The clinical management of high symptom severity is a challenging task with patients with functio... more The clinical management of high symptom severity is a challenging task with patients with functional somatic disorders. We investigated the extent to which DCPR-revised (DCPR-R) syndromes and the DSM-5 category of Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) were able to predict symptom severity in 203 consecutive tertiary care patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Method: Semistructured interview were used for assessing DCPR-R and validated scales for SSD (combining PHQ-12 and WI-7), severity of symptoms (IBS-SSS), psychological distress (HADS), and psychosocial functioning (SF-12). Results: Compared to moderate severity (IBS-SSS = 175-300), patients in the high range of severity (IBS-SSS > 300) had significantly more DCPR-R syndromes (particularly alexithymia and persistent somatization), higher psychological distress, and poorer psychosocial functioning, but showed no difference for SSD. DCPR-R, particularly alexithymia and persistent somatization, significantly and independently predicted IBS severity by explaining 18.5% of the IBS-SSS variance with large effect size (d = 1.18), after controlling for covariables. Conversely, SSD was not able to significantly predict IBS severity. Conclusions: This study highlights the need of an integrative approach in the medical setting. Psychosomatic factors play a relevant role in the individual perception of symptom severity and should be carefully evaluated for clinical management of functional syndromes. the need for complementary measures was called upon [18]. Among the complementary methods, the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) was proposed. It includes a set of psychosomatic syndromes whose prognostic role in the development, course, and outcome of somatic diseases is documented in a large body of literature [19]. The aim of using the DCPR is to expand the traditional biomedical
Objective To investigate whether and the extent to which psychosomatic syndromes and psychopathol... more Objective To investigate whether and the extent to which psychosomatic syndromes and psychopathology are associated to psoriasis severity. Method Consecutive 282 outpatients with chronic psoriasis were assessed for psychopathology (with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview), psychosomatic conditions (with the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, DCPR), severity of psoriatic symptoms (with the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, PASI), and illness-related quality of life (with the Dermatology Life Quality Index, DLQI). Results Psychopathology was diagnosed in 26.6% patients while at least one DCPR syndrome in 67% of them and higher psychosomatic severity (>1 DCPR syndrome) in 29.1%. Higher symptom severity (PASI>20) was significantly more prevalent in patients with greater psychosomatic severity (29.1%) (d=1.25) - particularly, alexithymia (29.4%; d=0.83) - and poorer quality of life (DLQI>10) (d=0.86). Furthermore, after controlling for psychopatholog...
Supplemental material, Table_S3 for Sense of meaning influences mental functioning in chronic ren... more Supplemental material, Table_S3 for Sense of meaning influences mental functioning in chronic renal patients by Luca Iani, Marco Lauriola, Angeramo AR, Elena Malinconico and Piero Porcelli in Journal of Health Psychology
The use of the Rorschach test allows the body image to be examined using the Body-Image Index for... more The use of the Rorschach test allows the body image to be examined using the Body-Image Index formulated by Fisher-Cleveland. This index is obtained by calculating the responses to Penetration and Barrier. The hypothesis is that the diseases which affect the inside of the body are more greatly correlated to a high P score and a low B score (high P-low B type personality). The paper examines the Body-Image Index in a sample of 41 patients suffering from ulcerous rectocolitis comprising 24 males and 17 females with a mean age of 32 years. The personality profile obtained is of the "high P-low B" type with a P/R% ratio which is clearly higher than the central mean value (28.7% vs 8%) and a B/R% ratio which is clearly lower than the central mean value (4.2% vs 18%). The personality of the patients in this group was marked by a tendency to anxiety and a tendency to express aggression within their bodies (anger-in) which was field-dependent, difficulty in tolerating stress, a te...
The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing direct and indirect effects in the global population. In... more The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing direct and indirect effects in the global population. In this paper, fear and its possible forthcoming consequences on health will be investigated and discussed. Fear is an innate reactive emotion to the immediate threats produced by danger. It is hardwired within subcortical survival circuits and originally had to defend the organism from predators. Besides, fear is a cognitive emotional process mediated by the cortical structures, and implies a subjective evaluation both at implicit (subsymbolic, unconscious) and explicit (symbolic, conscious) levels. Within a defensive taxonomy framework, fear can be defined as a reflex triggering a prompt behavior aimed at surviving from predating attacks (freezing), whereas anxiety as a deliberate pattern aimed at planning behaviors for anticipating and avoiding future harm. Fear and anxiety overlap at a subjective level, but are generated by different neurobiological networks and serve different evoluti...
