Francesco Mancini

Marconi University

Background/Objectives: Based on previous data reporting the status of health professionals’ training about sleep clinical psychophysiology, insomnia, and its treatment in the US and Canada, this paper aims at providing a snapshot of the Italian situation, considering health professionals qualified to offer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adding...

Two separate meta-analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses that moral transgressions elicit disgust and that inducing disgust may intensify moral judgments. The data supported both the elicitation hypothesis (k = 78; g = 0.55) and the amplification hypothesis (k = 101; g = 0.40). When examining the moderating effects of person-and measurement...

Objective: Self-criticism (SC) is a central transdiagnostic factor in several psychopathological conditions, influencing the development and maintenance of symptomatology. The importance of this construct has stimulated quantitative and qualitative research about it. The main purpose of this systematic review is to highlight which qualitative metho...

Background: Patients with Complex Trauma (CT) may have an impaired ability to trust others and build intimate relationships due to non-integrated representations of self and others. This sometimes leads to an oscillation between needing and fearing intimacy in their adult relationships. This dynamic can occur in the therapeutic relationship, underm...

Purpose. This study aims to understand the emotional and cognitive processes underlying Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) and Fear of Intimacy (FoI), as key precursors of dysfunctional relationships in adulthood and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), considering past and present experiences, beliefs and emotions. We hypothesized that PAD was as...

Self-criticism is a transdiagnostic factor of significant clinical relevance. Research has studied its detrimental role on mental health without discriminating how this differs based on individual psychological functioning. Furthermore, little research has considered the lack of emotional awareness as an essential competence that contributes to dys...

This work aims to shed light on the differential diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD) within the context of intimate partner violence (IPV), which represents a highly innovative field of clinical research. To this end, a critical review of the l...

El libro Formulación de Caso: Hacia una psicoterapia de precisión, que el lector tiene en sus manos, surge de la necesidad de un texto con diversidad de mo- delos y sensibilidad cultural para el público de habla hispana . En tal sentido, es una obra internacional de psicoterapeutas investigadores de diferentes naciona- lidades: España, Portugal, Es...

This work aims to shed light on the differential diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (cPTSD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) within the context of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), which represents an extremely inno-vative field of clinical research. To this end, a critical review of...

Objective Relationship obsessive-compulsive disorder (ROCD), a clinical variant of OCD, is associated with personality traits and guilt sensitivity. Previous studies have not investigated whether the guilt associated with ROCD stems from deontological or altruistic morality. The main aim of the present study was to explore the differentiated impact...

Imagery rescripting (ImR) has shown to reduce negative belief about the self, negative emotions and emotional dysregulation. However, the mechanisms through which this improvement in emotion regulation takes place is currently the object of investigation. An untested hypothesis is that ImR reduces the negative emotional response to primary emotions...

Background Several authors have developed important theoretical models on an important transdiagnostic factor in psychopathology: self-criticism (SC). Currently, there are substantial variations in the theoretical definition of SC. The lack of awareness of similarities and differences between models may in turn impact the comparison between empiric...

Objective: Fear of moral guilt and conseque:nt increased attention to personal actions and intentions are the main ingredients of the self-criticism in patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This pathogenic attitude takes shape in a typical guilt-inducing self-talk. The purpose of this work is to describe in detail a novel cog...

Introduction Guilt, shame, and embarrassment represent affective experiences with social implications and diverse self-relevant negative affect. While the distinction between these emotion terms has been extensively investigated, little is known about how they diverge and are related to each other and their crosscultural differences. Methods Here,...

Le persone sono motivate ad agire in linea con i propri standard morali ma, a volte, l’accordo tra principi e condotta morale può risultare impossibile o comportare dei sacrifici. Quando ciò accade, gli individui possono deattivare i processi di auto-regolazione, che normalmente inibiscono la messa in atto di una condotta non etica allo scopo di va...

A diagnosis of infertility, with a more or less negative prognosis, means discovering that having "many children" is neither a natural nor an automatic fact, at least not for oneself. Having children is seen as a normal part of the life plan for a good portion of adults, something expected and desirable. Not being able to access this blessing impli...

Objective: Disgust is a basic emotion evolved to safeguard our omnivorous species from contagion. Although the factors eliciting disgust typically involve concerns related to physical contamination, physical disgust responses are also prompted by moral transgressions, (i.e. cannibalism, pedophilia, betrayal). The link between the general propensit...

