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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social communication and restricted or repetitive behavior and interests. Psychic distress is common among individuals with ASD, especially in its milder form (level 1), with anxiety and depression being the most common types. Recent research has identified neuroinflammation and gut dysbiosis as potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying ASD. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), an endocannabinoid (eCB)-like compound, has shown promise in modulating such mechanisms and may thus have therapeutic implications for ASD. To date, no clinical trial has evaluated the efficacy of PEA in adults with ASD. This 12-week open-label study will assess the feasibility, tolerability, safety, and efficacy of ultramicronized PEA (um-PEA) in treating symptoms of psychic distress, such as anxiety and depression, in adults with level 1 ASD. Secondary research endpoints will include um-PEA's effects on levels of personal autonomy and neurocognitive and interpersonal function. From a biological point of view, this study will assess um-PEA's effects on inflammatory markers, the metabolic profile, eCB system modulation, and microbial composition as potential mechanisms of action for its therapeutic effect. In conclusion, this study will investigate a novel approach to the treatment of adults presenting with psychic distress in the context of level 1 ASD. The results may provide valuable insight into the use of um-PEA as a treatment option for ASD adults, addressing a significant unmet clinical need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has been used to reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease and the incidence of new cases. However, a significant proportion of people have shown vaccination hesitancy. Methods: This study explored psychological factors related to vaccination hesitancy in a sample of Italian COVID-19 patients (N = 54), hospitalized during 2021, after vaccines had been made available and while the vaccination campaign was on-going. Consecutive patients, aged 18 or older, admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were assessed with a set of standardized measures. Results: In our sample, 48.1% was not vaccinated and 7.4% died within 6months after hospitalization, with a preponderance of deaths among non-vaccinated patients. Non-vaccinated participants had higher resilience scores at the CDRISC-10 scale than vaccinated ones (33.6 ± 5.50 vs 28.6 ± 6.61; t40.2=+ 2.94, p = 0.005). No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups for any other measures. Discussion: Higher levels of resilience among non-vaccinated patients may reflect greater identity worth and self-esteem, in turn resulting in a decrease in vaccination likelihood. This finding may have important public health implications, as it indicates that specific psychological aspects, such as resilience, may result in vaccination hesitancy, with implications for hospitalization rates, and thus healthcare costs, as well as loss of lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychosocial stressors have been suggested to precipitate psychotic episodes in patients with pre‐existing psychosis and otherwise healthy subjects. However, such a risk has never been formally investigated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty‐nine autistic adolescents hospitalized for psychotic/manic symptoms (PSY) and other mental health issues (NPSY) over a 9‐year period were compared with reference to their previous exposure to psychosocial stressors. ASD diagnoses satisfied the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)‐10 criteria. Psychotic/manic symptom assessment followed the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K‐SADS). Psychosocial stressor exposure was collected separately at each admission. Preliminarily, univariate between‐group comparisons were conducted. Then, a binomial model was adopted to investigate associations with previous exposure to psychosocial stressors. Results were reported with a change in AIC (ΔAIC). PSY patients presented with higher previous exposure to adverse life events (30.43% vs. 6.52%, OR = 6.079 [1.209, 40.926], p = 0.013) and school/work difficulties (30.43% vs. 8.70%, OR = 4.478 [0.984, 23.846], p = 0.034) than NPSY ones. Admissions for psychotic/manic symptoms occurred more likely in the context of family disturbances (OR = 2.275 [1.045, 5.045], p = 0.030) and adverse life events (OR = 3.489 [1.194, 11.161], p = 0.014). The fitted binomial model was found to be significant compared to the random effects model (ΔAIC = −1.962; χ210 = 21.96, p = 0.015), with the risk of presenting psychotic/manic symptoms being increased by family disturbances (z = +4.118) and school/work difficulties (z = +2.455). The results suggest a potential psychosis‐inducing effect of psychosocial stressors in ASD, which has clinical and policy implications. Lay Summary: Although autistic individuals were found to face more stressful life events and to perceive them more severely than neurotypical peers, the psychosis‐inducing effect of psychosocial stressors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has never been assessed so far. We conducted a