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Introduction
Publications
Publications (65)
In recent years, the use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues in adolescents with gender dysphoria (GD) to suppress puberty has been adopted by an increasing number of gender clinics, generating controversial debate. This short essay provides an overview of the difficulties associated with this heterogeneous group of adolescents and d...
Body dissatisfaction in individuals with Gender Incongruence (GI) represents a primary source of suffering. Several studies have highlighted how this suffering has psychological, physical, and biological implications. This work aims to explore experiences related to body dissatisfaction and investigate the issues associated with living in a body pe...
Psychoanalytic accounts of gender variant patients in the literature are rare. Psychoanalysis with these patients suffers from historical biases that determine short-sighted and pathologizing interpretations of gender diversity. This contribution provides an account of a long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy taking an open and affirmative approach...
Background: Research on nonbinary people has been growing steadily. However, most studies have focused on gender identity development in binary cisgender or transgender populations, and there is a lack of knowledge about the experiences and milestones of nonbinary identification, including the many challenges of living in a binary world. In Italy,...
The increasing integration of eclectic knowledge from fields not directly related to clinical psychology is coherent with a current tendency to employ alternative ideas to investigate psychopathology in the light of a more phenomenological perspective. The concept of epistemic trust may provide the gateway to alternative causal models for personali...
Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are
psychosocial factors acknowledged as significant contribu-
tors to health consequences later in adolescence, including
psychological maladjustment. The research suggests that, at a
transdiagnostic and transtheoretical level, working on restoring
epistemic trust (ET), mentalized affectivity (MA...
Il presente articolo esplora le identità di genere non binarie attraverso la lente della psicologia analitica junghiana. Le identità di genere contemporanee si muovono spesso oltre il tradizionale binarismo di genere, generando nuove prospettive e sfide epistemologiche e cliniche. Attraverso un’analisi dettagliata delle opposizioni intrapsichiche e...
This study investigates how speaking a given language impacts the articulation of gender identity, focusing on the experience of nonbinary individuals in the Italian sociocultural and linguistic context. Combining text mining and qualitative analyses, the research explores the linguistic strategies of nonbinary individuals highlighting the creative...
Languages influence how gender is perceived in a specific culture. Italian, for instance, consistently marks gender-binary distinctions, thus contributing to the underrepresentation of nonbinary gender identities. The present study explored how nonbinary Italian speakers define themselves and their gender identity and expression through language. F...
Vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs are social issues of growing concern which have arisen particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the multifaceted relationship between a hesitant attitude towards vaccination, conspiracy thinking, fear of infection, and the dimensions of epistemic trust, mistrust, an...
Introduction: Research on lesbian and gay parent families has mostly focused on parenting quality and child development, yet little attention has been given to the transformations in families of origin's dynamics following the transition to parenthood. Aims and Methods: in this qualitative study, we explored the experiences of 35 lesbian parents an...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a concerning, widespread issue with serious health, social, and financial consequences. Previous studies highlighted the role of insecure attachment patterns in predicting IPV victimization. This study investigates attachment classifications among women survivors of IPV referred to antiviolence centers, as determi...
Over the past 30 years, an increasing number of people have identified within the asexual (ACE) spectrum recognizing an absence/low/situational sexual attraction to individuals of any gender. The current study aims to deepen the knowledge of sexual desire, erotic fantasies, and related emotions within the ACE spectrum. A total of 1072 Italian volun...
The concept of mentalized affectivity (MA) encompasses the dimensions of identifying, processing, and expressing emotions and describes the process of making sense of and reevaluating one’s affects in light of autobiographical memory. This construct was developed within the theoretical framework of mentalization
and, due to its interpersonal nature...
The present study examined the attachment patterns distribution of 60 lesbian mothers, 50 gay fathers, and 42 heterosexual parents through assisted reproduction and their 76 children, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Friends and Family Interview (FFI), respectively. The study also explored the intergenerational transmission of att...