Psychopathic traits in community and referred youths are strongly associated with severe externalizing problems and low prosocial behavior. However, less is known about the mechanisms that may link youth psychopathy and these outcomes. Social dominance orientation (SDO), defined as the general individual orientation toward unequal and dominant/subo...

Relationship Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (ROCD) is considered a clinical variant of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in which obsessions may be focused on the relationship itself (relationship-centered ROCD [RC-ROCD]), or on the partner's perceived flaws (partner-focused ROCD [PF-ROCD]). Despite the growing interest in ROCD, not much is known...

Background Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of maladaptive behavior that has been associated with the liability for schizophrenia. Little is known about effective psychosocial interventions. This pilot non-inferiority randomized controlled trial aimed to compare a novel form of psychotherapy tailored for this...

In the last decade, Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD)—as a risk factor for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)—has undergone considerable attention among clinical and social psychologists. However, the psychological nature of PAD has been described in discordant terms throughout the literature. We try to give a clear definition of the construct (...

Previous research has extensively explored the role of anxiety, disgust, guilt, and shame in obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, but few studies have investigated anger and associated vengeful motivations, especially during adolescence, when OC symptoms typically onset. This is unfortunate as anger is a key human emotion linked to various aspects o...

La formulación del caso (FC) es el requisito necesario de cada tratamiento psicoterapéutico,independientemente de la orientación teórica del clínico. Sin una FC no hay un mapa delfuncionamiento del problema que aflige al paciente y, en consecuencia, no hay posibilidad de unaestrategia terapéutica clara derivada de ella. En este artículo se presenta...

In this article we criticize the thesis “The diseases we treat are diseases of the brain”. A first criticism is against the eliminativist perspective and in favor of a perspective that is still reductionist but emergentist and functionalist. In a second part, we try to answer the question “under which conditions can we consider this statement legit...

Background The therapeutic alliance has been recognized as one of the most researched key elements of treatment across different therapeutic approaches and diagnostic domains. Despite its importance, our current understanding of its clinical relevance in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is still debated. This study aimed to examine...

Guilt plays a role in various forms of psychopathology. However, different types of guilt might be involved in different mental disorders. Obsessive-compulsive (OC) patients are prone to a type of guilt in which the violation of an internalized moral norm is necessary and sufficient, whereas data suggest that depression might be linked to more inte...

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an event that unsettled the social and economic life of many people. When individuals are faced with shocking events, they may need to find plausible explanations for such events to restore control and make sense of reality. The adoption of conspiracy beliefs may represent a functional strategy for this purpose. The...

The pandemic of Covid-19 has had a high impact on people’s lives and especially on families. In Italy, in 2020, the several forced closures led families to live indoors to manage anxiety and distress. It was considered appropriate to investigate which protective factors, like parental resilience, can mitigate the negative impact of pandemic-related...

Insomnia and circadian dysregulation during adolescence represent important risk factors for emotional and psychological problems. Recent studies have shown that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has been linked to a high prevalence of behavioural sleep problems in the general population. This study aimed to provide two pictures of t...

Background Imagery Rescripting (ImR) has proved to be effective in the treatment of different mental disorders as an integral part of broader clinical protocols or as a standalone technique. ImR has also been successfully incorporated as part of group Schema Therapy treatment; however, to the best of our knowledge, it has never been assessed as a s...

IT La letteratura sull'ostracismo sociale costituisce ad oggi il principale punto di riferimento concettuale per comprendere il fenomeno del "muso". Sebbene le esperienze interpersonali caratterizzate dal muso siano estremamente comuni ed appaia evidente la sofferenza che questo comporta, tuttavia la ricerca specifica sull'argomento è poco sviluppa...

Background: Disgust is a strong and persistent emotion that frequently occurs during exposure-based treatments for contamination-based obsessive compulsive disorder (C-OCD). This study aimed to examine the efficacy of augmenting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a novel type of anti-disgust cognitive intervention in reducing the severity of...

Cognitive–behavioral therapy is a well-established treatment for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). There are a variety of cognitive and behavioral strategies, and it is necessary to analyze the outcomes of the treatments. The aim of the present study is to verify the effectiveness of a treatment that combines evidence-based procedures and specif...

