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Objective: The clinical research on shame has highlighted the role of this emotion on individual well-being, interpersonal functioning, and psychological disorders. The aim of this article is to analyse the role of shame in relation to some psychopathological variables and interpersonal abilities, also considering the potential role of early maladaptive schemas and alexithymia, in a sample of healthy individuals. We hypothesize that shame plays a mediating role in the relationship between interpersonal functioning (i.e., interpersonal sensibility, need for social approval, and lack of sociability) and psychological discomfort. Method: 110 individuals from the general population (average mean age=37.8, DS=11.9; 67 women, 43 men) completed a series of scales in order to measure for shame levels (Experience of Shame Scale, ESS), psychological dysfunction (Symptoms Check List 90, SCL-90), alexithymia's levels (Scala Alessitimica Romana, SAR), interpersonal problems (Interpersonal Problems Inventory 47, IIP-47) and early maladaptive schemas (Young Parenting Inventory, YPI). Correlation and mediation analysis have been performed. Results: A positive significant association was detected between shame intensity, psychological distress (i.e., SCL-90 subscales of anxiety, depression, phobia, paranoid ideation and hostility), interpersonal problems, alexithymia and some dysfunctional parental schemas. Mediation analyses showed that shame fully mediated the effect of interpersonal problems (i.e. lack of sociability) on levels of anxiety, paranoid ideation, phobic anxiety and hostility. Other significant, but partial, mediations have been detected when considering some other investigated variables. Conclusions: Results showed a positive relation between specific interpersonal difficulties (e.g., social approval and interpersonal sensitivity) and different levels of psychological distress (e.g., hostility, anxiety). Specifically, shame plays a pivotal role in the relationship between variables related to the lack of sociability and several criteria such as anxiety and paranoid ideation. Partial mediation of shame has been found between both alexithymia and psychological distress and interpersonal difficulties and depression. Future researches could extend these study's results involving a clinical sample and controlling for the degree of shame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shame is a complex, socially driven, negative emotion, being characterized by specific thoughts and behaviors, and characterized by a precise emotional halo. This emotion regulates the sharing of social norms and its main goal is to protect individual's good-image and self-esteem. Shame has an adaptive function, as it guarantees affiliation to the group, maintaining its' hierarchical organization, and thus allowing survival. Intense and frequent feelings of shame play a significant role in the onset and maintenance of psychological manifestations, such as eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and, last but not least, social phobia. Although the role this emotion in regulating social relations is widely recognized, little is known about its specific role in different emotional disorders. The aim of this manuscript was to review previous findings investigating the role of shame in the onset and maintenance of specific psychological disorders, highlighting the role of early maladaptive experience and negative beliefs in the development of pathological shame feelings. In the last section of this article we reviewed the most recent clinical models that have focused on specific shame related psychotherapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the model of Goal-Driven Behaviour (GDB), the mind is a system working for the control of purposeful behaviour on the basis of representations. It is constantly activated in order to detect discrepancies between the representations about how things are whished or should be (goals), and representations of how things are (beliefs). This model was used to identify the cognitive components of social emotions such as envy, shame and sense of guilt. The study aims to verify how often, in the course of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), these cognitive components are present in the thoughts associated with these emotions. Moreover, the study aims to investigate which of these verbalizations can predict the severity of psychopathology. Thus, it has been taken into account the thoughts associated with feelings of envy, shame and sense of guilt, collected through the ABC of 73 patients, clustered into two groups according to severity (evaluated by means of both, the diagnosis and the functioning). Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. The results indicated that the categories identified by the theory of GDB "catch" appropriately the verbalizations occurred in clinical practice. In particular, the data revealed significant differences in verbalizations among severe and not severe patients relative to the emotions of envy and guilt, whereas no difference emerged concerning to the verbalizations associated with shame. Multivariate analysis showed that in all these emotions, the presence of specific verbalizations predicts a decrease in the global functioning of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]