Does resilience mediate the association between mental health symptoms and linguistic markers of trauma processing? Analyzing the narratives of women survivors of intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious issue for women from all cultures and backgrounds. Studies on the negative consequences of violence suggest that women with a history of abuse are more likely to display depressive and PTSD symptoms. However, recent research has focused on the mechanisms underpinning resilience and the processing of traumatic memories, including linguistic markers and how they may reflect the mental health of traumatized individuals. In this study, we analyzed trauma narratives to investigate whether resilience mediates the impact of PTSD and depression symptoms on five trauma-processing mechanisms (cognitive processing, emotional processing, perceived threat to life, self-perspective, and integration of traumatic memories). Forty-three abused women (mean age = 38.74 years; SD = 9.41) wrote about their traumatic experiences and completed instruments assessing their levels of PTSD, depression, and resilience. We used LIWC software to analyze the women's narratives in terms of linguistic markers of psychological processing. Mediation analysis indicated that resilience fully mediated the impact of mental health symptoms on emotional processing, perceived threat to life, and integration of traumatic memories and partially mediated cognitive processing and self-perspective. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings, emphasizing the need to focus on the resources and strengths of women survivors of abuse in designing targeted psychological interventions.

The Up-Side of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are Core Belief Violation and Meaning Making Associated with Post-Traumatic Growth?

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has been extensively documented, while its possible positive impact on the individual, defined as Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG), has been much less investigated. The present study examines the association between PTG and socio-demographic aspects, pre-pandemic psychological adjustment, stressors directly linked to COVID-19 and four psychological factors theoretically implicated in the change processes (core belief violation, meaning-making, vulnerability and mortality perception). During the second wave of the pandemic 680 medical patients completed an online survey on direct and indirect COVID-19 stressors, health and demographic information, post-traumatic growth, core belief violation, meaning-making capacity, feelings of vulnerability and perceptions of personal mortality. Violation of core beliefs, feelings of vulnerability and mortality, and pre-pandemic mental illness positively correlated with post-traumatic growth. Moreover, the diagnosis of COVID-19, stronger violation of core beliefs, greater meaning-making ability, and lower pre-existing mental illness predicted greater PTG. Finally, a moderating effect of meaning-making ability was found. The clinical implications were discussed.

Linguistic Predictors of Psychological Adjustment in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 broke out in China in December 2019 and rapidly became a worldwide pandemic that demanded an extraordinary response from healthcare workers (HCWs). Studies conducted during the pandemic observed severe depression and PTSD in HCWs. Identifying early predictors of mental health disorders in this population is key to informing effective treatment and prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the power of language-based variables to predict PTSD and depression symptoms in HCWs. One hundred thirty-five HCWs (mean age = 46.34; SD = 10.96) were randomly assigned to one of two writing conditions: expressive writing (EW n = 73) or neutral writing (NW n = 62) and completed three writing sessions. PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed both pre- and post-writing. LIWC was used to analyze linguistic markers of four trauma-related variables (cognitive elaboration, emotional elaboration, perceived threat to life, and self-immersed processing). Changes in PTSD and depression were regressed onto the linguistic markers in hierarchical multiple regression models. The EW group displayed greater changes on the psychological measures and in terms of narrative categories deployed than the NW group. Changes in PTSD symptoms were predicted by cognitive elaboration, emotional elaboration, and perceived threat to life; changes in depression symptoms were predicted by self-immersed processing and cognitive elaboration. Linguistic markers can facilitate the early identification of vulnerability to mental disorders in HCWs involved in public health emergencies. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings.

Social Environment and Attitudes toward COVID-19 Anti-Contagious Measures: An Explorative Study from Italy.

Social and cultural aspects (i.e., political decision making, discourses in the public sphere, and people's mindsets) played a crucial role in the ways people responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed with the Semiotic-Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), the present work aims to explore how individual ways of making sense of their social environment affected individuals' perception of government measures aimed at managing the pandemic and the adherence to such measures. An online survey was administered from January to April 2021 to the Italian population. Retrieved questionnaires (N = 378) were analyzed through a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents' ways of interpreting their social environment. Extracted factors were interpreted as markers of Latent Dimensions of Sense (LDSs) organizing respondents' worldviews. Finally, three regression models tested the role of LDSs in supporting the individual satisfaction with the measures adopted to contain the social contagion defined at national level, individual adherence to the containment measures and the perception of the population's adherence to them. Results highlight that all the three measures are associated with a negative view of the social environment characterized by a lack of confidence in public institutions (health system, government), public roles and other people. Findings are discussed on the one hand to shed light on the role of deep-rooted cultural views in defining personal evaluations of government measures and adherence capacity. On the other hand, we suggest that taking into account people's meaning-making can guide public health officials and policy makers to comprehend what favors or hinders adaptive responses to emergencies or social crises.