Besides affecting 8% of the general population, nightmares are one of the most frequent symptoms of traumatized individuals. This can be a significant factor in the treatment of post-traumatic disorders; indeed, several studies demonstrated its strong predictive and prognostic value. Sleep disorders, nightmares in particular, could be very distress...

Guilt emerges as the emotional result of a conflict between our behavior and internalized morality. Since morality is best conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, guilt results in different phenomena depending on the moral values internalized by the “guilty”. Indeed, mounting evidence supports the distinction between guilt feelings emerging...

Riassunto Viene presentato il caso di una paziente vittima di gaslighting, da parte del partner. Il gaslighting è un comportamento manipolatorio, spesso difficile da identificare, in cui un individuo prova a controllare pensieri, emozioni e azioni di un'altra persona, fino ad alterarne l'intera percezione della realtà e di sé stesso. Lo scopo dell'...

Objective: "Not Just Right Experiences" (NJREs) are currently considered a characteristic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Significant associations have been found between NJREs and Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) symptoms in nonclinical and clinical populations. Literature support a significant relationship between NJREs, feelings of guilt and O...

L'Imagery Rescripting (IR) è una tecnica emotivo-esperienziale, particolarmente applicata nella Schema Therapy, che collega problematiche affettive attuali a memorie infantili dolorose, ri-scrivendo, tramite l'appagamento di bisogni emotivi frustrati nel passato, il loro contenuto doloroso. Diversi studi evidenziano che a seguito dell'applicazione...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is frequently diagnosed in children and adolescents. In pediatric OCD, family plays an important role in the development and maintenance of the disease. In this relationship, both genetic and behavioral factors, such as parental modeling and family accommodation, are significan...

Metacognition among those reporting psychotic symptoms is associated with a distortion in the way they understand their own and others’ mental states. Recent advances suggest that distortion in the form of self-criticism may activate a threat response and fuel symptom expression. At high level of self-criticism metacognition may reduce its protecti...

Background and Objectives: While the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for general mental health and the increase in anxiety and depression are clear, less is known about the potential effect of the pandemic on OCD. The purpose of this study is to collect new data to monitor the symptomatic status of patients with OCD during the period of emerg...

Although obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and the conduct disorders (CD) express a contrasting symptomatology, they could represent different answers to a common matrix about morality. In the literature, some theoretical models describe people with OCD as individuals who experience high levels of responsibility and guilt. On the other hand, adol...

Objective: Deontological Guilt (DG), and Altruistic Guilt (AG) emerge from the appraisal of violating an internalized rule or an altruistic principle, respectively. DG is strictly connected with Disgust Sensitivity and plays a key role in the development and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Previous studies investigated how DG a...

Background and Objectives: Depressive states represent a normal and physiological response to the experience of loss. However, it is possible to identify some elements that allow distinguishing physiological depressive states from pathological ones. Over the years, research has confirmed that a stable tendency to negative self-evaluation is a trans...

Together with socio-cultural components, the family environment and early parent–child interactions play a role in the development of eating disorders. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of early parent–daughter relationships in a sample of 49 female inpatients with an eating disorder. To acquire a detailed image description of the chi...

Il disturbo d'ansia generalizzata e il disturbo da sttacchi dipanico sono due condizioni psicopatologiche che comportano spesso una notevole sofferenza soggettiva per chi ne è affetto nonché una significativa compromissione del funzionamento. La necessità di prendere in carico questi disturbi ha portato numerosi professionisti della salute mentale...

In this paper we argue in favor of the existence of two different guilt feelings: altruistic guilt (AG) and deontological guilt (DG). AG arises from having harmed, through one's own action or omission, an innocent victim, while DG arises from the transgression of an internalized norm. In most daily experiences of guilt feelings both types are prese...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine had a significant impact on mental health which resulted in an increase of anxiety and depression in adult, child and adolescent clinical populations. Less is known about the potential effect of pandemic on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) so there is a lack of review work to illustrate the impact...

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that indirect inhibition of the insula via cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would decrease disgust and moral rigidity in 36 healthy individuals undergoing 15 min of tDCS over the temporal lobe. To obtain a comprehensive assessment of disgust, we used subjective (affect rating), ph...

In this paper, antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs are investigated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. 618 individuals residing in different geographical area of Italy participated in the study. We found that perceived mortality rate of COVID-19 is positively associated with adherence to conspiracy beliefs and, in turn...

