In recent decades, there has been extensive research on the association between Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Eating Disorders (ED), as well as the existence of sensory sensitivity alterations in both diagnostic groups.

The present study aimed to examine the presence of autistic traits in a sample of adult women diagnosed with different ED, and the concurrent role of autistic traits and sensory sensitivity in both their eating disorder symptomatology and their autism-related eating behaviours.

Seventy-five women with different ED completed the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), the Autism Quotient (AQ), the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R), the Sensory Perception Quotient - Short Form 35 item (SPQ-SF35) and the Swedish Eating Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorders (SWEAA), which investigates specific eating behaviour related to autism.

12% of the sample scored above the cut-off at both the AQ and the RAADS-R, while 68% scored above the cut-off at the RAADS-R only. We found an association between: i) hypersensitivity in the taste domain and ED severity and autistic-like eating behaviours; ii) hypersensitivity in the vision domain and autistic-like eating behaviours; iii) higher autistic traits and ED severity and autistic-like eating behaviours.

This study confirms the presence of autistic traits in patients with ED and underscores the significance of conducting additional systematical investigations on this topic across all diagnostic categories of ED. It is becoming progressively evident that identifying and measuring the levels of autistic traits in patients with ASD is crucial not only for a better understanding of the causes of these disorders, but also because it would help to tailor specific therapeutic interventions, especially considering the cognitive flexibility issues presented by these patients and the socio-emotional challenges they face. Additionally, this study has laid the foundation for further insights into the relationship between sensory sensitivity and dysfunctional eating behaviours typical of ED and ASD.

None Declared

Neurofilmology is a young and evolving research field, at the intersection between neuroscience and movie experiences, that explores how the brain processes and responds to visual storytelling. It involves examining the cognitive and emotional effects of movies on viewers, including social cognition and perspective-taking aspects. However, up to date, these studies have focused only on the neurotypical population, hence constituting a considerable gap in the literature with respect to individuals with neuroatypical functioning.

Aim of this study was to investigate the experience of film viewing and its correlates in individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

30 neurotypical individuals and 30 individuals with ASD without intellectual disabilities were asked to observe 12 short video clips of 3 seconds length, showing an agent grasping an object from a table, and filmed with three different camera techniques: Still, Steadycam, Zoom; for each clip, they were asked to respond to six question on a Visual Analogue Scale (0-100) designed to investigate participants’ potential feeling of involvement with the observed scene, their comfort with the different filming conditions, and their estimation of the ecological plausibility of the different types of camera movements.

Participants felt more involved watching videos filmed with a Steadycam, with respect to the Zoom and Still condition. Within the neurotypical group participants felt more comfortable when the camera was in motion (both Steadycam and Zoom condition) compared to the Still condition; no differences were found between conditions in the ASD group, as if they felt equally comfortable in every condition administered, regardless the filming technique.

First, our results reinforce prior findings regarding the influence of different camera techniques on neurotypical individuals. Second, they add to the existing literature suggesting that individuals with ASD may exhibit differences in their subjective experiences related to empathizing with characters and immersing themselves as actors when the camera replicates naturalistic movements, resulting in a diminished overall fulfillment in the movie-watching process.

None Declared

Prostate and breast cancer share many similarities: high lifetime prevalence, increasing frequency, role of environmental factors, long survival also in metastatic disease and possibility of screening. The aim of this work is to evaluate the characteristics related to the patients, disease and treatment which can affect HRQoL at the beginning and after radiotherapy.

since June 2009, we have recruited patients, providing informed consent, before radiotherapy (T0). We assess demographic characteristic (age, qualification, work, marital status…); neoplastic staging and grading; radiation dose and other antineoplastic treatment (hormonal/chemio-therapy or surgery); concomitant medical disease and pharmacological therapy. We evaluate HRQoL by EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC-QLQ-PR25 (prostate-specific) or EORTC-QLQ-BR23 (breast-specific). The protocol also includes HADS, Paykel Life Events Scale and EPQ-R. The work is ongoing and implies a follow-up at 6 and 12 months (T1/T2).