In Italy, studies investigating gender identity and expression in gender non-conforming adults are lacking, as well as data regarding the non-binary population. The present study aimed at dimensionally exploring how transgender and non-binary Italian adults identify and express their gender. The Gender Diversity Questionnaire (GDQ) was administered...
Background:
A rising number of monkeypox cases have been detected in Europe and several Western nations. Evaluating the fear associated with monkeypox is crucial to determine the necessity for tailored education and prevention programs for specific populations. This study explores the psychological and social factors linked to the fear response to...
Objective
Starting from May 2022, a growing number of monkeypox cases have been identified in several countries in Europe and the United States. To date, information on social reaction to the news circulating about monkeypox is limited. Assessing psychological and social elements related to the tendency to misinterpret monkeypox information is urge...
The construct of epistemic trust has received much consideration in recent psychological literature, even though mainly from a theoretical perspective. The overall aim of this study was to validate the first self-report measure of epistemic trust–the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust, and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ)–in an Italian sample. Our primary go...
Non-binary people may face specific challenges in psychological settings. Psychotherapists often display a lack of preparation for non-binary gender identities, resulting in overt or subtle forms of prejudice that compromise the therapeutic alliance. The present study aimed to provide data on non-binary clients’ positive and negative experiences wi...
Objectives
Gender diverse people identify as neither (exclusively) male nor female. The present study evaluated the possible differences in terms of psychological wellbeing between gender diverse and binary transgender individuals, as well as the role of perceived social acceptance and religious fundamentalism as possible mediators of psychopatholo...
Objectives
We evaluated differences in Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores between a sample of hormone-naïve transgender and cisgender people, the possible impact of gender-affirming hormonal treatment (GAHT) on AQ scores across time and the role of alexithymia and social anxiety as possible mediators of changes in AQ scores.
Methods
A cross-sect...
Objectives
We evaluated differences in Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores between a sample of hormone-naïve transgender and cisgender people, the possible impact of gender-affirming hormonal treatment (GAHT) on AQ scores across time and the role of alexithymia and social anxiety as possible mediators of changes in AQ scores.
Methods
A cross-sect...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a collective trauma for the world population. Psychoanalytic literature has long proposed that dreams are a key point of access for understanding the deepest functioning of the mind. Using the multiple code theory (Bucci, 1993) as a framework, this study aims to explore the emotional and cognitive responses of the gen...
Background: Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) present insecure internalized object representations which distort the way they perceive and respond to interpersonal situations (Fonagy, Gergely, & Jurist, 2018). Such distortions bring hypersensitivity to stressful relational contexts along with the frequent activation of immature...
Purpose:
We evaluated differences in Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores between a sample of hormone-naïve transgender and cisgender people and the impact of gender-affirming hormonal treatment (GAHT) on AQ scores across time. Furthermore, we assessed alexithymia and social anxiety as possible mediators of changes in AQ scores.
Methods:
A cross...
The ways in which therapeutic interventions for personality disorders bring change requires in-depth investigation (Kramer, Beuchat, Grandjean, & Pascual-Leone, 2020). Psychotherapy research aims to discover change processes and to establish the links between the process factors and outcome in treatment.
When mental representations are insecurely...
Background
Recently, the variability and heterogeneity of gender presentations in transgender youths have gained significant attention worldwide. Alongside this, specialized gender services have reported an increase in referrals of youths reporting non-binary identities. In Italy, studies investigating gender identity and expression in gender non-c...
The term “mentalized affectivity” describes the ability to reflect on, process, modulate and express emotions through the prism of autobiographical memory. It represents a bridge concept that integrates previous contributions on emotion regulation and mentalization, offering a quite unique perspective on affective and reflective functioning. The ov...
Studies comparing organized (O) and unresolved/disorganized (UD) attachment have consistently shown structural and functional brain abnormalities, although whether and how attachment patterns may affect resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) is still little characterized. Here, we investigated RSFC of temporal and limbic regions of interest f...
