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Background/Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the workloads of healthcare workers (HCWs). The fear of contracting the new virus with the frequent medical consequences has affected their mental health. As a result, they are at high risk of compassion fatigue (CF). In this multicentric study, as a primary objective, we evaluate the incidence and/or prevalence of CF in a cohort of Italian nurses and HCWs (hospital-based clinical social workers of neurological patients) who have contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our secondary aim is to evaluate the difference in experiencing CF between subjects with and without long-term COVID. Methods: In this study, 101 HCWs attending three different neurorehabilitation settings (the Neurorehabilitation Unit of the "Bonino Pulejo" Neurolesi Center of Messina, the Neurorehabilitation Department of Crotone, and the Psychiatric Unit of the University Hospital of Messina) were enrolled from May 2021 to May 2023. Data were collected through self-administered semi-structured interviews. Results: We observed high percentages of CF difficulties in both nurses and HCWs, related to mood alteration in 57.7%, headaches in 44.4%, and fatigue in 62%. Higher percentages were found in individuals with long-term COVID-19, including mood alteration in 93.9%, headache in 88.6%, and memory-related problems in 98.5%. Conclusions: The complexity of a patient's care pathway, especially in chronic disease situations, requires an enormous commitment that can lead to burnout and CF, which should be considered to initiate preventive interventions aimed at helping "those who help", for the well-being of patients, healthcare teams, and healthcare organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the cognitive functions and processes through, also related to deficits, on the Rorschach test. The Rorschach is a projective method can be a valid predictor tool to identify neuropsychological levels, also many cognitive deficits. According to literature, the Rorschach test is most important in clinical practice, to improve the knowledge of patient’s personality, but also neuropsychological aspects, for assessing on perceptual and visuospatial abilities, verbal output skills, memory impairment, emotional control and impulses. In addition, the literature suggested the utility of the projective methods, in the study of brain lesions. In conclusion, the Rorschach task proves to be a valuable instrument including in clinical setting and assessment field of cognitive psychopathology. The method, usually considered in personality disease and mental health setting, improves understanding of the subject’s cognitive level and can be used on psychological diagnosis and assessment in neuropsychological field.

Background. The objective of this study is to establish the link between affective temperament traits and maladaptive personality traits, to verify whether the potential presence of elements related to emotional, affective and dysfunctional relational functioning can affect the couple satisfaction, modifying the well-being or discomfort condition. Materials and Methods. A data collection questionnaire was developed to investigate the factors associated with dysfunctional emotional, affective, and relational modes of functioning. The sample consisted of 473 subjects. Data were collected including the TEMPS-A questionnaire, The Dirty Dozen Italian Assessment and the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). Results. The findings of this study showed that the subscales of affective temperament were predictors of dark triad traits. The expressive, irritable and hyperthymic temperamental traits were found to be predictors of trait psychopathy; hyperthymic temperament is also a predictor of narcissistic traits and cyclothymic temperament is a predictor of lower couple satisfaction; men show higher scores than women in Dark triad. Conclusions. This study confirmed that temperamental traits can predict maladaptive personality traits belonging to the dark triad and confirms the importance of evaluating maladaptive personality traits to prevent forms of psychological violence in couple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to explore the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in rehabilitation settings. The term bibliotherapy, coined in the 1930's by the psychiatrist William Menninger, conveys the importance of reading as a tool for cultural promotion and growth, as a means through which to acquire knowledge, enhance one's cognitive and emotional abilities, develop strategies for managing discomfort, as well as a psychoeducational and cognitive technique in the psychotherapeutic field. A study carried out on Pubmed showed that recent research on bibliotherapy, in particular experimental research, would be lacking and requires a humanistic medical approach, drawing on the knowledge and methods of psychology and cognitive literary studies, as well as clinical disciplines to broaden our understanding of how the dynamic processes of interpretation mediate between the textual and characteristic structures of mental health and illness. This narrative review was conducted on PubMed database and used two key terms "Bibliotherapy" AND "rehabilitation" AND "prison". Studies in line with this specific issue were included. The search of PubMed database provided a total of 470 items recruited online; of these 464 studies were excluded according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. After the screening, a total of 6 studies assessing the bibliotherapy in rehabilitation setting, met the inclusion criteria and were included in the narrative review. Bibliotherapy as a self-help approach also in psychotherapeutic treatments can activate the desire to seek changes in attitudes and behaviour, to acquire knowledge of symptoms, and the value of self-care. A psychological intervention self-administered through ACT bibliotherapy with minimal therapeutic support can improve the physical and emotional functioning of adults with chronic pain. If studies report the efficacy of parent-mediated bibliotherapy in situations of childhood anxiety, nocturnal fears, specific phobias, in adolescence chatbot-delivered self-help depression intervention was proven to be superior to the minimal level of bibliotherapy in terms of reduction on depression and anxiety. Bibliotherapy interventions may be helpful to fight against weight gain and potentially facilitate smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental divorce is a traumatic experience for children, a stressful life event which may contributes to a future psychological vulnerability. The aim of this study is to explore psychological distress in children after parents’ separation. This research was based on a convenience sample of one-hundred children, divided in two subgroups: (1) 50 coming from a separated family (observational sample) with an age range spanning from 7 to 12 years [Mean age = 9.2 ± 1.5] and (2) 50 belonging to a nuclear family (control sample) with the same range of age [Mean age = 9.5 ± 1.6]. The sample resulted homogeneous for the gender: in particular, the observational group, is composed of 30 females (60%) and 20 males (40%). Showed several differences, highlighting the presence of negative affectivity, a well-known risk factor for the development of a depressive disorder, by reflecting the possible link between home environment and self-perception. In conclusion, this instrument, like any other projective proof, constitutes a privileged access to the psychological world in which the drawing remains the best communication channel and provides us precious informations about the emotional state of the children.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction, as a multidimensional psychological response to work experience, includes both cognitive and affective components which influence individuals' appraisals and state of minds. In recent years, researchers have begun to explore the psychological processes that might underlie the dispositional causes of job satisfaction. Affective temperaments can influence the experience of emotionally significant events at work and this, in turn, may influence job satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: To investigate possible associations between affective temperamental features and job satisfaction in the health professions. METHODS: The sample consisted of 294 subjects selected among health professionals. Data were collected by an online survey including the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) questionnaire and the short form of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A) questionnaire. RESULTS: Hyperthymic, depressive, irritable and anxious temperaments predicted the risk of experiencing job dissatisfaction in healthcare professionals. No associations between cyclothymic temperament and job satisfaction were found. CONCLUSION: The identification of affective temperamental assets and liabilities is potentially useful in the development of supportive and psycho-educational strategies, aimed at preventing work-related stress and promoting mental health in workplaces, also reducing the risk of job dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study enables the contemplation of the parallel psychic evolution, throughout the course of the analytic treatment, of the symptomatic signs and the associated symbols evolution, that comprise the patient's dream world activities. The dream's content analysis reflects the evolution of symbols in line with theoretical analytical issue, that manifest themselves during the treatment, thus revealing important insights for analyst, in the subject's symptoms and their meaning. This article concerns the psychological development and the evolution of the dream's content, during an analytic treatment. Nevertheless, it remains fascinating, as in this case of a woman analytic psychotherapy, in the emergence of symbols linked to female evolution in the dream dimension. [Extracted from the article]