study findings may increase the comprehension of the reason why some mental disorders, compared to others, are more associated with the risk of victimization or perpetration of violence. These patterns could have pathophysiological or pathoplastic meaning addressing clinical and diagnostic trajectories and they could interact with other intervening risk factors.

'Delusional' consent in somatic treatment: the emblematic case of electroconvulsive therapy.

Even more than for other treatments, great importance must be given to informed consent in the case of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In a percentage of cases, the symbolic connotation of the treatment, even if mostly and intrinsically negative, may actually be a determining factor in the patient's motives for giving consent. On an ethical and medicolegal level, the most critical point is that concerning consent to the treatment by a psychotic subject with a severely compromised ability to comprehend the nature and objective of the proposed therapy, but who nonetheless expresses his consent, for reasons derived from delusional thoughts. In fact, this situation necessarily brings to light the contradiction between an explicit expression of consent, a necessary formality for the commencement of therapy, and the validity of this consent, which may be severely compromised due to the patient's inability to comprehend reality and therefore to accept the proposal of treatment, which is intrinsic to this reality. With the use of an electric current, the symbolic experience associated with anaesthesia, and the connection to convulsions, ECT enters the collective consciousness. In relation to this, ECT is symbolic of these three factors and hooks on to the thoughts, fears, feelings and expectations of delusional patients. These are often exemplified in the violent intervention of the persecutor in the patient with schizophrenia, the expected punishment for the 'error' committed for which the depressed patient blames himself and the social repression of the maniacal patient's affirmation of his inflated self-esteem.

Further Exploration of Personal and Social Functioning: The Role of Interpersonal Violence, Service Engagement, and Social Network.

Social functioning (SF) has mainly been studied in major psychoses in relation to symptom severity, but other factors may interfere with the achievement of a functional remission. The aim of this study is to explore interpersonal violence (IV), service engagement (SE), and social network (SN), together with demographics, as predictors of SF in a sample of subjects with severe mental illness (SMI). Consecutive adult inpatients were evaluated using self-report and clinician-rated questionnaires. Findings suggest that IV, SE, SN, male sex, and illness duration explained 39.1% of SF variance in people affected by SMI. IV was the strongest predictor, followed by sex and duration of illness. Lifetime expression of violence is a stronger predictor than lifetime exposure to violence. Positive SE and SN were found to predict SF, whereas age was not associated. This study underlines the need of other non-symptom-related variables for the comprehension of SF in mental disorders.

Acute depressive reaction as a consequence of war trauma exposure: a case report of a Ukrainian refugee.

We hereby report a case of a young Ukrainian woman refugee who immigrated in Italy after the war outbreak in February 2022. The researcher arrived in Italy in March 2022, thanks to a scholarship of the University of L'Aquila. Shortly after settling in L'Aquila, she started to manifest depressive symptoms, which eventually led her to seek psychological and pharmacological help in the local psychiatric unit. In April 2022, she accessed twice in a week to the emergency department of the "San Salvatore" Hospital of L'Aquila. The second time she presented an acute anxiety attack accompanied by psychomotor disturbances (negativism, mutism) that eventually required admission to the local psychiatric ward (Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi e Cura - SPDC) with the aim of managing the clinical presentation from a pharmacological and psychotherapeutic perspective. The patient submitted a series of validated scales in her own language. After 13 days of hospitalization, the patient was discharged with a diagnosis of "Acute Depressive Disorder, mild severity", according to PHQ-9, and referred to psychiatric services with a dedicated program. The present report aims to underline the need to take into consideration the possibility of developing depressive symptoms and reactions among Ukrainian war refugees and, in light of this evidence, the importance of a cross-country shared program when addressing the mental health of all refugees.

A preliminary study on similarities and dissimilarities of Neurological Soft Signs in schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive disorders suggests a common maldevelopmental model.