retrospective observational study in adolescents with ASD in‐patiently hospitalized for mental health issues over a 9‐year period, recording exposure to psychosocial stressors at each admission. We found that family disturbances and conflicts with peers are associated with the occurrence of psychotic symptoms in autistic individuals, which has important clinical and policy implications for mental health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed changes in revolving-door (RD) mental health hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 5-year retrospective hospital chart review was performed, collecting revolving-door hospitalization, sociodemographic, and clinical data. Out of 1036 patients, 5.69% had RD hospitalizations, which accounted for 10.38% of all recorded hospitalizations. Further, a higher number of RD hospitalizations occurred following the pandemic outbreak, which is unlikely to have been a result of the confounding effect of trimester and month of hospitalization. Finally, several sociodemographic and clinical characteristics recurred more frequently in the context of RD hospitalizations, such as being younger, being compulsorily admitted, being an absconding patient, and being referred by a public service. Certain diagnostic categories occurred more frequently among RD hospitalizations, including psychotic, personality, and substance use disorders, as well as intellectual disability. Patients with specific characteristics are more likely to incur in RD hospitalizations, requiring the implementation of supportive treatment plans, especially following the pandemic outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absconding from inpatient psychiatric services has been associated with poor outcomes, putting the patient and community at risk and prolonging the recovery process. A retrospective study investigated the absconding rates and risk factors among patients admitted to an open-door, no-restraint inpatient psychiatric unit. Overall, the absconding rate was 4.5%, and the relative risk of absconding was higher for male, younger, and non-Caucasian patients as well as for those who had already absconded, were unknown to health services, compulsorily admitted, admitted for substance abuse, and in the first days of hospitalization. The findings of this study may have important public health implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language production has often been described as impaired in psychiatric diseases such as in psychosis. Nevertheless, little is known about the characteristics of linguistic difficulties and their relation with other cognitive domains in patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP), either affective or non-affective. To deepen our comprehension of linguistic profile in FEP, 133 patients with FEP (95 non-affective, FEP-NA; 38 affective, FEP-A) and 133 healthy controls (HC) were assessed with a narrative discourse task. Speech samples were systematically analyzed with a well-established multilevel procedure investigating both micro- (lexicon, morphology, syntax) and macro-linguistic (discourse coherence, pragmatics) levels of linguistic processing. Executive functioning and IQ were also evaluated. Both linguistic and neuropsychological measures were secondarily implemented with a machine learning approach in order to explore their predictive accuracy in classifying participants as FEP or HC. Compared to HC, FEP patients showed language production difficulty at both micro- and macro-linguistic levels. As for the former, FEP produced shorter and simpler sentences and fewer words per minute, along with a reduced number of lexical fillers, compared to HC. At the macro-linguistic level, FEP performance was impaired in local coherence, which was paired with a higher percentage of utterances with semantic errors. Linguistic measures were not correlated with any neuropsychological variables. No significant differences emerged between FEP-NA and FEP-A (p≥0.02, after Bonferroni correction). Machine learning analysis showed an accuracy of group prediction of 76.36% using language features only, with semantic variables being the most impactful. Such a percentage was enhanced when paired with clinical and neuropsychological variables. Results confirm the presence of language production deficits already at the first episode of the illness, being such impairment not related to other cognitive domains. The high accuracy obtained by the linguistic set of features in classifying groups support the use of machine learning methods in neuroscience investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary group psychoeducation treatment (GPT) in patients with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Methods: We designed an open-label efficacy study that included a population of 45 patients diagnosed with BED. A measure of eating attitudes and associated psychological constructs was obtained through the use of the self-report instruments Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-3), Binge Eating Scale (BES) and Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) was also administered to assess general psychopathology. All participants participated in 12 weekly group psychoeducational treatment meetings, 8 of which were conducted by mental