Sara Iannattone

University of Padua | UNIPD · Department of General Psychology

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a trait-like characteristic defined by a tendency to fear unpredictable and uncertain future events, combined with the belief that uncertainty is inherently undesirable. IU is a well-known vulnerability factor for anxiety manifestations in adolescents. This longitudinal study investigated whether IU is not only a...

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic factor underlying several psychological disorders. Currently, most research on this topic focuses on adulthood, while only a few studies consider childhood. However, deepening IU in children seems clinically relevant, as it can shed light on the trajectories of psychopathologies that emerge durin...

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact that Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictive measures have had on minors diagnosed with eating disorders (EDs), in particular Anorexia nervosa (AN) and restrictive unspecified EDs, both on an epidemiological and on a clinical level. Methods: We considered AN and restrictive unspec...

La pandemia da Covid-19 ha favorito l’accelerazione del trend, già in costante crescita, relativo all’aumento di comportamenti suicidari in adolescenza. Il presente studio ha analizzato un gruppo di 271 adolescenti (età: 11-17 anni), ospedalizzati presso un reparto di Neuropsichiatria dell’infanzia e dell’adolescenza nel pre-Covid (febbraio 2019-fe...

Despite exhibiting an inverse association with each other, negative and positive body image exist on separate continua and can occur simultaneously. However, the question of whether these constructs can coexist among adolescents remains unsolved. To address this, the present study employed Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to pinpoint profiles of negat...

In the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD), psychopathy is marked by the presence of attention seeking, low anxiousness, and lack of social withdrawal, along with traits from the domains of Antagonism and Disinhibition. The triarchic model of psychopathy (TriPM) posits three biobehaviorally based traits underlying it: disinhibit...

Adolescence witnesses frequent appearance comparisons, which may expose individuals to adverse mental health outcomes; hence the relevance of expanding research in this area. The Physical Appearance Comparison Scale – 3 (PACS-3) is a valuable tool for evaluating the frequency of such comparisons, yet its factor structure remains unexplored in the I...

Personality functioning, general psychopathology, and developmental milestones achievement are critical domains in the field of young people’s mental health; however, no prior research has considered these variables jointly or examined the temporal dynamics between them. To fill these gaps, the present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal as...

The adolescents’ ability to discriminate between different negative emotional states is still under debate. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) serves as a useful tool to unravel this issue, yet the literature on its structural validity in young people is ambiguous. Therefore, this study aimed to expand knowledge on the emotional expe...

Background Emotion dysregulation, boredom, and problematic social media use are well-known vulnerability factors for psychopathology during adolescence; nevertheless, the interplay between these factors remains underinvestigated in the literature. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to explore the mediating role of boredom and proble...

The adolescents' ability to discriminate between different negative emotional states is still under debate. A useful tool to unravel this issue is the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), but the literature on its structural validity in young people is ambiguous. This study aimed to expand knowledge on the emotional experience of youth by...

Background: Although Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), separation anxiety, and negative affectivity seem theoretically interrelated, no empirical study has considered them jointly so far. However, deepening this topic is clinically relevant, especially during the delicate phase of emerging adulthood. This study aimed to pinpoint psychological profil...

The peer group is crucial to adolescent development; therefore, social rejection, encompassing behaviors ranging from social exclusion to complete rejection, can negatively impact youth’s growth and mental health. However, some cognitive dispositions, such as Intolerance of uncertainty, can affect how people experience social rejection. This study...

Introduction: The critical role of mothers in shaping their children’s body image and eating behaviors is well-known. However, most research has considered children’s reports about appearance-related pressure from parents; conversely, it is still unclear whether mothers and children share similar attitudes toward body and food, especially in adoles...

Background: Anxiety symptoms are rather frequent in adolescence and associated with long-term negative consequences. Therefore, expanding knowledge on the factors that may underlie anxiety symptomatology is extremely relevant; to this end, intolerance of uncertainty and emotion dysregulation are of key interest. This study aimed to deepen the relat...

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an increasing phenomenon among both clinical and nonclinical adolescent groups and is associated with several psychopathological symptoms, in addition to being one of the main risk factors for suicidality. Nevertheless, differences between clinical and nonclinical samples of self-harmers in symptom dimensions, ale...

