Emanuela Saita

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Nel contesto della Giustizia nazionale, la valutazione psico-sociale del rischio di recidiva degli autori di reato si basa principalmente sul giudizio clinico non strutturato, spesso portando a errori e inefficienze nelle risorse per il recupero e il reinserimento delle persone condannate. L'accento posto dalla comunità scientifica sull'importanza...

During the oncological care path, breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy suffer from a number of psycho-physical changes, and appearance-related side effects are among the primary determinants of psychosocial impairment. Appropriate interventions are needed due to the fact that treatment-induced transformations have been associated with a...

This case study examines the complex relationship between childhood trauma, dissociation, and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) within the context of forensic psychiatry. It focuses on a young murder defendant named “Paul,” who has experienced various traumatic events, including childhood maltreatment and domestic violence. These experiences ha...

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic induced an extraordinary impact on public mental health to a degree not completely understood, especially in vulnerable populations such as breast cancer (BC) survivors. In this study, we described the short- (after 3-month) and long- (after 12-month) term effects of a multidisciplinary home-based lifestyle interv...

Purpose: The prison population is considered to be vulnerable to stress caused by the physical environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological effects of the prison's environment on both inmates and staff. Design: We compared the psychophysiological arousal and self-report measurements of 73 participants (40 prisoners and 33 pr...

Purpose Breast cancer (BC) and its treatments significantly impact the psychological wellbeing of women. Interventions offered during cancer survivorship have documented positive consequences for quality of life. However, limited evidence is available regarding the implementation of therapeutic photography. This study investigated the efficacy of t...

Somatic Experiencing® is a bio-psychological method for the treatment and prevention of trauma and chronic stress, which has never been investigated with breast cancer (BC) survivors. Eight weeks of web-based synchronous group sessions were structured between April and June 2022. Potential participants were recruited using a convenience sampling ap...

Common psycho-physical symptoms have emerged in patients who were previously recovered for COVID-19 infection, including traumatic experience and enduring emotional disturbances. A group psycho-educational intervention of seven weekly sessions and a follow-up after three months was proposed to all Italian-speaking patients formally discharged from...

Il Gruppo di Parola per figli di genitori separati è un intervento breve di gruppo, preventivo e di supporto pensato per promuovere le risorse e il benessere dei singoli partecipanti sia in termini individuali, sia a livello relazionale e familiare. In letteratura scarsi sono gli studi volti ad analizzare questo intervento dal punto di vista del pr...

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy, Spain, New York, and Hong Kong stood out for the ir high rates of infections. Given this scenario, a web-based international multisite and cross-sectional study was conducted between April and May 2020 to investigate the psychological impact of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed by the gov...

BACKGROUND Women’s memories of their childbirth experience tend to remain unchanged over time. This experience can be influenced by obstetric factors as well as by sociodemographic and psychological variables. OBJECTIVE To examine whether women’s perceived childbirth experience changes over time; to identify the predictors (obstetric, sociodemogra...

Starting from the idea that dreaming could be considered an index of the psychological health of individuals regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, a major risk of psychological maladjustment has been registered for maladaptive daydreamers (MDers; i.e., people with a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment). Neve...

Background: At an international level, the risk assessment and management process of violent offenders follows a standard method that implies well-defined theoretical models and the use of scientifically validated tools. In Italy, this process is still highly discretionary. The aim of this study is to highlight the advantages deriving from the use...

The literature has extensively documented how delayed access to health care services in the context of cancer can result from subjective characteristics, dysfunctional coping styles, barriers to care, or procrastination. However, limited research has investigated the psychosocial experience of women diagnosed with Locally Advanced Breast Cancer (LA...

The psychological consequences of COVID‐19 pandemic may include the activation of stress systems, that involve the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis which influences many physiological functions, including sleep. Despite epidemiological studies evidenced greater prevalence of stress symptoms and sleep disturbances during COVID‐19, longitudinal ev...

Aim: The Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale assesses the ability to enhance and suppress displayed emotions among a range of hypothetical contexts. The Context Sensitivity Index (CSI) measures the ability to perceive cues to contextual demands across different situations. This study aimed to present the first step of the adap...