AIM: Neurological Soft Signs (NSS) represent minor neurological signs related to non-specific cerebral alterations. They have been documented in many psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (SCZ) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Aim of this study was to determine and compare the incidence and severity of NSS in patients with SCZ, in patients with OCD, and healthy control subjects (HCs). METHODS: Using the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES), this study investigated NSS in 15 SCZ patients, 14 OCD patients, and 15 HCs. PANSS and Y-BOCS were used to evaluate clinical picture in both groups. RESULTS: Patients with SCZ showed significantly higher scores compared to HCs in the NES total and each of the three NES subscales (Integrative Sensory Function, Motor Coordination, and Sequencing of Complex Motor Acts). Patients with OCD also showed significantly higher scores compared to HCs in the NES total, Motor Coordination and Sequencing of Complex Motor Acts, but not in Integrative Sensory Function. No significant differences emerged in the NES total and the various subscales scores between the two patients' groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results seem to confirm the presence of NSS in both SCZ and OCD. The different types of NSS presented by the two patients' groups versus HCs further supports the findings of widespread cerebral alterations in SCZ, on the other hand, with a preferential involvement of prefrontal and frontal cortex in OCD.

Violence in severe mental disorders: the association with age at onset and gender.

AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between perpetration and victimization of violence with gender and age at onset of mental disorders in patients with severe mental disorders. METHODS: 216 patients were recruited and evaluated with the Italian version of the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale. RESULTS: We found higher levels of victimization of violence in women than men and more violence in patients with lower age at onset. DISCUSSION: Gender and age at onset impact on violence in the adult life in a sample of patients with severe mental disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirmed the need of an early diagnosis and gender-tailored management of interpersonal violence.

Attachment and resilience as mediators or moderators in the relationship between trauma and psychotic-like experiences.

BACKGROUND: A large body of evidence has established a tight relation between traumatic experiences (TEs) and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). Nevertheless, more comprehensive models involving multiple interactions of serial or parallel mediations and moderations still need to be elucidated. Among the many potential mediators or moderators, insecure attachment and resilience play a key role in the association of stress with PLEs. Hence, we aim to explore the complex pathways that lead from different types of TEs to PLEs, involving attachment and resilience modeled as mediators or moderators. METHODS: One thousand ten high school students completed the International Trauma Exposure Measure (ITEM), the 11-item Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA-11), the 16-item Prodromal Questionnaire (iPQ-16), and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). A path analysis was conducted to assess mediation and moderation. RESULTS: The final model showed that the impact of childhood TEs on PLEs was mediated by a pathway through anxious-insecure attachment styles (i.e., fearful and preoccupied, respectively, 8.75 % and 8.53 % of the total effect) and personal resilience resources. Conversely, the avoidant-insecure attachment was associated with lower interpersonal resilience (b = 0.14 [0.08, 0.20]), which in turn moderated the impact of recent TEs on PLEs (interaction term b = 0.34 [0.21, 0.47]). CONCLUSIONS: Our model examines a complex model that includes factors buffering the effect of traumatic experiences on PLEs. Our results highlight the importance of insecure-anxious attachment to personal resilience resources and of insecure-avoidant attachment to interpersonal resilience as potential targets for clinical practice.

Psychopathological mediators between insecure attachment and psychotic features in a non-clinical sample: the role of depression and interpersonal sensitivity.

INTRODUCTION: Attachment styles represent a personality pattern critical to psychological health, with insecure attachment being a central factor in developing psychopathological characteristics of psychosis. However, its downstream psychopathological pathways remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the putative psychopathological mediators in the relationship between insecure attachment and psychotic features in a non-clinical sample of university students. METHODS: We recruited two non-clinical samples for a total of 978 subjects, 324 males and 654 females, and administered the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) to assess attachment styles and the Symptom Check-List 90 (SCL-90) to assess psychopathological symptoms. Moreover, the Paranoia and Psychoticism subscales of SCL-90 were combined and used as a measure of Psychosis (PSY). A mediation analysis model was carried out to establish the relationship among variables. RESULTS: Mediation analysis showed a total effect from RQ-Preoccupied and RQ-Fearful to PSY, respectively, 0.31 and 0.28. Direct effects from the SCL-90-R factor candidate mediator to PSY ranged from 0.51 for somatization to 0.72 for depression and 0.72 for interpersonal sensitivity. Indirect effects ranged from 0.08 for RQ-Preoccupied via hostility to 0.21 for RQ-Preoccupied via depression. DISCUSSION: Our results show that the effect of insecure attachment on psychosis features is differentially mediated by some psychopathological dimensions, being depression and interpersonal sensitivity the most relevant ones. PSY feature, therefore, is predicted by other specific symptoms in the psychological context of insecure primary relationships. CONCLUSIONS: From a preventive and clinical point of view, our results could be relevant in informing the early-stage psychological treatment of pre-psychotic states and, in general, people experiencing sub-threshold psychotic symptoms.

