Despite being a common issue in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), sexual dysfunction is stil... more Despite being a common issue in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), sexual dysfunction is still underinvestigated. This work aims to assess the potential determinants of sexual dysfunction in pwMS by considering its relationship with disease severity (in terms of global disability), illness perception, and depressive symptoms. In this multicenter study, 1010 pwMS responded to an online survey. A serial mediation model considering negative illness perception and depressive symptoms as mediators of the relationship between disease severity and sexual dysfunction was conducted using the SPSS PROCESS Macro with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5000 samples). Disease severity exerts an indirect effect on sexual dysfunction via illness perception, both independently and through depressive symptoms. However, the results indicated that illness perception plays a more crucial role in sexual dysfunction in pwMS with mild disability than in pwMS with moderate-severe disability. This study sugg...
Introduction Online sexual activities (OSAs) are sexual behaviors involving online sexual content... more Introduction Online sexual activities (OSAs) are sexual behaviors involving online sexual content and stimuli and are categorized into non-arousal (N-OSAs), solitary arousal (S-OSAs), and partnered arousal activities (P-OSAs). As such activities in older age remain largely underexamined, this study aimed to explore OSAs in a sample of Italian older adults, analyzing their associations with gender and sexual orientation, considering sexual permissiveness as a moderator. Methods One hundred and fourteen cisgender participants (85 men and 29 women) aged from 52 to 79 years old (M = 62.57, SD = 6.19) were recruited between September 2019 and January 2020 to participate in an online cross-sectional survey on OSAs. Results A total of 58.1% of participants had engaged in S-OSAs at least 2–3 times during the previous month, while a lower percentage of participants had engaged in N-OSAs (38.6%) and P-OSAs (29.9%) at least 2–3 times during the previous month. Men were more likely to be engage...
The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has p... more The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has produced fear and anxiety throughout the population, representing a psychological emergency. This work aimed at presenting a mental health first aid service established within an Italian university public hospital context to address four different population targets (i.e., people vulnerable to mental health problems, health-care professionals, people in isolation, and general citizenship). Specifically, the organizational structure comprising four different areas (i.e., management, clinical, communication, and research) and first data collected from the foundation of the service until 3 May 2020 are presented. Findings indicated that anxiety and fear of contagion were the main motivations prompting both the general population and health-care professionals to ask for a psychological help. Furthermore, findings indicate that clients’ current quality of life was perceived as lower than in th...
Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, Mar 7, 2016
To investigate the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between affective disorders ... more To investigate the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between affective disorders and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) for adolescents and young adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). A quantitative methodology was adopted. Fifty-three adolescents and young adults were interviewed to assess resilience as a personality trait (Ego-Resiliency Scale) and resilience as an interactive competence (CYRM-28), Health-Related Quality of Life (PedsQL 4.0), depression and anxiety (BDI-II and STAI-Y). Affective disorders, both depression (β = -.38, p < .001) and anxiety (State β = -.35, p < .001; Trait β = -.41, p < .001), were negatively associated with HRQoL. Data also showed that the resilience competencies using Individual (β = .22, p < .001) and relational resources (β = .12, p < .05) are significantly associated HRQoL. According to the regression analyses, we tested the moderating role of resilience competence using individual resources on the relationship ...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS occurring in young adults and even ... more Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS occurring in young adults and even in children in 5% of cases. Lower quality of life (QoL) and cognitive impairment (CI) (40-54%) have been reported in early-onset MS (EO-MS) patients. To assess QoL and cognitive function in EO-MS and their relationship, also considering demographic and clinical variables. Paediatric Quality of life inventory Version 4.0 for patients aged 13-18 and 19-25 years, Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) and the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery were performed in EO-MS patients (onset age ≤25years). EDSS and MSSS were performed at same time. After testing for normal distribution, group comparisons were performed through the two-tailed Student&amp;amp;#39;s t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear or logistic regression when appropriate. The Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was used when appropriate. 59 patients were included (mean age: 20 ± 3.6; Female sex 52.54%). 34 patients had a paediatric onset (&amp;amp;lt;18 years) while 20 patients had a juvenile onset (18 &amp;amp;lt; age &amp;amp;lt; 25 years) of disease. 5 patients were excluded for missing data. HR-QoL was higher in paediatric than juvenile MS patients (p = 0.02), and it was inversely related to EDSS (p = 0.0005) and Multiple Sclerosis Severity score (MSSS) (p = 0.0001). Sixtyone % of patients showed a CI at BRB. No association was found between CI and any socio-demographic and clinical data. HR-QoL total score was not related to CI status nor to any domain-specific cognitive function score, even considering BDI as possible bias. CI was related to social, physical functioning score and EDSS (p = 0.01) at a logistic regression backward stepwise estimation. HR-QoL resulted to be better in paediatric than juvenile MS onset patients and was inversely related to rapidity of disability accumulation, while cognitive impairment was influenced by physical disability and poor social involvement (school, education …). Social participation, affective relations and psychological flexibility could have a protective function on CI.
