Patrizia Meringolo

Antisocial and psychopathic personalities in a sample of addicted subjects: differences in psychological resources, symptoms, alexithymia and impulsivity.

OBJECTIVE Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are two constructs not interchangeable. Compared to the ASPD, psychopathy is characterized by lack of anxiety, low withdrawal, and high levels of attention seeking. METHOD The sample of this study included 76 subjects with a substance use disorder. Subjects were aged between 18 and 59 years old (M=32.87, SD=9.36). With respect to level of education 3 subjects are elementary school graduates, 49 have a middle school diploma, 21 own a high school diploma, and 3 participants have a bachelors degree. We administered the following measures: a) Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R); b) Psychological Treatment Inventory (PTI); c) 20-Item-Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); d) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). RESULTS Most of the significant correlations between the Psychopathic Index (PPI-R total score), and the measures administered are listed below: PPI-R total score and Deviance (r=.482, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Hypomania (r=.369, p < .001), PPI-R total score and Unresolved attachment (r=.293, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Manipulativeness (r=.550, p<.001), PPI-R total score and the TAS-20 total score (r=.230; p<.001), PPI-R total score and Difficulty in Identifying Feelings (DIF) factor (r=.250, p<.001), PPI-R total score and Attentional Impulsiveness (r=.409, p<.001); PPI-R total score and Motor Impulsiveness (r=.526, p<.001). Results of MANOVAs between the two groups also revealed significant differences on several variables analyzed. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that addicted subjects with psychopathic tendencies are more likely to experience negative emotions and have a peculiar cognitive style with respect to antisocial addicts. These results partially confirm those ones of previous studies underlining that psychopathic population is generally characterized for a major need for stimulation, poor behavioral controls, lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility.

I Like You More if I Think You Like Me: The Effect of Metastereotypes on Attitudes Toward People With Deafness

ABSTRACT In the present article we aimed at investigating the role of metastereotypes and gender on hearing people’s attitudes towards people with deafness. Ninety-six Italian hearing adults participated in a 2 × 2 experimental study. Participants were presented with the results of a fictitious but apparently real survey concerning the opinions people with deafness have of hearing people. Metastereotypes (positive vs. negative) were manipulated through this presentation. Results showed that metastereotypes interacted with participants’ gender in determining their attitudes towards people with deafness: when positive metastereotypes were activated, women’s attitudes appeared more favorable toward people with deafness if compared to the negative metastereotypes condition. No effect of metastereotypes was observed among male participants. In conclusion, the activation of metastereotypes can be a useful means in intervening to improve attitudes toward people with deafness.

Psychopathological features in a sample of substance-abusing individuals with criminal history: Towards a definition of a personality prototype of an ‘Addict with Criminal Conduct’

BACKGROUND The relationship between substance use disorders and criminal activity is strong, and one that is not easily resolved in the criminal justice system. A better understanding of personality traits among substance misusers who commit offences could support better treatment efforts. AIMS The aim of this study is to explore associations between the psychopathology of people addicted to substances who have also committed crimes. METHODS We recruited 263 substance-dependent individuals (80% male, 20% female) from a cohort of people attending regional community services in Italy. They all completed an extensive evaluation of their current mental health and personality traits. Their official criminal records were obtained, and the psychopathology of those who had a criminal record compared with those who did not. RESULTS The criminal group was more likely to perceive the external world as hostile and to consider others as responsible for their own problems and difficulties; in addition, substance-dependent individuals with criminal records showed more personality traits within the psychopathy range and fewer in the dependent personality range than the substance abusers who had never committed crimes. CONCLUSIONS These findings allow us to hypothesise that substance abusers who also have criminal convictions may have a specific personality profile. If further research were to confirm this, then it could have important implications for identifying people for particular treatment pathways and developing more effective treatments. Copyright

Community-based strategy to prevent deliberate self-harm in adolescence: an inquiry to find risk factors at school

Background: Self-harm behaviors consist of parasuicidal behaviors, which represent “a deliberate destruction of body tissue, with or without suicidal intent”. A theoretical model is the Experiential Avoidance Model. The most frequent risk factors are school distress, poor social integration, poor social and family support, drugs use, sexual abuse, altered sense of life and death, bad relationship with the body and unsolved body mentalization process. Objectives: The objective of the present study was to perform an analysis of risk factors for self-harm behaviors, to help plan preventive actions. Patients and Methods: One questionnaire with specific scales was employed for students, whereas three semi-structured interviews were employed for teachers, all on distress perception and self-harm in school. Results: Data analysis confirms an association between self- cutting and alcohol use, sexual harassments, school dropout, threatening people, incommunicability with family members and negative relationship with the body and suicide attempts, with a clear tendency for males. In the interviews, teachers highlight self-injury as a dysfunctional relationship with the body and observe several risk markers of psychological distress. Conclusions: The results confirm the available literature data, while noting that self-harming is a preponderantly male behavior. The results also signal the need to create opportunities to instruct teachers to combat the resistances and stereotypes of psychological distress.

Participation and Privacy Perception in Virtual Environments: The Role of Sense of Community, Culture and Gender between Italian and Turkish

Advancements in information and communication technologies have enhanced our possibilities to communicate worldwide, eliminating borders and making it possible to interact with people coming from other cultures like never happened before. Such powerful tools have brought us to reconsider our concept of privacy and social involvement in order to make them fit into this wider environment. It is possible to claim that the information and communication technologies (ICT) revolution is changing our world and is having a core role as a mediating factor for social movements (e.g., Arab spring) and political decisions (e.g., Brexit), shaping the world in a faster and shared brand new way. It is then interesting to explore how the perception of this brand new environment (in terms of social engagement, privacy perception and sense of belonging to a community) differs even in similar cultures separated by recent historical reasons. Recent historical events may in effect have shaped a different psychological representation of Participation, Privacy and Sense of Community in ICT environments, determining a different perception of affordances and concerns of these complex behaviors. The aim of this research is to examine the relation between the constructs of Sense of Community, Participation and Privacy compared with culture and gender, considering the changes that have occurred in the last few years with the introduction of the web environment. A questionnaire, including ad hoc created scales for Participation and Privacy, have been administered to 180 participants from Turkey and Italy. In order to highlight the cultural differences in the perception of these two constructs, we have provided a semantic differential to both sub-samples showing interesting outcomes. The results are then discussed while taking into account the recent history of both countries in terms of the widespread of new technologies, political actions and protest movements.

