Depression in Diabetic Patients: What Is the Link With Eating Disorders? Results of a Study in a Representative Sample of Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.

Background and Purpose: Comorbidity between diabetes and depression, and diabetes and eating disorders (ED) conveys significant diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic implications. The present study was conducted on a sample of adult outpatients affected by Type 1 Diabetes (T1DM) to assess lifetime prevalence of ED; current prevalence of depression and Disturbed Eating Behaviors (DEB) and their impact on glycemic control. We hypothesized that patients with depression would have higher rates of lifetime ED and current DEB. We hypothesized a significant and independent association between DEB and the prevalence of depression. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out using a cross-sectional design in a sample of 172 diabetic patients with T1DM aged from 17 to 55 years. Lifetime prevalence of ED according to DSM-5 criteria was assessed by means of the Module H modified of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorder (SCID-I). The following questionnaires were used: Beck Depression Inventory-IA version (BDI-IA) and Diabetes Eating Problems Survey-Revised (DEPS-R), to assess respectively the current presence of depression and DEB. Socio-demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were also collected. Results: High rates of depression (35.5%) and DEB (19.2%) were observed in our sample of 172 adult outpatients with T1DM. Lifetime history of ED was present in 20.9% of the sample and was more frequently diagnosed in patients with current depression (34.4% vs. 13.9%, p = 0.002). Higher levels of DEB at DEPS-R significantly increased the odds of depression (adjOR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.03-1.15; p = 0.003). The presence of DEB was associated with poor glycemic control. On the other hand, no association was found between depression and metabolic compensation. Conclusion: Adult patients with T1DM and depression should be screened for ED and DEB. Treating DEB could positively impact both mood and glycemic control in this population. Further studies should be carried out on a larger patient population using a longitudinal design and an accurate method of evaluation to explore the complex relationship between diabetes, depression, ED, and DEB. Future research should investigate treatment strategies for DEB in T1DM patients and their impact on both psychopathological and metabolic outcomes.

Teacher Satisfaction in Relationships With Students and Parents and Burnout.

In the educational field, the role of the support component of the teacher-student relationship is well known, while the role of the teacher-student relationship on teacher burnout is a more current field of investigation. Several studies on the sources of burnout have recently focused on job satisfaction and teacher-student satisfaction. However, the role of teacher-parent satisfaction is still little explored in this field. Moreover, in the Italian school context, students' seniority and educational level require further investigation, as the average age of teachers is particularly high compared to their European colleagues. The present study aims to examine in a sample of 882 Italian teachers the presence of burnout and differences in teacher-student and teacher-parent satisfaction between primary (students aged 6-10years) and lower secondary (students aged 11-13years) teachers. A further objective is to test whether teacher-student and teacher-parent satisfaction and seniority can be significant predictors of burnout. Teachers completed the Job Satisfaction Scale (MESI) and the MBI-Educators Survey and the data were then processed using MANOVA and multiple linear regression analysis. The results revealed that 8.2% of the teachers suffered from burnout and lower secondary teachers showed the highest levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Predictors of emotional exhaustion were job dissatisfaction and seniority, and predictors of depersonalisation were job dissatisfaction and teacher-student dissatisfaction. Finally, predictors of personal accomplishment were also teacher-parent satisfaction and teacher-student satisfaction. The implications of these findings for practice and research are discussed in this article.

COVID-19 and the excess of mortality in Italy from January to April 2020: what are the risks for oldest old?

In February 2020, Italy has been the first country in Europe fighting against COVID-19. In March 2020, Italian government declared national lockdown. Until May 4th, people stayed in home confinement and only the so-called "essential works and activities" were continued. Like in other countries, both for the disease severity and for the risk of death, the higher the age of people the higher the risk. In the first months of 2020, Italy saw a very high number of deaths related to COVID-19, with a huge age effect, and there is an agreement on the view that there had been also an excess of mortality and on the role of mortality as a correct way to reflect the dynamics of the virus's spread. In this paper we briefly discuss the trends of mortality during the first 4 months of 2020 according to the data by the Italian National Institute of Statistics.