Future firefighters are selected and trained to perform well under pressure and stress.

The research is focused on the experimental study of fire cadets’ memory capacity under stress.

The study follows Solomon Four Group Design with two variables: stress stimuli (exposure/non-exposure), fire cadets (n=50)/civilian students (n=40). Two series of The Digit Span Test measurements (DST) were performed. Heart rate, EMG, systolic wave amplitude, pulse transit time were measured during the experiment to determine the respondents’ stress levels.

Memory capacity in fire cadets under stress (n=30) significantly increased (Wilcoxon match-pairs rank test, р = 0.001; 1st DST series, neutral stimuli: M=6.53, SE=0.17, SD=0.96; 2st DST series, stressful stimuli: M=7.3, SE=0.21, SD=1.16), the obtained effect size was medium (Cohen’s d = 0.7232). There was no significant change in memory capacity in civilian students under stress (n=20, Wilcoxon test, р=0.452; 1st DST series, neutral stimuli: M=6.78, SE=0.23, SD=1.02; 2st DST series, stressful stimuli: M=6.7, SE=0.23, SD=1.04). Moreover, there was no significant change in memory capacity in fire cadets that were not under stress (n=20, Wilcoxon test, р = 0.628; 1st DST series, neutral stimuli: M=6.88, SE=0.16, SD=0.70; 2st DST series, neutral stimuli: M=6.78, SE=0.16, SD=0.73). Systolic wave amplitude in the stress-exposed groups changed more pronouncedly in students (Mann–Whitney test, z=-2.131; p = 0.033) compared to cadets.

In most of the fire cadets, moderate stress exposure resulted in a memory capacity increase.

No significant relationships.

Perfectionism is a consistent risk factor for various psychopathological conditions, including psychological distress and eating disorders. Recently, we have shown, for the first time, that there is a relationship between perfectionism and generalized problematic internet use/GPIU (Sobral et al. 2020). Specifically, we found that the role of perfectionism in psychological disorder is partially mediated by GPIU. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the widespread use of digital media can lead to negative body image perception and abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors.

To explore, for the first time, the relationship between perfectionism, GPIU and disordered eating behavior.

475 university students (78.9% girls; mean age 20.22±1.695) answered the Portuguese validated versions of: Composite Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, GPIU Scale and Eating Attitudes Test-25. SPSS and Hayes’ Process Macro (2020) were used.

Bulimic Behaviours/BB significantly and moderately correlated with Perfectionist efforts (r=.263), Perfectionist concerns (r=.284) and GPIU (r=.25) (all p<.001). The mediation analyses revealed that GPIU is a partial mediator of the relationship between both perfectionism dimensions and BB.

The evidence that both negative and “positive” perfectionism dimensions are associated to eating pathology is in line with our previous research. The present study adds, for the first time, that one of the perfectionism pathways of influence on BB operates through UGPI. Assessment and intervention to diminish eating psychopathology should focus on perfectionism and compulsive traits which could be involved in both ED and GPIU and in their comorbidity.

No significant relationships.

The prevalence of mental disorders plays an important role in identifying the state of mental health of the community and estimate the required facilities at any time.

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychological disorders in caregivers of children with intellectual disabilities and motor disabilities in Shiraz.

The research was descriptive and cross-sectional survey. The statistical population consisted of all mothers of children with disabilities who were admitted to welfare centers and clinics of Shiraz in 2019. Of these families, 35 mothers with children with intellectual disability and 35 mothers with children with motor disability were selected as the sample group. SCL-90-R (1976) was used to collect of data. For analyze the data, MANOVA test was used.

The results of this study showed that the most common psychological disorders in caregivers of children with intellectual disability were aggression (hostility), hypersensitivity to interpersonal relationships, anxiety and depression, and in caregivers of children with motor disabilities were physical complaints, sensitivity to interpersonal relationships, paranoid thoughts and anxiety.

According to the findings of this research, it can be concluded that caregivers of children with special needs in terms of mental health are not in a favorable situation, which is due to the lack of proper adaptation with the disability of their child and the failure to meet their needs.

No significant relationships.

Designer drugs, as a term, first came about in the 1980s. Most of these “designer drugs” have synthetic cannabinoids and other psychoactive formulas difficulty to detect.

A 28 year man was referred to the hospital.

