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Objective: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) has recently been included in the DSM-5. Like many other eating disorder symptoms, BED is often present in adolescence. No studies have specifically investigated the influence of impulsivity and alexithymia on the emotional-behavioural functioning of adolescents diagnosed with BED. Method: In this study, we recruited N = 162 adolescents (age range: 14-18) and divided them into two groups: 78 adolescents diagnosed with BED, according to the DSM-5 criteria (Group A), and 84 healthy controls (Group B). Participants completed the Youth Self-Report (YSR/11-18), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Results: The results showed that Group A had higher scores of alexithymia, impulsivity and maladaptive emotionalbehavioural functioning than Group B. Furthermore, alexithymia had a mediating effect on the relationship between impulsivity and emotional-behavioural functioning. Conclusions: These results allow us to hypothesise that alexithymia is a key variable influencing the emotional and behavioural problems of adolescents affected by BED. Our data confirms the previous studies underlining the association of impulsivity and alexithymia with the diagnosis of BED in adolescents, and our study contributes to the previous literature, emphasising the central role of alexithymia in the mediating effect between impulsivity and emotional and behavioural problems. These results suggest the importance of promoting prevention and treatment polices focused on alexithymia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the role of maternal cognitive functioning and psychopathology in parent-child relationship quality during residential treatment for mothers with Substance Use Disorder (SUD), in order to identify factors that may enhance or limit intervention effects.We assessed cognitive functioning (Esame Neuropsicologico Breve-2 [ENB-2]) and psychopathology (Symptom Checklist-90 Revised [SCL-90-R]) in 60 mothers diagnosed with SUD (Mage = 30.13 yrs; SD = 6.79) at treatment admission. Parent-child relationship quality was measured during free-play interactions using the Emotional Availability Scales every three months from admission (Child Mage = 17.17m; SD = 23.60) to the 15th month of the residential treatment.A main effect of maternal psychopathology and an interaction effect of time and cognitive functioning were found. More maternal psychopathology predicted lower mother-child relationship quality. Mothers with higher cognitive functioning presented a better treatment trajectory, with an increase in mother-child relationship quality, whereas mothers with lower cognitive functioning showed a decrease in relationship quality after initial improvement.These findings suggest that maternal psychopathology and cognitive functioning may influence the treatment of parent-child relationships in the context of SUD, although causality is not yet established. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.