Psychotic-like experiences associated with ICD-11 PTSD and cPTSD in a cohort of Italian late adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (cPTSD) are two sibling stress-related disorders. Evidence suggests a worse clinical picture associated with cPTSD in terms of comorbidities and outcomes. However, little is known about the association between cPTSD and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). In this study, we aim to explore differences in PLEs in a sample of 1010 late adolescents with PTSD and cPTSD symptoms. METHODS: A sample of 1010 late-adolescents and young adults attending the last year of high school was selected. PLEs were assessed using the 16-items Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16), PTSD and cPTSD were assessed using the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ). RESULTS: 999 (501 males, 50.15% and 498 females, 49.85%) subjects had complete data on the selected variables. Of these, 91 (9.11%) and 40 (4.00%) screened positive for PTSD and cPTSD, respectively. Mean number of PLEs endorsed in subjects with PTSD, cPTSD and control groups were 7.02 (sd=2.99), 8.17 (sd=3.70) and 4.49 (sd=2.93), respectively. Mean PQ-16 distress score was 5.08 (sd=4.6) in subjects not endorsing PTSD/cPTSD, 10.11 (sd=6.17) in PTSD and 14.51 (sd=9.1) in cPTSD subjects. A linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between PTSD/cPTSD and PLEs scores (respectively, b=4.91 [3.73, 6.10] and b=10.05 [8.40, 11.70]). Such associations were reduced after adjustment for depression, anxiety and dissociation. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our results find higher rates of PLEs in late adolescents screening positive for cPTSD and PTSD compared to negative subjects. Furthermore, cPTSD could be more specifically associated with distressing PLEs. These findings add to the vast literature of a worse psychopathological picture associated with cPTSD compared to PTSD, emphasizing the need for a separation between PTSD and cPTSD in terms of diagnosis and possibly treatment.

The association between traumatic experiences and substance and behavioral addictions in late adolescence: A role for PTSD and cPTSD as potential mediators.

BACKGROUND & AIM: Traumatic experiences (TEs) are a risk factor for behavioral and substance addictions (SBAs). However, the role of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (cPTSD) deserves further elucidation. The present study assesses the association between different types of TEs on cannabis, alcohol, gambling, and problematic internet use in late adolescents. Furthermore, this study aims at evaluating the role of PTSD and cPTSD as potential mediators. METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted on one thousand ten late adolescents (510 males, 498 females; age: mean = 18.7, SD = 0.65). Data regarding intentional (iTEs) and unintentional TEs (uTEs), cannabis, alcohol, gambling and problematic use of the internet (PIU), PTSD, and cPTSD were collected. Association between TEs, SBAs, and PTSD/cPTSD symptoms were explored by means of logistic regressions. Mediation was assessed using a path analysis. RESULTS: uTEs were associated with cannabis use (OR = 1.34 [1.13,1.59]) and alcohol use (OR = 1.21 [1.10,1.35]), iTEs were associated with cannabis use (OR = 1.15 [1.06,1.25]), alcohol use (OR = 1.08 [1.02,1.13]), and PIU (OR = 1.17 [1.10,1.24]). PTSD was associated with alcohol use (OR = 1.59 [1.03,2.46]) and PIU (OR = 1.92 [1.18,3.13]). cPTSD was associated with cannabis use (OR = 3.54 [1.56,8.04]) and PIU (OR = 5.13 [2.71,9.70]). cPTSD mediated 58.75% of the total effect of iTEs on cannabis. Regarding PIU, PTSD mediated 68.18% of the effect of uTEs; the effect of iTEs on PIU was mediated by 65.5% via cPTSD and 34.45% via PTSD. CONCLUSION: cPTSD and SBAs show a complex pattern of association. A thorough assessment of stress-related conditions, including cPTSD, is of pivotal importance in treating SBAs.