CT brain and EEG were also normal.

Among 7 days before attending the hospital the patient had a strange behaviour. He was staying like in changed reality. The day before admission he got irritable in the evening was reporting that he could hear animal’s imperative voices “we together with squirrel, dolphin visited giraffe, that someone told to jump from the window”. That symptoms were temporary after that he was shocked when realized that he was in a room. The patient has the history of marihuana use in the past 5 years, periodically. There is no evidence data about the usage of other narcotic substances. On examination he was alert, sitting on a same place looking at one point, sometimes trying to find something or suddenly standing and trying to go somewhere. He has a change of catatonic stupor and excitement. The psychomotor activity was changeable. While observing the patient during few days several times he disrobed all his clothes, staying or laying on a bed or suddenly freezing in one pose.

Taking into account clinical symptoms, the patient developed, the conclusion was made about connection of patients’ oneiroid catatonia with the usage of “Spice” or “Designer drug”. Thus, designer drugs may sound like a safer alternative, but often can lead to serious mental disturbances.

No significant relationships.

Few studies have examined the course of eating disorders and the respective treatments based on insurance data, even though they provide representative information.

To assess the epidemiology, treatments, duration of illness, costs of treatment in a data set of a public health insurance.

Data provided by a German health insurance (data from 4.2 million members from 2005-2010). A matched control group based on age and gender without an eating disorder diagnosis was used for comparisons.

2.734 cases with the diagnoses of an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa AN, bulimia nervosa BN or combination ANBN) were identified. More than 92% of the patients were female. The relative risk for personality disorders, depressive disorders, alcohol abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorders was highly increased. Most of the patients with BN (53.04%) or AN (41.57%) were treated in out-patient care, and many were only treated for three months, whereas most of the patients with ANBN were treated for a longer time. 3-19% with BN, AN or ANBN were treated only in in-patient care. The in-patient costs of treatment for the year of the diagnosis were 5471.15€ for BN, 9080.26€ for AN, 10809.16€ for ANBN and 339.37€ for the control group.

Our findings suggest that patients with ANBN diagnosis have a severe and longer course of treatment. Furthermore, contrary to national guidelines for eating disorders, there is a considerable proportion of patients with BN or AN that are treated only in in-patient care.

No significant relationships.

Since the declaration of the national lockdown in Spain on March 14th until the publication of the SEPB recommendations on May 11th, most of the ECT-U closed or drastically reduced their activity.

To present our non-stop management of an ECT-U during the first two months of COVID-19 lockdown in Spain.

We retrospectively analysed the time between sessions, the clinical, pharmacological and electrical data records of maintenance patients (m-ECT) and compared them with their own records in the two-month period prior to COVID-19. We analysed the length of admission, clinical, pharmacological and electrical records in hospitalized patients (i-ETC) and compared them with patients from the entire year prior to COVID-19 paired by age, sex and diagnosis.

The ECT-m programme included 17 patients: we postponed the ECT in 8 patients; 1 patient was hospitalized and 8 patients continued normally. The time between m-ECT increased by 8.37±4.89 days (p=0.018) without relapse. During the COVID-19 period, we performed ECT-i in 14 patients without new infections. In i-ECT the duration of admissions increased by 22.1 ±1.2 days (p=0.006), the load increased by 81.53 ±87.8 mC (p=0.027) and the time of the electrical seizure decreased by 7.9 ±9.2 seconds (p=0.037).

The modifications that reach a statistical significance are explained by the readjustment of the ECT-U, with no clinical significance. With the appropriate measures, neither m-ECT nor i-ECT were discontinued. Thus we maintained adequate patient management.

No significant relationships.

Future firefighters are trained and selected for a job requiring the ability to perform well under high stress and time pressure.

The research is focused on the experimental study of fire cadets’ cognitive performance indicators (speed/accuracy) under stress.

The study follows Solomon Four Group Design with two variables: stress stimuli (exposure/non-exposure) and participants’ background (50 male fire cadets; 50 male civilian students). Stress stimuli consisted of emergencies’ photos, audio, videos. ECG, EMG, systolic wave amplitude, pulse transit time were measured during the experiment to determine the respondents’ stress levels. The cognitive reflection test (CRT) was performed. Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were used.

