Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki最新文献

{"title":"[Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ): Greek translation and psychometric validation in general and clinical population].","authors":"Afroditi Stefani, Anna Mavridou, Stelios Chatziioannidis, Vasilios P Bozikas, Agorastos Agorastos","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.005","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exposure to childhood trauma experiences shows a high prevalence worldwide, with approximately two-thirds of the general population reporting traumatic experiences during childhood. The valid psychometric assessment of childhood trauma experience represents, however, a significant challenge in clinical research and practice. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ-SF) embodies the most valid and internationally widely used tool for the retrospective assessment of traumatic experiences during childhood to date. The purpose of this study was the Greek translation of the questionnaire and its validation in both a general and clinical population. Participants completed electronically the Greek translation of the CTQ-SF, the Early Trauma Questionnaire (ETI-SR-SF), the Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS- SF), the Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) to examine psychometric properties of the questionnaire (e.g., internal consistency, concurrent, convergent and divergent validity), but also to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma exposure and psychological well-being and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The total study sample (TS) consisted of 722 adults (606 women), of which 155 declared the existence of a psychiatric diagnosis (PD) and 567 constituted the general population (GP) sample. The most common trauma types reported were emotional abuse (29.1%), emotional neglect (23.7%), and physical abuse (24.6%). The CTQ-SF questionnaire showed high levels of internal consistency based on the Cronbach α coefficient (TS = 0.92, PD = 0.92, GP = 0.92), high concurrent and convergent validity and satisfactory convergent validity. In addition, self-reported childhood trauma was highly positively correlated to negative affect and anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as negatively to psychological well-being. Our results confirm that the Greek Version of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) is a reliable and valid tool that can be used for the retrospective assessment of traumatic childhood experiences both in the general and in the clinical adult Greek population.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"110-122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140028820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Comparative study of stress and psychological well-being in parents of children with and without special education needs during the COVID-19 pandemic].","authors":"Christina Boteli, Stavroula Bargiota, Anna Papakonstantinou, Agorastos Agorastos","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.002","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic, which rapidly spread worldwide in early 2020, has affected the daily lives of parents and their children in various ways. This study assessed the overall mental health status and stress experienced by parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and the differences between parents of children with special educational needs and parents of typically developing children. Additionally, we explored potential demographic factors that may influence these experiences. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected through questionnaires completed by a sample of 205 parents (103 of children with typical development attending regular mainstream schools and 102 of children with special educational needs attending special education schools) from February to April 2021. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the short form of the Profile of Mood States (POMS-S), and a demographic questionnaire. Our findings confirmed that parents of children attending special education schools reported higher levels of anxiety, reduced coping abilities, and poorer overall emotional well-being during the pandemic compared to parents of children attending regular schools. The type of educational setting that children attended was identified through multivariate analyses as the only factor consistently influencing all psychometric outcomes. Factors influencing anxiety levels included gender, older age, and family status, while family status and unemployment negatively impacted coping abilities. Taken together, the pandemic appears to have had a greater impact on the mental health of parents of children with special education needs compared to parents of children attending regular schools, highlighting the need for increased psychosocial support within this population group.