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Deafness is a medical condition with important relational implications. This condition could affect well-being and self-esteem and cause social anxiety. Sign language is not only a simple mimic but can be considered as a different kind of communication that could be protective for those who have learned it. However, some people do not use sign language because they think it can be marginalizing. The present study aimed to compare the quality of life (QoL) between people who learned Italian sign language as their first language with those who had never learned it or learned it later. This cross-sectional study involved 182 deaf Italian adults (70.3% females) who were recruited from Ente Nazionale Sordi (ENS) and by the main online deafness groups. The present results suggest that the deaf condition does not seem to significantly affect the dimensions of QoL pertaining to satisfaction and self-esteem, while it could have an effect on preventing high levels of social anxiety and in particular, the group who learned Italian sign language showed significantly less social anxiety than those who had never learned it.

Introduction: In the last decades, many studies have emphasized emotion's role in psycho-educational processes during childhood, such as scholastic integration. Emotional variables in childhood can be assessed through projective graphic techniques, as they allow children to use kinetic components of the draws to communicate emotions., Method: 1.757 couple of draws were collected, from primary school children ( N = 1.270; F = 643 [50.6%]; Age = 8.6; SD = 1.31) and secondary school children ( N = 487; F = 220 [45.2%]; Age = 11.72; SD = 0.70) and from eight schools in Sicily and over 60 different classrooms. The Drawn Stories Technique and the Classroom Draw were used to assess children's current emotional state and scholastic integration., Results: Pearson's correlation showed significant relationships between the Drawn Stories Technique and both sex and age. In contrast, Classroom Drawing total score showed a significant relationship with the female sex but no significant relationship with age. Linear regression analysis, including sex and age as independent variables, showed that sex is a significant predictor of Negative Outcomes of the Drawn Stories Technique, while no effect of age was detected., Discussion: These findings showed that adequate attention is needed to the learners' emotional-affective world that influences their relationships and their vision within the class group. Although the drawing techniques alone seem to be not as such sufficient to explain children's individual differences in the classroom on the whole, they could be helpful for the teacher to facilitate dialogues with children, modulate didactical materials, and detect and prevent some problems in group class functioning., (Copyright © 2023 La Grutta, Piombo, Riolo, Spicuzza, Cianciolo, Andrei, Trombini and Epifanio.)

Background: Cardiovascular diseases represent one of the most important problems for public health. Research indicates that elderly patients consider sexual satisfaction as a fundamental aspect of their quality of life and a better sexual function is related to higher general wellbeing., Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate the mediating role of anxiety and depression in the relationship between quality of life and sexual satisfaction in cardiovascular (CVD) patients., Methods: The sample comprised 128 adult patients, males and females, hospitalized in a Cardiology Rehabilitation clinical center. To collect data, the following were used: a demographic information sheet, the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) to evaluate cardiac function, cardiovascular diagnosis type, the HADS scale to evaluate anxiety and depression states, a test for sexual satisfaction evaluation (SAS) and the SF-36 survey to measure quality of life., Results: The results indicated that only SF-36 physical health is indirectly related to SAS through its relationship with anxiety., Conclusion: A mediating model was proposed to explore the underlying association between sexual satisfaction and quality of life. We recommend investigating perceived general health and sexuality as clinical indicators for therapeutic decisions and risk evaluation for the management of cardiovascular diseases.

Emotional competence (EC) is a key component of children’s psychological, cognitive, and social development, and it is a central element of learning. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a psycho-educational group intervention aimed at improving children’s emotional competence (EC), quality of integration and scholastic skills. A total of 229 children (123 females; M Age = 7.22 years; SD = 0.97 years) completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA), the Drawn Stories Technique, the Classroom Drawing, and the Colored Progressive Matrices. The total sample was randomly divided into an intervention group (N = 116) who took part in psycho-educational activities and a control (no-intervention) group (N = 84). Both groups were tested at baseline, before the intervention started, and at the end of the intervention (4 months from baseline). Results from mixed-model ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for POFA score over time (F = 6.24, p = 0.01) and an interaction effect between POFA and group (F = 4.82, p = 0.03). No significant main effect was found for classroom drawing over time (F = 0.81, p > 0.05) or for quality of integration and group intervention. These findings support the importance of developing psycho-educational programmes in school for promotion of emotional health for preventing not only the onset of problematic behaviours at school such as bullying but also the development of clinical conditions linked to difficulties in emotional recognition, expression, and regulation such as alexithymia.

This study contributes to the knowledge on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining a moderated mediation model in which the impact of job loss over quality of life (QoL) is mediated by hopelessness and moderated by trait emotional intelligence (trait EI). Data were collected from a large nationally representative Italian sample of adult workers ( N = 1610), who completed a series of anonymous online questionnaires. Total, direct and indirect effects were estimated through bootstrapped mediated moderation analyses providing 95% bias corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. After controlling for the effects of gender and age range, job loss was found to be negatively associated with QoL, and hopelessness partially mediated such relationship. These relationships were in turn moderated by trait EI. Our study suggests that trait EI levels act as protective factor for a good QoL, mitigating the impact of both job loss and hopelessness over QoL levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying psychological protective and/or risk factors for a better QoL is crucial for the development of interventions aimed at reducing the emotional impact of the pandemic and of its negative real-life consequences.

