Introduction
Theory of Mind is defined as the ability to understand mental states of other people, and is notoriously impaired in patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A growing body of evidence ...suggests an impairment of Theory of Mind in several other psychopathological disorders. However, only few studies have assessed Theory of Mind in patients with Anxiety Disorders (AD), addressing only patients with Social Anxiety Disorder.
Objectives
We aimed to investigate the differences in Theory of Mind between patients with AD and Healthy Controls (HC).
Methods
We enrolled 35 patients admitted in the Psychiatric Unit of Careggi with diagnosis of AD and 31 HC. We administered them: Zung Anxiety Scale (ZSAS), Empathy Quotient (EQ), Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RMET), and Faux Pas test (FP). A t-test for independent samples was performed to assess between-group differences.
Results
Zung total scores proved to be significantly higher in patients (t(60)=4.375, p<0.001), while Empathy Quotient total scores (t(61)=-3.325, p=0.002), detection of faux pas in Faux Pas test (t(61)=-4.957, p<0.001), RMET total scores (t(63)=-2.269, p=0.031) were significantly higher in healthy controls.
Conclusions
Such preliminary data suggest impairment of Theory of Mind and Empathy in patients with AD as compared to HC. This could be linked to the development and maintenance of anxiety symptoms in patients with AD, making Theory of Mind a potential target in psychotherapy of AD.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Introduction
Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the ability to understand mental states of other people. Recent studies explored its role in various psychopathological disorders, but evidence lacks ...on the relationship existing between specific psychopathological domains and ToM.
Objectives
We aimed to investigate the relationship between psychopathology of Anxiety Disorders (AD) and Theory of Mind.
Methods
We enrolled 35 patients admitted to the Psychiatric Unit of Careggi Hospital in Florence with diagnosis of AD. We administered them: Zung Anxiety Scale (ZSAS), Metacognition Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), and Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RMET). Pearson’s correlation was used to assess relationships between variables.
Results
A significant positive correlation was detected between RMET scores and ZSAS total scores (r=0.385, p=0.022), MCQ-30 Negative Beliefs about Uncontrollability and Danger subscale (MCQ-30-Neg, r=0.407, p=0.015), and MCQ-30 Cognitive Self-Consciousness subscale (MCQ-30-CSC, r=0.349, p=0.040).
Correlations between the variables in the study and Reading the mind in the eyes total scores are shown.
RMET total score
r
p
MCQ-30-Neg
0.407
0.015
MCQ-30-CSC
0.349
0.040
MCQ-30 Positive beliefs about Worry
0.073
0.667
MCQ-30 Lack of Cognitive Confidence
-0.245
0.155
MCQ-30 Need to Control Thoughts
0.311
0.069
ZSAS total scores
0.385
0.022
Conclusions
Such preliminary data suggest a relationship between Theory of Mind and AD psychopathology. In particular, some dimensions of AD psychopathology seem to predict higher Theory of Mind levels.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
The perception of threatening facial expressions is a critical skill necessary for detecting the emotional states of others and responding appropriately. The anger superiority effect hypothesis ...suggests that individuals are better at processing and identifying angry faces compared with other nonthreatening facial expressions. In adults, the anger superiority effect is present even after controlling for the bottom-up visual saliency, and when ecologically valid stimuli are used. However, it is as yet unclear whether this effect is present in children. To fill this gap, we tested the anger superiority effect in children ages 6-14 years in a visual search task by using emotional dynamic stimuli and equating the visual salience of target and distractors. The results suggest that in childhood, the angry superiority effect consists of improved accuracy in detecting angry faces, while in adolescence, the ability to discriminate angry faces undergoes further development, enabling faster and more accurate threat detection.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious and recurrent phenomenon in many societies with severe physical and psychological consequences. In the present study, we aimed to explore the role of ...triarchic dimensions of psychopathy (disinhibition, boldness, and meanness) across gender in this occurrence. A questionnaire on inflicted (self) and experienced (partner) IPV and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure were administered to a sample of 1,149 individuals from the Italian community. In general, self and partner IPV were moderately correlated. Bayesian regression analysis showed that disinhibition was positively correlated to both self and partner IPV (psychological and physical). In addition, boldness was negatively associated with perpetrated psychological IPV. Interactions by gender showed that meanness was positively related to perpetrated IPV in women (psychological and physical), whereas men with disinhibition features inflicted more physical violence than women. A high externalizing tendency (i.e., disinhibition) is therefore an important correlate of both perpetrated and reported IPV; moreover, boldness was associated with less psychological violence in general, whereas the effect of meanness depended on the gender of the individuals involved. Interestingly, the association between IPV and self-reported delinquent activities was low in magnitude (Spearman’s Rho around .20) suggesting limited overlap between these two constructs.
The massive spread of fake news (FN) requires a better understanding of both risks and protective psychological factors underlying vulnerability to misinformation. Prior studies have mostly dealt ...with news that do not bear any direct personal relevance to participants. Here, we ask whether high-stakes news topics may decrease vulnerability to FN. Data were collected during the national lockdown in Italy (COVID-19 news) and one year later (political news). We compared truth discrimination and overall belief for true news (TN) and FN concerning COVID-19 and political topics. Our findings indicate that psychological risk and protective factors have similar effects on truth discrimination, regardless of whether the news topic is highly or minimally personally relevant. However, we found different effects of psychological factors on overall belief, for high and low personal relevance. These results suggest that, given a high level of cognitive dissonance, individuals tend to rely on proximal or emotional sources of information. In summary, our study underscores the importance of understanding the psychological factors that contribute to vulnerability to misinformation, particularly in high-stakes news contexts.
