Search

To evaluate the usefulness of the DSM-5 maladaptive personality domains in explaining the similarities and differences among four disorders included in the obsessive–compulsive spectrum, 428 Italian community-dwelling women (mean age=31.96years, SD=12.30years) were administered the Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorder Scales and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Short Form as part of an ongoing online survey on women's health. Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) confirmatory bifactor analysis results showed that the OCSD general factor (i.e., obsessive–compulsive spectrum factor) was positively associated with Negative Affectivity, whereas Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Hoarding Disorder (HD), and Skin-Picking Disorder (SPD) specific factors showed significant and substantial differential relationships with dysfunctional personality domains. Specifically, BDD was positively associated with Negative Affectivity, Detachment and Psychoticism domains; HD was associated with high Negative Affectivity and Psychoticism; and SPD was associated with Detachment. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background Extant literature indicates that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may be reliably assessed in adolescence. Sharp and colleagues’ (2011) suggested that mentalization could be an important early target for intervention in BPD adolescents and showed that hypermentalizing may represent an important marker to distinguish emerging BPD from adolescent turmoil. We aimed at testing if both dimensionally-assessed and categorically-diagnosed BPD was selectively associated with hypermentalizing errors on the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) task in Italian adolescent inpatients and community adolescents. Findings The sample was composed of 58 Italian adolescents who were consecutively admitted to an adolescent psychiatry unit in Rome, Italy. BPD was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders (SCID-5-PD); the MASC task was used to assess mentalizing. Findings supported the hypothesis of a specific link between BPD features and hypermentalizing in adolescent inpatients. Both dimensionally-assessed and categorically-assessed BPD showed significant and non-negligible associations with hypermentalizing. The overall performance on the MASC task significantly discriminated BPD adolescents from Italian community-dwelling adolescents. Conclusions Our findings supported the hypothesis that specific deficits in mentalization–namely, hypermentalizing–may play a crucial role in the developmental pathway leading to emerging BPD in adolescence.

In an online sample of 1054 Italian community-dwelling adults, we assessed the relationships between the frequency of implementation of practices intended to prevent COVID-19 infection, degree of agreement with theories about the origin of the infections, and the frequency of use of different sources of information concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that participants’ COVID-19-related preventive behaviors and causal beliefs were significantly associated with selected demographic variables and frequency of use of specific sources of information (e.g. scientific journals vs social media).

To evaluate the relationships between body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorder (AMPD) criterion A and dysfunctional personality trait (i.e., criterion B) measures, 420 Italian community-dwelling women were administered three measures of BDD (i.e., the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire, the Body Dysmorphic Disorder-Dimensional Scale, and the Appearance Anxiety Inventory), as well as the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form (LPFS-BF) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Short Form (PID-5-SF). The three BDD measures showed substantial convergent validity correlations and could be reliably cumulated to obtain the BDD Cumulative Index (BDDCI). Several significant, nonnegligible correlations were observed between the BDDCI as well as the LPFS-BF scale scores and PID-5-SF personality trait scale scores. Relative importance weight analysis results showed that LPFS-BF scale scores and PID-5-SF trait scale scores were substantial predictors of the BDDCI scores (R = 0.42, f = 0.72). In particular, AMPD criterion A impairment in self-functioning and AMPD criterion B depressivity, anhedonia, perseveration, separation insecurity, and cognitive and perceptual dysregulation were core components of the dysfunctional personality profile associated with BDD.

The present study aimed at assessing the impact of demographic characteristics, maladaptive personality traits and causal beliefs about COVID-19 on perceived emotional problems in a sample of Italian community-dwelling adults (N = 1043) in the first month of the social distancing period due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis results showed that dysfunctional personality domains and non-scientifically supported causal beliefs explained all the variance that was originally explained by demographic variables (i.e., age and gender). In particular, negative affectivity and detachment represented relevant risk factors for reduced emotional well-being in our sample. A significant positive association was observed also between emotional problems and supernatural causal beliefs on the COVID-19 infection. Our data supported the importance of considering the impact of quarantine measures on psychological well-being, while suggesting possible risk factors related to individual differences in personality and causal beliefs., Highlights • We examined perceived emotional problems related to COVID-19 pandemic • We considered individual differences in personality and causal beliefs • Dysfunctional personality domains are related to perceived emotional problems • Non-scientifically supported causal beliefs are related to emotional problems • The impact of quarantine on psychological well-being should be investigated