Cocaine users and self-regulation mechanisms

Purpose – The prevalence of cocaine use has been increasing since the mid-1990s in many European countries, Italy included. There is a large variety of patterns of cocaine use in natural settings, but on the whole, the existence of different patterns of cocaine use remains widely unknown to drug professionals, as well as to public opinion. The purpose of this paper is to investigate patterns and trajectories of use, the meaning of use within the context of users’ life styles, the perception of controlled/uncontrolled use, personal strategies to keep drug use “under control”. Design/methodology/approach – This paper illustrates findings from a qualitative study among 115 cocaine users. Participants were recruited using the snow ball sampling (a minimum lifetime experience of 20 instances of cocaine use was required). Findings – The findings confirm the variability of cocaine use trajectories and the prevalent tendency towards more moderate patterns of use. Such variability is in patent contrast to the dise...

Intimate Partner Violence: A Stochastic Model

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been a well-studied problem in the past psychological literature, especially through its classical methodology such as qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. This article introduces two basic stochastic models as an alternative approach to simulate the short and long-term dynamics of a couple at risk of IPV. In both models, the members of the couple may assume a finite number of states, updating them in a probabilistic way at discrete time steps. After defining the transition probabilities, we first analyze the evolution of the couple in isolation and then we consider the case in which the individuals modify their behavior depending on the perceived violence from other couples in their environment or based on the perceived informal social support. While high perceived violence in other couples may converge toward the own presence of IPV by means a gender-specific transmission, the gender differences fade-out in the case of received informal social support. Despite the simplicity of the two stochastic models, they generate results which compare well with past experimental studies about IPV and they give important practical implications for prevention intervention in this field.

Abitare la città frammentata

Il presente contributo raccoglie le considerazioni di due autori che, a partire dalle loro diverse competenze, si occupano degli aspetti psicologici e urbanistici connessi al tema dell’abitare. Nella prima parte si analizzano gli aspetti psicologici della vita in un contesto urbano, e quanto la qualita dell’abitare possa incidere su individui, gruppi, comunita locali, in particolare quando - per eta, per disagio mentale o per collocazione sociale - si verificano condizioni di vulnerabilita e difficolta nell’inclusione. Nella seconda parte il punto di vista e quello dell’urbanistica sociale, che, a partire dal significato che hanno avuto gli interventi di edilizia popolare in Italia, affronta il nodo dell’abitare oggi, della frammentazione urbanisti- ca e sociale delle nostre citta e del difficile (e carente) governo politico della comunita territoriale.

THE ROLE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAMS.

The research is part of a project promoted by the Municipality of Florence in order to planning a program of HIV prevention and promoting the access to free HIV test. Theoretical approaches come from studies about health attitudes, healthy behavior and perceived control on wellbeing (Albarracin, Kumkale, J Davis, Hughes, Sloan, Tang, & McMaster, 2009; Fishbein,2008), different interventions in health promotion (Boone & Lefkowitz, 2004; Fortenberry, Tu, Harezlak, Katz & Orr, 2002; Harper, Bangi, Contreras, Pedraza Tolliver & Vess, 2004), importance of professionals (Durantini, Albarracin, Mitchell, Earl, & Gillette, 2006; Fisher, Bryan, & Misovich, 2002), particularly general practitioners (Schreibman & Friedland, 2003). The purpose of the research is to identify useful indications for community based interventions addressed to adult people. Our aim is collecting information about professionals’ perception of citizens’ attitude and behavior in order to find strengths and weakness in health promotion activities carried out by public services. The qualitative study was aimed to investigate attitudes towards the primary and secondary prevention, and willingness and motivation to taking HIV test. Participants were physicians, psychologists and volunteers, involved in health services addressed both to the whole of population (e.g. professionals working in surgeries and in consulting rooms) and to HIV positive people. Instrument was a semi-structured interview for exploring professionals’ perception of patients’ attitudes towards this disease, risky behaviors, preventive behaviors and evaluation about health services practices. Findings show a positive evaluation of available health services and their cooperation in facing the problem, despite difficulties in involving all the professionals. Prevention follows well-established paths but is not able to reach all citizens. There is a need of a wider information, and prevention involving people as individuals and groups. General practitioners may have a critical and important role, because of their trust relationship with their patients, and can be able to disseminate preventive practices.

Fra emarginazione e infamia. La legittimazione sociale del rifiuto

This contribution analyzes social construction of infamy, beginning from stereotype as an image coming not from direct information but rather from a social construction, assumed as true. Psychological researches highlighted that may be easier for an individual to remember information related to social knowledge instead of look at them with a critical eye, so learned scripts will be enriched with new confirmations, undervaluing inconsistent statements. This process may lead to stigma, referred to unusual and unwanted aspects of labeled people, so to made him/her as an avoided person. Gender differences are analyzed: the first offense ascribed to women is to refuse compliance with role expectations. Women have more coercive norms in playing family and social roles, and so greater possibilities to be stigmatized as deviant. Social attitudes seem not to be affected by modernity or new ways of communication, that even may be used to increase their believableness.