Psychological Factors Explaining the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Mental Health: The Role of Meaning, Beliefs, and Perceptions of Vulnerability and Mortality.

This study tested an expanded version of the explanatory model of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health proposed by Milman and colleagues. Participants (N = 680) completed an online survey on demographic variables associated with poor pandemic mental health, COVID-19 stressors, mental health symptoms, and pandemic-related psychological processes we hypothesized as mediating mechanisms explaining the negative mental health effects of the COVID-19 stressors. Results indicated that these psychological processes (core belief violation, meaning made of the pandemic, vulnerability, and mortality perception) explained the severity of mental health symptoms to a far greater extent than COVID-19 stressors and demographics combined. In addition, these psychological processes mediated the impact of COVID-19 stressors on all mental health outcomes. Specifically, COVID-19 stressors were associated with increased core belief violation, decreased meaning making, and more intense perceived vulnerability and mortality. In turn, those whose core beliefs were more violated by the pandemic, who made less meaning of the pandemic, and who perceived a more pronounced vulnerability and mortality experienced a worse mental health condition. This study's results suggest some possible ways of intervention in pandemic-like events useful for limiting such impact at the individual, group, social and political levels.

Language and Intelligence: A Relationship Supporting the Embodied Cognition Hypothesis.

Cognitive science has gathered robust evidence supporting the hypothesis that cognitive processes do not occur in an amodal format but take shape through the activation of the sensorimotor systems of the agent body, which works as simulation system upon which concepts, words, and thought are based. However, studies that have investigated the relationship between language and cognitive processes, as both embedded processes, are very rare. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that intelligence is associated with referential competence, conceived as the ability to find words to refer to our subjective and perceptual experience, and to evoke understanding of this experience in the listener. We administered the WAIS-IV test to 32 nonclinical subjects and collected autobiographical narratives from them through the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm Interview. The narratives were analyzed linguistically by applying computerized measures of referential competence. Intelligence scores were found to correlate with the use in narratives of words related to somatic and sensory sensations, while they were not associated with other measures of referential competence related to more abstract domains of experience or based on vivid or reflective dimensions of language style. The results support the hypothesis that sensorimotor schemas have an intrinsic role in language and cognition.

Play-Based Activities with a CoderBot Robot on a Pediatric Ward: A Case Study.

Being hospitalized is a threatening and stressful experience for many children. From a psychological point of view, children may experience increased feelings of anxiety and fear that can negatively influence their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes. To mitigate such adverse effects on children's mental health and well-being, interventions that might contribute to protecting the emotional domain of hospitalized children are welcome. The present case study of a single-setting intervention allowed us to evaluate the impact, on children admitted to a pediatric short-term recovery ward (N = 61), of participating in play-based activities with a CoderBot robot. The methodology spanned multiple data sources (children, parents, nurses), field observation, and a sequential (quantitative-qualitative) mixed-method approach to data analysis. We found that robot-based activities are associated with enhanced well-being (particularly positive emotions). Both the participating children and their caregivers reported that the activity was enjoyable and interesting, especially thanks to its technologically innovative nature. We critically discuss these positive findings in relation to the strengths of our pilot study, as well as its contextual and methodological limitations, and outline possible future lines of development for this kind of project.

The mediating effect of cognitive and emotional processing on PTSD and depression symptoms reduction in women victims of IPV.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious social, physical and mental health issue. Women victims of IPV can develop short- and long-term consequences such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Where trauma has been incurred, standard psychotherapies may usefully be complemented by interventions based on expressive writing (EW). Numerous studies have explored the mechanisms underpinning improvement after writing, focusing on the cognitive and emotional processing of traumatic experiences. The aims of this study were to evaluate changes in PTSD and depression symptoms following EW and to examine the mediating effect of emotional and cognitive processing on symptom reduction in subjects who engaged in EW. Seventy-seven abused women (mean age = 41.43, SD = 10.75) were randomly assigned to a three-session expressive writing condition (n = 43) or a neutral writing condition (n = 34). Psychological distress (PTSD and depression) was assessed both before and after the writing sessions. Linguistic inquiry word count software was used to analyze the women's narratives in relation to emotional processing (positive and negative emotions) and cognitive processing (insight and causal attributions). The mediation model indicated that the reduction in depression was fully mediated by negative emotion processing and partially mediated by cognitive processing, while the reduction in PTSD was partially mediated by negative emotion processing and fully mediated by cognitive processing. No effect of positive emotion processing was found. The clinical implications are discussed.