Sleep and biorythm disturbances in schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders: a review.

Sleep problems and circadian rhythms disturbances are common in many psychiatric disorders, with the most often-reported sleep problem in most cases being insomnia. In this paper, the main findings about sleep disturbances(features and therapy) and other biorhythm disturbances (biological timekeepers, CLOCK genes, GSK3, melatonin, hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, body temperature) are reviewed in relation to schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders.

Premorbid circadian profile of patients with major depression and panic disorder.

AIMS: This study aims to compare some behavioural characteristics related to circadian functions in healthy subjects, in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and panic disorder (PD) during adulthood (disease period) and during the premorbid age (between 12 and 20 years old). METHODS: 132 adult patients with MDD, 144 with PD and 151 adult healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All subjects completed a retrospective questionnaire. RESULTS: Several behaviours (such as falling asleep, awakening, having, appetite, perceiving energy and cognitive functioning) showed a phase delay or a phase advance in MDD and PD patients compared to healthy controls. Behavioural differences where found in patients even before the clinical onset of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Circadian profiles of MDD and PD patients diverge from those of healthy controls not only during the disorder but also in the ages preceding its clinical onset. The analysis of these circadian patterns may aid physicians to early identify subjects with specific psychiatric vulnerabilities.

Daily serum and salivary BDNF levels correlate with morning-evening personality type in women and are affected by light therapy.

INTRODUCTION: BDNF is present in human serum and its level changes have been used as a marker of antidepressant efficacy in some psychiatric disorders. In addition, the positive effects of light therapy on major depression suggest that circadian-regulated factors should be taken into account in the management of mood disorders. The aim of the present study was to test ultradian fluctuations in serum and salivary BDNF levels and their interaction with light therapy in a sample of healthy women. METHODS: The study included 16 young women. Psychopathological status and chronotype traits were assessed by SPAQ, BDI, STAI, TAS, and MEQ. Standard light treatment protocol was applied. Serum and saliva were collected at 8.00, 13.00 and 20.00 hrs on the same day and at the end of light therapy. RESULTS: BDNF levels declined over the course of the day both in serum and saliva, and a correlation between diurnal BDNF trend and personality traits and habits characterizing the morning and evening types in healthy women was found. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is one of the first to show measurable BDNF in human saliva and to demonstrate its daily fluctuations in both saliva and serum of healthy young women. The correlation between diurnal changes in BDNF and the personality traits associated with body rhythms corroborates the notion that salivary BDNF may be a useful biomarker for stress-related research and different clinical investigations.

New evidence in theory of mind deficits in subjects with chronic schizophrenia and first episode: correlation with symptoms, neurocognition and social function.

AIM: Currently substantial evidence exists about Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment in subjects affected by chronic and first episode schizophrenia. In particular, in order to enhance the validity of our construct, we used in this study classical false beliefs tasks and advanced theory of mind tasks, together with the application of structural equation model, in order to ex-amine whether we are using ToM tasks with good psychometric properties. The main goal of the present study was to examine ToM deficits in a large sample including subjects suffering from chronic schizophrenia, first episode of schizophrenia and nor-mal controls, by observing in the same task the relationship with symptomatological gravity, neurocognition and social function.Materials and methods. A sample of 178 patients with chronic schizophrenia, a sample of 49 subjects with a first episode of psychosis and 484 healthy controls participated to this study. Measures of social cognition included task of false belief and advanced theory of mind task. RESULTS: No significant differences were found on ToM tasks between subjects affected by chronic and first episode schizophrenia. Social cognition showed in both groups a strong correlation with negative symptoms and social function, but did not evidence any relationship with neurocognition. CONCLUSION; ToM deficits exist in subjects suffering from chronic and first episode schizophrenia. These impairments do not seem to be a consequence of illness condition, they are likely to be state-independent and appear to be the most important cognitive mediator of social functioning in both groups.