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"159-164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140028818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome and vertebrobasilar ischemia. From cerebello-cerebral diaschisis to \"dysmetria of thought\"].","authors":"Christos Ch Liapis","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.012","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cerebellum, along with it' s role in coordinating motor functions, exercises a significant regulatory influence in fields of cognitive and affective functions. Therefore, studying the effect of cerebrovascular atherosclerotic pathology on mood and cognition should not be limited to stenotic dysfunctions of carotid arteries, but also extend its methodological framework to the consideration of the integrity of vertebrobasilar system (VBS), cerebellar perfusion and posterior cerebral circulation in general, as it has not been yet sufficiently addressed whether VBS insufficiency is associated with deterioration of patients' mental and emotional status and quality of life (QoL). Vertebrobasilar circulatory dysfunction has been pointed out, since decades, as a cause of progressive memory impairment and dementia, due to multiple infarcts in cerebral areas which are topographically critical for mental and emotional functions. Indicative of the pathophysiological and anatomic-functional association of VBS with these neuro-psychiatric domains are cerebellar cognitive-affective syndrome (CCAS) and crossed cerebello-cerebral diaschisis (CCCD). Mental and psychiatric components of CCAS, along with ataxic motor disability, constitute the conceptual hypothesis of \"dysmetry of thought\", while diagnostic significance of mental dysfunctions and psychopathological manifestations, in terms of symptoms preceding motor impairments that ascribe cerebellar malfunction in the epicenter of their pathophysiology, such as cerebellar ataxias, in which, early recognition of CCAS may facilitate therapeutic interventions aimed at improving QoL, reveal that cerebellar pathology, either of degenerative etiology or vascular substrate on the ground of vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI) or other surgical conditions of the posterior fossa, is associated with deterioration of patients' QoL which is related to significant impairments in their cognitive functions with (co)manifested emotional disorders. Studies in animal models also support these conclusions. Since VBI is responsible for a wide range of psychiatric and neurological symptoms, new findings concurred with current indications advocating that, without consideration of VBS disorders, it is impossible to clarify the connection of cerebral perfusion dysfunctions to neurocognitive deficits. The inclusion of cerebellar perfusion disorders in scientific research and clinical approaches to cognitive and affective disorders that may occur in patients with cerebrovascular lesions constitutes a paradigm of best clinical practices implementation and interdisciplinary convergence of neurosciences and vascular medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"139-148"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142352607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Post-traumatic stress disorder and outcome in train passengers of the Tempi accident in Greece: Data from the Trauma and Stress Disorders Unit of the 3rd Department of Psychiatry, A.U.Th., University Hospital AHEPA].","authors":"Konstantinos N Fountoulakis, Konstantina Tsiggeni, Gregory Karakatsoulis","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.009","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this study is to present the data from the psychiatric evaluation and treatment of passengers of the passenger train of the accident of Tempi in central Greece (28/2/2023) who were assessed and treated at the Trauma and Stress Disorders Unit of the Outpatient Clinic of the 3rd Department of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, at the University Hospital AHEPA. The material included two populations. The first was the total population of passengers on the passenger train (N=352). The second population was a subset of the first and consisted of those passengers who presented for diagnosis and follow-up (N=41). Frequency and percentage tables were generated, the Risk Ratio (RR) was calculated, and t-test and chi-square tests were used. Concerning the total of passengers on the train, it was estimated that 20-59 people would develop PTSD. The Trauma and Stress Disorders Unit of the 3rd Department of Psychiatry assessed and followed a total of 41 passengers, 18 males (43.90% aged 28.83±10.83 years) and 23 females (56.10% aged 32.87±14.16 years) with 34 (82.92%) of them developing PTSD, representing 2/3 of the expected PTSD cases after the accident. There was no significant effect of gender, physical injury or general psychiatric history on help-seeking, but there was an effect of proximity to the impact (wagon) and history of psychosis. The treatment included antidepressants (63.14%) and group psychotherapy (48.78%), with 58.54% showing significant improvement, and 7.32% deterioration. Males showed an overall increased likelihood of showing improvement (RR=1.53). Physical injury increased the likelihood of females not showing improvement (RR=2.44) while it did not affect men at all (RR=1.02). The findings of the present study are generally in agreement with the literature in terms of incidence and response to treatment, as well as concerning the role of gender, physical injury, and proximity to the event. An important finding was that males responded more to treatment and that physical injury adversely affected the outcome of females but not males, and this point should be considered as a novel contribution of the present study to the literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"101-109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144120625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"[Post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and