There were no differences between students and fire cadets in CRT time (p=0.515, students: 118.1±38.6 sec, cadets: 143.5±78.1 sec) and accuracy (p=0.246, students: 1.2±0.9, cadets: 1.4±0.9). Fire cadets in the stress exposure group (mean time=122, mean accuracy=1.22) performed CRT significantly faster (p=0.039) than non-exposed cadets (mean time=166, mean accuracy=1.56). The accuracy difference was insignificant (p=0.206). Fire cadets with prior emergency work experience (n=30, mean time=159.7, mean accuracy=1.6) were no different from other cadets (n=20, mean time=159.7, mean accuracy=1.1) both in time (p=0.289) and accuracy(p=0.07). The performance difference between civilian student groups was insignificant (exposure: mean time=123, mean accuracy=1.32; non-exposure: mean time=113, mean accuracy=1.06).

Stress exposure enhances fire cadets’ CRT performance (in speed, but not in accuracy). Emergency work experience did not contribute to this effect, which could be explained by the self-selection effect (since only people inclined to emergency work choose to become a firefighter).

No significant relationships.

Borderline Personality Disorder is defined from its impulsivity issues regarding relationships, abandonment and rejection issues and emotional regulation problems. This personality disorder issue are hard to treat and often related to poor treatment outcomes. Nonetheless, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy stands as a great therapeutical approach that can be adapted.

We tested a 6-month CBT protocol (ECCCLORE)-3 modules respectively working on emotion regulation, distress tolerance and relationships- in a French context to compare its effectiveness to treatment as Usual (TAU).

We recruited 56 patients suffering from BPD, 34 receiving ECCCLORE treatment and 22 receiving TAU. We assessed BPD traits, impulsivity with UPPS, aggressiveness with AQ12, Suicidal risk with SBQr and Hopelessness with H.

Our results revealed the effectiveness of this 6 months DBT adaptation for decreasing BPD traits and most of clinical dimensions. The dynamic analysis revealed the mediating effect of AQ12.

Shortened treatment protocol are effective for reducing symptoms. Further research is needed to replicate these results.

Comorbid substance misuse in mental illness presents a significant challenge to mental health services. It may lead to higher rates of relapse, hospital admissions and poorer treatment outcomes. Up to 47% of inpatients in Irish mental health units may experience substance misuse. Despite the Irish government’s ‘Vision for Change’ policy (2006), access to specialised services remains variable.

Evaluate: -prevalence of substance misuse at an Irish mental health unit. -quality and detail of the recorded substance misuse history. -access to specialised services for patients experiencing substance misuse.

A retrospective chart review of inpatients in a mental health unit over 12 months, was completed. Information recorded included: demographic details, diagnosis, substance use history; access to substance misuse services. Microsoft Excel was utilised for data input and analysis.

267 patients were admitted over twelve months. Substance misuse was the primary diagnosis of 6% and the secondary diagnosis of 67%. 46% of patients reported current substance misuse, 52% reported historical substance misuse. Frequency and quantity of use was documented in 65% and 48% of cases respectively. 4% of patients with a substance misuse history were in current contact with addiction services.

Although 46% of patients reported substance misuse, only 4% were in contact with specialised addiction services. This highlights a significant unmet need. There was variability in the quality of the recorded substance misuse history. In order to fully understand comorbid substance misuse, this be addressed. The addition of a more formatted substance misuse section, to admission proformas, may help to alleviate this issue.

PTSD manifestation is determined by facing extreme life threatening experience going beyond our stress coping skills. The diagnosis of the serious illness like cancer or SARS-2 COVID 19 can be considered as one of the PTSD risk factors. In our clinical practice we have to distinguish the patients groups vulnerable to comorbid PTSD as well as define the psychological factors like good life hardiness, adaptive internal illness image or specific personality profile that can help to cope with disease stress and should be strengthen with psychosocial interventions.

After screening with PTSD Trauma Screening Questionnaire and an expert clinical interview aimed to verify the PTSD diagnosis according to ICD-10 criteria 97 breast cancer patients were enrolled in the study, 46 with comorbid PTSD, 51 well coped with stress

Semi-structured interview, Hardiness Survey questionnaire,Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) Adult Attachment questionnaire,Impact of Event Scale-R – IES-R, the questionnaire of the internal disease model, Ego-structure test by G. Ammon(ISTA),.