Background
Over the last few years, the gender binary has been questioned, highlighting the existence of gender diverse people, who identify as neither (exclusively) male nor female.
Aim
The present study evaluated the possible differences in terms of psychological wellbeing between binary and gender diverse individuals, as well as the role of per...
Beginning in March 2020, the Italian population was subjected to a lockdown lasting approximately three months, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency. Drawing on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of dream data, the current study aimed at exploring the effects of social isolation and the lockdown on Italian people’s dreams, focusing on c...
Background:
Depressive disorders in adolescence are among the most challenging clinical syndromes to diagnostically identify and treat in psychotherapy. The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Second Edition (PDM-2) proposes an integration between nomothetic knowledge and an idiographic understanding of adolescent patients suffering from depression t...
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic represents risk to physical health and psychological well-being. Specifically, it causes concerns among minoritized communities, such as transgender/non-binary individuals. The study investigates the experience of this group in Italy during the pandemic and identifies risk factors that exerted negative impacts on...
Defense mechanisms are relevant indicators of psychological functioning and vulnerability to psychopathology. Their evaluation can unveil individuals' unconscious strategies for mediating reactions to emotional conflict and external stressors. At the beginning of their journey toward gender reassignment, individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria...
Background
: Studies showed that affective temperaments and attachment are associated with depressive symptoms, and that they bi-directionally influence each-other. The aim of this study is to explore mechanisms underlying the relationship between the affective temperaments (i.e., depressive, cyclothymic, irritable, hyperthymic and anxious), interv...
An increasing amount of literature revealed a link between GD and ASD. Both GD and ASD are complex and heterogeneous conditions characterized by a large variety of presentations. Studies have reported that individuals with GD tend to have higher prevalence rates of autistic traits in comparison to the general population. The purpose of this comment...
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older adults may have had the opportunity to reflect on and process stressful life experiences , and they may be more inclined to practice queer genera-tive behaviours aimed at strengthening sexual minority identities and supporting the sexual minority community. The present study explored the unique patterns of gen...
Mentalizing capacities depends on the quality of primary attachment interactions with caregivers who thinks of the child as a subject with mental states. Operationalized as reflective functioning, mentalization is crucial for regulating emotions and developing
of a coherent sense of identity, for interacting with individuals making sense to own and...
L'articolo di Griffin Hansbury (2017a) "L'uomo vaginale: lavorare con la corporeità di uomini queer al confine del transgender" è un contributo originale, capace di stimolare la psicoanalisi a riflettere e a produrre linguaggio sui confini di genere delle identità maschili. Reinvenzione "incarnata" di concetti già noti all'elaborazione psicoanaliti...
In recent years, Italy, similar to many other countries, has witnessed an increase in children and adolescents presenting gender incongruence. This trend has led to the development and implementation of specialized centers providing care and support for these youths and their families. The present study aimed at investigating the functioning of age...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been examined from a range of
theoretical perspectives, including attachment theory, with the aim of
assessing psychosocial risk factors. Previous research has shown that a child’s
exposure to violence in the family is a major predictor of IPV victimization
later in life. Furthermore, research on abused and traum...
SommARIo.-Il lavoro ripercorre la storia dell'identità di genere, costrutto nato alla fine degli anni Sessanta, dalla creazione fino ad oggi. In particolare, il lavoro si occupa di quelle situa-zioni in cui una persona-appartenente a quello che comunemente viene definito il mondo trans*-vive una mancanza di corrispondenza tra il genere assegnato al...
Background: In a longitudinal design, the present study examined: (a) the nature of attachment patterns and re- flective functioning (RF) in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR); (b) the association between RF and subclinical psychotic symtoms; and (c) the psychosis-predictive value of attachment patterns, RF, and the inter- action be...
Touch, such as affective caress, can be interpreted as being pleasant. The emotional valence that is assigned to touch is related to certain bottom-up factors, such as the optimal activation of C-tactile (CT) afferents. Tactile processing with a hedonic or emotional component has been defined as affective touch—a component that CT fibers are likely...
