
Paolo CotrufoUniversità della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" · Dipartimento di Psicologia
Paolo Cotrufo
PhD, Associate Professor Clinical Psychology
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72
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Introduction
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November 1994 - present
January 2000 - present
Publications
Publications (72)
Introduction & Purpose Eating disorders, body image, self-esteem, and emotional issues affect psychological and physical health and often co-occur. Disturbances in body image can trigger and worsen disordered eating behaviours. Emotions and self-esteem are influential factors in both eating disorders and body image issues, impacting their severity...
The assessment of Quality of Life (QoL) in psychiatric patients is an important indicator of the impacts of the treatment. It signifies the overall success of the adopted psychiatric interventions. This analysis aims to evaluate the effect of multimodal inpatient therapy that was performed at the ward for Psychosomatic Medicine at the University Cl...
Culture affects individuals’ perceptions and experiences of their bodies. In order to provide the most effective solutions to body image-related issues, it is necessary to understand cultures and their influences on body image in various populations. This paper focuses on the effects of culture on body image. Therefore, a systematic literature sear...
Background: Childhood obesity can cause metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychological risks. The influence of self- and emotional regulation in the genesis of childhood obesity is well known. Intervention strategies first hinge on lifestyle modifications of dietary adjustments, physical activity, education, and behavioral modifications, they have yi...
The present review investigates the complex associations between children’s affective states, body perceptions, and eating habits, thus providing crucial insights for potential health interventions. Following PRISMA guidelines, three databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies exploring the relationship between eating habits, emotional states...
Background
Disordered eating (DE) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) commonly co-occur, resulting in increasingly adverse outcomes. Parental bonding, self-esteem, emotion dysregulation, and body-related concerns have been implicated in DE and NSSI, separately and in combination. Little is known about how they contribute to their interrelationship....
This paper reflects a perspective the author has developed over twenty years of practice as a clinical psychoanalyst and as an academic researcher in the field of eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia are discussed through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, with the support of empirical evidence in clinical psychology research. The author proposes...
Introduction: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) constitutes a major health concern among youth. However, less is known about the useful ways to prevent NSSI. As such, the NSSI- Peer Education Program (NSSI-PEP) aims to intervene on the vulnerability factors that predispose to NSSI by applying a peer education approach. The NSSI-PEP is grounded on the...
Background
: Although eating disordered (ED) patients also engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), to date, little research has examined NSSI in ED patients. Thus, the present work aims to explore the prevalence, characteristics, and correlates of NSSI within a sample of Italian ED patients, also exploring NSSI disorder (NSSI-D).
Methods
: One...
Objective
Parental bonding, low self-esteem, emotion dysregulation, and eating style are correlated with each other and are associated with binge eating among adolescents. However, no studies have yet examined all these variables simultaneously. In the current study, the independent and combined influences of such constructs on binge eating were te...
Although low self-esteem and body disinvestment have been recognized as potential risk factors for disordered eating, no studies have explored how these factors may work together to predict binge eating in adolescents. Therefore, we hypothesized a path model for girls and boys separately to investigate whether the body’s investment dimensions (feel...
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the intentional destruction of one’s own body without an intent to die (e.g., self-cutting). On the other hand, indirect forms of self-injury refer to behaviors in which people harm themselves in an indirect way (e.g., substance use). Existing literature suggests that a negative parent–child relationshi...
Objective:
Parental rejection, poor self-concept, anger expression, and negative body investment have often been associated with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, research has investigated each factor separately. To address this shortcoming, the main aim of the study was to integrate these factors and test a hierarchical regression to exam...
We examined the impact of paternal rejection (based on father’s and children’s reports) on the children’s emotional eating behavior and if child psychological maladjustment mediated this relationship. Three hundred sixty-nine dyads of fathers and children were screened using self-report measures of demographic data, parental rejection, child psycho...
Purpose
Body shame has been strongly associated with eating pathology. However, less is known about the predisposing factors linked to these feelings and how they interact with other variables in eating disorder development. Thus, the aim of the present study was to provide a preliminary understanding of the relationship between body shame and some...
Objective:
The current study investigates the hypothesis that the effect of low self-esteem on binge eating in bariatric candidates was mediated by both difficulties in the perception of bodily signals and impulse regulation after accounting for gender, age, and body mass index.
Method:
59 preoperative patients (both male and female) were screen...
Objective
The present study sought to: 1) assess the prevalence of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and abnormal eating behaviors in bariatric surgery candidates; 2) compare patients with and without BED as regards to eating disturbances, psychological characteristics, and health status; 3) individuate which factors were significantly related to binge e...