The correlation analysis revealed negative correlation between PTSD diagnosis and hardiness, especially its Involvement, Control, Risk acceptance sub-scales and with the Traumatic event impact score. Deficient-destructive ISTA personality profile had a positive correlation with PTSD and traumatic Impact scores, the strongest correlation were with deficient aggression(r=0,698, p=0.01), destructive anxiety (r=0,674, p=0,01), and deficient internal and external demarcation (r=0,678, p=0,01). The adaptive internal illness image types had a negative correlation with PTSD

Hardiness, maladaptive illness images types and destructive-deficient personality dimension should be the main targets for psychotherapy in comorbid PTSD treatment and prevention

life hardiness ptsd breast cancer internal image of the illness construct anxiety social support

No significant relationships.

Delusional infestation (DI), also known as delusional parasitosis or Ekbom syndrome, is a rare disorder, characterised by fixed belief that the skin, body or immediate environment is infested by small pathogens, despite the lack of any medical evidence for it.

To describe and discuss two clinical cases of DI, in order to show two different ways of presenting in this entity.

Two case report and non-systematic review.

We present the case of a 76-year-old woman, without psychiatric history, with an DI with 5 years of evolution, referred to a psychiatric consultation by a dermatologist. The second case, is a 41-year-old woman with a history of multiple substance use disorder, with an DI with a month of evolution, who resorted to the emergency department. DI is not a single diagnostic entity. The classic form, as represented in the first case,is a primary form, which develops without any known cause or underlying disease, corresponding to a persistent delusional disorder. However, about 60% of patients have secondary forms of DI, in the context of substance misuse, some medications or in the course of physical or psychiatric diseases (e.g. stroke, delirium, dementia, depression, schizophrenia).

DI can occur as a primary delusional disorder or secondary to several other medical conditions. An in-depth clinical history is essential in order to make the correct diagnosis. A multidisciplinary approach is also important, to exclude any possible organic etiology, not forgetting that many patients may turn to other medical specialities first.

No significant relationships.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease, affecting up to 2-4% of population. The majority of investigations agree that this disease appears to be a result of confluence of genetic, allergenic and emotional factors. There is usually more than one trigger that leads to the manifestation or exacerbation of symptoms. Psychogenic factors are clearly in a pattern here. Some personality traits may lead to instability of the emotional sphere that can act alternately as a cause, then as an aftereffect of exacerbation of the chronic process, forming a so called “vicious circle” of psychosomatic disease.

To discover the impact of escitalopram on the symptoms of psoriasis.

14 patients were diagnosed with psoriasis. All patients underwent psychiatric interviewing and psychological testing (STAI and HADS). The results revealed increased trait anxiety levels among 8 of them with moderate severity of the process according to SCORAD index. 3 cases demonstrated symptoms of clinically expressed and 4 subclinical levels of depression. Escitalopram (10 to 20 mg. daily) was administered along with common dermatologic therapy in these patients.

Patients treated with escitalopram showed a reduction of anxiety and depression tests scores as well as the values some dermatological symptoms such as pruritus.

These preliminary results of 3 months study gives us a hope of successful psychopharmacological treatment of psoriasis in cooperation with dermatologists. Finding intercommunications in pathogenesis of skin and emotional disorders could optimize the treatment and improve patient’s quality of life. The publication was prepared with the support of the “RUDN University Program 5-100”.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized by repeatedly losing control over eating behavior and consuming large amounts of food within a short period of time. In later years, a growing body of evidence for effectiveness of internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) as treatment for BED has emerged. Regarding the ability to complete a self-help program on the internet, internal self-regulation can be viewed as important.

To qualitatively explore patient motivations for seeking therapy for BED according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as patient reasons for seeking online therapy.

The research design of this study was qualitatively. The participants were 52 adults suffering from mild to moderate BED. Data consisted of written texts entered by the participants into the online therapy program. The texts addressed the participants’ goals for their treatment course and their motives for seeking online therapy. The texts were analyzed by the means of systematic text condensation.

Pertaining patient motivations for seeking therapy for BED, five main motivations that reached a saturated level in the sample were discovered: wish for control; avoidance of guilt/shame; desire for tools/insights; weight loss; and psychological stress. Participants ranged from one motivational factor to four, no participant had all the motivational factors. Regarding patient reasons for seeking online therapy, the following themes including sub themes were found: online treatment, treatment at home, and flexible treatment.