La sensazione che si ha nel leggere questo libro di appena un centinaio di pagine è che sia stato... more La sensazione che si ha nel leggere questo libro di appena un centinaio di pagine è che sia stato scritto con l'intento di essere divulgativo e contemporaneamente molto tecnico; sintetico, ma anche profondamente specifico. Questo senso di disorientamento avvertito durante la lettura è dovuto, riteniamo, ai temi presentati, ma anche alla presenza di stili diversi, ad un percorso narrativo che sembra andare in una direzione e improvvisamente volgere verso altre questioni. In tal senso, per ritrovare la bussola del senso e dell'obiettivo di questo lavoro, sembrano essere illuminanti le parole scritte nella Prefazione: «[…] ritengo che il valore originale di questo volume consista nel proporre un percorso di ricerca clinica che muove da una esperienza "locale", in particolare dal lavoro di counselling svolto per una istituzione formativa, per approdare progressivamente alla scoperta, originale e fondata, sulla moderna epistemologia della ricerca dinamico-clinica. Allo ...
L’articolo presenta le attivita di uno sportello psicologico rivolto a giovani pazienti affetti d... more L’articolo presenta le attivita di uno sportello psicologico rivolto a giovani pazienti affetti di sclerosi multipla e alle loro famiglie all’interno di un ambulatorio ospedaliero di neurologia. A partire da questa esperienza istituzionale interdisciplinare, il lavoro intende introdurre la modellizzazione del servizio nei termini delle modalita specifiche di erogazione delle prestazioni e delle funzioni psicologiche (regolazione emotiva, regolazione cognitiva e regolazione sociale) che promuove. Tali funzioni vengono discusse alla luce di due cogenti e attuali questioni psicosociali che investono la psicologia della salute: a) la promozione dello sviluppo e dell’autonomia dei pazienti nelle condizioni di cronicita; e b) il riconoscimento della rilevanza della relazione sanitaria nei processi di cura, piuttosto che la centratura esclusiva sul paziente. Viene infine presentata la storia di una giovane paziente e della sua famiglia come esemplificazione del modello proposto.
The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has commissioned the Economic a... more The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and University College Cork (UCC) to provide technical advice and guidance on the development of a low carbon roadmap for Ireland with the aim of achieving transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy in the period up to and including the year 2050. The project incorporates three phases: Phase 1. Develop a methodological approach for the analysis and a description of the anticipated outputs of the analysis. Phase 2. Build i) a business as usual (BAU) reference scenario to 2050 and ii) a least cost low carbon scenario to achieve near zero emissions by 2050. Phase 3. Revise the scenarios generated in Phase 2 based on comments from relevant Government Departments The project focuses on energy supply and energy end-use in Ireland, i.e. Ireland’s energy system. Energy use in Ireland currently accounts for approx two-...
