Dimensions of Anxiety, Age, and Gender: Assessing Dimensionality and Measurement Invariance of the State-Trait for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) in an Italian Sample

Carlucci, Leonardo; Watkins, Marley W.; Sergi, Maria Rita; Cataldi, Fedele; Saggino, Aristide; Balsamo, Michela

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02345

Cited by 32 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 123 publications

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“…The 21-item state scale of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) ( Ree et al, 2008 ; Balsamo et al, 2016 ; Carlucci et al, 2018 ) was administered to evaluate cognitive (e.g., “I have trouble remembering things”) and somatic (e.g., “My muscles are tense”) symptoms of state anxiety. Individuals rated how often a statement was true in the past 2 weeks, from 1 “ not at all ” to 4 “ very much so .” Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.89.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Italians on the Age of COVID-19: The Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Through Web-Based Survey

Balsamo

Carlucci

2020

Front. Psychol.

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The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the Italian community. The widespread use of quarantine had the desired impact of controlling the epidemic, although it caused many psychological consequences. To date, compliance of the Italian public with voluntary home quarantine has been very high, but little is known about the impact of psychological health on sociodemographic categories during the quarantine. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in specific sociodemographic categories during the COVID-19 quarantine lockdown and the potential factors that contribute to, or mitigate, these effects. In the very early stage of the nationwide lockdown, 3,672 quarantined Italian adult residents (65% females, ranging from 18 to 85 years) participated in a web-based cross-sectional survey, including measures of depressive symptoms, which were measured by the Teate depression inventory, and state anxiety levels. The overall prevalence was 27.8% for moderate and 9.3% for severe levels of depressive symptoms. A generalized logistic model was used to identify the factors associated with mental health problems. Among these factors, sociodemographic variables (e.g., sex, age, employment status) and adherence to quarantine guidelines were analyzed. Females, younger people, students, singles, residents in northern Italy, people who were reluctant to adhere to quarantine guidelines, and people less worried about being infected with COVID-19 were at high risk of developing depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 epidemic, also after controlling for state anxiety. These findings showed that public levels of depressive symptoms did not increase the greater likelihood of being infected. Our study suggested that the monitoring of psychological outcomes for outbreaks could identify groups at higher risk of psychological morbidities due to the current pandemic in order to target future psychological interventions for implementation.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Italians on the Age of COVID-19: The Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Through Web-Based Survey

Balsamo

Carlucci

2020

Front. Psychol.

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“…These sample characteristics potentially threat the generalizability of our findings. Further studies need to explore the presence of age and sex-related effects, (as well as cognitive styles; Carlucci et al, 2015Carlucci et al, , 2020 in ratings affective images as clustered in the present database (Fairfield et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…General cognition was assessed with the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) Scale 3 ( Cattell and Cattell, 1959 ). We administered the “State Trait Inventory of Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety” (STICSA) for mood ( Balsamo et al, 2015 ; Carlucci et al, 2018 ) to assess cognitive and somatic anxiety symptoms and consisting of both trait and state versions; and the “Teate Depression Inventory” (TDI; Balsamo and Saggino, 2013 ) to detect major depressive disorder as specified by the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). We evaluated personality traits with the short form of the “Big Five Questionnaire” (BFQ; Caprara et al, 1993 ) with five general domain scales (energy, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Bottom-Up Validation of the IAPS, GAPED, and NAPS Affective Picture Databases: Differential Effects on Behavioral Performance

et al. 2020

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The concept of emotion is a complex neural and psychological phenomenon, central to the organization of human social behavior. As the result of subjective experience, emotions involve bottom-up cognitive styles responsible for efficient adaptation of human behavior to the environment based on salient goals. Indeed, bottom-up cognitive processes are mandatory for clarifying emotion-cognition interactions. Accordingly, a huge number of studies and standardized affective stimuli databases have been developed (i.e., International Affective Picture System (IAPS), Geneva Affective Picture Database (GAPED), and Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS)). However, these neither accurately reflect the complex neural system underlying emotional responses nor do they offer a comprehensive framework for researchers. The present article aims to provide an additional bottom-up validation of affective stimuli that are independent from cognitive processing and control mechanisms, related to the implicit relevance and evolutionistic significance of stimuli. A subset of 360 images from the original NAPS, GAPED, and IAPS datasets was selected in order to proportionally cover the whole dimensional affective space. Among these, using a two-step analysis strategy, we identified three clusters ("good performance", "poor performance", and "false alarm") of stimuli with similar cognitive response profiles. Results showed that the three clusters differed in terms of arousal and database membership, but not in terms of valence. The new database, with accompanying ratings and image parameters, allows researchers to select visual stimuli independent from dimensional/discrete-categories, and provides information on the implicit effects triggered by such stimuli.

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“…Besides, the anxiety measure used in the present study assessed state rather than trait anxiety, which possibly limits the generalizability of results. Further research should apply psychometrically robust measures of anxiety and perceived work stress for further evaluation [47,48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness-Based IARA Model® Proves Effective to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Health Care Professionals. A Six-Month Follow-Up Study

Barattucci

Padovan

Vitale

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Changes in the health care environment, together with specific work-related stressors and the consequences on workers’ health and performance, have led to the implementation of prevention strategies. Among the different approaches, those which are mindfulness-based have been institutionally recommended with an indication provided as to their effectiveness in the management of stress. The aim of the present study was to analyze the efficacy of the mindfulness-based IARA Model® (an Italian acronym translatable into meeting, compliance, responsibility, autonomy) in order to ameliorate perceived stress, anxiety and enhance emotional regulation among health care professionals (HCPs; i.e., doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants). Four hundred and ninety-seven HCPs, 215 (57.2%) of which were women, were randomly assigned to a mindfulness-based training or control group and agreed to complete questionnaires on emotion regulation difficulties (DERS), anxiety, and perceived stress. Results showed that HCPs who attended the IARA training, compared to the control group, had better emotional regulation, anxiety and stress indices after 6 months from the end of the intervention. Furthermore, the results confirmed the positive relationship between emotional regulation, perceived stress and anxiety. The present study contributes to literature by extending the effectiveness of IARA in improving emotional regulation and well-being in non-clinical samples. Moreover, the study provides support for the idea that some specific emotional regulation processes can be implicated in perceived stress and anxiety. From the application point of view, companies should invest more in stress management intervention, monitoring and training, in order to develop worker skills, emotional self-awareness, and relational resources.

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Dimensions of Anxiety, Age, and Gender: Assessing Dimensionality and Measurement Invariance of the State-Trait for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) in an Italian Sample

Cited by 32 publications

References 123 publications

Italians on the Age of COVID-19: The Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Through Web-Based Survey

Italians on the Age of COVID-19: The Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Through Web-Based Survey

A Bottom-Up Validation of the IAPS, GAPED, and NAPS Affective Picture Databases: Differential Effects on Behavioral Performance

Mindfulness-Based IARA Model® Proves Effective to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Health Care Professionals. A Six-Month Follow-Up Study

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