Introduction
In today’s Italy, gender diversity has assumed a remarkable resonance and visibility in both scientific and popular literature, which has facilitated the development of studies regarding treatments and support for children and adolescents with gender-related issues.
Aim
the aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of...
Background
In a longitudinal design, the present study examined: (a) the nature of attachment patterns and reflective functioning (RF) in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR); (b) the association between RF and subclinical psychotic symtoms; and (c) the psychosis-predictive value of attachment patterns, RF, and the interaction between...
Research within psychotherapy and psychopathology frameworks has been inspired by the central concept of defense mechanisms, which play a pivotal role in psychoanalysis. Defense specificities have only recently been studied systematically in the context of several clinical diagnoses. The present study aimed to explore the specificities of defense m...
In recent years, a higher incidence of traits that seem to be related to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in individuals with Gender Dysphoria (GD) and of gender variant traits in autistic users, compared to the general population have been highlighted. In this contribution, straddling between clinical observations and research findings, the authors...
A wider horizon: psychoanalysis and gender identity, history of a controversial relationship, from Freud to the contemporaries. Is psychoanalysis reliable for the treatment and understanding of gender dysphoria? The article explores different psychoanalytic theories about sexual and gender identity and transsexualism in an attempt to create a dialo...
Internal Working Models (IWM) of the attachment system are the devices by which individuals modulate emotional responses and the Disorganized attachment pattern is characterized by the breakdown of such emotion regulation. Vagally-mediated heart rate 15 variability (vmHRV) is an index of regulated and flexible emotional responding. The current stud...
Purpose
In recent years, an increasing number of specialized gender clinics have been prescribing gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs to adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria (GD) to suppress puberty. This paper presents qualitative research on the hormone therapy (HT) experiences of older trans-people and their views on puberty sup...
The current study investigated attachment representations and complex trauma in a sample of gender dysphoric adults. Although it has been proven that the psychological wellbeing of gender diverse persons is largely mediated by family acceptance and support, research on their relationships with parental figures is scarce. A total of 95 adults took p...
In this paper, we test the reliability and validity of two novel ways of assessing mentalizing in
the therapy context: the Reflective Functioning scale (RF) applied to code psychotherapy
transcripts (In-session RF), and the Exploring scale of the Patient Attachment Coding System
(PACS), which measures in-session autonomy and is linked with secur...
The main aim of this study was to investigate the associations between personality features and attachment patterns in transsexual adults. We explored mental representations of attachment, assessed personality traits, and possible personality disorders. Forty-four individuals diagnosed with gender identity disorder (now gender dysphoria), 28 male-t...
Mentalization, operationalized as reflective functioning (RF), can play a crucial role in the psychological mechanisms underlying personality functioning. This study aimed to: (a) study the association between RF, personality disorders (cluster level) and functioning; (b) investigate whether RF and personality functioning are influenced by (secure...
Purpose:
To date, few studies have addressed attitudes toward transgender individuals. In addition, little is known about health care providers' (HCP) attitudes toward sexual minorities. The aim of the present study is to compare attitudes toward homosexual and transgender individuals between gender dysphoric individuals (GDs), general population...
Background: Personality assessment can be useful to better understand the complexity of transgender and transsexual people. In particular, the Shedler Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200) is a measure that provides an accurate dimensional evaluation of personality. When assessing gender non-conforming people, however, clinicians can encounter...
Summary. Clandestine transgender female convicts in Italian detention centers: a pilot inquiry.
This research is a result of the founding, in 2009, of the PEA Work Group “Development of a treatment model for transsexuals”; its priority was set by the Ministry of Justice after suggestions by the Directorate-General for detention and treatment. The w...
Questions
Question (1)
I am looking for the SPSS Syntax for the scoring of the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2). Anyone could help? Thanks in advance!