Enrico Molinari

• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Background This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the RinasciMENTE program, an Internet-based self-help intervention based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and techniques in supporting individuals experiencing psychological impairments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design...

This study aimed to evaluate the responsiveness of the Italian version of the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (PedsQL-MFS) to changes in BMI, fatigue and depressive symptoms in adult inpatients with obesity. 198 adults (81% female, mean age = 44.7 years) with obesity completed the PedsQL-MFS, the Fatigue Severity...

Background Despite Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVHs) having been long associated with mental illness, they represent a common experience also in the non-clinical population, yet do not exhibit distress or need for care. Shame and guilt are emotions related to one's perception of oneself and one's responsibility. As such, they direct our attenti...

Background This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the RinasciMENTE program, an Internet-based self-help intervention based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles and techniques in supporting individuals experiencing psychological impairments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design...

Objective This study aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, inter-rater agreement and convergent validity of the child and parent Italian versions of the paediatric quality of life inventory multidimensional fatigue scale (PedsQL-MFS) in paediatric inpatients with obesity and one of their parents.Methods100 pairs of children/adolescent...

Background Fatigue is a frequent complaint amongst children and adolescents with obesity, and it interferes with adherence to dietary and exercise regimes that could reduce obesity. The present study evaluated the effect of an inpatient 3-week body weight reduction program on body weight and fatigue. Method One hundred children and adolescents wit...

Introduction: Optimizing maintenance of weight loss for people with obesity following intragastric balloon (IGB) therapy hinges on the degree to which health care providers can recognize both the impact of emotional problems and mood difficulties on their capacity to self-manage, and requirements for additional support. However, there is limited r...

Background Despite Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVHs) have been long associated with mental illness, they represent a common experience also in the non-clinical population, yet do not exhibit distress or need for care. Objectives This paper aims to provide a systematic review of studies that investigated the relationship between auditory halluc...

Background Italy was the first European country to implement a national lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide, this pandemic had a huge impact on the mental health of people in many countries causing similar reaction in terms of emotions and concerns at the population level. Our study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic...

The purpose of this Individually Randomized Group Treatment Trial was to compare an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based (ACT) group intervention and a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based (CBT) group intervention for weight loss maintenance in a sample of adult patients with obesity seeking treatment for weight loss. One hundred and fifty-five ad...

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome. However, optimizing adherence to CPAP therapy of individuals remains very challenging for clinicians because of the role played by the psychological components. In this study, we verified the changes in cognitions and beliefs of...

The purpose of this Individually Randomized Group Treatment Trial was to compare an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based (ACT) group intervention and a Cog-nitive Behavioral Therapy-based (CBT) group intervention for weight loss maintenance in a sample of adult patients with obesity seeking treatment for weight loss. 155 over-weight adults (BMI:...

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological distress experienced during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional eating and to assess the mediating role of emotional dysregulation in a sample of Italian young adults (20–35). A total of 437 participants provided demographical data and were assessed using t...

This Randomized Controlled Trial [(RCT) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based intervention combined with treatment as usual (TAU) compared to TAU only in improving psychological conditions in a sample of adolescents with obesity (body mass index, BMI > 97th percentile for age and sex) within the...

Music therapy (MT) is considered one of the complementary strategies to pharmacological treatment for behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) of dementia. However, studies adopting MT protocols tailored for institutionalized people with dementia are limited and their usefulness for supporting caregivers is under investigated to date. Our study...

The original article can be found online.

Background As treatment of choice in promoting psychological flexibility, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was found to be effective in several conditions, and among different populations, including weight management in individuals with obesity. However, the mechanism of action of psychological flexibility is less known. The aim of the prese...

Background Italy was the first European country to implement a national lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide, this pandemic had a huge impact on the mental health of people in many countries causing similar reaction in terms of emotions and concerns at the population level. Our study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic...

Previous studies have shown that experiential avoidance (EA) is associated with physical and psychological well‐being in medical and non‐medical samples. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the reciprocal association between psychological well‐being and EA over time among cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients with moderately to severely l...

Obesity is a global health problem that affects both physical and psychological health and well-being. Psychological flexibility is one of the key components related to psychological health. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being in a sample of 220 individuals with obesity....

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading all over the world, particularly in developed countries where obesity is also widespread. There is a high frequency of increased BMI in patients admitted to intensive care for SARS-CoV-2 infection with a major severity in patients with an excess of visceral adiposity. Patients at risk of severe SARS-C...

Adolescence is a complex developmental phase, made more complex by obesity and the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature related to the impact of social isolation on obesity self-management in adolescents is scant and inconsistent. This paper describes the phenomenon from the perspectives of a sample of adolescents with...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome severely affects psychological well-being. This syndrome frequently occurs in obesity; however, no previous study has investigated the level of psychological well-being in the case of OSA syndrome associated with obesity. In this work, we assessed the level of psychological well-being in fifty-two individuals...