Il caso dell’ulcera peptica e particolarmente significativo per comprendere l’evoluzione della me... more Il caso dell’ulcera peptica e particolarmente significativo per comprendere l’evoluzione della medicina psicosomatica negli ultimi 50-60 anni. L’ulcera peptica e stata considerata una delle classiche malattie psicosomatiche, per la quale si riteneva che i fattori psicologici giocassero un ruolo causale nel generare la malattia. Nel corso dell’ultimo decennio, l’ulcera peptica e stata spostata dal campo psicosomatico a quello biomedico grazie al ruolo etiopatogenetico attribuito all’Helicobacter Pylori. Tuttavia numerose ricerche empiriche hanno evidenziato che lo stress psicologico gioca un ruolo importante nello sviluppo della malattia, come uno dei fondamentali fattori di rischio. La ricerca di un unico meccanismo causale nel campo infettivologo puo condurre allo stesso errore commesso nell’epoca psicosomatica classica in cui si cercava una causa psicologica. L’«antico» modello psicogenetico e il «nuovo» modello biomedico dimorano entrambi all’interno di un modo di pensare per dic...
La psicoterapia in medicina psicosomatica e fra gli aspetti meno sviluppati di questa disciplina.... more La psicoterapia in medicina psicosomatica e fra gli aspetti meno sviluppati di questa disciplina. In questo lavoro vengono presentati alcuni modelli psicoterapeutici applicati alla psicosomatica (psicoanalitico, cognitivo-comportamentale e dei fattori aspecifici) che consistono fondamentalmente nell’applicazione degli assunti di base delle rispettive teorie. Gli autori passano in rassegna anche gli studi empirici sulla efficacia delle psicoterapie in psicosomatica, discutendo i risultati raggiunti ed i problemi metodologici. Su questa base, viene presentata una proposta (attualmente ancora in fase di ricerca) di utilizzare i concetti della integrazione psicoterapeutica in medicina psicosomatica, focalizzata su tre significati principali di psicoterapia integrata: uso combinato di tecniche diverse, capacita integrativa della funzione psicoterapeutica e ricerca dei fattori comuni. [Parole chiave: psicosomatica, integrazione psicoterapeutica, psicoanalisi, psicoterapia, terapia cogniti...
The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened extraordinary psychological stre... more The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened extraordinary psychological stress on the healthcare workforce. The present survey aimed to examine the personal resources and psychological symptoms associated with burnout in 933 healthcare workers in Italy during the COVID-19 outbreak period. Sociodemographic and occupational data, depression, anxiety, burnout, and post-traumatic symptoms, as well as psychological well-being, were cross-sectional assessed through an online questionnaire. A considerable part of the sample scored over the clinical levels of depression (57.9%), anxiety (65.2%), post-traumatic symptoms (55%), and burnout (25.61%). Working in the front-line (p < 0.05), being part of the medical staff (p < 0.05), experiencing lower levels of psychological well-being (p < 0.001), and higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms (p < 0.001) independently explained 38% of burnout variance. The healthcare industry, services, and professionals should b...
Sulla base del concetto di peso relativo dei fattori biologici e psicologici, la psicosomatica pu... more Sulla base del concetto di peso relativo dei fattori biologici e psicologici, la psicosomatica puň essere concepita all'interno di due assi ortogonali di "malattia" e "personalitŕ". Le ultime ricerche sulla multifattorialitŕ delle malattie e sul rapporto gene-ambiente stanno evidenziando l'importanza dei fattori infantili di attaccamento e maltrattamento nella vulnerabilitŕ a diverse patologie mediche attraverso l'interazione con il sistema immunitario e i fattori proinfiammatori. Gli studi sulla personalitŕ hanno evidenziato che i fattori psicologici di vulnerabilitŕ alla somatizzazione possono esser presenti in modo trasversale in differenti patologie mediche e disturbi psicopatologici. Alcuni costrutti recenti, come l'alexithymia, tentano di spiegare fenomeni complessi quali il rapporto tra emozioni e sentimenti, i correlati neurobiologici delle emozioni, i percorsi evolutivi della mentalizzazione nascosti nella relazione madre-figlio.
