Vincenzo Caretti

• Maria SS. Assunta University of Rome

Background: Accurate prediction of neurorehabilitation outcomes following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is crucial for optimizing healthcare resource allocation and improving rehabilitation strategies. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) may identify complex prognostic factors in patients with SCI. However, the influence of psychological variables on reha...

Background: Accurate prediction of neurorehabilitation outcomes following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is crucial for optimizing healthcare resource allocation and improving rehabilitation strategies. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) may identify complex prognostic factors in patients with SCI. However, psychological variables’ influence on rehabilita...

Objective Syncope is defined as a spontaneous and transient loss of consciousness and postural tone due to brief and reversible cerebral hypoperfusion. This review aimed to summarize the research findings regarding the psychological correlates associated with pediatric syncope. Moreover, the study aimed to deepen the understanding of the relationsh...

Therapist expertise is a complex, multifaceted, and continually evolving concept. Defining this construct and its constituent components can yield a substantial contribution to the field of psychotherapy, consequently enhancing the comprehension of the fundamental factors that underlie its effectiveness. Within this framework, the present research...

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between dissociation and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and disorder (OCD). Specifically, the study aimed to (a) estimate the pooled prevalence of dissociative disorders among individuals with OCD; (b) systematically review the prevalence of OCD among individuals wi...

This study aimed to explore the relationships among the variables involved in a Comprehensive Model of Addiction (CMA), which posits that the presence and severity of addictive behaviors are related to the configuration of seven psychological variables, namely childhood trauma, insecure attachment, affect dysregulation, dissociation, impulsivity, c...

Background Questionnaires for the screening of paternal perinatal psychological distress are based on clinical manifestations expressed by women, showing limitations in capturing the wide array of signs and symptoms exhibited by men. The current study aimed to validate the Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity, a new self-report tool for the...

Background: The clinical relevance of the degree of severity in addiction disorders supports the need to investigate the variables underlying this aspect of the phenomenon. Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationships between factors that may influence the severity of addiction disorder, with a particular focus on temperamental disin...

Gambling Disorder is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon which requires a careful understanding by analysing both the life experiences and the psychopathological components linked to this type of behaviour. This study aimed to apply a Comprehensive Model of Addiction and to delve deeper the dimensions involved in the vulnerability and maintenance...

Background and hypothesis Evidence suggests that childhood maltreatment (ie, childhood abuse and childhood neglect) affects educational attainment and cognition. However, the association between childhood maltreatment and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) seems stronger among controls compared to people with psychosis. We hypothesised that: the associatio...

Objective: The present study aimed at exploring the potential utility of autonomic regulation as a useful marker in the diagnostic differentiation between unipolar and bipolar depression. Method: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), low-frequency (LF) of heart rate variability, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were assessed in patients with bipo...

Objective: To investigate the association between prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia, autonomic activity, and personality functioning. Method: 10 adolescents underwent semi-structured interviews assessing prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia and personality functioning. Cardiac activity was recorded at baseline, during the clinical interviews, a...

Introduction: The present paper highlights the interaction between play and neurobiological, cognitive and emotional dynamics. Method: 10 subjects from the general population took part to a project which aimed to assess concomitant changes in individual and group functioning through the use of competitive and cooperative games. Self-report survey...

The COVID‐19 pandemic represents a unique global challenge. To deter its spread, several countries have put lockdown and physical distancing measures in place that could have potentially harmful consequences on people's mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between anxiety and perceived stress in individuals...

Several studies have suggested a correlation between heart rate variability (HRV), emotion regulation (ER), and consequent psychopathological conditions. Specifically, recent data seem to support the hypothesis that low-frequency heart rate variability (LF-HRV), an index of sympathetic cardiac control, correlates with worse ER and specific psychopa...

Background DSM-5 provided a dimensional model of personality disorders which may be more clinically informative for the assessment and management of prisoners than a categorical one, as diagnoses of personality disorders alone cannot explain the type of violence. The role of DSM-5 personality facets is however understudied in child molesters, and n...