health professionals, and a second module of 4 meetings, oriented on health and nutrition education topics, conducted by a dietician. Results: At the end of treatment, patients showed significant improvements in body mass index (BMI) and binge eating. Paired t -tests showed significant differences at p -value < 0.05 in all eating disorder risk scales and for most of the general psychological scales related to eating disorders. In addition, patients experienced an improvement in their perception of overall body image, a decrease in concerns about physical appearance and less body image avoidance. Finally, results showed that psychoeducation treatment was associated with significant improvements in interpersonal sensitivity. Conclusions: The results of this study may indicate that significant short-term improvements can be achieved through a psychoeducation group for BED patients. Although limited by the lack of a control condition, this study adds to a growing body of evidence with promising results, setting the stage for further case-control studies of BED treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Women face many sources of stress throughout their lives, and some periods are particularly sensitive; pregnancy is one of them. The COVID-19 pandemic is a likely source of additional stress for pregnant women. Moreover, there is evidence that pregnant women have experienced high levels of anxiety and depression symptoms during the pandemic. Our study aimed to evaluate the association of pregnancy-specific stress, pandemic-related stress, and coping strategies with anxiety, depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptomatology in Italian women during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020–June 2021). We also investigated whether there were differences in these levels of psychopathology compared to a prior study conducted during the first pandemic wave (April–August 2020) in Italian pregnant women. Methods: We assessed 325 pregnant women receiving outpatient prenatal care, using the Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (NuPDQ), Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS), the Revised Prenatal Coping Inventory (NuPCI), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) screening. The main analysis was conducted comparing multiple logistic regression models predicting each psychopathological outcome from specific covariates and NuPDQ, PREPS, and NuPCI scores. Results: 42.8% of the sample reported significant levels of anxiety, while 10.3% was positive on depression screening and 13.1% on OCD screening. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of high anxiety, depression, or OCD screening scores compared with the first pandemic wave. Controlling for covariates, we found that GAD-7 and PHQ-2 scores were predicted by pregnancy-specific stress; positive OCD screening was not. The model of high anxiety was improved by adding pandemic-related stress as a predictor (in particular, feeling unprepared for delivery and postpartum). Finally, coping strategies (avoidance, spiritual coping, and planning-preparation) significantly improved prediction of all three psychopathological outcomes. Conclusions: The present study suggests the importance of pregnancy-related stress, COVID-19 pandemic stress, and of coping strategies in counteracting or contributing to psychiatric symptomatology during the current pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In February 2020, Italy became the first European country to face the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The concerns of infection, financial worries, loss of freedom, and isolation during the ongoing pandemic can lead to negative psychological effects, including anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The main aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between pandemic-related stress and pregnancy-specific stress and assess their role in the development of psychiatric symptoms. We predicted that pregnancy-specific stress would mediate an association of pandemic-related stress with psychiatric symptoms. Patients and Methods: A total of 258 pregnant women were assessed for general emotional symptoms with the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder screening (OCD). The Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (NuPDQ) and the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) were administered as measures of pregnancy-specific stress (PSS and pandemic-related, respectively). Mediation effects by NuPDQ for PREPS stress scales on psychiatric outcomes were calculated, using regression series and correcting for general covariates. Results: Almost a third of the sample reported clinically relevant anxiety levels (32.6%), 11.2% were positive for OCD screening and less than 5% were positive for depression screening. The stress related to feeling unprepared for delivery and postpartum (PREPS-PS) predicted PHQ-2 score, both directly and indirectly via PSS, and it predicted GAD-7 score only indirectly. The stress related to fear of infection (PREPS-PIS) was directly associated to GAD-7 score and – through PSS – to PHQ-2 score and OCD. Conclusion: The pandemic onset contributed to poor mental health, especially anxiety, in a substantial portion of Italian