Breast cancer treatments have multiple adverse effects, including concerns about body appearance and function that are experienced by most patients. Altered body image negatively affects mental health, social, and relationship functioning. While the relationship with a partner is critical for patients’ psychological wellbeing and partners can promo...

Il Covid-19 è comparso a Wuhan, in Cina, nel dicembre del 2019. La malattia causa difficoltà respiratorie e numerose altre complicazioni quali stanchezza, febbre, dolori muscolari e, in alcuni casi, diarrea e vomito, e può essere fatale.La correlazione tra malattie infettive e disagio psicologico è già emersa durante altre epidemie, come quella di...

Introduction: Postpartum depression is commonly experienced by mothers worldwide and is associated with anxiety disorders, parenting stress, and other forms of distress, which may lead to a complex illness condition. Several studies have investigated the risk factors for this disorder, including biological and socio-demographic variables, medical...

Purpose Previous studies showed poor sleep quality during the first Italian lockdown consequent to the quick spread of the virus. Poor sleep quality remained stable during the so-called “second wave”, which started in Autumn 2020. This study aimed to compare sleep quality between the two waves of contagions and to examine the effect of resilience,...

Background: Among foreigners, imprisonment is a potential traumatic event characterized by further afflictions due to language difficulties and cultural differences. For these reasons, the psychological diagnosis with this prison population, appears complicated and misleading, despite their tendency to engage in self-harm and suicidal behavior. How...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictive measures taken against the spread of the contagion can be considered as traumatic events having a major impact on mental health. Dreams after undergoing traumatic experiences could “replay” traumatic scenes or have a para-therapeutic role that facilitates connections between a traumatic event and associated...

Since 2011, the organisational and management process of the Italian Prison Administration has started to change. The Open section and Dynamic supervision measures introduced into the Italian penitentiary system, requires that all prison workers participate in the observation and treatment of the prisoners' activities, carried out within a multidis...

This study aims to explore the emotional experiences related to the lockdown during the first pandemic wave, analysing the dreams of the Italian population. Through an online survey spread throughout the country, participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), the Resilience Scale (RS) and were asked to narrate a dream they...

Purpose: This study aims to explore the psychological effects of lockdown during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living in an Italian prison. The suspension of family visits and most activities, along with the difficulties in applying social distancing to this vulnerable population was associated with increased psychological di...

Becoming parents represents a potentially stressful transition, which may negatively affect the individual and relational well-being of both partners. Limited literature has investigated the role of dyadic coping during the transition to parenthood. This work explored partners’ differences in dyadic coping, anxiety, depression, and couple adjustmen...

Objective To explore the associations between intimate relationships, psychological health, and endometriosis-related variables such as pelvic pain and infertility. Methods In this cross-sectional study, data were collected with an online survey delivered through Qualtrics and posted on the Facebook page and website of a patient association (Assoc...

Aim To understand how patients with cancer reacted to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether their quality of life (QoL) was affected. Methods In June 2020, 111 patients with cancer treated in the supportive care unit of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Milan and 201 healthy controls from the general population were enrolled...

Objective/background Poor sleep hygiene is considered an exacerbating and perpetuating factor of sleep disturbances and is also associated with poor mental health. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) is a self-report measure assessing adherence to sleep hygiene practices. The aim of this study was to estimate the psychometric properties of the SHI in an...

Objective/Background Poor sleep hygiene is considered an exacerbating and perpetuating factor of sleep disturbances and is also associated with poor mental health. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) is a self-report measure assessing adherence to sleep hygiene practices. The aim of this study was to estimate the psychometric properties of the SHI in an...

Cancer diagnosed during pregnancy is a rare event. The most common type of malignancy diagnosed in pregnant women is breast cancer, whose incidence is expected to raise in the next future due to delayed childbirth, as well as to the increased occurrence of the disease at young age. Pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer are exposed to multiple...

During the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals with or without mental disorders may resort to dysfunctional psychological strategies that could trigger or heighten their emotional distress. The current study aims to explore the links between maladaptive daydreaming (MD, i.e., a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impai...