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 2020
Purpose It is well known that body mass index (BMI) affects how individuals perceive their well-b... more Purpose It is well known that body mass index (BMI) affects how individuals perceive their well-being and that obese individuals tend to report poorer levels of subjective health status. The aim of this study was to compare subjects with and without FSD and to examine the direct and indirect impact of BMI on female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in overweight/obese and normal-weight women. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 186 overweight/obese and 233 normal-weight women. FSD assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was investigated in relation to body satisfaction assessed with the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT-A) and self-esteem assessed with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE). Results No difference in the prevalence of FSD was found between overweight/obese (44.4%) and normal-weight women (55.6%), even though significant between-group differences in body image were found. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) showed that BMI contribute to FSD only through the m...
To investigate whether chronic pain (CP) patients with somatization reported higher alexithymic t... more To investigate whether chronic pain (CP) patients with somatization reported higher alexithymic traits than those without somatization and to study the different relationships between psychological characteristics, pain, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and somatization. Method: A consecutive sample of 134 CP treatment-seeking outpatients were evaluated for alexithymia (TAS-20), somatization (PHQ-15), distress (HADS), HRQL (SF-12), and pain (BPI). Results: Patients with somatization (37.04%) reported significantly higher TAS-20 total scores (p < 0.001) and difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) (p < 0.001) than those without somatization. The somatizer group had also a significantly higher disease duration, severity and interference of pain, distress, and lower HRQL than the nonsomatizer group. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that although distress, pain interference and the mental HRQL component are closely related to somatization (R 2 = 0.55), DIF was the strongest predictor of severity of somatization (β = 0.31). A sequential indirect effect from DIF to somatization via distress symptoms and pain interference turned out to be significant [95% CI (0.01, 0.09)]. Support was also found for sequential mediation paths from DIF to somatization via distress and mental HRQL [95% CI (0.01, 0.11)]. Conclusions: Our results pointed-out that alexithymia, particularly DIF, may be major factor for somatization risk in CP patients. Longitudinal observations are needed for evaluating the role of alexithymia in clinical outcomes.
Obesity is a psychosomatic condition characterized by a complex interaction of biological and psy... more Obesity is a psychosomatic condition characterized by a complex interaction of biological and psychological factors and a large body of research has aimed to identify variables limiting efficacy and determining high attrition rates in weight loss programs. In this study, we used the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR), designed to broaden the clinician's perspective on patients' problems by providing additional clinical information not found in the more traditional psychiatric classification, to predict psychosomatic variables that may limit efficacy and determine attrition in clinical interventions with people with obesity. We evaluated 82 consecutive participants with obesity at baseline for psychopathology, psychosomatic correlates, psychological distress, and eating-related symptoms before entering a weight loss program. Regression models were used to assess attrition and outcome at a 6-month follow-up and per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses were performed. DPCR alexithymia significantly predicted attrition (OR = 6.9), and unsuccessful weight-loss (OR = 11.3). These findings suggest that the identification of psychosomatic factors, in addition to psychological and psychopathological factors, may predict adherence to weight-loss programs.
In this preliminary study, we examined whether aspects of spiritual well-being accounted for ment... more In this preliminary study, we examined whether aspects of spiritual well-being accounted for mental and physical health-related quality of life in 68 patients with end-stage renal disease, when controlling for age, type of treatment, physical symptoms, and worries. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that meaning was associated with better mental health, while worry and physical symptoms also accounted for poor mental health. Faith and peace did not contribute to mental health. Older age, type of treatment (hemodialysis), and physical symptoms accounted for poor physical health. Our findings suggest that clinicians should include spiritual well-being in future interventions for end-stage renal disease patients.