The results indicate that online therapy for BED may be able to breach some of the barriers there are towards treatment seeking.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a biological basis overlapped with obsessive compulsive disorders and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The combination of pharmacological treatment and psychological interventions have been considered the gold-standard

Our main objective was to present the case of a patient with ASD and comorbid BDD. As a second objective, we reviewed recent works on the common neurobiological substrate and therapeutic options for both conditions.

(1)Clinical case: Patient with ASD and BDD, treated with fluoxetine 60 mg/day and aripiprazole 30 mg/day. (2)Non-systematic narrative review focused on neurobiological substrate and treatment of ASD and BDD. The electronic search was performed by the PubMed database (1990-2020) using the following key terms: “autism spectrum disorder”, “body dysmorphic disorder”, “dysmorphophobia”, “neurobiology”, “pharmacological treatment”, “psychological treatment” and “treatment”.

Our patient is a 31-year-old single male fulfilling DSM-5 criteria for ASD, diagnosed in childhood, and BDD. He received pharmacological treatment and CBT. He also verbalized having been concerned with his lips and mouth for the last 10 years. This discomfort leads to passive ideas of death. Review: All articles (n=4) supported the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and CBT in this comorbidity. None of them reported the use of antipsychotics. Oone article described the use of Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and oxytocin.

ASD and BDD share the basis of corticostriatal circuits. ISRS and CBT may be effective in treatment. Other options (oxytocin or rTMS) should be further investigated. Examining this comorbidity could be useful for discovering possible endophenotypes.

The increase of job satisfaction in mental health nurses, working in community mental facilities, helps them to become more efficient and understand the needs of individuals suffering from mental health problems.

To investigate sociodemographic and job characteristics, as well as the level of professional satisfaction of nurses working in psychosocial rehabilitation facilities of the psychiatric hospital of Athens, named Dafni.

220 nurses, working in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation completed (a) a sociodemographic questionnaire, (b) Spectοr’s Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS).

Nursing staff consists of mental health nurses (44.1%) and nursing assistants (55.9%) in the present study. 90% of the participants were female; while the 65% were married, the 19.5% had a university-level education and the 25% had administrative responsibilities. The 44.1% of our sample worked in hostels, 41.8% in nursing homes and 6.8% in Community Mental Health Centers. More specifically, moderate levels of total professional satisfaction were observed. Concerning the dimensions of satisfaction, low satisfaction rates were recorded in “salary”, “promotion” and in “privileges and benefits”. High satisfaction rates were recorded in “supervision by their superiors”, “cooperation between colleagues” and “the nature of their work”, while moderate satisfaction rates were reported in “communication” within facilities, as far as the explanation of tasks and objectives is concerned.

The results can be exploited by those with administrative and scientific responsibilities in the field of mental health in order to recognize nurses’ difficulties and solve their problems in psychosocial rehabilitation facilities.

Alcohol dysphoria is a pathognomonic, severe, and therapeutically resistant syndrome considerable for alcohol and drug-addicted patients. The term “dysphoria” (from Greek δυσφορέω to suffer, torment, annoy) means an abnormally low type of mood, characterized by anger, gloom, irritability, feelings of hostility to others. In addictology, it is often identified in the withdrawal syndrome structure.

To develop innovative improvement in treatment for alcohol dysphoria.

Valid clinical diagnostic, laboratory, biochemical, electrophysiological, psychological (scaling, testing), statistical methods identifying alcohol dependence complicated by dysphoria.

The proposed method involves a complex of anti-affective, anti-abstinence, anti-craving pharmacological agents and drug-free methods, and differs from those conventional, along with psychotherapeutic potentiation, by additional targeted pharmacological triad (peroral Carbamazepine 200 mg twice a day: in the morning and in the evening; intramuscular Halopril (Haloperidol) 1 ml (5 mg) daily; oral Sonapax 1 tablet (25 mg) three times a day for 3-5 day treatment) used for a new purpose. 17 patients experienced this method. Efficacy: alcohol dysphoria acute manifestations were relieved by our method within 3-5 days that 37.8% exceeds conventional treatment. In 15 minutes, patients decreased irritability, motor restlessness, stress, cravings for alcohol. In 30 minutes, the patients fell asleep. Sleep lasted 3.5 hours on average. Subsequently, patients denied craving for alcohol, calmed down emotionally and psychomotorically, wished to be treated for alcoholism. No dysphoric relapses were observed.