In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and restrictive measures were enacted by the Governments to fight the spread of the virus. In Italy, these measures included a nationwide lockdown, with limited exceptions including grocery shopping, certain work activities, and healthcare. Consistently with fin...

COVID-19 has critically impacted the world. Recent works have found substantial changes in sleep and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dreams could give us crucial information about people's well-being, so here we have directly investigated the consequences of lockdown on the oneiric activity in a large Italian sample: 5,988 adults comple...

La tocofobia, ovvero una paura intensa del parto si configura come disturbo clinico che ri-guarda all'incirca il 14% delle gestanti. Diversi fattori, medici, psicologici individuali e relazionali-sociali sono stati messi in relazione con tale disturbo. Inoltre, numerosi studi si sono oc-cupati di indagare il legame tra tocofobia e disturbi di natur...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seriously affected the whole of Italy. The extreme virulence and the speed of propagation resulted in restrictions and home confinement. This change was immediately perceived by people who found themselves exposed to feelings of uncertainty, fear, anger, stress, and a drastic change in the diurnal but...

Background The COVID-19 outbreak is severely affecting the overall mental health with unknown psychological consequences. Although a strong psychological impact is possible, scant evidence is available to date. Past studies have shown that resilience decreases the negative effects of stress. This study aimed to examine depression, anxiety, and stre...

Infertility and ART treatments represent stressful experiences for the couples, impacting on the overall psychological well-being of partners as well as on their couple adjustment. Several variables were analyzed as risk factors for infertility-related distress. The impact of these experiences has been well-documented in both women and men, reporti...

Background The COVID-19 outbreak is severely affecting overall mental health with unknown psychological consequences. The Italian Government has implemented a massive lockdown to decrease the spread of the virus. Although a strong psychological impact is possible, few evidences are still available. Past studies have shown that resilience decreases...

Objective To summarize the available qualitative and quantitative evidence regarding the impact of endometriosis on women's partners. Methods A systematic electronic search of PubMed and PsycINFO was conducted. All the available evidence regarding partners' psychological condition, quality of life, social and intimate relationships, and sexuality...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seriously affected all Italy. The extreme virulence, the speed of propagation resulted in restrictions and home confinement. This change was immediately perceived by people who found themselves exposed to feelings of uncertainty, fear, anger, stress and a drastic change in the diurnal but above all noc...

Importance At the beginning of a public health crisis, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is important to collect information about people’s knowledge, worries, and behaviors to examine their influence on quality of life and to understand individual characteristics associated with these reactions. Such information could he...

Cancer diagnosis and treatments negatively affect quality of life and developmental processes of adolescents and young adults (AYAs), with self-esteem, self-efficacy, and body image discomfort reported. Despite increasing awareness of the psychosocial issues experienced by this group, a paucity of psychosocial interventions has been developed. This...

Background: The experience of childbirth crucially impacts a mother's psychological well-being and the mother-infant relationship. It is recognised that negative births can be linked to different forms of discomfort, both for the mother as well as for the infant. This prospective longitudinal study aimed to study the effect of obstetric and psycho...

Introduction: Research has progressively focused on antenatal psychological disease of expectant mothers, showing that anxiety and depression as well as fear of childbirth occur frequently during pregnancy. Some studies have investigated the connection between anxiety, depression, and fear of childbirth with contrasting results. Several authors ha...

Parenting stress during first years after the transition to parenthood has been linked to depression, anxiety, and children’s well-being. What about the role of partner’s level of stress in influencing the level of stress of the other member of the couple? Research on dyadic data is still limited about both adoptive and biological parents. The pres...

Background: Fear of childbirth is a common feeling among expectant mothers. Although it represents a physiological expression of women’s concerns, it can become a clinical condition compromising the woman’s daily activities as well as her coping strategies during labour and delivery. Research has focused on adverse intrapartum and postpartum outcom...

Childbirth is one of the most significant experiences in women’s lives. A bad experience could lead to psychological distress, including severe disease. This experience has a significant impact not only on the mother’s well-being, but also on her first interactions with the baby. The present study thus had two aims: 1) investigate the association b...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of a phototherapeutic technique called "Talking Pictures" within the forensic setting. This approach involves the use of a set of photographs to facilitate clients' disclosure, self-growth and promote the development of positive self-narratives. The use of art therapies and the construction...

