Psychological Preparedness of Psychologists during the COVID-19 Emergency: Are There Any Individual Differences?

The COVID-19 outbreak has posed an unprecedented global challenge. However, despite the large amount of evidence on the psychological consequences of the pandemic, very few studies have focused on psychologists themselves. (1) Background: The present study aimed to characterise the professional and clinical profile of psychologists facing the COVID-19 outbreak and to investigate the relationship between psychological preparedness and a series of potential predictors (e.g., sociodemographic and professional variables and psychological distress). (2) Methods: A total of 1115 psychologists fully completed an online survey. The data collection period started with the first wave of the pandemic. Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic and professional data and to complete three questionnaires assessing psychological preparedness, worry, and anxiety symptoms. (3) Results: Descriptive results showed that the COVID-19 outbreak did not cause an interruption to the psychological practice of professionals (both in the public and in private sectors) and that psychologists accepted the introduction of technological devices within their regime of work in order to guarantee their service to clients. Only a minority of participants reported clinically significant levels of symptoms of anxiety and worry. Regression analyses revealed that being older, having taken part in training courses on the COVID-19 emergency, and experiencing lower levels of worry and anxiety were all significant predictors of both cognitive and affective psychological preparedness. (4) Conclusions: Taken together, these findings seem to highlight that specific factors can enhance psychological preparedness among psychologists. Therefore, it is vital to inform authorities about the importance of providing emergency programmes to train healthcare workers, especially psychologists, on how to develop psychological preparedness when facing the negative consequences of critical incidents at a universal level, given their crucial role in promoting mental health.

Intimate Partner Violence and Alexithymia: Do Emotions Matter? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) encompasses physical, sexual, or psychological abuse. Recent evidence suggests that victims and perpetrators might share some common psychological characteristics. Particularly, high levels of alexithymia, a difficulty in identifying and expressing emotions, and an externally oriented thinking style were found in both victims and perpetrators when compared to the general population. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the levels of alexithymia in victims and perpetrators of IPV and compare these levels to controls. We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, using the following strings: ("intimate partner violence" OR "IPV" OR "partner abuse") AND ("alexithymia" OR "alexithymic"). The inclusion criteria were: adult perpetrators or victims of IPV; with or without a rehabilitation program; having or not a comparison group from the general population; alexithymia as outcome; all types of study design. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were meta-analyzed with random-effects models. Results showed comparable levels of alexithymia in victims and perpetrators of IPV (mean = 55.92 vs. 55.15, respectively). Furthermore, we found increased alexithymia in victims (Hedges' g, 0.87 [95% CI 0.43, 1.31]) and perpetrators (Hedges' g, 0.94 [95% CI 0.77, 1.12]) compared to controls. These results highlight that both perpetrators and victims exhibited high levels of alexithymia. A deeper understanding of this psychological dimension can help professionals to plan better-tailored interventions, in which all relevant factors associated with IPV are considered.

Posttraumatic Growth and Posttraumatic Depreciation: Associations with Core Beliefs and Rumination.

BACKGROUND: The positive transformation (i.e., posttraumatic growth, PTG) that can emerge after the struggles associated with a stressful life event has been widely investigated. However, less attention has been paid to the negative posttraumatic changes (i.e., posttraumatic depreciation, PTD) that might occur after a traumatic experience. This study aimed to investigate the role of a series of psychological factors (e.g., disruption of core beliefs, rumination, and depressive symptoms) in predicting PTG and PTD, separately considered. METHODS: To reach this goal, 601 participants who experienced different types of traumatic events were recruited. They were asked to indicate sociodemographic and trauma-related information and to complete self-report measures assessing PTG/PTD, core beliefs, rumination, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The results of regression analyses showed that gender, age, time since the trauma, core beliefs, deliberate/intrusive rumination, and depressive symptoms were significant predictors of PTG. Conversely, core beliefs, intrusive rumination, and depressive symptoms were found to be positively related to PTD. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings highlight the role that different psychological factors may play in the manifestation of the PTG and/or PTD dimensions. From a clinical perspective, professionals should pay attention to these factors when a person struggles in coping with a highly stressful experience.

Sexual femicide, non-sexual femicide and rape: Where do the differences lie? A continuum in a pattern of violence against women.