Executive functions are those mental processes aiming to elaborate the adaptive cognitive-behavioral schemas in response to new and challenging environmental conditions. These functions represent the basis of necessary behaviors useful for managing life in general and include fundamental processes such as inhibition (response inhibition needed...

Introduction: Several studies have supported the evidence that attachment styles are a central factor in adolescent gambling problems. On this theoretical basis, the aim of the present study is to analyze a hypothesized mediation model exploring both the direct and indirect effects of insecure attachment on gambling disorder by investigating the ro...

Although personality is a widely discussed topic within the academic field, little is still known about its role in affecting psychopathology, specifically schizophrenia, which can involve psychosis. While the existing literature connects these fields, it is necessary to deepen the knowledge about the relationship between these and the role that pe...

Sexual offending is a highly relevant public health problem. The effectiveness of policies and interventions aimed at the reduction of violent (sexual and nonsexual) recidivism depends on our ability to develop accurate risk assessment tools. To assess the association between violence risk and psychopathy and dysfunctional personality traits in sex...

This chapter reviews contemporary research on the relationship between childhood psychological trauma and psychopathy, and discusses how findings of the research may help clinicians, researchers, and forensic professionals to better understand the development of psychopathic personalities. Child abuse and neglect can be conceived as significant ris...

This chapter considers child online protection in the context of a study funded by the European Commission which explored industry and policing practice in the prevention and investigation of online child sexual abuse cases. The research was conducted in four EU countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands) and employed a mixed-me...

L’HCR-20V3 è tra gli strumenti più diffusi al mondo per la valutazione del rischio di recidiva in popolazioni carcerarie, forensi e cliniche adulte (dai 18 anni in poi). Lo strumento si basa su un modello di giudizio professionale strutturato (structured professional judgement). Il giudizio professionale strutturato è un metodo analitico che viene...

Objective: The present study aimed at testing the relationships between measures of psychopathy and measures of the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) domains in a sample of female offenders who were serving their sentences in Italian prisons. Method: Thirty-eight Italian adult female inmates were underwent the Italian versi...

Objective: Recent research suggests that early signs of schizophrenia can be detected several years before its onset. Evidence suggests that the identification of at-risk individuals before the psychotic onset can significantly improve the course of the disorder. However, instruments employed for the detection of prodromal symptoms are far from be...

Cambridge Core - Health and Clinical Psychology - Alexithymia - edited by Olivier Luminet

Psychological trauma may significantly damage and deviate the individuals’ capacities for emotional understanding and processing, especially when traumatic experiences are severe, enduring, and occur early in life within the attachment relationships. In this chapter, we review the theoretical contributions and the empirical evidence linking alexith...

Background: The assessment of affective disorders in fathers during the perinatal period represents a difficult challenge for clinicians. The Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA) (Baldoni et al., 2016) is a new self-report questionnaire for the screening of affective symptoms in fathers during the perinatal period. It has been develo...

Recent research confirms that the father plays an important role from the early stage of pregnancy. However, during the perinatal period many fathers show affective disorders (like Paternal Perinatal Depression or Anxiety disorders) that can negatively affect the couple's life, the mother's mental health, and the child's psychological and physical...

This article evaluates the psychometric properties of a new measure for assessing Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: the Addictive Behavior Questionnaire (ABQ). The ABQ is a self-report measure composed of two sections: the Severity Index (SI) and the Seven Domains Addiction Scale (7DAS). Materials and methods: A total sample of 698 subje...

Background: Extensive research has demonstrated the positive associations among the exposure to traumatic experiences, the levels of dissociation, and the severity of psychiatric symptoms in adults. However, it has been hypothesized in clinical literature that an excessive activation of the dissociative processes following multiple traumatic experi...

Objective: The evidence accumulated in the relevant literature suggests that the presence and evolution of gambling could be correlated with the internalizing and externalizing problems and with the attachment style. This paper aims at exploring this perspective further. In particular, it analyses how such risk factors interact within the speci c c...

Objective: Internet pornography addiction typically involves viewing, downloading and trading online pornography or engagement in adult fantasy role-play. There are some well-validated inventories measuring perceived addiction to internet pornography but these instruments are often too long for a functionally use and fast scoring. The aim of this s...