A couple is considered to be infertile if unable to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse. An extended body of literature supports that infertility and infertility treatments contribute to emotional, social, sexual, and relational issues that can have a negative impact on each partner's well-being and on the couple relationship...

Aims: The economic burden of endometriosis and pelvic pain involves direct and indirect healthcare costs due to work loss and decreased productivity. However, the relation between endometriosis, pelvic pain, and employment remains underinvestigated. This study aimed at providing preliminary insights into this topic. Methods: We compared the empl...

This article follows a previous study that has been published in Narrare i Gruppi and that described an intervention using photographic techniques within treatment programs addressed to inmates. The aim of the treatment was promoting inmates' re-socialization and re-education. Photography and other creative media have been reported to promote emoti...

The organizational changes that occurred within the Italian prison system led to profound modifications in the way juridical–educational professionals (JEPs) working in prison perceive themselves and their role. The present study aims at exploring the representations of their professional identity in two groups of JEPs working in as many correction...

Although penitentiaries represent places whose necessary function is to limit anomy and deviance, a formally managed and closed organizational system prohibits the ability to make changes. Anyway, without changes these organizations may become ‘inadequate or alienating’ (Jaques, 1955 Jaques, E. (1955). Sistemi sociali come difesa contro l'ansia per...

In contrast with the recent increase in the use of photography as a therapeutic tool in psychological settings, lack of clarity exists regarding this intervention modality. While the distinction among Photo Therapy, Therapeutic Photography, and Photo Art Therapy is theoretically established we examined whether this classification is confirmed also...

Although the transition to parenthood is currently defined as a normative event, it can be potentially stressful for the couple relationship as it may contribute to psychological distress and reduced marital satisfaction. Using the systemic-transactional conceptualisation of stress and coping as a theoretical framework, we claimed that the ability...

Personality traits are an important part of the psychology with so many study to consider this actually a huge field. On the other hand, the relationship between personality traits and attentional process has not been deepen extended yet, above all using technological advanced measures to quantify attention. In this study we selected personal and n...

Fear of childbirth is a feeling experienced by as much as 25% of future mothers. It can be distinguished by its degree of perceived and actual intensity in facing labor. A mild or moderate fear is adaptive, while intense fear has the potential to develop into a full disorder, interfering with the woman's daily life and with her capacity to face lab...

Il volume mostra l’incidenza che le relazioni di coppia, familiari e amicali hanno nei contesti di malattia e si rivolge agli psicologi in formazione e ai ricercatori e clinici che vogliono orientare il proprio lavoro entro i contesti della salute e della malattia in prospettiva relazionale. Si tratta di una rassegna completa e approfondita delle t...

Recent research demonstrates that reading aloud to your child, as early as the first year of life, promotes the child's health, in terms of linguistic and cognitive development, as well as the parent/child relationship. However, factors involved in this practice have not been thoroughly investigated. The current research examines if reading aloud i...

STUDY QUESTION What factors affect the mental health of women with endometriosis? SUMMARY ANSWER Not only pelvic pain, but also individual characteristics (i.e. self-esteem, body esteem and emotional self-efficacy), time from diagnosis and intimate relationship status influence the psychological health of endometriosis patients. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREA...

Paternal postpartum depression (PPD) has received little attention compared with maternal prenatal and postpartum depression, despite research reporting that paternal PPD concerns a substantial number of fathers. History of depression and antenatal depression have been identified as important PPD’s risk factors, underlining the continuity of depres...

Background The prevalence of fear of childbirth in pregnant women is described to be about 20–25%, while 6–10% of expectant mothers report a severe fear that impairs their daily activities as well as their ability to cope with labour and childbirth. Research on fear of childbirth risk factors has produced heterogeneous results while being mostly do...

Objective: In the 1st year of the post-partum period, parenting stress, mental health, and dyadic adjustment are important for the wellbeing of both parents and the child. However, there are few studies that analyze the relationship among these three dimensions. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between parenting stress, men...