Violence against women is a growing health problem, especially when perpetrated in intimate relationships. Despite increasing attention, there is little comparative evidence on the different types of violence involved and there is a paucity of research on sexual femicides. This study examines cases of violence against women in northern Italy, focusing on sexual and non-sexual femicides and comparing them with rape that does not result in femicides. The sample included 500 women who were victims of sexual and non-sexual femicides, and of rape. Results show sexual femicides mostly involved unknown victims or women who were prostitutes. Sexual femicidal offenders used improper weapons to kill their victims, acted in secluded locations, and fled the crime scene; their crime was more likely the result of predatory intentions, with antisociality and sexual deviance being the most significant factors related to this type of femicide. The criminal and violent pattern that characterized sexual femicides in this study shared significant similarities with the pattern of violence involved in rape. Rape victims were in fact mostly unknown, or involved in a brief relationship with their killer. When the victim was known it was more likely that the abuse occurred at home and in front of the woman's children. Rapists were often under the effect of alcohol or drugs. Non-sexual femicides mainly involved known victims, and they were more often committed in the context of domestic disputes. It was not seldom that the long relationship between the victim and perpetrator was likely to be characterized by contentiousness, suggesting that the woman was often victim of an oppressive climate of emotional tension and domination. Morbid jealousy contributed to aggravating the tone of a controlling relationship. Non-sexual femicides bore more similarities to cases of rape within the pattern of intimate partner violence. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention and intervention.

The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5: Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the PTSD Checklist for the DSM-V (PCL-5) in a group of adults who had experienced heterogenous traumatic events. METHODS: Six hundred and one participants met the inclusion criteria and completed a set of questionnaires through an online survey. Before administering the survey, the PCL-5 was translated into Italian according to the back-translation method. The factorial structure of the PCL-5 was assessed through multiple confirmatory factor analyses. Gender measurement invariance and concurrent and criterion validity were also evaluated. RESULTS: The instrument had a seven-factor structure and it worked in a similar manner for males and females. With regard to the concurrent validity, results showed that higher PCL-5 scores were associated with higher levels of depression and rumination and lower levels of life satisfaction. Regarding criterion validity, results revealed that PCL-5 scores were, on average, higher for females than for males, and the temporal distance from the traumatic event was negatively correlated with the total PCL-5 score. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated that the Italian version of the PCL-5 was able to provide valid and reliable scores for the assessment of PTSD symptoms in the Italian population.

Violence Against Prostitutes and Non-prostitutes: An Analysis of Frequency, Variety and Severity.

Violence against women is a form of gender violence, and the lethal aspect of it, defined as femicide, is a global health and human rights problem.This study looked at 330 cases of femicide that occurred in North West Italy, between 1970 and 2020, committed by 303 male perpetrators. The victims included women who were prostitutes and those who were not.Findings show that only a small proportion of femicide occurs within an anonymous setting: Victims were mostly killed by a man they knew. The type and intensity of the relationship was likely to affect how the violence occurred. In those cases in which victims and perpetrators had an intimate relationship, the risk of overkill, that is, an excessive use of violence that goes further than what is necessary to cause death, was four times higher in comparison with the murder of unknown victims. As with non-prostitutes, the risk of overkill was almost fourfold for those prostitutes who knew their perpetrators. Furthermore, when comparing prostitutes with any unknown victims, the risk of being overkilled was almost five times higher for the former, suggesting that prostitutes are more at risk of being murdered with excessive violence. In addition, prostitutes were more likely to be victims of sexual murder, postmortem mutilation, and being killed by men who had previous criminal records.Women who are victims of violence are not a homogeneous group, although some of the psychosocial correlates are the same and relevance should be given to the features behind the type, intensity, and nature of the relationship between prostitutes and non-prostitutes and their perpetrators. These variables are what make violence against women a preventable problem.

The long psychological shadow of COVID-19 upon healthcare workers: A global concern for action.

INTRODUCTION: The outbreak of COVID-19 has posed unprecedented psychological pressure upon every National Health Service in the world. In Piedmont, one of the most affected areas in Italy, 4550 healthcare workers were assessed online in May-June 2020, after the acute outbreak of March-April 2020, that compelled the Italian government to enforce, what was then, the first total lockdown in the Western world. METHODS: Socio-demographic information of healthcare workers was gathered along with responses to: General Anxiety Disorder-7, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire. Information about the need for psychological support was also gathered. RESULTS: The regression models predicted the presence of moderate to severe symptoms for all the conditions assessed. Almost half of healthcare workers presented at least one clinically relevant symptom, and among them one in every four expressed the need of receiving psychological support. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence calls for an increase of psychological services within the National Health System in Italy so as to guarantee for healthcare workers the psychological support necessary to cope with the long shadow of COVID-19, whose long-term impact is likely to reveal itself more strongly the more the acute stage of it is passed. LIMITATIONS: The assessment of the psychological symptoms was performed without knowing the life and professional situations of the sample, and their medical records. Healthcare workers from only one region in Italy were involved, and some professionals (e.g. self-employed healthcare workers) were not included.

The medicolegal, psycho-criminological, and epidemiological reality of intimate partner and non-intimate partner femicide in North-West Italy: looking backwards to see forwards.