The clinical management of high symptom severity is a challenging task with patients with functio... more The clinical management of high symptom severity is a challenging task with patients with functional somatic disorders. We investigated the extent to which DCPR-revised (DCPR-R) syndromes and the DSM-5 category of Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) were able to predict symptom severity in 203 consecutive tertiary care patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Method: Semistructured interview were used for assessing DCPR-R and validated scales for SSD (combining PHQ-12 and WI-7), severity of symptoms (IBS-SSS), psychological distress (HADS), and psychosocial functioning (SF-12). Results: Compared to moderate severity (IBS-SSS = 175-300), patients in the high range of severity (IBS-SSS > 300) had significantly more DCPR-R syndromes (particularly alexithymia and persistent somatization), higher psychological distress, and poorer psychosocial functioning, but showed no difference for SSD. DCPR-R, particularly alexithymia and persistent somatization, significantly and independently predicted IBS severity by explaining 18.5% of the IBS-SSS variance with large effect size (d = 1.18), after controlling for covariables. Conversely, SSD was not able to significantly predict IBS severity. Conclusions: This study highlights the need of an integrative approach in the medical setting. Psychosomatic factors play a relevant role in the individual perception of symptom severity and should be carefully evaluated for clinical management of functional syndromes. the need for complementary measures was called upon [18]. Among the complementary methods, the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) was proposed. It includes a set of psychosomatic syndromes whose prognostic role in the development, course, and outcome of somatic diseases is documented in a large body of literature [19]. The aim of using the DCPR is to expand the traditional biomedical
Objective To investigate whether and the extent to which psychosomatic syndromes and psychopathol... more Objective To investigate whether and the extent to which psychosomatic syndromes and psychopathology are associated to psoriasis severity. Method Consecutive 282 outpatients with chronic psoriasis were assessed for psychopathology (with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview), psychosomatic conditions (with the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, DCPR), severity of psoriatic symptoms (with the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, PASI), and illness-related quality of life (with the Dermatology Life Quality Index, DLQI). Results Psychopathology was diagnosed in 26.6% patients while at least one DCPR syndrome in 67% of them and higher psychosomatic severity (>1 DCPR syndrome) in 29.1%. Higher symptom severity (PASI>20) was significantly more prevalent in patients with greater psychosomatic severity (29.1%) (d=1.25) - particularly, alexithymia (29.4%; d=0.83) - and poorer quality of life (DLQI>10) (d=0.86). Furthermore, after controlling for psychopatholog...
Supplemental material, Table_S3 for Sense of meaning influences mental functioning in chronic ren... more Supplemental material, Table_S3 for Sense of meaning influences mental functioning in chronic renal patients by Luca Iani, Marco Lauriola, Angeramo AR, Elena Malinconico and Piero Porcelli in Journal of Health Psychology
The use of the Rorschach test allows the body image to be examined using the Body-Image Index for... more The use of the Rorschach test allows the body image to be examined using the Body-Image Index formulated by Fisher-Cleveland. This index is obtained by calculating the responses to Penetration and Barrier. The hypothesis is that the diseases which affect the inside of the body are more greatly correlated to a high P score and a low B score (high P-low B type personality). The paper examines the Body-Image Index in a sample of 41 patients suffering from ulcerous rectocolitis comprising 24 males and 17 females with a mean age of 32 years. The personality profile obtained is of the "high P-low B" type with a P/R% ratio which is clearly higher than the central mean value (28.7% vs 8%) and a B/R% ratio which is clearly lower than the central mean value (4.2% vs 18%). The personality of the patients in this group was marked by a tendency to anxiety and a tendency to express aggression within their bodies (anger-in) which was field-dependent, difficulty in tolerating stress, a te...
The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing direct and indirect effects in the global population. In... more The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing direct and indirect effects in the global population. In this paper, fear and its possible forthcoming consequences on health will be investigated and discussed. Fear is an innate reactive emotion to the immediate threats produced by danger. It is hardwired within subcortical survival circuits and originally had to defend the organism from predators. Besides, fear is a cognitive emotional process mediated by the cortical structures, and implies a subjective evaluation both at implicit (subsymbolic, unconscious) and explicit (symbolic, conscious) levels. Within a defensive taxonomy framework, fear can be defined as a reflex triggering a prompt behavior aimed at surviving from predating attacks (freezing), whereas anxiety as a deliberate pattern aimed at planning behaviors for anticipating and avoiding future harm. Fear and anxiety overlap at a subjective level, but are generated by different neurobiological networks and serve different evoluti...
