Personality, Defenses, Mentalization, and Epistemic Trust Related to Covid-19 Containment Strategies: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably influenced all the domains of people's lives worldwide, determining a high increase in overall psychological distress and several clinical conditions. The study attempted to shed light on the relationship between strategies adopted to manage the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, and distinct features of personality and mental functioning. Method(s): The sample consisted of 367 Italian individuals (68.1% women, 31.9% men;M age=37, SD=12.79) who completed an online survey including an instrument assessing four response styles to the pandemic and lockdown(s) (RSPL;Tanzilli et al., 2021), the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form (PID-BF;Krueger et al., 2013), the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales-Self-Report-30 (DMRS-SR-30;Di Giuseppe et al., 2020, 2014), the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ;Fonagy et al., 2016), and the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust, Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ;Campbell et al., 2021). Result(s): Maladaptive response patterns to pandemic restrictions were related to dysfunctional personality traits, immature defense mechanisms, poor mentalization, and epistemic mistrust or credulity. Moreover, more severe levels of personality pathology was predictive of an extraverted-maladaptive response style to health emergency through the full mediation of low overall defensive functioning, poor certainty of others' mental states, and high epistemic credulity. Conclusion(s): Recognizing and understanding dysfunctional psychological pathways associated with individuals' difficulties in dealing with the pandemic are crucial for developing tailored mental health interventions and promoting best practices in healthcare services.

Food insecurity associated with elevated eating disorder symptoms, impairment, and eating disorder diagnoses in an American University student sample before and during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the association between food insecurity and eating disorder (ED) pathology, including probable ED diagnosis, among two cohorts of university students before and during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Students (n = 579) from a large Midwestern American university completed self-report questionnaires assessing frequency of ED behaviors, ED-related impairment, and individual food insecurity as measured by the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale 5, Clinical Impairment Assessment, and Radimer/Cornell, respectively. Chi-square tests and MANOVA with post-hoc corrections were conducted to compare demographic characteristics, ED pathology, and probable ED diagnosis prevalence between students with and without individual food insecurity. RESULTS: Partially supporting hypotheses, MANOVA indicated significantly greater frequency of objective binge eating, compensatory fasting, and ED-related impairment for students with food insecurity compared with individuals without food insecurity. Chi-squared tests showed higher prevalence of ED diagnoses among individuals with food insecurity compared with those without food security (47.6 vs. 31.1%, respectively, p < .01, NNT = 6.06), specifically bulimia nervosa and other specified feeding and eating disorder. There were no differences in food insecurity before or during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. DISCUSSION: Consistent with prior literature, food insecurity was associated with elevated ED psychopathology in this sample. Findings emphasize the importance of proper ED screening for college students vulnerable to food insecurity and EDs.