This commentary is divided into four sections and a conclusion. In the first three sections, we propose a reflection on the role of goals in case formulation and on the methodological and therapeutic implications derived from the centrality of anti-goals. In the fourth section, we briefly illustrate a five-point case formulation scheme, which gives...

One of the several ways in which affect may influence cognition is when people use affect as a source of information about external events. Emotional reasoning, ex-consequentia reasoning, and affect-as-information are terms referring to the mechanism that can lead people to take their emotions as information about the external world, even when the...

Il disturbo ossessivo-compulsivo (DOC) è una condizione fortemente invalidante che tende a manifestarsi con un decorso cronico. Ad oggi, esiste una molteplicità di interventi volti a trattare questo disturbo. La vastità della letteratura e la difficoltà del clinico ad orientarsi in essa ha spinto diversi enti a sviluppare delle linee guida relative...

Objective: Italy faced one of the first large clusters of COVID-19 infections worldwide. Home confinement and social distancing could have negatively impacted sleep habits and prevalence of sleep disorders in children, which may be also linked with altered emotional processes. The present study focused on clinical aspects related to sleep, insomnia...

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience reduced health-related quality of life and mental health comorbidity. The prevalence of insomnia disorder and sleep quality impairments in MS patients ranges from 47% to 62%. Nevertheless, these problems often remain underdiagnosed and undertreated. This review systematically and critically ass...

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental health disorder that can easily become a treatment-resistant condition. Although effective therapies exist, only about half of the patients seem to benefit from them when we consider treatment refusal, dropout rates, and residual symptoms. Thus, providing effective augmentation to standar...

Oggetto: La pandemia diff usa a livello globale nel 2020 è un evento classifi cabile come straordinario-nel senso di fuori dall'ordinario: da decenni una malattia non aveva un impatto tanto importante sulla vita di un numero cosi grande di persone; è un evento che può mettere in crisi una data concezione del mondo, ad esempio perché nel senso comun...

Oggetto: Il presente lavoro si propone di esplorare il tema della psicoterapia online in quanto modalità di intervento resasi necessaria a causa dell’emergenza COVID-19. È stata condotta una ricerca con lo scopo di indagare, dal punto di vista di terapeuti e pazienti, la qualità, l’autoefficacia percepita e le difficoltà legate al setting online, e...

Background: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is often measured through self-report questionnaires focused on measuring symptomatology (Y-BOCS, OCI-R, and PI). The scientific literature identifies the Pt scale as a distinctive marker, but does not report data related to a specific OCD profile of the MMPI-2 test. Therefore, based on some clinical consid...

Objectives: One of the largest clusters of Covid-19 infections was observed in Italy. The population was forced to home confinement, exposing individuals to increased risk for insomnia, which is, in turn, associated with depression and anxiety. Through a cross-sectional online survey targeting all Italian adult population (≥18 yrs), insomnia preval...

Background: Guilt feelings have received considerable attention in past psychological theory and research. Several studies have been conducted that represent a range of views and propose various implications of guilt in children and adolescents. Variations in theoretical definitions of guilt, emphasizing a lack of measurement convergence, make it d...

The evolutionary perspective on human emotions and motivations posits that all interpersonal interactions are shaped by an array of social mentalities, dwelling on our species' bio-behavioral disposition to pursue some evolutionarily valuable social goals (i.e., interpersonal motivational systems). The paucity of valid and reliable measures of such...

Da questa disamina degli aspetti di benessere e malessere psicologico associati alla vendetta, emerge che essa è spesso molto più amara di quanto si fosse previsto prima di attuarla, ed espone a rischi e a ritorsioni; al contrario, motivazioni e comportamenti meno vendicativi e più perdonanti possono incrementare il benessere. Le persone che perdon...

Background and objectives Criticism is thought to play an important role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and obsessive behaviors have been considered as childhood strategies to avoid criticism. Often, patients with OCD report memories characterized by guilt-inducing reproaches. Starting from these assumptions, the aim of this study is to te...

Several studies and clinical observations have proven the central role of the fear of guilt in the genesis and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. To date, questionnaires are available in Italian that measure one's propensity to experience guilt and sensitivity towards this emotion, understood as a tendency to negatively judge this experi...

This study intends to build on current literature regarding the parental correlates of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms among school-age children by addressing a gap related to the possible relations of parental OC symptoms, parenting stress and dysfunctional caregiving behaviors with the child's OC symptoms. The cross – sectional design involved...