Despite being a common issue in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), sexual dysfunction is stil... more Despite being a common issue in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), sexual dysfunction is still underinvestigated. This work aims to assess the potential determinants of sexual dysfunction in pwMS by considering its relationship with disease severity (in terms of global disability), illness perception, and depressive symptoms. In this multicenter study, 1010 pwMS responded to an online survey. A serial mediation model considering negative illness perception and depressive symptoms as mediators of the relationship between disease severity and sexual dysfunction was conducted using the SPSS PROCESS Macro with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5000 samples). Disease severity exerts an indirect effect on sexual dysfunction via illness perception, both independently and through depressive symptoms. However, the results indicated that illness perception plays a more crucial role in sexual dysfunction in pwMS with mild disability than in pwMS with moderate-severe disability. This study sugg...
Introduction Online sexual activities (OSAs) are sexual behaviors involving online sexual content... more Introduction Online sexual activities (OSAs) are sexual behaviors involving online sexual content and stimuli and are categorized into non-arousal (N-OSAs), solitary arousal (S-OSAs), and partnered arousal activities (P-OSAs). As such activities in older age remain largely underexamined, this study aimed to explore OSAs in a sample of Italian older adults, analyzing their associations with gender and sexual orientation, considering sexual permissiveness as a moderator. Methods One hundred and fourteen cisgender participants (85 men and 29 women) aged from 52 to 79 years old (M = 62.57, SD = 6.19) were recruited between September 2019 and January 2020 to participate in an online cross-sectional survey on OSAs. Results A total of 58.1% of participants had engaged in S-OSAs at least 2–3 times during the previous month, while a lower percentage of participants had engaged in N-OSAs (38.6%) and P-OSAs (29.9%) at least 2–3 times during the previous month. Men were more likely to be engage...
The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has p... more The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has produced fear and anxiety throughout the population, representing a psychological emergency. This work aimed at presenting a mental health first aid service established within an Italian university public hospital context to address four different population targets (i.e., people vulnerable to mental health problems, health-care professionals, people in isolation, and general citizenship). Specifically, the organizational structure comprising four different areas (i.e., management, clinical, communication, and research) and first data collected from the foundation of the service until 3 May 2020 are presented. Findings indicated that anxiety and fear of contagion were the main motivations prompting both the general population and health-care professionals to ask for a psychological help. Furthermore, findings indicate that clients’ current quality of life was perceived as lower than in th...
Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, Mar 7, 2016
To investigate the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between affective disorders ... more To investigate the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between affective disorders and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) for adolescents and young adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). A quantitative methodology was adopted. Fifty-three adolescents and young adults were interviewed to assess resilience as a personality trait (Ego-Resiliency Scale) and resilience as an interactive competence (CYRM-28), Health-Related Quality of Life (PedsQL 4.0), depression and anxiety (BDI-II and STAI-Y). Affective disorders, both depression (β = -.38, p < .001) and anxiety (State β = -.35, p < .001; Trait β = -.41, p < .001), were negatively associated with HRQoL. Data also showed that the resilience competencies using Individual (β = .22, p < .001) and relational resources (β = .12, p < .05) are significantly associated HRQoL. According to the regression analyses, we tested the moderating role of resilience competence using individual resources on the relationship ...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS occurring in young adults and even ... more Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS occurring in young adults and even in children in 5% of cases. Lower quality of life (QoL) and cognitive impairment (CI) (40-54%) have been reported in early-onset MS (EO-MS) patients. To assess QoL and cognitive function in EO-MS and their relationship, also considering demographic and clinical variables. Paediatric Quality of life inventory Version 4.0 for patients aged 13-18 and 19-25 years, Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) and the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery were performed in EO-MS patients (onset age ≤25years). EDSS and MSSS were performed at same time. After testing for normal distribution, group comparisons were performed through the two-tailed Student&amp;amp;#39;s t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear or logistic regression when appropriate. The Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was used when appropriate. 59 patients were included (mean age: 20 ± 3.6; Female sex 52.54%). 34 patients had a paediatric onset (&amp;amp;lt;18 years) while 20 patients had a juvenile onset (18 &amp;amp;lt; age &amp;amp;lt; 25 years) of disease. 5 patients were excluded for missing data. HR-QoL was higher in paediatric than juvenile MS patients (p = 0.02), and it was inversely related to EDSS (p = 0.0005) and Multiple Sclerosis Severity score (MSSS) (p = 0.0001). Sixtyone % of patients showed a CI at BRB. No association was found between CI and any socio-demographic and clinical data. HR-QoL total score was not related to CI status nor to any domain-specific cognitive function score, even considering BDI as possible bias. CI was related to social, physical functioning score and EDSS (p = 0.01) at a logistic regression backward stepwise estimation. HR-QoL resulted to be better in paediatric than juvenile MS onset patients and was inversely related to rapidity of disability accumulation, while cognitive impairment was influenced by physical disability and poor social involvement (school, education …). Social participation, affective relations and psychological flexibility could have a protective function on CI.
