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Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is a frequently disabling disease with a negative influence on the quality of life, and can cause psychopathological symptoms, such as anxiety. Our aim is to study further anxiety symptoms on CIU patients. Both CIU patients and the control group were studied by means of validated scales for psychopathology symptoms, psychological variables and quality of life. In this study, we reported high levels of anxiety symptoms. We found statistically significant correlations between anxiety symptoms, some personality dimensions, insecure attachment styles, alexithymia and with some quality of life dimensions. CIU patients exhibit high levels of psychological distress that could potentiate difficulties at several domains, namely social, emotional, general health perception and interpersonal relationships.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that underlie nurses' attitudes toward death. This may be useful for creating relevant and effective pre- and post-graduate nursing training.

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This study aimed to determine the prevalence of alexithymic characteristics in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), comparing them with a population of healthy subjects. Fifty-three SLE patients [American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria] and 31 healthy volunteer subjects were administered validated scales for alexithymia (Toronto alexythimia scale-20), psychopathology (brief symptom inventory; hospital anxiety and depression scale), personality dimensions (NEO five-factor inventory), and quality of life (short form-36 health survey). The SLE patient's clinical and laboratory evaluations were performed by computerized indicators of activity (SLE disease activity index), of accumulated damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology damage index), length of disease, and therapy. A high prevalence of alexithymia was found in SLE patients. Alexithymia was associated with psychopathology, personality, and quality of life dimensions. Clinical variables and therapy were not correlated significantly with alexithymia, psychopathology, or quality of life dimensions. Multiple regression analysis showed that openness and depression were the two predictors for alexithymia in SLE patients. The present findings showed that alexithymia may play an important role in SLE patients. The difficulty in the management of emotions may lead to psychological distress and instability affecting the patient's quality of life, a relevant finding for the psychological, psychiatric, and clinical intervention and approach.