pregnant women. Our results emphasize the importance of strategies to reduce pregnancy-specific stress, as well as to diminish stress due to the pandemic. Identifying risk factors for psychological suffering is important to prevent potential long-term consequences for mothers and their offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing evidence suggests a complex role of family influences, such as the exposure to parent psychopathology through parenting behavior, in parent-to-child psychopathology transmission. Parenting behaviour could represent a relevant target of psychoeducative intervention. Given these premises, we aimed to evaluate homotypic and heterotypic relationships between parent and child psychopathology, mediated by parenting behaviours, taking into account the constructs of parent and offspring internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Methods: Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in 272 clinically-referred subjects (mean age = 14.5 ± 2.3; F = 23.5%) and their parents (mothers n = 272, fathers n = 242) were assessed through the Child Behavior Checklist and the Adult Self Report; four areas of parenting behaviours were investigated through the Family Life Questionnaire. Multiple mediation models were built, considering mother and father psychopathology scales as independent variables, parenting measures and family functioning as mediators (Affirmation, Rules, Discipline and Special Allowances), child psychopathology scales as dependent variables and demographic variables as covariates. Results: Regression models showed a significant effect of maternal internalizing symptomatology on child externalizing behavioral problems; high levels of maternal pathology predicted high levels of children's psychopathology. A total mediating effect of parenting measures was found: high levels of internalizing symptoms in mothers predicted low levels of affirmation, which in turn predicted high levels of externalizing psychopathology in children. Conclusions: Our study results confirmed the existence of interdependent links between mothers' psychiatric symptomatology, parenting behaviour and offspring outcomes, specifically in an Italian context. On a clinical and rehabilitation basis, this work offers suggestions about parenting practices, specifically maternal, involved in the maintenance of child psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite various advances in the study of the neurobiological underpinnings of personality traits, the specific neural correlates associated with character and temperament traits are not yet fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by exploring the biochemical basis of personality, which is explored with the temperament and character inventory (TCI), during brain development in a sample of adolescents. Twenty-six healthy adolescents (aged between 13 and 21 years; 9 males and 18 females) with behavioral and emotional problems underwent a TCI evaluation and a 3T single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) acquisition of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Absolute metabolite levels were estimated using LCModel: significant correlations between metabolite levels and selective TCI scales were identified. Specifically, phosphocreatine plus creatine (PCr+Cre) significantly correlated with self-directedness, positively, and with a self-transcendence (ST), negatively, while glycerophosphocholine plus phosphocholine (GPC+PC) and myo-inositol negatively correlated with ST. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting associations of brain metabolites with personality traits in adolescents. Therefore, our results represent a step forward for personality neuroscience within the study of biochemical systems and brain structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the study of the neuroanatomical correlates of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is gaining increasing interest, up to now the cortical anatomy of GAD patients has been poorly investigated and still no data on cortical gyrification are available. The aim of the present study is to quantitatively examine the cortical morphology in patients with GAD compared with healthy controls (HC) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study analyzing the gyrification patterns in GAD. Methods: A total of 31 GAD patients and 31 HC underwent 3 T structural MRI. For each subject, cortical surface area (CSA), cortical thickness (CT), gray matter volume (GMV), and local gyrification index (LGI) were estimated in 19 regions of interest using the Freesurfer software. These parameters were then compared between the two groups using General Linear Model designs. Results: Compared with HC, GAD patients showed: (1) reduced CT in right caudal middle frontal gyrus (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected), (2) hyper-gyrification in right fusiform, inferior temporal, superior parietal and supramarginal gyri and in left supramarginal and superior frontal gyri (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). No significant alterations in CSA and GMV were observed. Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis of a neuroanatomical basis for GAD, highlighting a possible key role of the right hemisphere. The alterations of CT and gyrification in GAD suggest a neurodevelopmental origin of the disorder. Further studies on GAD are needed to understand the evolution of the cerebral morphology with age and during the clinical course of the illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers' interest have recently moved toward the identification of recurrent psychopathological profiles characterized by concurrent elevations on different behavioural and emotional traits. This new strategy turned to be useful in terms of diagnosis and outcome prediction. We used a person-centred statistical approach to examine whether different groups could be identified in a referred sample and in a general-population sample of children and adolescents, and we investigated their relation to DSM-IV diagnoses. A latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) syndrome scales of the referred sample ( N = 1225), of the general-population sample ( N = 3418), and of the total sample. Models estimating 1-class through 5-class solutions were compared and agreement in the classification of subjects was evaluated. Chi square analyses, a logistic regression, and a multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the relations between classes and diagnoses. In the two samples and in the total sample, the best-fitting models were 4-class solutions. The identified classes were Internalizing Problems (15.68%), Severe Dysregulated (7.82%), Attention/Hyperactivity (10.19%), and Low Problems (66.32%). Subsequent analyses indicated a significant relationship between diagnoses and classes as well as a main association between the severe dysregulated class and comorbidity. Our data suggested the presence of four different psychopathological profiles related to different outcomes in terms of psychopathological diagnoses. In particular, our results underline the presence of a profile characterized by severe emotional and behavioural dysregulation that is mostly associated with the presence of multiple diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the knowledge of emotional and motor verbs in children and adolescents from three age ranges (8-11, 12-15,16-19 years). Participants estimated the verbs familiarity, age of acquisition, valence, arousal, imageability, and motor- and emotion-relatedness. Participants were familiar with the verbs in our dataset. The younger (8-11) attributed an emotional character to the verbs less frequently than the middle (12-15) and the older (16-19) groups. In the 8-11 group males rated the verbs as emotion-related less frequently than females. Results indicate that processing verbal concepts as emotion-related develops gradually, and after 12-15 is rather stable. The age of acquisition (AoA) develops late: the older (16-19) had a higher awareness in reporting that they learnt the verbs earlier as compared to the estimations made by the younger (8-11 and 12-15). AoA positively correlated with attribution of emotion relatedness meaning that emotion-related verbs were learned later. Arousal was comparable across ages. Also it increased when attributing motor relatedness to verbs and decreased when attributing emotion relatedness. Reporting the verbs' affective valence (happy vs. unhappy) changes with age: younger (8-11) judged the verbs generally more "happy" than both the older groups. Instead the middle and the older group did not show differences. Happiness increased when processing the verbs as motor related and decreased when processing the verbs as emotion related. Age affected imageability: the younger (8-11) considered the verbs easier to be imagined than the two older groups, suggesting that at this age vividness estimation is still rough, while after 12-15 is stable as the 12-15 and 15-19 group did not differ. Imageability predicted arousal, AoA, emotion- and motor-relatedness indicating that this index influences the way verbs are processed. Imageability was positively correlated to emotion relatedness, indicating that such verbs were harder to be imagined, and negatively to motor relatedness. Imageablity positively correlated with valence meaning that verbs receiving positive valence were also those that were hard to be imagined, and negatively correlated with arousal, meaning that verbs that were harder to be imagined elicited low physiological activation. Our results give an insight in the development of emotional and motor-related verbs representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of studies examining associations between clinical-diagnostic and empirical-quantitative approaches have concentrated only on the target diagnosis without taking into account any possible co-variation of psychopathological traits, which is intrinsic to child psychopathology. The ability of child behaviour checklist (CBCL) DSM-oriented scales (DOSs) to predict target and other DSM diagnoses, taking into consideration the covariation of psychopathological traits, was analysed by logistic regression analysis. Corresponding odds ratio (OR) was used as indicator of the strength of the relationship between the clinical score in DOSs and the presence of DSM-IV diagnoses. Logistic regression allowed us to consider multiple scales simultaneously, thus addressing the problem of co-occurrence of