Background: Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with wild type expression of RAS and RAF genes can be treated with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, in combination with chemotherapy. Skin toxicity represents the most serious and frequent side effect in these patients. Skin manifestations occur in approximately 80% of patients. In this study, we investigated the consequences on body image and quality of life (QoL) of patients with severe skin toxicity., Methods: One hundred patients were enrolled with mCRC. All patients signed informed consent and completed questionnaires to assess QoL and body discomfort. Toxicity was assessed on Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAEs)., Results: The greatest impact on QoL was represented by difficulties in managing skin rash-related side effects. Data showed a significant impact in psychological sphere and social relationships., Conclusions: Skin side effects, particularly rash, influence QoL and social relationships, compromising therapeutic compliance., Competing Interests: None to declare., (Copyright 2021, De Luca et al.)

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.

Haptic perception (HP) is a perceptual modality requiring manual exploration to elaborate the physical characteristics of external stimuli through multisensory integrative cortical pathways. Cortical areas exploit processes of predictive coding that collect sensorial inputs to build and update internal perceptual models. Modifications to the internal representation of the body have been associated with eating disorders. In the light of this, obese subjects were selected as a valid experimental model to explore predictive coding in haptic perception. To this purpose, we performed electroencephalographic (EEG) continuous recordings during a haptic task in normally weighted versus obese subjects. EEG power spectra were analyzed in different time intervals. The quality of haptic performance in the obese group was poorer than in control subjects, though exploration times were similar. Spectral analysis showed a significant decrease in theta, alpha and beta frequencies in the right temporo-parietal areas of obese group, whereas gamma bands significantly increased in the left frontal areas. These results suggest that severe obesity could be characterized by an impairment in haptic performances and an altered activation of multisensory integrative cortical areas. These are involved in functional coding of external stimuli, which could interfere with the ability to process a predicted condition.

In the last few decades, particular attention has been paid to the role of personality specific traits that can affect the loss of health, i.e., Type D personality and Alexithymia. They have been conceptualized in a different period, this means that they are different both for their theoretical positions and their empirical studies. Some authors have speculated that there is a potential conceptual overlap between Type D personality and alexithymia constructs but there is a shortcoming in the literature. The aim of the study was to examine the potential overlap between the constructs of type D personality and alexithymia, replicating previous two studies, to extend these findings to Italian population. The participants were 247 Italian adults (males = 43%), recruited in primary health care practices of Palermo. All participants did not have chronic diseases during tests administration. They ranged in age from 35 to 69 years old ( M = 52.34 years, SD = 9.76). Participants were administered Type D Personality Scale (DS-14) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). A series of confirmatory factor analyses was performed to evaluate the factorial structure underlying the TAS-20 and DS-14 items. Globally results showed that alexithymia and type D personality are distinct constructs, but they are also strictly positively related with each other. Negative affectivity (NA) was highly correlated with Difficulties in identifying feelings and Difficulties in describing feelings, while Social inhibition (SI) was highly correlated with Difficulties in describing feelings. These results are consistent with those of other studies conducted in this area. Future research should consider evaluating the relationship between a deficit of affect regulation and type D personality to improve the effectiveness of interventions of health cure.

Coeliac disease (CD) is a chronic disease which could stress patients and their family. Although, poor attention has been paid to the quality of life in CD children and to the functioning of families with CD children. The study aims to evaluate the parenting perception of the CD impact and the parenting distress level. A group of 74 parents of CD children compiled the Impact Childhood Illness Scale and the Parenting Stress Index which is also compiled by 74 parents of health children. The assessment does not reveal a significant impact of CD on patient's personal life although some critical areas emerged. Results evidenced an higher level of parenting stress in parents of CD children than parents of healthy children. CD, if suitably managed, has not a critical impact on parenting perception. Although, CD certainly put parents through an higher risk of a distress related to parenting role than parents with health children. A early identification of parenting distress in a pediatric chronic illness could facilitate the adjustment to pathology.

Sturge-Weber-Krabe syndrome (SWS), also known as encephalotrigeminalangiomatosis and named the forthfacomatosis, recall the names of the authors who first describedit in its basic clinical, radiological andanatomopathological aspects. We report here 14 cases of Sturge-Weber disease. In 6 of these, despite what had been previously described in literature, an extension of the angioma has been noted in other parts of the body. The study of these subjects stresses not only the need for a pharmacological/neuropsychomotor intervention, but alsothe need of a psychotherapeutic approach, for the emotional and affective implications thatcould derive from this syndrome. The reported cases are similar to those presented in literature for their main features. In particular, two elements are interesting: i) the exceptional diffusion of the red nevousto the whole hemicorpo; and ii) the evaluation of the way the patients live the disease, which has not beenpreviously considered in literature. We can conclude that SWS is a multisystem disorder that requires the neurologist to be aware of the possible endocrine, psychiatric, ophthalmological, and other medical issues that can arise and impact on the neurological status of the patients.

Burns pathology is characterized not only by insidious damage to the patients' outward appearance but also by the equally painful emotional difficulties they encounter as they reorganize their identity and their personal history. This exploratory survey, combining research work with medical action, considers the cases of 41 outpatients who were hospitalized and subjected to skin grafting. The patients were recruited through the database of the Palermo Civic Hospital Plastic Surgery and Burns Therapy Operative Unit. The questionnaires were compiled 6 and 12 months post-burn (12 months' observation). The main objective of the research was to investigate the quality of life of burn patients in relation to the way they handled their condition on the emotional level, in order to cope with the stress caused by the burn.