Fostering the Reconstruction of Meaning Among the General Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak has seen people in many countries asked to radically modify their way of life in compliance with sweeping safety measures. During the current crisis, technology is turning out to be key, in that it allows practitioners to deliver psychological services to people who would otherwise be unreachable. However, professionals cannot solely rely on their traditional modes of practice, in that different methods are required to bring to light the needs of those affected by the emergency. People are being overwhelmed by a cascade of unusual and unexpected events that are putting a strain on their everyday routines and usual meaning-making systems; ongoing challenges to their employment and financial status will likely divert personal resources away from psychological well-being. We therefore argue that psychologists should also consider the needs of the general population. Among those who may require help-aside from the main targets of psychological intervention, such as healthcare personnel and COVID-19 patients and their relatives-specific attention should be paid to those who are not at the center of the crisis. We suggest that this large segment of potential users may benefit from a non-medical approach focused on the promotion of meaning-making processes. Indeed, the disruptive nature of the current situation hinders sense-making and threatens to undermine psychological balance and well-being, at an individual as well as at a societal level. The present article proposes a methodological perspective based on the reconstruction of meaning-making processes (sense of coherence, predictability, metaphors, narratives). Specifically, psychological interventions should promote personal and collective resources with a view to: "normalizing" current distressful experiences (i.e., acknowledging that such reactions are normal in light of the present situation); widening the observational field, taking relational contexts into account, and promoting an understanding of distressful experiences as coping strategies; fostering meaning-making/reconstruction processes through the use of appropriate metaphors and narratives; promoting a sense of coherence. We present two clinical vignettes to illustrate how these principles might be applied in practice. In conclusion, the exceptional psychological challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic require practitioners to adopt a broad and flexible perspective on clinical intervention.

The impact of perinatal loss in maternity units: A psycholinguistic analysis of health professionals' reactions.

Perinatal loss has a strong emotional impact on health professionals working in maternity units. We aimed to study the impact of this experience on health professionals' language. We analyzed the answers of 162 health professionals (physicians and non-medical staff) who described their reactions to perinatal loss. A linguistic analysis was performed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Associations between language and burnout were studied. Words typical of a psychological shock reaction were used more by non-medical staff than by physicians. Participants who used pronouns, optimistic words, future tense verbs, and cognitive words registered lower levels of burnout. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Toward psychiatry as a 'human' science of mind. The case of depressive disorders in DSM-5.

The aim of this paper is to argue that a strictly reductionist approach to psychiatry represents a theoretical and clinical obstacle to a fruitful synthesis between neurobiological and sociocultural aspects of the sciences of mind. We examine the theoretical and practical motivations underlying this approach, by analyzing the case of depressive disorders, as defined in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and the related removal of the "bereavement exclusion clause." We first explore the claim that DSM is atheoretical, observing that, far from being atheoretical, DSM adopts an implicit, biologically inspired view of the mind; we show that such a view leads to a sort of circularity in the definition of depressive disorders, in which psychopharmacology seems to play a key role. We then turn to further problems deriving from this position, analyzing the issue of placebo effects in the treatment of depressive disorders and the philosophical question of normative preconditions for psychopathological diagnosis. Finally, we address the issue of subjectivity, which, together with the related aspect of the subject's relational context, appears to be crucial to any scientific theorizing about mental disorders, despite DSM's attempt to exclude it. Our defense of a non-reductionist view of mental disorders, however, does not imply that we endorse any sort of metaphysical dualism, or anti-diagnostic or anti-psychiatric positions. On the contrary, we argue that the adoption of a reductionist position actually undermines the theoretical and clinical accuracy in explaining depressive disorders.

'My happiness is the refugee camp, my future Palestine': optimism, life satisfaction and perceived happiness in a group of Palestinian children.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore optimism, perceived happiness and life satisfaction in a group of Palestinian children living in urban districts, rural areas and a refugee camp in the West Bank, as well as in a city in Israel. METHOD: Three self-report instruments were administered to a convenience sample of school-age children (n. 226; 8-12 years old): the Youth Life Orientation Test (YLOT), the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and the Face Scale (FS). The scores were analyzed using anovas and correlation tests (Pearson's r). Gender and age differences were explored. RESULTS: Optimism, life satisfaction and perceived happiness characterize the entire group of Palestinian children in general. Very little difference was found as a function of gender. CONCLUSION: Palestinian children seem to enjoy a satisfactory quality of life with regard to optimism, satisfaction and perceived happiness. We hypothesize that these factors may reinforce resilience and positive adjustment to trauma in children. The implications for clinical psychology are discussed.