La sensazione che si ha nel leggere questo libro di appena un centinaio di pagine è che sia stato... more La sensazione che si ha nel leggere questo libro di appena un centinaio di pagine è che sia stato scritto con l'intento di essere divulgativo e contemporaneamente molto tecnico; sintetico, ma anche profondamente specifico. Questo senso di disorientamento avvertito durante la lettura è dovuto, riteniamo, ai temi presentati, ma anche alla presenza di stili diversi, ad un percorso narrativo che sembra andare in una direzione e improvvisamente volgere verso altre questioni. In tal senso, per ritrovare la bussola del senso e dell'obiettivo di questo lavoro, sembrano essere illuminanti le parole scritte nella Prefazione: «[…] ritengo che il valore originale di questo volume consista nel proporre un percorso di ricerca clinica che muove da una esperienza "locale", in particolare dal lavoro di counselling svolto per una istituzione formativa, per approdare progressivamente alla scoperta, originale e fondata, sulla moderna epistemologia della ricerca dinamico-clinica. Allo ...
L’articolo presenta le attivita di uno sportello psicologico rivolto a giovani pazienti affetti d... more L’articolo presenta le attivita di uno sportello psicologico rivolto a giovani pazienti affetti di sclerosi multipla e alle loro famiglie all’interno di un ambulatorio ospedaliero di neurologia. A partire da questa esperienza istituzionale interdisciplinare, il lavoro intende introdurre la modellizzazione del servizio nei termini delle modalita specifiche di erogazione delle prestazioni e delle funzioni psicologiche (regolazione emotiva, regolazione cognitiva e regolazione sociale) che promuove. Tali funzioni vengono discusse alla luce di due cogenti e attuali questioni psicosociali che investono la psicologia della salute: a) la promozione dello sviluppo e dell’autonomia dei pazienti nelle condizioni di cronicita; e b) il riconoscimento della rilevanza della relazione sanitaria nei processi di cura, piuttosto che la centratura esclusiva sul paziente. Viene infine presentata la storia di una giovane paziente e della sua famiglia come esemplificazione del modello proposto.
The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has commissioned the Economic a... more The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and University College Cork (UCC) to provide technical advice and guidance on the development of a low carbon roadmap for Ireland with the aim of achieving transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy in the period up to and including the year 2050. The project incorporates three phases: Phase 1. Develop a methodological approach for the analysis and a description of the anticipated outputs of the analysis. Phase 2. Build i) a business as usual (BAU) reference scenario to 2050 and ii) a least cost low carbon scenario to achieve near zero emissions by 2050. Phase 3. Revise the scenarios generated in Phase 2 based on comments from relevant Government Departments The project focuses on energy supply and energy end-use in Ireland, i.e. Ireland’s energy system. Energy use in Ireland currently accounts for approx two-...
Uploads
Papers