The majority of men have a localized disease with Gleason score between 6 and 8 and the median pretreatment PSA is 10.52 ng/mL; 70% will undergo adjuvant-RT; median age is 69.30 years. Women have a median age of 58.46 years, all underwent surgery and all have a localized disease and positive receptorial status. Global QoL is lightly higher in the man sample; both groups report a major deficit at Emotional Function and high levels of Fatigue. The personological characteristic more represented is “Extravertion”.

The results show an association between worse QoL, “Nevroticism” and high Anxiety levels only in the men sample at T0. At the moment, there is no significant relation in the women sample.

To evaluate the subjective well-being of a group of patients who were hospitalized at the Institute of Psychiatry (Novara), compared to the severity of illness.

Patients are evaluated at admission and discharge through self-administration of the SWN (Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptics) scale, which contains five subscales (emotional regulation; self-control; mental functioning; social integration and physical functioning) assessing patients’ psychophysical and emotional well-being, calculating a value for each subscale and a total score. The clinician fills in the CGI (Clinical Global Impression) for each patient, which provides a global judgement in three areas: severity of illness, global improvement and therapeutic effectiveness.

From June 2009, 51 patients were evaluated at admission and discharge: 26 diagnosed with psychosis and 25 diagnosed with personality disorders. Preliminary data suggest a meaningful improvement of the physical functioning in the psychotic group, a tendency to improvement of the social integration area in the personality disorders group. Among the psychotic group, the schizophrenic patients (n°=14) have shown an improvement in the self-control subscale.

Literature suggests that a high SWN score is associated with a better compliance and an early improvement of subjective well-being is a major predictor of the chance of remission. This study will allow to compare the subjective well-being evaluated by SWN with the clinical judgment of the CGI and above all if this can represent a predictor index for the compliance and the chance of remission.

DD represents a common issue in clinical practice, with relevant effects on symptoms, course and treatment of disease. It's often associated with negative outcome as a greater severity of symptoms and resistance to drug treatment.

To assess how the characteristics (sociodemographic, clinical and related to substance abuse) of patients discharged with DD have changed taking into account the FA occurred in three different five-year periods (1990–1994, 2000–2004, 2005–2009). We also compared the characteristics of patients discharged with only psychiatric diagnosis with those of patients with DD to look for possible risk factors for abuse among people with psychiatric illness.

We conducted a retrospective study of medical records of patients at FA to our Institute in three different periods. We divided the patients discharged with DD from those discharged with only psychiatric diagnosis.

Among the FA occurred in the periods examined we noticed an increase of DD cases (12% from 1990 to 1994, 21% 2000–2004, 28% 2005–2009). The incidence of each diagnosis was changed in several years, but each time the diseases more represented remain schizophrenic or affective psychosis and personality disorders. Alcohol is the most widely used psychotropic drug in each period. There is also a progressive increase in the abuse of cannabis, cocaine and in the incidence of multi-drug abusers. Compared with patients discharged with only a psychiatric diagnosis, patients with DD were more frequently:male, younger, unmarried, unemployed, with legal issues, grown up in a family with serious problems, and history of etero-aggressive episodes.

Due to continued increase in cases of DD, we want to highlight the importance of early identification of cases of comorbidity in order to provide adequate treatment and support.

Axis I anxiety disorders are often comorbid in psychoses and mostly assessed during the hospitalization. In the present study anxiety comorbidity was investigated in 98 patients (with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder with psychotic features) previously hospitalized for psychotic symptoms.

Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder Fourth Edition (SCID-P), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI), were performed during hospitalization (t0) and subsequently in a phase of clinical remission, lasting for at least 6 months besides a stable pharmacological treatment for at least 3 months (t1). Comorbid anxiety disorders were assessed only at t1 in order to avoid the influence of an acute clinical state.