This study investigates the relationship between malingering and personality characteristics in a sample of imprisoned male offenders (N=34). Participants completed measures on malingering, DSM-5 maladaptive personality traits, dark triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), alexithymia, and dissociation. Malingering scores were...

Objective: The engagement and use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has increased exponentially across societies worldwide with implications for social and psychological development in young people. In this context, the risk of negative sexual experience and victimisation online is known to have real world consequences for young...

Objective: In this article, we propose the clinical construct of Video-terminal Dissociative Trance (VDT) and discuss its potential usefulness for the assessment and treatment of people who display problematic Internet use. VDT is defined as a clinical syndrome characterized by clusters of symptoms in the psychological domains of addiction, regress...

The association between traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and substance abuse is well established. Less is known about the role of traumatic experiences and alexithymia in the onset and maintenance of Internet-related disorders. In the present study, self-report measures on traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and problematic Internet use were...

The current field of forensic psychiatry and psychology requires that professionals have adequate skills to assess the potential risk that a criminal poses to the society. The aim of such assessments is to indicate a viable and effective path to follow in juridical, clinical and rehabilitative practices. The aim of this article is to propose a stru...

There is an increasing interest in psychological research on shame experiences and their associations with other aspects of psychological functioning and well-being, as well as with possible maladaptive outcomes. In an attempt to confirm and extend previous knowledge on this topic, we investigated the nomological network of shame experiences in a l...

This is an EC ISEC funded study that explored policing and industry practice in the prevention of online child sexual abuse and explored young people's experience of online victimisation . The research spanned 4 EU countries (the UK, Italy , Ireland and the Netherlands) and included national police surveys (3 countries) and national surveys of yout...

Introduction Since many psychopathological traits seem to be related to Gambling Disorder (GD), impulsivity, alexithymia and dissociation could play a central role in gambling behaviors, particularly in pathological gambling. We test this hypothesis in four distinct samples of gamblers, three undergoing different types of treatments and a control g...

The purpose of this review is to introduce both the research and political context of the European Commission’s ISEC Illegal Use of the Internet work programme and the EU Online Child Safety investigation. This includes examining the social, psychological and legal contexts of online crimes perpetrated against children, inclusive of a holistic enga...

Introduction: Given the centrality of insight in promoting change, the relevance of measures for assessing this construct has become increasingly clear. This paper describes a new self-report measure for assessing some of the characteristics of insight, the insight orientation scale (IOS). Aims: In study 1, we evaluated the factor structure and the...

Objective: Although in the last years the studies on Internet use are largely increasing, little is still known its relationship with psychosocial well-being. The present study aims to fill this gap, hypothesizing that Internet use has a negative effect on emotional and psychological well-being and that there are differences between users at risk a...

Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA): preliminary report on a new screening tool. Baldoni F., Matthey S., Agostini F., Schimmenti A., & Caretti V. World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) Congress (Prague, May 29-June 2, 2016), Infant Mental Health Journal, 37 (Suppl. 1), 2016, pp. 132-133. During the perinatal period af...

Introduction: Given the centrality of insight in promoting change, the relevance of measures for assessing this construct has become increasingly clear. This paper describes a new self-report measure for assessing some of the characteristics of insight, the insight orientation scale (IOS). Aims: In study 1, we evaluated the factor structure and the...

Introduction: Given the centrality of insight in promoting change, the relevance of measures for assessing this construct has become increasingly clear. This paper describes a new self-report measure for assessing some of the characteristics of insight, the insight orientation scale (IOS). Aims: In study 1, we evaluated the factor structure and...

Introduction Given the centrality of insight in promoting change, the relevance of measures for assessing this construct has become increasingly clear. This paper describes a new self-report measure for assessing some of the characteristics of insight, the insight orientation scale (IOS). Aims In study 1, we evaluated the factor structure and the...

Internet pornography addiction typically involves viewing, downloading, and trading online pornography or engagement in adult fantasy role-play. Many studies have shown that people are able to become very compulsive in their use of pornography on the Internet. However, despite the apparent recognition of this phenomenon, there is still no definitiv...