Despite increasing popularity and intensive worldwide use, few studies have assessed the validity and factorial structure of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). However, scientific literature showed that the original factorial structure of the HFS was not fully replicated and—in addition—the Italian translation is still lacking. To fill this gap...

Supplementary material - S1. Consoli S, Rossi A, Thompson LY, Volpi C, Mannarini S, Castelnuovo G and Molinari E (2020) Assessing Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale. Front. Psychol. 11:596501. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.596501

Obesity management requires a multidisciplinary, integrated treatment composed of medical, nutritional, physical, and psychological interventions. Currently, bariatric surgery is the most suitable treatment available in case of severe obesity, or obesity with comorbid medical conditions. Despite bariatric surgery results in a significant weight los...

Background Living in the time of the COVID-19 means experiencing not only a global health emergency but also extreme psychological stress with potential emotional side effects such as sadness, grief, irritability, and mood swings. Crucially, lockdown and confinement measures isolate people who become the first and the only ones in charge of their o...

Background: Previous evidence about facial emotion recognition capability in obesity is few and not conclusive. Objective: We investigated the capability of female individuals affected by obesity to recognize the emotions of fear and anger through a facial emotion recognition task grounded on the implicit redundant target effect. Methods: 20 w...

Eating disorders represent a field of investigation and intervention of considerable interest for psychology. This is an extraordinarily complex area. When working with these patients, it is crucial to consider a multifactorial etiopathogenetic framework. As anyone who has ever worked with eating disorder will know, the words “challenge” and “body...

Background: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) resulted to be efficacious in promoting the core process of Psychological Flexibility, a key ability related to physical and psychological health outcomes. Despite evidence-based ACT protocols were applied successfully in different contexts, including the promotion of long-standing behavioral chan...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on health care systems, increasing the risks of psychological distress in health professionals. This study aims at assessing the prevalence of burnout and psychopathological conditions in health professionals working in a health institution in the Northern Italy, and to identify socio-demograph...

Objective: To develop and test the factorial structure of a new self-determination theory–based measure of behavioral regulation in children. Methods: Five hundred ninety 590 (F = 51.7%) children aged 7 to 11 years completed the Motivation to Exercise and Diet (MED-C) questionnaire, which comprises 16 items (eight for exercise and eight for diet) g...

Background: Living in the time of the COVID-19 means experiencing not only a global health emergency but also extreme psychological stress with potential emotional side effects such as sadness, grief, irritability and mood swings. Crucially, lockdown and confinement measures isolate people who become the first and the only ones in charge of their o...

Background: The world population is getting older. As life expectancy increases, traditional health care systems are facing different challenges in terms of cost reduction and high-quality service delivery capability. New ways to improve older adults' quality of life have been explored, taking advantage of new technological solutions. Our focus is...

The potential benefits of promotion of physical activity for whole populations and at-risk individuals have become a well-established agenda for public health with various meta-analyses that have suggested physical fitness to be an important predictor of morbidity and mortality in adults. Lifestyle behaviors, such as diet and physical activity, are...

Objective: Exercise capacity (EC) is a well-established predictor of cardiovascular health. It is notoriously influenced by several factors, but the independent effect of psychological well-being (PWB) on EC has not yet been explored. The present study aims to investigate (1) whether PWB is an independent predictor of EC over and above selected dem...

Introduction Although ageing is generally perceived as a biologically determined process, the literature increasingly points to the importance of psychological factors in the ageing process, specifically age-related stereotypes or cognitive mindsets. Such stereotypes reflect self-perceptions and others’ perceptions about the ageing process and can...

Abstract The Editors-in-Chief are retracting this article [1].

Background/Objective: Depression, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep problems are typical conditions reported in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), often resulting in a reduction of their quality of life (QOL) and well-being. Mindfulness is a multifaceted and complex construct that has been increasingly explored for its correlated to well-being. Despite...

Background Obesity and the state of being overweight are increasing steadily and becoming a global epidemic. Recent research reports 64% of the adult population as overweight in Europe and the USA. The social and economic impacts are increasing, and most of the rehabilitation programs, while effective in the short term, do not produce long-lasting...

Body shame has received increased attention in the last few years. It is related to many forms of psychopathology, including eating disorders. The major aim of this chapter is to investigate the body-focused shame construct and its well-documented effects on eating behaviors. Given the importance of a proper assessment in the clinical context, the...

The present study examined adult gambling behaviours from a local perspective in order to assess the adult at risk and problem gambler’s profile stratified by genre and by different forms of game. 4773 Italian adults from 18 to 94 years old were administered a survey to assess socio-cultural information related to gambling behaviour and the SOGS to...