Our sample confirmed that anxiety comorbidity is a relevant phenomenon in psychoses, being present in nearly half of the patients (46.9%). Our specific prevalences were: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 20.4%, panic disorder (PD) 24.5%, social anxiety disorder (SAD) 19.4%, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) 2%, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 0%. In our sample, patients with schizophrenia had a rate of anxiety disorders (73.9%) significantly higher (p<.05) than those with schizoaffective disorder (31.6%) or bipolar disorder (41.1%). Patients with PD or with OCD showed higher severity of illness only at t0; on the contrary, those with SAD demonstrated greater severity at t1.

PD, OCD and SAD resulted frequently comorbid in psychotic patients; SAD more prevalent in schizophrenia with a negative impact on the course of the illness.

To assess the use of SWN in the acute phase of psychiatric disease as a predictor of clinical outcome.

This study started in June 2009 and at the moment we have recruited 150 patients. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to their psychiatric diagnosis (schizophrenic psychosis, mood disorders, personality disorders, acute stress reaction) and each diagnostic group into three subgroups according to length of stay (T1< 7 days, T2 = 7–14 days, T3> 14 days). The subjective well-being indicators (subscales SWN: emotional regulation; self-control; mental functioning; social integration and physical functioning) and the severity of illness (CGI-S) were evaluated at admission and discharge.

At discharge there is a statistically significant difference in the SWN subgroups among the four diagnostic groups except for social integration and total score with equal CGI-S scores. Schizophrenic patients and personality disorders show a subjective improvement at T2; mood disorders at T3; acute stress reactions T1 = T2. CGI shows a statistically improvement regardless of the length of stay.

Preliminary data suggest that SWN represents a predictor of clinical outcome and remission and together with the clinical evaluation it can help clinician to settle therapeutic programs.

Our Psychiatry Ward (SC Psichiatria, Maggiore della Carità Hospital, Novara) has a longstanding tradition in the training of clinicians (psychiatrists, but also non-psychiatrists) about the importance of the approach in helping relationships. This tradition reflects itself in the organization of the assistance to the acute psychiatric inpatients admitted to the Ward. In addition to treatment as usual, patients have the opportunity of being involved in several group activities. The activities are proposed to them, with an approach that varies according to the patient's lifetime diagnosis, current conditions, relational difficulties, etc. In other words, different activities may be proposed to different patients, in different ways.

To describe the integrated treatment approach we use in our Psychiatry Ward.

Group activities are guided by a group leader who is supported by one or two assistants whose role is to facilitate discussion. Activities include: Newspaper Reading (everyday in the morning, 1 hour); Music Listening Group (once a week; 1 hour); Cinema Group (once a week; 2 hours and a half); Fairytale Group (on alternating days in the evening, 1 hour).

More details will be supplied regarding the theoretical background for the group, the group features/implementation, and its specific objectives.

All the group activities integrate themselves in an early rehabilitation project tailored to each patients' characteristics and needs. Briefly, their main objectives include: 1) to help patients endorse their cognitive, emotional and relational skills; 2) to offer support to the crisis they are experiencing, which led them to admission to the Ward.

Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties identifying and communicating feelings, and problems differentiating between feelings and bodily sensations; its concrete cognitive style focused on the external environment is typical of psychosomatic patients. Patients with eating disorders (EDs) have high levels of alexithymia, particularly difficulties identifying and describing their feelings.

The aims of our study are (1) to assess the alexythimia, emotional empathy, facial emotion identification skills and social inference abilities in a sample of ED patients; (2) to compare these variables between ED patients and healthy controls (HC); and (3) to correlate levels of alexithymia with the severity of the ED as measured by the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3) EDRC score in the ED group.

ED (N=42) and HC (N=42) were tested with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-3), Facial Emotion Identification Test (FEIT), The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI).

Data collection is being completed and the results’ analysis is ongoing. We expect the ED sample to show greater alexythimia and a poorer performance at FEIT and TASIT than HCs. We expect to find a linear correlation between the TAS-20 and EDRC score.

A better understanding of the role of alexithymia in ED etiology and maintenance might allow the development of targeted treatment approaches to help patients improve their skills in identifying and expressing emotions.

