Gabriele Profita

The Group-Analytic Model of the Functioning of the Inner World

The aim of this paper is to reach a thorough understanding of the functioning of the inner world, starting from an elaboration and development of the group-analytic concept of the transpersonal. The study also takes into account the results obtained at the metapsychological level of group-analytic research in England and Italy.

The italian version of the inventory of interpersonal problems (IIP-32): Psychometric properties and factor structure in clinical and non-clinical groups

All versions of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) are broadly used to measure peoples interpersonal functioning. The aims of the current study are: (a) to examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Italian version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems—short version (IIP-32); and (b) to evaluate its associations with core symptoms of different eating disorders. One thousand two hundred and twenty three participants (n = 623 non-clinical and n = 600 clinical participants with eating disorders and obesity) filled out the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems—short version (IIP-32) along with measures of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, RSES), psychological functioning (Outcome Questionnaire, OQ-45), and eating disorders (Eating Disorder Inventory, EDI-3). The present study examined the eight-factor structure of the IIP-32 with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). ESEM was also used to test the measurement invariance of the IIP-32 across clinical and non-clinical groups. It was found that CFA had unsatisfactory model fit, whereas the corresponding ESEM solution provided a better fit to the observed data. However, six target factor loadings tend to be modest, and ten items showed cross-loadings higher than 0.30. The configural and metric invariance as well as the scalar and partial strict invariance of the IIP-32 were supported across clinical and non-clinical groups. The internal consistency of the IIP-32 was acceptable and the construct validity was confirmed by significant correlations between IIP-32, RSES, and OQ-45. Furthermore, overall interpersonal difficulties were consistently associated with core eating disorder symptoms, whereas interpersonal styles that reflect the inability to form close relationships, social awkwardness, the inability to be assertive, and a tendency to self-sacrificing were positively associated with general psychological maladjustment. Although further validation of the Italian version of the IIP-32 is needed to support these findings, the results on its cross-cultural validity are promising.

Empirically-derived subgroups of Facebook users and their association with personality characteristics: a Latent Class Analysis

Abstract In recent years, considerable research effort has been directed at the identification of relationships between psychological variables and Facebook usage indicators. However, the identification of homogeneous subgroups of individuals based on similar Facebook usage characteristics still presents a challenge. This study aims: (1) to empirically determine homogeneous groups of Facebook users based on variables regarding their personal experience on Facebook, by using a Latent Class Analysis; and (2) to examine the association between an individuals personality and interpersonal characteristics and the empirically-derived profiles of Facebook usage. Eight hundred and eleven Facebook users (aged from 17 to 61 years) provided data on personality traits, self-esteem, interpersonal difficulties, attachment styles, preference for online social interaction and information on general Facebook use. We found that a three-class model (Mild-users, Committed to Facebook, and Online Socially-Oriented groups) fitted well with our data. Individuals in the Online Socially-Oriented group reported greater openness to experience as well as a greater preference for online social interaction, whereas the individuals in the Committed to Facebook group showed high self-esteem, extraversion and need for approval, as well as low emotional stability. The results of this study provided a more comprehensive picture of individual characteristics associated with the different profiles of Facebook usage.

Setting terapeutici come luoghi di ancoraggio comunitario. Esperienze cliniche con pazienti migranti

Gli autori mostrano le linee di ricerca e di intervento seguite per la presa in carico di pazienti immigrati. Sviluppano le tematiche relative alle variazioni di setting legate ai modelli culturali proposti dai pazienti e non considerati come acting out. Gli autori presentano una situazione clinica in cui le trasformazioni del setting sono in relazione ad elaborazioni gruppali di lutto e di separazioni.

Misunderstanding Situations in Culture and Cultural Care

This article focuses on cultural misunderstanding in care relations, starting from the analysis of the effects misunderstanding causes in the relation between doctor and migrant patient. The Western medical model tends to be based on objective data, which can be diagnosed through more and more precise and detailed techniques, but it excludes human and cultural aspects of subjectivity and relation from care. This exclusion creates distance, which increases when doctor and patient do not share a cultural homogeneity but differ for their language and the way they conceive their body, health, and disease. By showing some clinical examples, this contribution points out how specialized competence can cause dark areas of obscurity, disagreement, and misunderstanding, although being successful in many distressing situations. The interpretation of misunderstanding in the field of healthcare delimits our observation to disease, treatment, and the relation between doctor and patient, but the identification and comprehension of misunderstanding are possible also, focusing our attention on the organizational and institutional environment where misunderstanding takes place.

La formazione esperienziale degli psicoterapeuti attraverso la valutazione del workshop residenziale COIRAG

Questo contributo rappresenta l’analisi delle informazioni - raccolte nell’arco di 9 anni - riguardanti la valutazione che gli allievi della Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia della COIRAG hanno dato del workshop annuale che coinvolge tutti gli iscritti, suddivisi per anno. L’analisi e stata condotta attraverso due questionari quali-quantitativi, somministrati agli stessi allievi e concernenti la valutazione in itinere (anno per anno) e quella conclusiva (rispetto all’intero percorso quadriennale) dell’esperienza da loro vissuta nel workshop. L’elaborazione statistico-descrittiva e quella qualitativa, ha messo in luce la percezione degli obiettivi, dei contenuti e degli esiti del percorso formativo da parte degli allievi. La lettura di questi dati consente un’interpretazione del rapporto tra il progetto formativo specifico dei workshop entro la Scuola di specializzazione COIRAG e gli esiti dell’esperienza cosi com’e valutata dagli allievi. Le principali evidenze riguardano l’importanza della formazione esperienziale nello sviluppo dell’identita professionale, la corrispondenza elevata tra gli obiettivi del progetto formativo e gli esiti percepiti dagli allievi, la centralita della consapevolezza e dell’elaborazione delle motivazioni e delle risorse emotive-relazionali personali nella costruzione delle competenze professionali, la capacita di collocare il proprio progetto professionale nel contesto socio-culturale.

Pensare i dispositivi dei gruppi mediani e allargati

Considering median and large group settings, by Gabriele Profita, Giuseppe RuvoloOn the basis of long experience in median and large groups in various social and institutionalcontexts, the authors expound the main conceptual references that are necessary toplan and develop the settings of these group formats. On one side, these references are constitutedby the epistemological awareness of the sociocultural level of the psychic and relationalprocesses that occur within these groups. On the other, they are based on the need toconsider the institutional context in which they take shape, on the identification of specificcultural themes and, eventually, on the choice of defined methodological parameters relatedto the objectives that every setting aims to achieve. The entirety of these epistemological andmethodological references has led the authors to formulate a work model that they have denominatedtransit group, which is potentially applicable to every context in social and institutionallife.Key words: Median groups, large groups, transit group.

The Aetiological-Therapeutic Model of a Magus

This work is part of a more extensive study which examines the therapy of a magus in comparison with analytic psychotherapy in order to determine, among other things, the reasons for the persistence of magi. This consideration is made within the larger framework of the problems in evaluating psychotherapy. Aetiological and therapeutic models of magi and their ideas of illness and health are compared, if only on a general basis, with models of analytic psychotherapy. Considerable differences between the two conceptions can be observed, but both maintain that a disturbed relational field is at the origin of disturbances and illnesses.