Background It is increasingly acknowledged that the outcomes of medical treatments are influenced by the context of the clinical encounter through the mechanisms of the placebo effect. The phenomenon of placebo analgesia might be exploited to maximize the efficacy of neurorehabilitation treatments. Since its intensity varies across neurological dis...

Non-organic vision loss (NOVL), a functional partial or global vision loss, might be considered a manifestation of conversion disorder. The few previous studies focused on investigating the relationship between cerebral activity and subjective symptoms in NOVL; however, the emotional processing is still neglected. In the present case-controls study...

PurposeThis study was aimed to examine the structural and construct validity of the Italian version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale in a multisite sample of postgraduate students. Methods Two hundred and fifty-six subjects (78.1% females) aged from 18 to 53 years (mean = 23.93, SD = 4.96) and attending different postgraduate university programs at...

The treatment of obesity and its related chronic symptoms is one of the major issues that world healthcare systems are facing today. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective therapies in the treatment of dysfunctional eating behaviors. In the first part of the chapter, the phenomenon of obesity will be introduced; subsequentl...

Evaluation of the effectiveness of BST compared to CBT one year after a two phase inpatient and telemedicine outpatient treatment for BED.

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a relevant impact on quality of life (QOL) and is associated with increased risks of psychological morbidity. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are among the most studied interventions, although few well-conducted studies have tested them in this field. Furthermore, the participation in typical MBIs may b...

Background Poorer mental health is associated with lower exercise capacity, above and beyond the effect of other cardiovascular risk factors. However, the directionality of this relationship remains unclear. Purpose The main aim of the present study was to clarify, with a cross-lagged panel design, the relationship between psychological status and...

Objective: This study was aimed to examine the feasibility, validity, and reliability of the Italian Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (PedsQL TM MFS) for adult inpatients with severe obesity. Methods: 200 inpatients (81% females) with severe obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m 2 ) completed the PedsQL MFS (General Fatigue, Slee...

Based on the Langerian definition of mindfulness, we created a smartphone App to promote cognitive flexibility, curiosity, novelty seeking, and creativity in a population of older adults. So far, we have tested it on 68 participants, randomly assigned to the experimental group or to a wait-list control group. Between group comparisons failed to det...

Obesity is a chronic condition associated with risk factors for many medical complications and comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancer, osteoarthritis, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, type-2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and different psychosocial issues and psychopathological disorders. O...

Fibromyalgia is a multifaceted chronic pain syndrome and the integration of different health disciplines is strongly recommended for its care.The interventions based on this principle are very heterogeneous and the difference across their structures has not been extensively studied, leading to incorrect conclusions when their outcomes are pooled. T...

Background and purpose: Studies investigating psychological interventions for the promotion of well-being in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are lacking. The purpose of the current study was to examine the use of an ALS-specific mindfulness-based intervention for improving quality of life in this population. Methods: A randomized...

Diabesity could be defined as a new global epidemic of obesity and being overweight with many complications and chronic conditions. The financial direct and indirect burden of diabesity is a real challenge in many Western health-care systems. Even if multidisciplinary protocols have been implemented, significant limitations in the chronic care mana...

PurposeTo explore the relationship between shame proneness, eating disorders outcomes and psychological aspects of patients with eating disorders (ED). Methods Sixty-six girls applying for inpatient treatment for ED and 110 female undergraduate students were assessed using the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 and the Shame Proneness Scale of the Test of...

Diabesity could be defined as a new global epidemic of obesity and being overweight with many complications and chronic conditions. The financial direct and indirect burden of diabesity is a real challenge in many Western health-care systems. Even if multidisciplinary protocols have been implemented, significant limitations in the chronic care mana...

STUDY HYPOTHESIS Can RNA sequencing of human cumulus cells (CC) reveal molecular pathways involved in the physiology of reproductive aging? STUDY FINDING Senescent but not young cumulus cells, activate gene pathways associated with hypoxia and oxidative stress. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Shifts in socio-economic norms are resulting in larger numbers o...

Background: In order to provide effective care to patients suffering from chronic pain secondary to neurological diseases, health professionals must appraise the role of the psychosocial factors in the genesis and maintenance of this condition whilst considering how emotions and cognitions influence the course of treatment. Furthermore, it is impor...

Background: It is increasingly recognized that treating pain is crucial for effective care within neurological rehabilitation in the setting of the neurological rehabilitation. The Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation was constituted with the purpose identifying best practices for us in this context. Along with drug therapies...

It is well known that obesity has a multifactorial etiology, including biological, environmental, and psychological causes. For this reason, obesity treatment requires a more integrated approach than the standard behavioral treatment based on dietary and physical activity only. To test the long-term efficacy of an enhanced cognitive-behavioral ther...