The proposed multimodality method alleviates alcohol-induced dysphoria, involving pharmacotherapeutic triad along with psychotherapeutic potentiation.

It’s established that aesthetic dysfunctions can be associated with psychiatric conditions. In present times, considering the exponential growth of minimally invasive and accessible techniques, alongside with ideals of beauty present in everyday life through exposure in social media, the importance of early detection of mental illness and its impact on the respective outcome should be emphasized.

To review evidence regarding psychiatric disorders in people searching for aesthetic treatments and their impact on the outcome.

Literature review using Medline database.

Around 50% of individuals seeking aesthetic procedures fulfill the diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) can vary from 5-15%, with some studies showing a prevalence of more than 50%. Patients with heightened BDD symptoms are less satisfied with the outcomes of aesthetic procedures which could result in exacerbation of said symptoms. With regards to eating disorders, evidence suggests the initial satisfaction following aesthetic procedures, when observed, is usually transitory, not leading to long-term changes in self-perception relating to body image, nor improving prognosis or quality of life. There’s also some evidence suggesting that personality disorders may be a predictor of poor satisfaction with the results of aesthetic treatments.

Awareness should be raised in this matter, since psychiatric conditions are more common in patients seeking aesthetic treatments and early identification can lead to a better prognosis by providing patients with the mental health treatment they need; this could also reduce the probability of dissatisfaction and subsequent aggravation of psychiatric symptoms following aesthetic interventions.

The majority of homicides in society are not associated with mental illness, however there is an established association between homicide and schizophrenia. Homicide perpetrated by mentally disordered offenders is a leading reason for admission to secure forensic psychiatric hospitals.

To investigate the clinical characteristics of those with a history of completed homicide in the CMH Dundrum.

This study was a cross sectional study of a cohort of patients in the Central Mental Hospital who had completed homicide (n=63).

A total of 136 patients were included, 46.3% (n=63) of whom had committed homicide. Mean age of homicide perpetrators at admission was 34.6 years old (median 33.4, s.d. = 9.72). The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia (n=40, 63.5%). 73.0% (n=46) had a history of substance misuse. 36.5% (n=23) had a diagnosis of a personality disorder, including traits only. The most common victim type was a family member (n=32, 50.8%). Patients with a history of homicide had better scores on dynamic risk of violence (F=8.553, p=0.004), programme completion (F=8.258, p=0.005) and recovery (F=3.666, p=0.058) compared to non-homicide offenders, however they also had significantly longer mean length of stay, 12.7 years v 7.5 years (F=9.634,p=0.002).

Homicide perpetrators with a mental illness constitute a significant portion of the forensic mental health population and a high number of these offences were against family members. A history of homicide among forensic in-patients is associated with a longer length of stay which has implications for service development into the future.

Self-disorders (SDs) have been described as a core feature of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Previous studies conducted on heterogeneous clinical adult and adolescents samples demonstrated that SDs aggregate selectively in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders compared to other disorders.

To examine the specificity of SDs for schizophrenia spectrum disorders in adolescent inpatient sample.

Fifty-five adolescent inpatients admitted to the Child Psychiatry Unit at the Sapienza University in Rome were assessed for psychopathology using Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS-PL), Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS/SOPS),Examination of Anomalous Self-Experiences (EASE), Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), Calgary depression scale for schizophrenia (CDSS)

Patients, aged 14-18 years, were divided in four diagnostic groups: schizophrenia spectrum disorders (5 pts.), mood disorders (19 pts.), anxiety disorders (27 pts.) and other disorders (4 pts.). Frequency of self-disorders was different among the 4 groups. Including patients schizotypal personality disorder in the schizophrenia-spectrum disorder group, the difference is still significant. Mann-Whitney U test shows no differences between EOP and UHR patients in SD. Furthermore, correlations between EASE total score and Calgary and MASC total scores were significant.

Our results confirm the specificity of SDs for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and also the belonging of schizotypal personality disorder to schizophrenia-spectrum.