Le esperienze di maltrattamento durante l’infanzia rappresentano degli eventi traumatici che possono portare allo sviluppo di disturbi internalizzanti e/o esternalizzanti in eta adulta. La presente ricerca indaga la presenza di esperienze traumatiche e di rappresentazioni di attaccamento di tipo insicuro in un gruppo di 40 donne con Binge Eating Di...

Childhood abuse represents a traumatic experience that can lead to the development of internalizing and/or externalizing problems in adulthood. This research investigates the presence of traumatic experiences and insecure attachment states in a group of 40 women with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Results show that most of the subjects had traumatic...

Il merito principale degli autori degli 11 saggi che compongono il volume è quello di oltrepassare il livello descrittivo adottato dalla quasi totalità della ormai sterminata letteratura, nazionale e internazionale, sul tema, che si limita per lo più a classificare i comportamenti dei perpetratori e delle vittime dello stalking. Gli autori vanno be...

A recent article published in Psichiatria e Psicoterapia [Nijenhuis ERS (2014). Ten Reasons for classifying conceiving and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a dissociative disorder. Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 33, 74-106.] has provided strong theoretical and empirical support to the reconceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a d...

A significant body of research underlines the link between the exposure to abuse in childhood and subsequent criminal behaviors. Research on the role played by childhood interpersonal trauma in the development of psychopathy, however, is still scant. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood experiences of abuse and ps...

In this article, we propose a developmental trauma model of psychopathology, grounded in convergent findings in psychoanalytic, developmental, and affective neuroscience research. We suggest that dissociation is a key variable in understanding clinical disorders that have their roots in relationally traumatic experiences during childhood. Dissociat...

Il manuale approfondisce le questioni teoriche e le applicazioni pratiche della psicometria clinica, intesa come presupposto per la ricerca sul funzionamento psichico e comportamentale dell’individuo. Gli autori affrontano numerosi aspetti relativi al problema della misurazione delle variabili psicologiche, soffermandosi sulle due lenti paradigmati...

IntroductionIn recent research, scientists have begun to suspect that birth control pill use could interfere with key mechanisms that play a role when women choose a sexual partner. Many studies have shown that women, particularly during the most fertile days of their menstrual cycle, look for specific physical, psychological, and behavioral charac...

Abstract It has been demonstrated that psychopathy is a crucial construct for the understanding of criminal and violent behavior; however, research on psychopathic traits among child sexual abusers is still scant. In this study, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) was used to assess psychopathy in a group of 87 Italian, male inmat...

Objective Addiction is often considered a dissociative behavior that is related to alexithymia and developmental trauma. The study aims were to explore the relationships between early trauma, alexithymia, and dissociation. Methods A total of 117 (males=60; females=57) alcohol-addicted individuals and 117 healthy individuals (males=60; females=57) w...

Objective Addiction is often considered a dissociative behavior that is related to alexithymia and developmental trauma. The study aims were to explore the relationships between early trauma, alexithymia, and dissociation. Methods A total of 117 (males=60; females=57) alcohol-addicted individuals and 117 healthy individuals (males=60; females=57)...

Il volume è la prima opera sistematizzata a livello mondiale dedicata allo strumento Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA). La TSIA, nata dalle riflessioni teoriche e dalla ricerca empirica di Graeme J. Taylor e R. Michael Bagby, è considerata oggi il criterio più affidabile per la misurazione del costrutto di alessitimia. Il testo co...

This study used a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodology to investigate the relationship between attachment and psychopathy. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare 2003) was administered to 139 Italian offenders who were convicted of violent crimes (murder, rape, child sexual abuse, armed robbery, assault causing bodily harm). First, we...

In popular culture, Mafia members are often portrayed as ruthless, callous and remorseless, but there is no empirical research on their personality traits. The goal of this research was to examine levels of psychopathic traits among Mafia members who have been convicted of a criminal offence. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) rated 30 Itali...

The link between early traumatic experiences of abuse/neglect and criminal behaviour has been widely demonstrated. Less is known, however, about the relationship between these experiences and the development of psychopathic personality. This study investigated childhood relational trauma in a group of violent offenders from Italy. We hypothesised a...