therapeutic interventions based on cognitive behavioral approach: A systematic review].","authors":"Panagiota Karvela, Chrysovalantis Papathanasiou","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.011","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is connected with the experience of traumatic events and is significantly related to war and forced displacement. Refugee populations are characterized by a high degree of vulnerability for the development of PTSD, as they are confronted with stressors associated with all three distinct phases of migratory journey. The present article is an attempt to systematic review the therapeutic interventions based on the Cognitive Behavioral Approach and applied to refugees diagnosed with PTSD. For this reason, a review of the international literature was carried out through the electronic databases: Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct. Forty (40) studies were identified, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. According to the results of the review, the most common interventions are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Readaptation (EMDR). More specifically, CBT helps the individual to understand and reexamine the negative thoughts and feelings caused by the traumatic event, resulting in a reduction of symptoms and an improvement in quality of life. Following, NET supports that when a person talks about the traumatic events by placing them in a chronological continuity, they can gradually redefine the negative associations and responses related with the trauma. Finally, EMDR focuses on memory and how memories are stored in the brain. Its purpose is to reduce the intensity of the emotions associated with the traumatic event when it is recalled. All of those three approaches appear to have been studied and to yield reliable results. Other forms of therapeutic interventions are limited due to methodological issues as well as due to adopting standardized approaches that do not allow for an in depth understanding of trauma in refugee population. Further investigation of the long-term symptoms of trauma in refugees is suggested, in order to draw firm conclusions.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"123-138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142352608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sleep quality and associated factors in teachers.","authors":"Igor Monteiro Lima Martins, Nayra Suze Souza E Silva, Rose Elizabeth Cabral Barbosa, Amanda Mota Lacerda, Cristina Andrade Sampaio, Alfredo Maurício Batista de Paula, Desiree Sant'ana Haikal","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.003","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep is an essential part of life, accounting for about one third of an individual's life expectancy and plays an important role in quality of life and professional performance. This study focuses specifically on primary school teachers, a group that often faces high levels of stress. Restorative sleep is vital for dealing with this stress, and when its quality is unsatisfactory, it can contribute to the development of burnout. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality among state schoolteachers in Minas Gerais and to identify the factors associated with this condition. The cross-sectional study included 1,907 teachers who took part in a web survey. It included sociodemographic variables, work characteristics, lifestyle, and health conditions. The data was collected between October and December 2021, using validated instruments such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality. The results showed that 39.1% of teachers reported poor or very poor sleep quality. The main variables associated with poor sleep quality included working more than 40 hours a week (OR = 1.618), low control over work (OR = 1.235), professional dissatisfaction (OR = 2.234), poor diet (OR = 3.240), smartphone dependence (OR = 2.265) and high fear of COVID-19 (OR =1.532). It was noted that mental health problems, such as anxiety (OR = 1.728), were also significantly related to sleep quality. In addition, although sleep quality varied with age, older teachers had fewer sleep problems. The study suggests that working conditions and psychosocial factors play a crucial role in sleep quality, highlighting the importance of interventions that consider the specific needs of teachers. The recommendations include carrying out regular psychological assessments and applying sleep hygiene practices in order to mitigate these problems and improve the quality of life of this group.