To start from scientific literature which investigates the relevance of puberty in the onset of the eating disorder, we did a “review” of our research and of the “case reports” on the eating disorder in which was indicated the age of the menarche. Our the hypothesis was that the early of puberty development could be a risk factor for onset a eating...
Objective: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to the intentional self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intention and for purposes not socially sanctioned. Our paper presents an up-to-date overview on nonsuicidal, self-injurious behaviors.
Method: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature search was conduc...
Lo scenario sociale e culturale attuale sembra caratterizzarsi per il venir meno dei garanti metasociali quali impianti di inquadramento e di regolazione della vita di ognuno con una ricaduta sui garanti della vita psichica, fondamentali nella strutturazione delle formazioni mentali. Emerge l’insufficienza dei processi di sublimazione e di simboliz...
Considering how to improve efficacy of therapeutic strategies, the overall objective of the present study was to investigate the extent of eating concerns and to identify predictors associated with the severity of disordered eating symptomatology among people with eating pathologies. We screened 80 female eating disordered patients, ranging from 13...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKi6KpTOc9Y Book presentation, Paolo Cotrufo’s Mia madre odia le carote. Corrispondenza psicoanalitica tra sconosciuti. Paolo Cotrufo is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (Second University of Naples), Full Member of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI) and the International Psychoanalytical Associatio...
Objective:
To investigate dysfunctional eating behaviors and psychological variables typically associated to eating disturbances such as low self-esteem, perfectionism, shame, perceived parental care and protectiveness in obese and normal weight adolescents and to examine how the main powerful eating disorder risk factors interact with each other...
Il libro è la fedele trascrizione di una corrispondenza avvenuta via mail e durata
un anno tra una donna sofferente dei sintomi che, in questi anni, affliggono in particolare
le giovani donne, e uno psicoanalista a lei sconosciuto. Anoressia, bulimia, attacchi
di panico e comportamenti autolesivi sono i temi fondamentali del carteggio, a partire da...
Objective: In recent years, was found a significant increase in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), especially in prepubertal and pubertal age. From the data of- fered by the scientific literature about the epidemiological diffusion, disease management and possible associations between onset disease and environmen- tal factors, we conducted a study wit...
Il quinto Quaderno del Centro Napoletano di Psicoanalisi, sezione locale della Società Psicoanalitica Italiana, è frutto del lavoro svolto collettivamente sul tema dell’identificazione nella molteplicità delle sue configurazioni e delle relazioni che intercorrono con la strutturazione dell’identità e con la soggettivazione.
L’identificazione in psi...
We found, in an empirical study on 53 people affected by cancer, of both sexes, that, according to previous researches, they take on a peculiar defensive style. The defensive styles differences between cancer patients and the comparison group resulted, by the mean of State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and Defense Mechanism Inventory (DM...
Il lavoro evidenzia due aspetti fondamentali, e in profonda relazione tra loro, della anoressia: la fra- gilità dell’apparato psichico e la percezione di una potente richiesta di lavoro che a questo arriva dal desiderio nel corpo, la pulsione. La restrizione alimentare e gli effetti sul corpo che da questa deriva- no si configurano come un tentativ...
The main aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between perceived parental bonding and self-concept and to investigate whether these variables have an effect on eating disturbances vulnerability by testing a mediation model. We screened 3158 Italian high school students (1132 males and 2026 females), ranging in age from 14 t...
This paper focuses on two fundamental aspects of anorexia and theprofound relationship between the two: The fragility of the psychic apparatus and the perception of a powerful demand for work arriving from bodily desire, the drive. Food restriction and the resultant effects on the body are seen as an attempt to anesthetize somatic excitability. Sta...
The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between gender role orientation and eating disorder attitudes and behaviors and body dissatisfaction in a sample of homosexuals, heterosexuals, and transsexuals.
We screened 132 homosexuals, 178 heterosexuals (both male and female), and 15 MtF transsexuals by means of an ad hoc socio...
Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as characters from fantasy stories during dedicated events as the comics fairs. It is compared to an art performance by some authors, but in Japan is considered as an expression of rebellion or juvenile distress. Could it be considered, as for body modification, an expression of self-seeking and identity defin...
We investigated self-injurious behaviors and body modification practices in eating disorder patients, considering different ED diagnoses and illness severities. Of the total sample, 50.9% showed at least one form of self-injury and 50.9% reported at least one tattoo, piercing, or both. Patients reporting only body modifications showed more positive...
Objective: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the features of Muscle Dysmorphia and other body image-related concerns in a sample of competitive male bodybuilders. Method: We screened 217 male athletes, 119 bodybuilders and 98 fitness practitioners, recruited in 12 gymnasiums in Southern Italy, by means of an ad hoc socio-demographic...
