Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology 

About: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Anxiety & Personality. It has an ISSN identifier of 2282-1619. Over the lifetime, 257 publications have been published receiving 1416 citations.

Chronic Illness as Loss of Good Self: Underlying Mechanisms Affecting Diabetes Adaptation

Abstract: The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of emotional variables in diabetes adaptation. This is in order to develop and test a conceptual model simultaneously involving emotional variables consistent with a conceptual framework looking at chronic illness as a loss of good self. A convenience sample of 59 participants with a diagnosis of type 1 (n= 26) and type 2 (n=33) diabetes mellitus (Mean age= 57.17, SD=16.82) completed measures of diabetes distress, psychological adjustment to diabetes, diabetes self-care (as outcomes of diabetes adaptation) and depression, alexithymia and damaged ego-related strategies (as emotional variables). Correlation analyses among the examined measures were performed; as well, regression analyses were used to test the role of such emotional variables (as potential predictors) in accounting for diabetes adaptation outcomes. The results overall suggest that lower depression and higher mania contribute to diabetes adaption to a statistically significant extent, despite mania not being associated with self-care behaviors. The study raises a controversial debate about the meaningfulness of the psychological process of adjustment to diabetes without considering the role of underlying symbolic and less conscious dynamics.

Opinion Article: The role of psychological features in chronic diseases, advancements and perspectives

Abstract: Nowadays, a growing interest links clinical psychology and chronic diseases. This concern is appreciable as it refers to several current changes to medical progress and areas of scientific production. As suggested by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (D.M. 4 th October 2000), the core of Clinical Psychology is represented by the study methods, the intervention techniques in the various operational models, the clinical psychological applications in several areas and fields such as healthcare, psychological distress, psychological aspects and psychopathology.

The study of automatic and controlled processes in ADHD: a reread and a new proposal

Abstract: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is described as a persistent or an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that gets in the way of daily life or typical development. Most research in ADHD shows that the core symptoms are related to deficits in executive functions. Only few works show that deficits in ADHD are also related to automatic processes. The shortsightedness of past studies is that they are in focus when looking at the closer object of executive function deficits, but they are out of focus when they fail to include a larger context beyond the focus such as the inextricable relationship between automatic cognitive processes and executive functions deficits. The aim of the present work is to summarize data on automatic and controlled processes in ADHD subjects. Another purpose is to show that the executive functions alone cannot explain the ADHD symptoms, they have be reinterpreted and integrated in the light of new evidence. The new evidence comes from both cognitive and neurophysiological research. Finally, based on new evidences, the Cumulative and Emergent Automatic Deficit model (CEAD) is proposed, its theoretical implications of emerging patterns and key directions for future work are discussed.

The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety: Comparing Vulnerability and Scar Model in the Italian Context

Abstract: Background : The relationship between low self-esteem and depression and anxiety disorders has solicited a growing body of empirical research. The most important explanation models are two: the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and the scar model states that low self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause, of depression and anxiety. Method: In the present research we tested the two different models using a sample of Italian preadolescent, aged 11 to 14 years, recruited from an Italian secondary school. To test the models, the path analysis technique was used: one in which self-esteem predicted anxiety and depression (Model 1), and one in which anxiety and depression predicted self-esteem (Model 2). Gender and age were included in the models as covariate. Conclusions: our findings suggest that the both models had the same good fit, although the effects of self-esteem on depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly higher than the effects of anxiety and depression on self-esteem. In both models gender was positively associated with anxiety and self-esteem: girls tend to report higher levels of anxiety than boys. In the scar model age was positively related with depression; older preadolescents tend to report higher levels of depression than younger preadolescents. Keywords : self-esteem, anxiety, depression, early adolescence

Defensive responses to stressful life events associated with cancer diagnosis

Abstract: Objectives : Stressful life events (SLEs) are common in patients who developed both physical and psychological syndromes. Research shown the role of psychological defense mechanisms in cancer progression and survival probability. The present study analyzed recent SLEs and defense mechanisms as characteristic of cancer patients and tested their role as potential predisposing factors to cancer development. Methods : This cross-sectional study enrolled 145 participants: 48 recently diagnosed cancer patients (CP), 43 recently diagnosed benign tumor patients (BT), and 54 healthy subjects (HC). Non-blinded raters assessed participants’ defense mechanisms using the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-sort version (DMRS-Q). Groups were compared on the presence of SLEs and on the maturity of defensive functioning. Significant associations between SLE and defense mechanisms as related to cancer diagnosis were explored. Results: Higher overall defensive functioning was associated with good physical conditions. Recent SLEs, higher use of neurotic defenses and lower use of obsessional defenses characterized cancer patients. CP showed higher use of suppression, repression, dissociation, rationalization and passive aggression and lower use of affiliation, sublimation, undoing, and devaluation of self-image as compared to controls. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that recent SLEs and defense mechanisms of suppression, repression, dissociation, displacement and omnipotence were associated with cancer diagnosis. Discussion : Recent SLEs and repressive defensive functioning characterized the CP’s defensive response to stress. Despite the relevance of present findings, this study shows several limitations. Prospective and longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these results and to investigate the potential role played by SLEs and defense mechanisms in cancer development.