The original cognitive-behavioural model of bulimia nervosa (CBT-BN) proposes that specific dysfunctional cognitions and behavioural factors maintain BN, and has provided the basis for the widely used cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) of BN. However, Fairburn et al. (2003) noted that among treatment completers with BN, only 40% achieved full remission of the bulimic symptomatology. The enhanced CBT-BN model (CBT-E) proposed by the authors describes how four additional factors (i.e., clinical perfectionism, low self esteem, mood intolerance and interpersonal difficulties) interact with the core psychopathology of BN (i.e., over-evaluation of eating, weight, and shape and their control) to maintain the disorder.

The goal of this study was to examine (a) the validity of the CBT-E model and (b) whether each of the four hypothesized maintenance factors intensifies the core psychopathology-bulimic symptomatology relationship in a clinical sample.

Data were analysed from 362 adults seeking treatment for BN (n = 167) or atypical BN (n =195) at four Italian specialized care centres, using latent variable structural equation modeling approach.

Both the measurement and the structural model were good fits for the data. All four hypothesized factors exacerbated the core psychopathology-bulimic symptomatology relationship. Core psychopathology explained approximately 47.7% of the variance of bulimic symptomatology. The inclusion of the direct effects and interaction terms increased the explained variance of bulimic symptomatology to 64%.

Overall, results supported the validity of the CBT-E model and highlighted the importance of assessment and treatment of the four maintenance processes included in the CBT-E model.

Patients affected by schizophrenia have deficits in social cognition, functioning and in properly interpreting facial expression. These disabilities contribute to global impairment in social and relational skills. Data started being collected in the context of the Italian-Network-of-Research-on-Psychosis, headed by Mario Maj and Silvana Galderisi, in our centre;collection went on also after the conclusion of the national project.

To compare social inference and facial emotion identification in schizophrenic patients and healthy controls.

We recruited 50 patients with Schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls (HCs) matched for sex, age and level of education. Socio-demographic characteristics were gathered;assessment of both patients and HCs included The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and the Facial Emotion Identification Test (FEIT);furthermore patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS).

Some differences in socio-demographic variables emerged (patients are more often unemployed and single). Moreover, the preliminary analyses highlight several differences between schizophrenic patients and HCs at TASIT and FEIT:patients performed significantly worse than HCs in both tests, with longer reaction times.

As expected schizophrenic patients showed social skills deficits and difficulties in identifying facial emotions. Our preliminary results point out disabilities in understanding social messages and interpreting human behaviour;these features underlie poor and limited social relationships proper to schizophrenia.

1. 1 Galderisi S et al. The influence of illness-related variables, personal resources and context-related factors on real-life functioning of people with schizophrenia;WorldPsychiatry2014,13(3):275-287

2. 2 Mucci A et al. The Specific Level of Functioning Scale: Construct validity, internal consistency and factor structure in a large Italian sample of people with schizophrenia living in the community Schizophr Res.2014Oct;159(1):144-50

Dual diagnosis (DD) is the coexistence of a Psychiatric Disorder (PD), and Substance Use Disorder (SUD). The increase of DD observed in recent years has caused serious problems to both public and private services organization.

Our aim is to assess the prevalence and features (including clinical and sociodemographic ones) of DD over a decade, comparing the period 2003–2004 and 2013–2014.

We performed a retrospective study retrieving the medical records of DD patients at their first admission to the Psychiatry Ward AOU “Maggiore della Carità”, Novara, Italy. Sociodemographic and clinical features were recorded. The two groups of patients (2003–2004 vs. 2013–2014) were compared.

In both periods DD patients are usually Italian male, aged 19–40, single. They have usually attended middle school, live with parents, have two or more brothers and/or sisters but no kids. DD patients in 2003–2004 and 2013–2014 showed differences as far as employment and diagnosis are concerned. The first were more frequently employed than the latter: moreover the 2003–2004 patients were more frequently diagnosed with a personality disorder while the 2013–2014 patients had mixed diagnoses. We have found differences in the possible predictors of substance abuse in the two periods, as well.

The identification of changes in the prevalence of first admission DD patients and their clinical and sociodemographic features may help to highlight an evolving pattern of substance use and to identify possible risk factors which may be the target of prevention and treatment approaches.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.