Aim: To investigate the change in the culture of an Italian psychiatric residential care home as perceived by its Mental Health Workers (MHWs) over the course of two decades. Method: Emotional Text Analysis (ETA) was used to analyze the MHWs' handovers completed from 1990 to 2011. Results: The analysis generated four clusters and three main fa...

This study aimed to develop a grounded theory of how endometriosis affects psychological health. Open interviews were conducted with 74 patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was administered to all women, who were divided into distressed versus non-distressed. At the core of our grounded theory was the notion of disruption due to the...

Questo contributo presenta un intervento psicologico rivolto a giovani adulti che hanno contratto una malattia oncologica sistemica durante l’adolescenza. L’intervento trova il suo fondamento in quattro riferimenti teorici: la specificita della malattia oncologica diagnosticata in adolescenza; il costrutto di body image, per l’importanza che esso r...

Full article available at http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=58244&Tipo=Articolo PDF&lingua=it&idRivista=41

The present study examines the factor structure of the Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma (PACT) scale (Bonanno, Pat-Horenczyk, & Noll, 2011) in an Italian sample. The authors investigated whether the structure which emerged in the original scale is confirmed in a culturally different sample. Using data from a non-random sample of 450 Italian yo...

The present study explores the course of maternal and paternal perinatal depression and identifies different trajectories of wellbeing/disease during the transition to parenthood. 126 Italian first-time mothers and 126 first-time fathers completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at four time points: 7th-8th month of pregnancy, 40 days, 5-6...

The aim of this research was to explore and conceptualize the adaptation process activated by prison workers relating to the current organizational change that is characterizing the Italian prison system. To achieve the present goals, it has been selected the Grounded Theory methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) with a sample constituted by 121 pris...

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that patients' involvement promotes better health care outcomes and cost-effectiveness of services. However, limited literature is available about the experience of living donor kidney transplantation and best practices to promote patients and donors' engagement. Aim of the present chapter is to review the liter...

This article follows a previous study that has recently been published in Narrare I Gruppi and explored the reasons for the large numeric gap between the regions of the North and South of Italy, referring to the breast cancer screening program adherence rate sponsored by the Italian Healthcare System, that addresses all women living in Italy rangin...

The positive outcomes associated with Patient Engagement (PE) have been strongly supported by the recent literature. However, this concept has been marginally addressed in the context of cancer. Limited attention has also received the role of informal caregivers in promoting physical and psychological well-being of patients, as well as the interdep...

Objective: Although there is an established link between parenting stress, postnatal depression, and anxiety, no study has yet investigated this link in first-time parental couples. The specific aims of this study were 1) to investigate whether there were any differences between first-time fathers’ and mothers’ postnatal parenting stress, anxiety,...

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that patients' involvement promotes better health care outcomes and cost-effectiveness of services. However, limited literature is available about the experience of living donor kidney transplantation and best practices to promote patients and donors' engagement. Aim of the present chapter is to review the liter...

Background: Previous research has demonstrated that negative childbirth expectations adversely influence perinatal outcomes. The current research builds on this with Italian mothers-to-be. Objective: The present study (1) explored the influence of cognitive and emotional variables on labour and delivery outcomes and (2) examined how individual char...

STUDY QUESTION Is pelvic pain due to endometriosis associated with temperament and character dimensions? SUMMARY ANSWER Women with endometriosis and pelvic pain do not clearly exhibit a specific personality profile; however, personality is associated with pelvic pain perception. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY There is research evidence suggesting that end...

This paper focuses on the evaluation of the therapeutic use of photocards by prisoners and facilitators in a counselling psychology led European project, based on responses to open-ended questionnaires. It is part of a wider project, involving seven partner organisations in six European countries (England, Finland, Greece, Italy, Malta and Romania)...

Senza pretesa di esaustivit?, il presente special issue intende focalizzare l?attenzione proprio sui processi trasformativi attualmente in corso presso le istituzioni penitenziarie, processi attuati in ricerca di una pi? elevata adeguatezza delle istituzioni all?attuale contesto socioculturale e ai differenti bisogni degli individui, operatori e so...