psychopathological traits, and to include gender and age as covariates. The sample consisted of 360 children and adolescents aged 6-16 years, consecutively referred for behavioural and emotional problems. As a whole, the CBCL DOSs seem to be more specific but with a weaker association with DSM-IV diagnoses than syndrome scales, and with some distinctive features: clinical scores in the anxiety DOS suggest a diagnosis of both anxiety and mood disorder; clinical scores in the somatic problems DOS are very strong and specific predictors for diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder; clinical scores in the oppositional defiant problems DOS are not only predictors of the oppositional defiant disorder but are also strong predictors of generalized anxiety disorder; clinical scores in the conduct problems DOS are a specific and strong predictor for oppositional defiant disorder. Results confirm the clinical usefulness of CBCL and suggest using both syndrome and DOS scales for a complete and accurate assessment of children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: magnetic resonance spectroscopy; temperament character inventory; adolescence; brain biochemistry; brain metabolism Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, temperament character inventory, adolescence, brain biochemistry, brain metabolism. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to investigate the genetic and neural determinants of attention and hyperactivity problems. Using a proof-of-concept imaging genetics mediation design, we explore the relationship between the glutamatergic GRIN2B gene variants and inattention/hyperactivity with neuroanatomical measures as intermediates. Fifty-eight children and adolescents were evaluated for behavioral problems at three time points over approximately 7 years. The final assessment included blood drawing for genetic analyses and 3T magnetic resonance imaging. Attention/hyperactivity problems based on the Child Behavior Checklist/6-18, six GRIN2B polymorphisms and regional cortical thickness, and surface area and volume were estimated. Using general linear model (GLM) and mediation analyses, we tested whether GRIN2B exerted an influence on stable inattention/hyperactivity over development, and to what extent this effect was mediated by brain morphology. GLM results enlightened the relation between GRIN2B rs5796555-/A, volume in the left cingulate isthmus and inferior parietal cortices and inattention/hyperactivity. The mediation results showed that rs5796555-/A effect on inattention/hyperactivity was partially mediated by volume in the left isthmus of the cingulate cortex, suggesting a key role of this region in translating glutamatergic GRIN2B variations to attention/hyperactivity problems. This evidence can have important implications in the management of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pregnancy is a period of happiness but also of physical and psychological changes that can lead to distress. Functional coping strategies can reduce the pregnancy specific-stress. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Revised Prenatal Coping Inventory (NuPCI) in an Italian sample and to investigate how coping strategies were associated with pregnancy-specific stress.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, low-risk pregnant women (N = 211) were assessed with NuPCI, NuPDQ (Revised-Prenatal Distress Questionnaire), Brief-COPE (Coping Orientation to the Problems Experienced), and STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). The reliability of NuPCI was evaluated by assessing its internal consistency and factor structure (with a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, CFA). The concurrent validity between NuPCI and Brief-COPE and NuPDQ and STAI was investigated. Lastly, the relationship between NuPCI and NuPDQ was analyzed, as well as the ability of these scales to predict Apgar score at birth.Results: Internal consistency of NuPCI scales was good for Planning-Preparation (ɑC=0.84) and Spiritual-Positive Coping (ɑC=0.81) scales, acceptable for Avoidance (ɑC=0.76) scale. Moreover, the original three-factor structure was confirmed using a CFA with 29 of the 32 items (χ2374 = 618.06; RMSEA = 0.056, 95% confidence interval: [0.048, 0.063]); CFI = 0.920; and TLI = 0.913). Statistically significant correlations between NuPCI scales and Brief-COPE subscales ranged between r = + 0.217 and r = + 0.624; also, NuPDQ score was positively correlated with STAI scales (State scale: r = + 0.539; Trait scale: r = + 0.462). Concurrent validity was confirmed reporting that NuPDQ score was predicted by NuPCI scores (R2 = 0.423, p < 0.001), positively by Avoidance (β=+0.572) and Planning-Preparation (β=+0.215) and negatively by Spiritual-Positive Coping (β=-0.132). Finally, considering the stress, the effect of the Avoidance and Spiritual-Positive Coping scores respectively in decreasing (+ 155%) and increasing (+ 16%) the Apgar score became stronger.Conclusions: Italian NuPCI has sound psychometric properties and it is a useful coping measure. NuPDQ showed also a good validity. Our results may suggest a significant role for coping strategies, particularly in modulating the condition of the newborn at birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]