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"17-29"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143731159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A systematic review of depressive and anxiety symptoms in caregivers of dementia patients.","authors":"Despοina Deli, George Tsouvelas, Dimitrios Roukas, Manolis Mentis","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.023","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current number of dementia cases in Europe stands at 7.7 million, a figure projected to double by 2050. Caregivers of individuals with dementia experience a heightened burden compared to those caring for other chronically ill individuals, increasing the risk of depression and stress disorders. This systematic literature review, following PRISMA guidelines, explores the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in dementia caregivers. Searches in academic databases, restricted to studies from the last 15 years, identified 85 articles with 16 meeting the inclusion criteria. Results indicate significant caregiver burden, diminished self-reported quality of life, and a propensity for clinical depression. Depression and anxiety symptoms were more pronounced among female caregivers. Caregiver depression correlated with increased emergency department utilization by dementia patients, with a surge in depressive symptoms reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregiving for dementia patients was associated with burnout, adversely impacting caregiver quality of life. Depression and anxiety symptoms in caregivers correlated with substance use. Sociodemographic variables, including low socioeconomic status, high urbanization levels, and older age, were associated with caregiver depression. Caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease reported higher anxiety, burden, and depression scores compared to those assisting individuals with other dementias, particularly when neuropsychiatric symptoms were evident. The identification of the factors that are linked to the mental burden of caregivers allows mental health professionals to enhance symptom detection and provide tailored support, ultimately alleviating caregiver burden and improving dementia care quality. Systematic professional assistance and training opportunities through health policies can effectively alleviate caregiver burden.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"72-80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142838980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clozapine/norclozapine plasma concentrations and their ratio in treatment resistant, early psychosis patients.","authors":"Andreas Karampas, Dimitra Florou, Giorgos Markozannes, Alexandros Asimakopoulos, Giorgos Georgiou, Marios Plakoutsis, Thomas Hyphantis, Vasiliki Boumba, Petros Petrikis","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.001","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Treatment-resistant schizophrenia affects approximately 30% of schizophrenia patients, and clozapine is the antipsychotic of choice for their treatment. Despite its effectiveness, clozapine is considerably under-prescribed for the aforementioned patients' group, probably due to its severe side effects. Measurement of plasma concentrations of clozapine and its active metabolite, norclozapine, in plasma could help clinicians to monitor compliance to treatment and reduce the possibility of severe side effects. Such measurements are currently not included in routine clinical practice, although clozapine plasma concentrations seem to be influenced by many different factors and do not usually reflect the prescribed dose. The aim of the present study was to measure clozapine and norclozapine plasma concentrations and their ratio in a group of early psychosis, treatment-resistant, schizophrenia patients and to investigate possible associations among the prescribed clozapine daily dose and socio- demographic variables. Thirty-eight patients were included in the study, and 342 blood samples were collected. Clozapine and norclozapine plasma concentration measurements were performed by UHPLC-MS/MS. Mixed-effects linear regression models were performed to associate blood clozapine and norclozapine levels and their ratio to clozapine dose. The median clozapine dose, clozapine, norclozapine plasma concentrations, and their ratio at first and last measurement were as follows: 400mg/day (IQR = 350mg/day to 500mg/day) and 425mg/day (IQR = 350mg/day to 600mg/day), 335 ng/ml (IQR = 191 ng/ml to 427 ng/ml) and 389 ng/ml (IQR = 276 ng/ml to 523 ng/ml), 129 ng/ml (IQR = 62 ng/ml to 218 ng/ml) and 135 ng/ml (IQR = 82 ng/ml to 209 ng/ml), 2.5 (IQR = 1.6 to 4.8) and 2.9 (IQR = 1.7 to 4.4). An increase of clozapine dose by 50mg/day was associated with higher blood clozapine and norclozapine levels but with lower clozapine/norclozapine ratio. Clozapine dose was positively associated with blood clozapine and norclozapine levels and negatively with the clozapine/norclozapine ratio.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"42-54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the sectorization of psychiatric services.","authors":"Dimitris Ploumpidis, George Konstantakopoulos","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.005","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2025.005","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sectorization, the organizational principle of dividing the population into geographic sectors and developing all necessary public hospital and outpatient services within each sector, emerged as part of the broader movement to reform psychiatric services in Europe as early as the 1950s. In France, sectorization began in the 1960s through the joint management of hospitals and new outpatient services and was institutionalized by 1985 laws establishing sectors for 75,000 residents for adults and 150,000 for children and adolescents, today numbering 830 across the country.1 Another form of sectorization evolved concurrently in the United Kingdom through the development of community psychiatry and later the establishment of mental health trusts.2 Since then, sectorization has been adopted in most European