Il caso dell’ulcera peptica e particolarmente significativo per comprendere l’evoluzione della me... more Il caso dell’ulcera peptica e particolarmente significativo per comprendere l’evoluzione della medicina psicosomatica negli ultimi 50-60 anni. L’ulcera peptica e stata considerata una delle classiche malattie psicosomatiche, per la quale si riteneva che i fattori psicologici giocassero un ruolo causale nel generare la malattia. Nel corso dell’ultimo decennio, l’ulcera peptica e stata spostata dal campo psicosomatico a quello biomedico grazie al ruolo etiopatogenetico attribuito all’Helicobacter Pylori. Tuttavia numerose ricerche empiriche hanno evidenziato che lo stress psicologico gioca un ruolo importante nello sviluppo della malattia, come uno dei fondamentali fattori di rischio. La ricerca di un unico meccanismo causale nel campo infettivologo puo condurre allo stesso errore commesso nell’epoca psicosomatica classica in cui si cercava una causa psicologica. L’«antico» modello psicogenetico e il «nuovo» modello biomedico dimorano entrambi all’interno di un modo di pensare per dic...
La psicoterapia in medicina psicosomatica e fra gli aspetti meno sviluppati di questa disciplina.... more La psicoterapia in medicina psicosomatica e fra gli aspetti meno sviluppati di questa disciplina. In questo lavoro vengono presentati alcuni modelli psicoterapeutici applicati alla psicosomatica (psicoanalitico, cognitivo-comportamentale e dei fattori aspecifici) che consistono fondamentalmente nell’applicazione degli assunti di base delle rispettive teorie. Gli autori passano in rassegna anche gli studi empirici sulla efficacia delle psicoterapie in psicosomatica, discutendo i risultati raggiunti ed i problemi metodologici. Su questa base, viene presentata una proposta (attualmente ancora in fase di ricerca) di utilizzare i concetti della integrazione psicoterapeutica in medicina psicosomatica, focalizzata su tre significati principali di psicoterapia integrata: uso combinato di tecniche diverse, capacita integrativa della funzione psicoterapeutica e ricerca dei fattori comuni. [Parole chiave: psicosomatica, integrazione psicoterapeutica, psicoanalisi, psicoterapia, terapia cogniti...
The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened extraordinary psychological stre... more The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened extraordinary psychological stress on the healthcare workforce. The present survey aimed to examine the personal resources and psychological symptoms associated with burnout in 933 healthcare workers in Italy during the COVID-19 outbreak period. Sociodemographic and occupational data, depression, anxiety, burnout, and post-traumatic symptoms, as well as psychological well-being, were cross-sectional assessed through an online questionnaire. A considerable part of the sample scored over the clinical levels of depression (57.9%), anxiety (65.2%), post-traumatic symptoms (55%), and burnout (25.61%). Working in the front-line (p < 0.05), being part of the medical staff (p < 0.05), experiencing lower levels of psychological well-being (p < 0.001), and higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms (p < 0.001) independently explained 38% of burnout variance. The healthcare industry, services, and professionals should b...
Sulla base del concetto di peso relativo dei fattori biologici e psicologici, la psicosomatica pu... more Sulla base del concetto di peso relativo dei fattori biologici e psicologici, la psicosomatica puň essere concepita all'interno di due assi ortogonali di "malattia" e "personalitŕ". Le ultime ricerche sulla multifattorialitŕ delle malattie e sul rapporto gene-ambiente stanno evidenziando l'importanza dei fattori infantili di attaccamento e maltrattamento nella vulnerabilitŕ a diverse patologie mediche attraverso l'interazione con il sistema immunitario e i fattori proinfiammatori. Gli studi sulla personalitŕ hanno evidenziato che i fattori psicologici di vulnerabilitŕ alla somatizzazione possono esser presenti in modo trasversale in differenti patologie mediche e disturbi psicopatologici. Alcuni costrutti recenti, come l'alexithymia, tentano di spiegare fenomeni complessi quali il rapporto tra emozioni e sentimenti, i correlati neurobiologici delle emozioni, i percorsi evolutivi della mentalizzazione nascosti nella relazione madre-figlio.
