PurposeThe aims of this pilot study were to examine cognitive factors (brooding and craving) together with positive/negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol during a residential program for alcohol addiction and to explore relationships with psychological variables at discharge, with the scope of identifying predictive factors of psychological outcome and patients at greatest risk of relapse.MethodsThirty patients underwent a brief semistructured interview on admission to a 28-day rehabilitation program for alcohol addiction, and completed at admission and discharge the following five self-report questionnaires: 1) brooding (Brooding subscale of Ruminative Response Scale [B-RRS]), 2) craving (Penn Alcohol Craving Scale [PACS]), 3) positive beliefs about alcohol use (Positive Alcohol Metacognitions Scale [PAMS]), 4) negative beliefs about alcohol use (Negative Alcohol Metacognitions Scale [NAMS]), and 5) the psychophysical state of health (Cognitive Behavioral Assessment – Outcome Evaluation [CBA-OE]).ResultsSignificant changes were found between admission and discharge in CBA-OE, B-RRS, and PACS. Brooding at admission was a significant predictor of post-treatment psychological variables of “anxiety”, “depression”, and “psychological distress”, whereas craving at admission was a good predictor of “perception of positive change” at discharge.ConclusionOur results confirm the importance of brooding in mood regulation and its role in the development and maintenance of problem drinking. In addition, craving was negatively associated with the perception of positive change in the post-treatment outcomes and was a predictor of this psychological variable, which includes features related to the individual’s resilience and strength. The changes in metacognitive beliefs regarding alcohol use were not statistically significant, but we found a reduction in positive metacognitions and an increase in negative alcohol-related beliefs; future studies are needed to further explore this issue.

The Italian form of the Adolescent Reinforcement Survey Schedule (ARSS-I) was administered to (N = 648) high school boys and girls from northern and central Italy. Their responses were factor analyzed using a principal component. VARIMAX rotation procedure (SAS Institute, Inc., 1990). The 10 interpretable factors from the Italian data were compared and contrasted to factor analytic results from Holmes (1991, 1994) studies using American and Japanese students. Additionally, the Italian data analyses includes an examination by gender using t tests for each of the ARSS-I items and an ANOVA for age and age-gender effects on responses to the ARSS-I.

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The Social Skills Inventory is a 90-item self-report procedure designed to measure social and communication skills. The inventory measures six dimensions, namely, Emotional Expressivity, Emotional Sensitivity, Emotional Control, Social Expressivity, Social Sensitivity, and Social Control. The Italian version was administered in several cities in Northern Italy to 500 Italian participants ranging in age from 15 to 59 years. Factor analysis appears to confirm the adequacy of the inventory for the Italian adult population. Results indicate strong similarities between the Italian and American populations with respect to the measure of social skills. Indexes of internal reliability and test-retest reliability are good for almost all subscales of the inventory, which should encourage the use of this inventory with Italian samples.

The Social Skills Inventory is a 90-item self-report procedure designed to measure social and communication skills. The inventory measures six dimensions, namely, Emotional Expressivity, Emotional Sensitivity, Emotional Control, Social Expressivity, Social Sensitivity, and Social Control. The Italian version was administered in several cities in Northern Italy to 500 Italian participants ranging in age from 15 to 59 years. Factor analysis appears to confirm the adequacy of the inventory for the Italian adult population. Results indicate strong similarities between the Italian and American populations with respect to the measure of social skills. Indexes of internal reliability and test-retest reliability are good for almost all subscales of the inventory, which should encourage the use of this inventory with Italian samples.