countries,3 while in some, like Belgium, community psychiatry has been linked to primary healthcare services.4 Sectorization aims to facilitate service accessibility and continuity of care, contributing to the reduction of hospitalizations and readmissions. International experience indeed shows that the implementation of sectorization has been associated with many achievements of community psychiatry3 and that it has significant long-term positive outcomes for the users of mental health services in terms of functioning and met needs.5 In all countries, as expected, there was a gradual transition from the development of units with specific catchment areas to the full establishment of a sectorized system with administrative, managerial, and operational efficiency. In some countries, despite earlier declarations, its implementation progressed only in recent years, as in Portugal6 and Greece.7 Additionally, in recent decades, the expansion of community-based interventions has brought about complex problems in the liaison of various service units and the issues caused by the widening gap between growing needs and cuts in public funding. In Greece, Law 2071/1992 and Framework Law 2716/1999 designated sectorization as the organizational principle of public psychiatric care, while Law 2716/1999 also introduced community mental health as a core principle. However, deinstitutionalization remained the central axis of the reform for a long time, rather than the development of community mental health units, and thus the implementation of sectorization lacked adequate support in practice.7 Ιn 2019, 38 adult sectors (11 in Attica) and 17 child and adolescent sectors (4 in Attica) were registered, accommodating populations of 250-300,000.8 However, only a few sectors provide an adequate range of services. The deficiencies lead to bypassing sectorization, especially regarding hospitalizations, and widespread use of private services. This situation undermines continuity of care and contributes to relapses and high rates of involuntary hospitalizations, especially in Athens. Mental health sectors in Greece include public hospitals and outpatient services as well ","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"13-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143731143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Death anxiety, life's meaninglessness, and mental resilience among women with symptoms of behavioral addictions and alcohol use disorder: Using the existential approach.","authors":"Chrysoula Vatikioti, Kalliopi Triantafyllou, Chara Tzavara, Thomas Paparrigopoulos","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.026","DOIUrl":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent decades, a growing body of research has emphasized the unique nature of substance abuse among women, necessitating a gender-specific approach and thus individualized therapeutic interventions.The purpose of this study, based on the existential approach, was to examine whether symptoms of several behavioral addictions (shopping, sex, gambling and betting, eating) and alcohol use disorder correlate with death anxiety, lack of meaning in life, and levels of mental resilience in a convenience sample of women. A total of 3,176 women participated in this online study and completed a demographic characteristics questionnaire, the Shorter PROMIS Questionnaire (SPQ), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS).The results showed a significant negative correlation between the \"Presence of meaning in life\" subscale and all addiction symptoms subscales (shopping, p<0.001; sex, p<0.001; gambling and betting, p=0.006; food, p<0.001, and alcohol use, p<0.001). Conversely, the \"Search for meaning in life\" subscale showed a significant positive correlation with all addiction symptoms subscales (shopping, sex, gambling and betting, food, and alcohol use, p<0.001). Resilience emerged as a protective factor, showing significant negative correlations with symptoms of sex addiction (p<0.001), alcohol use disorder (p<0.001), shopping addiction (p<0.001), and food addiction (p<0.001) addiction, although the correlation coefficients were small (ranging from -0.07 to -0.21), indicating a weak or no correlation. Participants with higher death anxiety also showed more symptoms of gambling and betting addiction (p<0.001), shopping addiction (p<0.001), and food addiction (p<0.001). Women who were married and had a university degree showed fewer symptoms of sex addiction (â = - 0.079; p = 0.004 / â = - 0.118; p = 0.001), alcohol use disorder (â = -0.105; p = 0.011 / â = -0.158; p = 0.004), and gambling addiction (â = -0.055; p < 0.001 / â = -0.091; p < 0.001), while women aged 18-25 displayed significantly lower symptoms of shopping and food addiction. Marriage and higher levels of education emerged as protective factors against certain types of addictive behaviors. In conclusion, this research showed a meaningful relationship between the lack of meaning in life and death anxiety with the manifestation of behavioral addiction symptoms and alcohol use. Also, the presence of mental resilience may act as a protective factor against gambling and betting addiction, shopping addiction, and food addiction, but not against sex addiction and alcohol use disorder.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":"30-41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142838981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}