This paper addresses femicide in Italy. The assumption is that femicide is not a discrete act of killing a woman. It is assumed that depending on the types of relationship between the victim and the perpetrator (e.g., known versus unknown, intimate versus acquaintance), the risk processes may differ. When femicide involves the killing of an intimate partner, it is likely to be characterized by sustained and escalating intimate partner violence (IPV) that can reach its climax with extreme acts of violence that lead to intimate partner femicide (IPF). Eighty-six cases of femicide that occurred in North-West Italy between 1993 and 2013 were examined in this study. Findings suggest that femicide was disproportionately perpetrated by intimate partners (current or past), rather than strangers. IPF was likely to be the epilogue of an abusive relationship, with high levels of contentiousness and conflicts being the frequent significant precursors. Non-intimate partner femicide (NPF) was more likely to be characterized by antisocial or predatory motives, highly frequent when the victims were prostitutes.These preliminary findings suggest that joint scientific, professional, and political efforts are paramount in order to address strategies aimed at assessing the differential risk of IPV early in time so as to prevent it from escalating into IPF or NPF and to provide the appropriate support for victims and their families.

Intimate Partner Violence and its Escalation Into Femicide. Frailty thy Name Is "Violence Against Women".

Violence against women is a disabler of dignity, liberty, and rights of the person, with murder being its extreme form for silencing the individual. Despite psycho-criminological research providing evidence that violence can happen across cultures, sexes, and societies, other findings show that some forms of violence i.e. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), which involves more frequently women as victims, is not rare in contemporary society. The aim of this study is to analyze the violence against women, and how it escalates up to the point in which it aggravates into femicide. In order to carry out this study, data from both the Turin Archive of the Institute of Legal Medicine (1970-1997), and the Archive of the Central Morgue (1998-2016) were collected. The interest was to focus on those women who were killed in Turin, between 1970 and 2016, by a male with whom they were involved in a more or less intimate relationship (e.g., matrimonial, sexual, friendship, professional, etc.). Collateral information was also gathered from forensic files that reported sufficient details about the criminal events. The sample was composed of 275 women killed by violence in Turin, Italy, by 260 males. This research was based on two questions: Is murder the worst possible scenario of a long-lasting abusive relationship? Are we witnessing a shift in how violence now happens, becoming perhaps less striking than murder, but not less painful from the victim's point of view? These findings show that escalation into femicide featured more likely within an intimate and affective relationship between victim and perpetrator; they also show that when the perpetrator knew the victim, it was more likely that an overkilling took place. When victims sustained multiple injuries that went beyond those necessary to cause their death, one is in front of an overkilling. These results also suggest that motives behind intimate partner femicide could account for a differential degree of violence, so that the longer and closer the relationship was between victim and perpetrator, the higher the risk of IPV escalating into femicide, and of femicide being executed with extreme and severe force.

A longitudinal analysis of early risk factors for adult-onset offending: What predicts a delayed criminal career?

BACKGROUND: Late-onset offending, at the age of 21 or thereafter, is an underexplored dimension of the criminal career. AIMS: Our aims were to explore which factors are precursors of late-onset offending, and the extent to which adult criminality can be predicted in childhood and adolescence. METHOD: This is the first study that defines late-onset offending based on a combination of official records and self-reports. Longitudinal data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) were used. Four hundred and three South London men, followed from ages 8-10 to ages 48-50, were divided into late-starters (LS, n = 51), early-starters (ES, n = 140) and non-offenders (NO, n = 212). RESULTS: LS men were more likely than NO men to have been neurotic, truants or in poor housing at ages 8-10. At ages 12-14, they tended to be neurotic, and at ages 16-18, they had high unemployment and spent time hanging about on the streets. Compared with ES, LS were nervous at ages 8-10, and at age 18 they were more likely to be sexual virgins. Overall, LS men were more similar to NO men before age 21, but more similar to ES men by age 32. CONCLUSIONS: Our hypotheses that late-onset offenders would be particularly characterised by neuroticism or nervousness, but that this would buffer rather than fully protect over the life course, were sustained. Intervention to increase the resilience of children and adolescents who are rated as high on neurotic characteristics may lessen the burden that these factors impose in adult life and reduce the risk of a deteriorating quality of life and late onset criminal careers.

Childhood and adolescent predictors of late onset criminal careers.

This study explores the emergence of a criminal career in adulthood. The main hypothesis tested is that late criminal onset (at age 21 or later) is influenced by early factors that delay antisocial manifestations. The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) was used to examine early determinants of criminal behavior. 400 Inner London males were followed from ages 8-10 to 48-50, and were classified as follows: 35 late onsetters who were first convicted at age 21 or later, and did not have high self-reported delinquency at ages 10-14 and 15-18; 129 early onsetters first convicted between ages 10 and 20; and 236 unconvicted males. Odds ratios and logistic regression analyses revealed that the best predictors of late onset offenders compared with early onset offenders included nervousness, having few friends at ages 8-10, and not having sexual intercourse by age 18. The best predictors of late onset offenders compared with nonoffenders included teacher-rated anxiousness at ages 12-14 and high neuroticism at age 16. It is concluded that being nervous and withdrawn protected boys against offending in adolescence but that these protective effects tended to wear off after age 21. These findings show that adult offending can be predicted from childhood, and suggest that early intervention might prevent a variety of maladjustment problems and difficulties in adult life.