L'integrità Sé-altro è la questione di fondo che lega il trauma con il fenomeno della dissociazio-ne. I capitoli che compongono questo volume, sebbene ognuno con la propria specificità e con la propria cornice concettuale di riferimento, descrivono proprio questo rapporto fra trauma e dissociazione, e il modo in cui tale rapporto orga-nizza ciò che...

Trauma psichico, trascuratezza emotiva, dissocia-zione. Il ruolo delle esperienze traumatiche nella dipendenza patologica, nei disturbi del comporta-mento alimentare, nella depressione, nel disturbo post-traumatico da stress, nelle perversioni, nelle malattie psicosomatiche e nei disturbi di personalità.

The connections between eating disorders (EDs) and alexithymia have not been fully clarified. This study aims to define alexithymia's connections with shame, trauma, dissociation, and body image disorders. We administered the Dissociative Experience Scale-II, Trauma Symptom Inventory, Experience of Shame Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and Bod...

La psicopatia č un disturbo di personalitŕ definito dalla presenza di tratti e comportamenti che hanno un impatto negativo sugli individui e sulla societŕ, tra cui egocentrismo patologico, fascino superficiale, senso di sé grandioso, bisogno di stimoli, uso patologico di menzogne e manipolazione, mancanza di rimorso e di senso di colpa, insensibili...

Objectives: Scientific literature on stalking behaviors is not sufficiently uniform and shows no clear definition of the theorical construct of stalking. In order to respond to current scientific criteria for defining a psychological and behavioral construct, the definition of "stalking" should be exhaustive and specific at the same time. There mus...

The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample...

Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Traumatic Stress - Human Rights & Psychotraumatology, Vienna, Austria, 2-5 June 2011. Rationale for the Use of the CECA Measures as Preferred Tools for Research on the Relationship between Child Abuse/Neglect and Adult Psychopathology Objectives: Research focusing on the role played by child abuse/ne...

New technologies are highly interactive. They promote imaginative involvement and allow the experience of different self-states, such as those involving withdrawal or “psychic retreat”. According to Steiner, psychic retreats are areas of the mind populated by imagination and ideas which are poorly aligned with reality. Psychic retreats are not nece...

The vaso‐vagal syncope is a transitory loss of conscience, due to a temporary, reversible, poor rush of blood to the brain. Recent studies in the field of somatoform and psychological dissociation connect this syndrome to the psychobiological phenomenon of total submission observed in the animal defensive systems when in presence of a significant t...

The vaso‐vagal syncope is a transitory loss of conscience, due to a temporary, reversible, poor rush of blood to the brain. Recent studies in the field of somatoform and psychological dissociation connect this syndrome to the psychobiological phenomenon of total submission observed in the animal defensive systems when in presence of a significant t...

All forms of addiction (drug addiction, food addiction, sexual addiction, technological addiction, work addiction) are syndromic conditions characterized by a recurrent and reiterated search for pleasure derived from a specific dependence behavior, associated with abuse, craving, clinically significant stress, and compulsive dependence actions desp...

RIASSUNTO Le dipendenze patologiche sono caratterizzate dall'uso distorto di una sostanza, di un oggetto o di un comportamento; secondo una prospettiva psicodinamica è possi-bile rintracciare aspetti comuni nelle diverse forme di dipendenza. L'articolo illustra un modello teorico esplicativo basato sul ruolo svolto dal trauma e dalla disregola-zion...

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction has been reported to be involved in vulnerability to alcohol and drug dependence in humans, possibly underlying both addictive behaviour and depression susceptibility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible interactions between childhood adverse experiences, depressive symp...

Background. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seems to be a risk condition for substance use disorders, possibly in relationship to common neurobiological changes, underlying both addictive and externalising behaviour susceptibility. Although this vulnerability has been primarily attributed to gene variants, previous studies suggest t...

Unlabelled: Childhood neglect and poor child-parent relationships have been reported to increase substance use disorders susceptibility. Stressful environmental factors, including emotional neglect, could affect individual personality traits and mental health, possibly inducing stable changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and brain...