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic factor involved in several psychological disorders. Adolescence is characterized by elevated uncertainty and psychopathological vulnerability, but insufficient attention has been paid to IU at this age. This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Intole...

Previous research on the relation between Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Emotional Processing (EP) during adolescence is limited. The present study aimed to clarify how IU and EP evolve over time, to what extent they are related, and whether changes in one precede or follow changes in the other. A total of 457 Italian adolescents (53.1% girls)...

Abundant research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has been negatively affecting mental health in adolescence. Few works, however, benefit from data from the same sample before and after the onset of the pandemic. The present longitudinal study involved a non-clinical group of 136 Italian adolescents (Mage = 16.3 years ± 1.08, 67% girls) to inv...

Suicide is the second cause of death among adolescents, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one of the main risk factors for suicidal behavior. However, the possible variables specifically associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempt, as well as the psychopathological characteristics linked to the concomitant presence of suicidal ideatio...

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Emotional Processing (EP) are well-known transdiagnostic factors for mental disorders. Teenagers are highly vulnerable to psychopathology, thus examining the longitudinal association between IU and EP in such a population may be clinically relevant. This three-wave longitudinal study explored how self-reported IU...

Functionality appreciation is a core facet of positive body image and may be a protective factor for body dissatisfaction and Eating Disorders (EDs). Adolescents are highly vulnerable to body dissatisfaction, thus understanding the features of functionality appreciation at this age is clinically relevant. This study aimed to preliminary examine the...

Introduction. Adolescence is a critical period for individual development since it is marked by numerous cognitive, physical, psychological, and interpersonal changes that make this life stage particularly stressful, thus also increasing vulnerability to psychopathology. Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Emotional Processing (EP) are well-known t...

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for health systems as it has proven to be an extraordinary emergency. Exposure to such chronic stress can have detrimental effects on the psychophysical well-being of healthcare workers, with possible manifestation of stress-related symptoms. The present study aimed to develop...

Few studies have focused on the persistence of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) over time in developmental age. This study aimed to define the psycho-behavioral profiles of young inpatients according to past or recent NSSI onset (i.e., NSSI for more or less than one year, respectively), and identify possible risk factors for maintaining NSSI over tim...

Eating disorders are multifaceted psychopathologies and the transdiagnostic approach is currently considered a useful framework to understand their complexity. This preliminary study aimed to investigate both broad (i.e., intolerance of uncertainty and emotion dysregulation) and narrow (i.e., extreme body dissatisfaction) transdiagnostic risk facto...

Objective: In Italy, the number of patients admitted to child and adolescent neuropsychiatry services has almost doubled in the last 10 years. Despite this significant increase in demand, there is still a paucity of literature on mental disorders in the paediatric population. Therefore, we investigated and described the clinical and socio-demograp...

Objective: This case-control study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental well-being of pediatric psychiatric outpatients and their families, comparing them with children/adolescents and their parents from the general population. Method: The case group consisted of 168 subjects: 56 patients (6-18 years old) with psyc...

This study aimed to investigate the immediate and short-term impact of the pandemic on the psychological well-being of Italian children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders and their families. Overall, 56 patients aged 6–18 (M = 13.4 years, SD = 2.77) and their parents were evaluated during the COVID-19 lockdown (T0) and after 4 months (T1)....

Boredom in adolescence is often underestimated, although it may be the sign of a profound unease or be associated with psychological disorders. Given the complexity of the construct of boredom and its increasing prevalence among adolescents in recent years, the present study aimed to validate the factorial structure of the Italian version of the Mu...

Although social withdrawal is becoming increasingly common among adolescents, there is still no consensus on its definition from the diagnostic and psychopathological standpoints. So far, research has focused mainly on social withdrawal as a symptom of specific diagnostic categories, such as depression, social phobia, or anxiety disorders, or in th...

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced parents and children to adopt significant changes in their daily routine, which has been a big challenge for families, with important implications for family stress. In this study, we aimed to analyze the potential risk and protective factors for parents’ and children’s well-being during a potent...