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Introduction: Most treatments for severe mental disorders involve either pharmacotherapy or psychological interventions, which show mild to moderate effectiveness and may not lead to complete remission. Physical activity (PA), effective in enhancing physical health among the general population, emerges as a potential adjunctive treatment option that can address the existing gaps. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe condition associated with profound psychosocial impairment, a heightened risk of suicide, and considerable burden on informal caregivers and mental health service providers. While there is a lack of approved medications for individuals with BPD, psychosocial interventions demonstrated good efficacy. However, the implementation of these treatments is limited by the demanded extensive training for staff. No studies have investigated the effectiveness of structured PA as an adjunctive treatment for individuals with BPD. Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to assess whether the intervention group outperforms the control group in terms of improvement on a standardized assessment scale evaluating BPD psychopathology, the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Disorder. Secondary objective is to assess whether the intervention group can increase and sustain higher levels of PA. We hypothesise that a structured PA program will demonstrate superior results compared to the psychoeducation control group concerning PA levels upon completion of the intervention. Additionally, we hypothesise that the intervention group will exhibit enhanced outcomes in psychopathology, functioning, and sleep. Methods: The PABORD Randomized Controlled Trial is designed for female outpatient individuals diagnosed with BPD aged 18-40 years. This trial will involve two distinct groups: (i) an intervention group (25 participants) that will engage in a 12-week structured PA program under the supervision of a sports medicine physician; (ii) a control group (25 individuals) that will undergo a 12-week psychoeducation program focused on PA and diet. Patients are assessed at three different time points. Standardized assessments include psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, sleep, menstrual cycle and nutrition data. Measurements are taken on the amount and intensity of PA and sleep patterns using a biosensor device (Actigraph GT9X), dynamometric measures and BMI. Biomarkers and hormonal cycles are examined through the collection of plasma and saliva samples. The trial is financially supported through donations (5x1000 fund), and has been submitted to the local Ethics Committee for approval. The trial registration process is also currently in progress. Results: Not yet available. Conclusions: The study will provide new knowledge which may enhance our treatment options with patients suffering from BPD. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: One in six adolescents aged suffers from mental health problems. Despite the presence of general information on Italian adolescents' mental health, provided by periodic epidemiological studies, researches conducted with standardized assessment tools are scarce in the scientific literature. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of self-reported behavioral and emotional problems in a group of Italian adolescents and to examine their relation to important socio-demographical variables, in order to provide relevant information about of adolescence mental health in our country. Methods: A population-based survey was conducted on high school students from urban areas of Rome and Latina. Sociodemographic variables, including age, gender, type of school, socio-economic status, urbanicity, as well as Youth Self-Report (YSR) evaluating 3 broadband scales (Internalizing Disorders; Externalizing Disorders; Total Problem scale) were collected. Univariable and Multivariable Logistic regression were used to assess the association between socio-demographic variables and YSR. Results: Our final sample consisted of 1400 adolescents (38.61% male, mean age 16 yrs, SD 1.42). Prevalence of Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems and Total Problems was 29.55%, 18.34% and 24.13%. Internalizing Symptoms were not explained by sociodemographic variables, while Externalizing Symptoms were explained by Male Gender (OR=1.53, [1.14,2.06]), older age (OR=2.06, [1.52,2.79]) and attending a Professional Institute (OR=2.15, [1.53,3.02] Adjusted R²=4.32%). Total Problems were explained by School Type (Professional Institutes and Art and Humanities vs. Grammar and Science School; OR 1.93 [1.40,2.67] and 1.64 [1.08,2.47], adjusted R²=1.94). Conclusions: The study estimates the prevalence of self-reported behavioral and emotional problems in a large sample of Italian adolescents, highlighting the role of socio-demographic risk factors for externalizing behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Psychotic-like experiences index an increased risk for subsequent psychotic disorders. Childhood adversities are a well-established risk factors for psychotic-like experiences, however different contextual and personal factors may differentially mediate their effect on psychotic-like experiences, including different aspects of resilience. Objectives: In this study we propose a two-dimension model of resilience. Our aim is to address separately the mediational role of personal and contextual resilience factors between childhood adversity and PLE in a community sample. Methods: Five hundred University students completed an on-line questionnaire including the Resilience Scale for Adults, the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire and the Risky Family Questionnaire. Mediation was assessed using