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 2020
Purpose It is well known that body mass index (BMI) affects how individuals perceive their well-b... more Purpose It is well known that body mass index (BMI) affects how individuals perceive their well-being and that obese individuals tend to report poorer levels of subjective health status. The aim of this study was to compare subjects with and without FSD and to examine the direct and indirect impact of BMI on female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in overweight/obese and normal-weight women. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 186 overweight/obese and 233 normal-weight women. FSD assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was investigated in relation to body satisfaction assessed with the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT-A) and self-esteem assessed with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE). Results No difference in the prevalence of FSD was found between overweight/obese (44.4%) and normal-weight women (55.6%), even though significant between-group differences in body image were found. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) showed that BMI contribute to FSD only through the m...
To investigate whether chronic pain (CP) patients with somatization reported higher alexithymic t... more To investigate whether chronic pain (CP) patients with somatization reported higher alexithymic traits than those without somatization and to study the different relationships between psychological characteristics, pain, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and somatization. Method: A consecutive sample of 134 CP treatment-seeking outpatients were evaluated for alexithymia (TAS-20), somatization (PHQ-15), distress (HADS), HRQL (SF-12), and pain (BPI). Results: Patients with somatization (37.04%) reported significantly higher TAS-20 total scores (p < 0.001) and difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) (p < 0.001) than those without somatization. The somatizer group had also a significantly higher disease duration, severity and interference of pain, distress, and lower HRQL than the nonsomatizer group. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that although distress, pain interference and the mental HRQL component are closely related to somatization (R 2 = 0.55), DIF was the strongest predictor of severity of somatization (β = 0.31). A sequential indirect effect from DIF to somatization via distress symptoms and pain interference turned out to be significant [95% CI (0.01, 0.09)]. Support was also found for sequential mediation paths from DIF to somatization via distress and mental HRQL [95% CI (0.01, 0.11)]. Conclusions: Our results pointed-out that alexithymia, particularly DIF, may be major factor for somatization risk in CP patients. Longitudinal observations are needed for evaluating the role of alexithymia in clinical outcomes.
Obesity is a psychosomatic condition characterized by a complex interaction of biological and psy... more Obesity is a psychosomatic condition characterized by a complex interaction of biological and psychological factors and a large body of research has aimed to identify variables limiting efficacy and determining high attrition rates in weight loss programs. In this study, we used the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR), designed to broaden the clinician's perspective on patients' problems by providing additional clinical information not found in the more traditional psychiatric classification, to predict psychosomatic variables that may limit efficacy and determine attrition in clinical interventions with people with obesity. We evaluated 82 consecutive participants with obesity at baseline for psychopathology, psychosomatic correlates, psychological distress, and eating-related symptoms before entering a weight loss program. Regression models were used to assess attrition and outcome at a 6-month follow-up and per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses were performed. DPCR alexithymia significantly predicted attrition (OR = 6.9), and unsuccessful weight-loss (OR = 11.3). These findings suggest that the identification of psychosomatic factors, in addition to psychological and psychopathological factors, may predict adherence to weight-loss programs.
In this preliminary study, we examined whether aspects of spiritual well-being accounted for ment... more In this preliminary study, we examined whether aspects of spiritual well-being accounted for mental and physical health-related quality of life in 68 patients with end-stage renal disease, when controlling for age, type of treatment, physical symptoms, and worries. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that meaning was associated with better mental health, while worry and physical symptoms also accounted for poor mental health. Faith and peace did not contribute to mental health. Older age, type of treatment (hemodialysis), and physical symptoms accounted for poor physical health. Our findings suggest that clinicians should include spiritual well-being in future interventions for end-stage renal disease patients.
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Papers by Piero Porcelli