The aim of the current study was to investigate the intersecting roles of dysfunctional personality traits and coping styles in relation to psychological distress during the Italian national lockdown ...caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 633 adults who completed questionnaires of maladaptive personality traits, coping styles, and psychological distress. Results indicated that all the maladaptive traits were associated with psychological distress with magnitude of associations strongest for Negative Affect and weakest for Antagonism. Maladaptive traits were also generally positively associated with avoidant/maladaptive and negatively associated with acceptance and positive reframing, forms of coping. A series of path analyses further demonstrated that coping strategies partially explained associations between maladaptive personality traits and psychological distress. All told, results suggest that during an unprecedented stressful time, associations between maladaptive personality traits and psychological distress may be, at least in part, explained by maladaptive coping strategies.
•Maladaptive personality traits, coping, and distress were examined during lockdown.•Maladaptive personality traits were positively associated with avoidance.•Maladaptive personality traits were negatively associated with positive coping.•Coping mediated between maladaptive personality traits and psychological distress.
This study investigates individual differences in protective and risk factors among rescue workers (RWs), particularly Red Cross members, to optimize well-being and job performance under high-stress ...conditions. Employing a person-centered approach, two psychological profiles were identified: an adaptively resilient profile and a maladaptively vulnerable profile, characterized by distinct personality traits, coping methods, life events, and social support networks. A notable external criterion, self-compassion, discerned the profiles with maladaptively vulnerable individuals who exhibited higher self-judgment, social isolation, and emotional over-identification. The study also examined the impact of job roles on these profiles, discovering a prevalence of adaptive resilience among drivers, contrasting with team members who displayed maladaptive resilience and lower self-compassion scores. These insights suggest a nuanced method for identifying RWs who require specialized support, proposing tailored interventions, especially those enhancing self-compassion. The study, through an extensive psychological metric analysis, provides a deeper comprehension of resilience and vulnerability among RWs. This research highlights the importance of recognizing individual differences in protective and risk factors, thereby contributing to the enhancement of mental health and resilience in high-stress professions.
Dimensional models provide a framework for characterizing psychopathology and personality disorders based on lower-order maladaptive traits, typically organized into five overarching domains: ...Negative Affect or Internalizing, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Psychoticism or Thought Disorder. Within the context of these dimensional models, the classification of Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) symptoms has raised questions, as they are often placed within the Negative Affect/Internalizing or Psychoticism/Thought Disorder domains. The discrepancy in their categorization may be attributed to the diversity in how these symptoms manifest. An alternative perspective involves the adoption of a measure associated with a vulnerability factor for OCD, which may transcend the specific symptoms of the disorder. In this study, our objective was to explore the association between 'Not Just Right Experiences' (NJREs) and the dimensions specified in the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD). We utilized two distinct samples, one consisting of 978 participants and the other comprising 1004, all of whom were non-clinical individuals. Through a series of exploratory factor analyses conducted on the initial sample, we uncovered a hierarchical structure of general psychopathology. Within this structure, NJREs were situated within the AMPD's Psychoticism domain. Furthermore, the Psychoticism domain exhibited a strong and unique association with all OC symptoms, surpassing the influence of other AMPD components. A structural equation model applied to the second sample validated these findings, indicating that both the Psychoticism and Negative Affect played significant roles in explaining a substantial portion of the variance observed in NJRE measures. These outcomes have pertinent clinical implications, particularly in the context of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for individuals with OCD.
This study sought to evaluate the specificity of health anxiety, relative to other forms of psychopathology, in perceptions of COVID-19 as dangerous. Measures of health anxiety, COVID-19 perceived ...dangerousness, negative affect, anxiety, depression, stress, contamination-related obsessions and compulsions, and intrusive illness-related thoughts were administered online to 742 community individuals during the Italian national lockdown. Results showed that, after controlling for demographic variables and other internalizing problems, health anxiety was the single most important factor associated with the perceived dangerousness of COVID-19. Moreover, a comparison between the current sample's scores on various symptom measures and scores from prepandemic Italian samples revealed that, whereas other internalizing symptoms increased by a large or very large magnitude during the pandemic, levels of health anxiety and negative affect increased by a medium amount. This result may indicate that health anxiety is relatively trait-like, increasing the likelihood that our correlational data support the model of health anxiety as a vulnerability rather than an outcome. Together, these results indicate that health anxiety may be a specific risk factor for COVID-related maladjustment and support the distinction of health anxiety from other psychological problems.
This study extended recent research showing that perceptions of disease risk are associated with emotional well-being during COVID-19 by examining how psychopathic traits of boldness, meanness, and ...disinhibition influence these perceptions and psychological outcomes. During the Italian national lockdown, a large community sample (Mage = 31.3 years) completed online questionnaire measures of the triarchic psychopathic traits, perceptions of disease susceptibility and danger, and recent well-being. Path analyses revealed differing roles for the triarchic traits: boldness and meanness predicted greater well-being (lower stress, higher positive affect) and disinhibition predicted lower well-being. Further, boldness and meanness were linked to well-being through distinct indirect pathways of low perceived susceptibility to infection (boldness) and low perceived dangerousness of COVID-19 (boldness and meanness). Findings speak to the triarchic model's utility in explaining socioemotional phenomena during times of crisis and support the distinct biobehavioral conceptualizations of boldness as low threat sensitivity, meanness as low affiliative capacity, and disinhibition as deficient affective and behavioral control.
•Psychopathic traits related to risk perceptions and well-being during COVID-19.•Boldness predicted well-being via low perceived susceptibility and dangerousness.•Meanness predicted well-being via low perceived dangerousness.•Disinhibition directly predicted poorer well-being.•Findings speak to the relevance of triarchic traits to well-being during a crisis.
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