Structural EquationModelling with bootstrapping estimation of indirect effect. Results: Direct effect of Personal and Contextual resilience on Psychotic-like experiences were respectively -0.69 [-0.97, -0.41] (p<0.001) and -0.19 [-0.58, 0.20] (ns); indirect effects through personal and contextual resilience were respectively 0.03 [0.01, 0.04] (p<0.001) and 0.02 [-0.02, 0.06] (ns). Personal resilience mediated 27.4% of the total effect of childhood adversity on psychotic-like experiences. Conclusions: Personal resilience, but not contextual resilience, mediated the effect of Childhood Adversity on Psychotic-like experiences. Poor personal resilience may represent an individual risk factor that transmits the effect of childhood adversity on psychoticlike experiences, and could represent a central aspect of individualized prevention and treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Attachment styles and defense mechanisms are personality features closely related to risk of psychological distress in healthy populations. However, their mutual interaction in influencing psychological distress is still unclear. Objectives: To explore the mutual interactions between denfense mechanism, attachment styles and psychological distress in a nonclinical sample. Methods: One-thousand-one-hundred-twenty-nine University students were evaluated using the Global Severity Index of Symptoms Check List 90-Revised for psychological distress, Relationship Questionnaire for attachment styles andDefense StyleQuestionnaire for defense mechanisms. Following exploratory analyses, a Path Analysis was performed with psychological distress as outcome. Results: Fearful and preoccupied attachment styles had a substantial impact on psychological distress. About 30% of their effect was mediated by Immature and Neurotic defenses, with the former having the major effect. Dismissing attachment showed no substantial effect on psychological distress. Secure Attachment and Mature Defenses had a small protective effect on psychological distress, but their inclusion in the path model did not improve overall goodness-of-fit. Attachment style and defense mechanisms accounted for nearly 25% of the variance in psychological distress. Conclusions: The results showed that attachment styles and defense mechanisms have a substantial impact on psychological distress. The effect of attachment style is mediated by defense mechanisms. Individual differences in attachment style and defense mechanisms represent risk factors for a psychological distress in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In 2009 an earthquake hit the city of L'Aquila in central Italy, leaving the city completely destroyed and 309 casualties. Unexpectedly, lower rates of psychotic experiences in subjects exposed to the earthquake compared to non-exposed subjects were found 10 month after the earthquake. Objectives: To address the very long-term impact of a natural disaster on the prevalence of psychotic experiences. Methods: The Authors examined resilience using the Resilience Scale for Adults and psychotic experiences using the Prodromal Questionnaire-16 in an undergraduate university student sample of 494, using Logisitc Regression. Results: No effect of direct exposure to the earthquake (odds ratio = 0.64, 95%CI [0.37, 1.11]), material damages (odds ratio = 0.86, 95% CI [0.60, 1.23]), psychological suffering (odds ratio = 1.06, 95%CI [0.83, 1.36]) or global exposure severity (odds ratio = 0.92, 95%CI [0.76, 1.12]) on psychotic experiences was detected. Resilience levels did not differ between exposed and non-exposed subjects. Resilience showed a strong protective effect on psychotic experiences (odds ratio=0.38, 95% CI [0.28, 0.51]. Conclusions: Exposure to a natural disaster is not a risk factor for psychotic experiences in the general population, as no direct effect of the earthquake detectable after 10 years after the exposure. Resilience is confirmed as a strong protective factor for psychotic experiences irrespectively of large collective traumatic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Interpersonal violence has increased as a health concern in the psychiatry practice over the last decades. Most patients with mental illness do not present an increased risk of violence and a mental disorder is not a necessary or sufficient cause of violent behaviors. However, people with mental illness endorse more often a number of risk factors for violence that could confound this association, such as young age and male gender. Objectives: 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 illnesses. Methods: 160 inpatients, of which 73 with psychosis, 53 with mood disorder and 34 with personality disorder were assessed for experiences of victimization and perpetration of interpersonal violence using the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale interview. Results: Violence negatively correlated with age. Females were exposed to higher degree of victimizations, whereas males were more involved in perpetration of violence in childhood. Personality disorders are associated with higher levels of interpersonal violence. An interaction effect of gender and diagnosis was also observed for expression of violence in adulthood. Mood disorder showed a victimization pattern, personality disorders a perpetration pattern and psychoses a less defined pattern. Conclusions: Psychoses, mood disorders and personality disorders have different patterns of violent experiences when stretified by age and gender. This study offers a better understanding of how gender and age affect violent behaviors. These patterns could have pathophysiological or pathoplastic meaning addressing clinical and diagnostic trajectories interacting with other intervening risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]