Oggetto: Abbiamo condotto uno studio con i seguenti obiettivi: 1) quantificare la prevalenza di soggetti che ricorrono a pratiche di body modifications (BM) in una popolazione naturale; 2) indagare le motivazioni coscienti che spingono questi soggetti a ricorrere a tali pratiche; 3) rilevare eventuali differenze nella relazione con il proprio corpo...
Introduction
Eating disorders (EDs) exist on a continuum ranging from innocuous but persisting dieting, through subthreshold states of uncertain significance, to full-blown cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Subthreshold EDs resemble AN or BN, but do not meet all their diagnostic criteria. The terms “partial syndromes” and “at...
The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sexual orientation and disordered eating attitudes and behaviours in a sample of homosexuals and heterosexuals subject.
We screened 110 homosexuals (85 males and 25 females) and 121 heterosexuals (85 males and 36 females) by means of: a) an ad hoc socio-demographic schedule;...
A cross sectional study was performed to evaluate the presence, in a sample of subjects in the age of pubertal transition, of those psychological characteristics and abnormal eating behaviours, which are generally considered the predictors of eating disorders (EDs) in adolescence. The primary aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of EDs-rel...
Marco Levi Bianchini (1868-1961) was the first Italian translator of Freud and he worked as a psychiatrist in "Vittorio Emanuele II" Mental Hospital in Nocera Inferiore, a small city south of Naples from 1909-1938. In preparation for this article we studied 247 sets of his case notes in an attempt to evaluate the importance played by theories of th...
The Medical Notes of Marco Levi Bianchini as the First Written Testimony of the History of Italian Psychoanalysis.
Marco Levi Bianchini (1868-1961) was the first Italian translator of Freud and he worked as a psychiatrist in “Vittorio Emanuele II” Mental Hospital in Nocera Inferiore, a small city south of Naples from 1909-1938. In preparation for t...
We screened a sample of 259 female students, aged 17-20 years old, by means of the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI 2) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Those students identified to be at risk for an eating disorder underwent a semi-structured interview to provide a diagnosis according to DSM-IV criteria. We also considered the prevale...
We designed a two-step prospective study aiming to detect cases with full and atypical eating disorders (EDs) in a population of female high-school students (first step) and to assess their natural outcome after a 4-year time period (second step).
In the first step, we screened female students in their first year of high school by means of the EDI-...
The Reception of Marco Levi’s Psychoanalytical Works by Italian Psychiatry at the Start of the Twentieth Century.
Marco Levi Bianchini was among the first Italian psychiatrists to take an active interest in clinical practice and Freudian doctrine, and in 1915 he set about translating ‘Uber Psychoanalyse,’the five American conferences. This translat...
Marco Levi Bianchini was among the first Italian psychiatrists to take an active interest in clinical practice and Freudian doctrine, and in 1915 he set about translating 'Uber Psychoanalyse,' the five American conferences. This translation was published in a collection founded by Levi Bianchini himself, while he was director of the 'Vittorio Emanu...
The aims of the study are to evaluate the personality traits, the psy- chopathology, the anger emotions, the stable personality traits as neuro- ticism, psychoticism and extraversion and to evaluate the prevalence of any personality disorder, in accord with DSM-IV criteria, in a sample of 20 addiction syndrome inpatients. We administered MMPI 2, St...
Increased aggressiveness frequently occurs in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN), but its neurobiological correlates have been poorly investigated. In this study, we investigated possible relationships between such clinical measure and blood levels of endogenous hormones in patients with BN. Morning plasma levels of testosterone, 17beta-estradiol,...
We screened a sample of 919 female students, aged 13-19 years, by means of the EDI 2 and GHQ-28 questionnaires. Those students identified as being at risk for an eating disorder (281 subjects) underwent a psychiatric interview. We found 2 cases of full-syndrome anorexia nervosa (0.2%), 21 cases of full-syndrome bulimia nervosa (2.3%) and 2 cases of...
Resumen
En este estudio, investigamos la prevalencia del síndrome completo (SC), el síndrome parcial (SP) y el síndrome subclínico (SSC) de los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria en una muestra de 356 muchachas que cursaban enseñanza secundaria. Identificamos dos casos de anorexia nerviosa (0,56%), 14 de bulimia nerviosa (3,94%) y uno de trastor...
In this study, we investigated the prevalence of full syndrome (FS), partial syndrome (PS) and subclinical syndrome (SCS) eating disorders in a sample of 356 high school girls. We identified two cases of anorexia nervosa (0.56%), 14 of bulimia nervosa (3.94%) and one of binge eating disorder (0.28%) according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (D...
Questions
Question (1)
In your scientific and/or clinical practice, which you consider to be the most relevant risk factors in anorexia onset?