Binge eating is one of the key behaviors in relation to the etiology and severity of obesity. Cue exposure with response prevention consists of exposing patients to binge foods while actual eating is not allowed. Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to change the way cue exposure is administered, but very few prior studies have been conducted s...

Binge eating is one of the key behaviors in relation to the etiology and severity of obesity. Cue exposure with response prevention consists of exposing patients to binge foods while actual eating is not allowed. Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to change the way cue exposure is administered, but very few prior studies have been conducted s...

Background: Mindfulness-based interventions, modified and shortened versions of meditation teachings, have proved to be effective in the improvement of quality of life in many clinical conditions, including chronic diseases. Preliminary results available in the literature and in clinical experience indicate a high potential for this treatment for...

Obesity and being overweight could be real chronic conditions above all if there are other complications such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, and various psychosocial and psychopathological disorders. Due to the multifactorial etiology of obesity, evidence-based interventions to...

Addiction is a compulsive need for and use of a specific substance leading to a habit, tolerance, and psychophysiological symptoms. Excessive food consumption is similar to that of substance addiction. Some individuals who have trouble losing weight display addictive eating symptoms. To investigate food addiction in a sample of obese adults referre...

Chronic diseases and conditions typically require long-term monitoring and treatment protocols both in traditional settings and in out-patient frameworks. The economic burden of chronic conditions is a key challenge and new and mobile technologies could offer good solutions. mHealth could be considered an evolution of eHealth and could be defined a...

Psychological inflexibility refers to the attempt to decrease internal distress even when doing so is inconsistent with life values, and has been identified as a potential barrier to making and maintaining health behavior changes that are consistent with a heart-healthy lifestyle. Disease- and behavior-specific measures of psychological inflexibili...

Background Group reminiscence therapy is a brief and structured intervention in which participants share personal past events with peers. This approach has been shown to be promising for improving wellbeing and reducing depressive symptoms among institutionalized older adults. However, despite the considerable interest in reminiscence group therapy...

We conducted a trial of telemonitoring and telecare for patients with chronic heart failure leaving hospital after being treated for clinical instability. Eighty patients were randomized before hospital discharge to a usual care group (n = 40: follow-up at the outpatient clinic) or to an integrated management group (n = 40: patients learned to use...

Obesity is currently an important public health problem of epidemic proportions (globesity). Inpatient rehabilitation interventions that aim at improving weight-loss, reducing obesity-related complications and changing dysfunctional behaviors, should ideally be carried out in a multidisciplinary context with a clinical team composed of psychologist...

Mental disorders are some of the most common diseases worldwide. Despite the availability of different psychological services, there is a large percentage of people who is in need of psychological consultation and who do not access to these services. The «Psychologist in the Neighborhood» service was designed to intercept the unexpressed needs for...

Modifiable risk factors, including life-style habits and psychological variables, have been increasingly demonstrated to have an important role in influencing morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular patients, and to account for approximately 90% of the population risk for cardiac events.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has shown effectiven...

The concurrent comparison of questionnaires assessing health-related quality of life in the same population is necessary for better appreciating their performance and to select the best instrument for a given purpose (e.g. clinical trials and observational studies). The aim of this study was to compare the measurement properties of two disease-spec...

The contemporary individual is immersed in a reality characterized by a rapid sequence of stimuli and actions and he is often unable to fully live the present moment. Several authors in the field of psychology have discussed on the individual’s ability to live his own experience in the present moment, each highlighting some peculiar aspects and pot...

Anxiety and depression are common psychological conditions in post-stroke patients. In the present study, their relation with perceived quality of life and psychophysical well-being was investigated. In the present cross-sectional study, chronic post-stroke patients (n=81; average years from stroke=4±4.6) were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and...

Despite a decreasing trend in incidence and mortality, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) still represent important causes of death and disability in developed countries, significantly affecting individuals’ quality of life and healthcare costs . Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as poor diet, lack of physical activity and smoking status, constitute...

A healthy and active life is a key issue for elderly citizens, above all when psychological complications such as depression and anxiety disorders, late delusion or loneliness can be observed. Moreover, medical pathologies in elderly patients often have a multi-factorial etiology and many psychopathological dimensions and psychosocial risk factors...

Objectives: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease that is clinically characterized by progressive weakness leading to death by respiratory insufficiency, usually within three years. Although the patient's intellect and personality usually remain unimpaired, as the disease progresses, the patient b...

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy, and the appointment is not necessary this quote which came from an unknown person, gives an idea of some of the properties associated with chocolate; it gives instant pleasure, it is considered one of the favorite foods consumed during comfort eating and it is also one of the most craved foods [1]-[4].