Background: The psychological impact of the COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdown measures on the Italian population are unknown. The current study assesses rates of mental health outcomes in the Italian general population three to 4 weeks into lockdown measures and explores the impact of COVID-19 related potential risk factors. Methods: A web-based survey spread throughout the internet between March 27 th and April 6 th 2020. Eighteen thousand one hundred forty-seven individuals completed the questionnaire, 79.6% women. Selected outcomes were post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), depression, anxiety, insomnia, perceived stress, and adjustment disorder symptoms (ADS). Seemingly unrelated logistic regression analysis was performed to identify COVID-19 related risk factors. Results: Endorsement rates for PTSS were 6,604 (37%), 3,084 (17.3%) for depression, 3,700 (20.8%) for anxiety, 1,301 (7.3%) for insomnia, 3,895 (21.8%) for high perceived stress and 4,092 (22.9%) for adjustment disorder. Being woman and younger age were associated with all of the selected outcomes. Quarantine was associated with PTSS, anxiety and ADS. Any recent COVID-related stressful life event was associated with all the selected outcomes. Discontinued working activity due to the COVID-19 was associated with all the selected outcomes, except for ADS; working more than usual was associated with PTSS, Perceived stress and ADS. Having a loved one deceased by COVID-19 was associated with PTSS, depression, perceived stress, and insomnia. Conclusion: We found high rates of negative mental health outcomes in the Italian general population 3 weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown measures and different COVID

Health care workers (HCWs) involved in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are exposed to high levels of stressful or traumatic events and express substantial negative mental health outcomes, 1 including stress-related symptoms and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. In this cross-sectional study, we report on mental health outcomes among HCWs in Italy. Methods This cross-sectional, web-based study collected data between March 27 and March 31, 2020, using an online questionnaire spread via social networks using a snowball technique and sponsored social network advertisements. Approval for this study was obtained from the local institutional review board at University of L'Aquila. Online consent was obtained from the participants. The sampling period corresponded to the days immediately preceding the COVID-19 contagion peak, associated with the highest level of health care system utilization. All HCWs reporting that they work in Italy were eligible. Because of the self-selected and nonprobabilistic nature of the sample, invitations and response rates could not be quantifiable, as reported by American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) reporting guideline. The questionnaire investigated demographic variables, workplace characteristics (ie, being a frontline or second-line worker), and information regarding the direct consequences of COVID-19, including having colleagues infected or deceased. Frontline and second-line HCWs were defined by a single yes or no question, "Are you currently working with COVID-19 patients?" Key mental health outcomes were posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and perceived stress, assessed using the Italian version of the Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS), 2 the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 3 the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), 4 the 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), 5 and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). 6 Participants were classified as endorsing the previously listed symptoms according to the following cutoffs: at least 3 on the 5 item GPS-posttraumatic stress disorder subscale, at least 15 on the PHQ-9, at least 15 on the GAD-7, and at least 22 on the ISI. Cutoffs were extracted from the original articles describing each measure. Because no official cutoff for the PSS was available, a quartile split was used. Age was standardized to a mean (SD) of 0 (1) and then reversed (ie, multiplied by −1) to show a positive coefficient. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to explore the association of the selected outcomes with sex, age, frontline working position, occupation, and self and colleagues' exposure to contagion. The association between outcomes and potential risk factors was assessed by seemingly unrelated regression models that allow joint modelling of correlated outcomes. Analyses were conducted in Stata version 16 (StataCorp). Statistical significance was set at P < .05, and all tests were 2-tailed. Results A total of 1379 HCWs completed th...

In people suffering from schizophrenia, major areas of everyday life are impaired, including independent living, productive activities and social relationships. Enhanced understanding of factors that hinder real-life functioning is vital for treatments to translate into more positive outcomes. The goal of the present study was to identify predictors of real-life functioning in people with schizophrenia, and to assess their relative contribution. Based on previous literature and clinical experience, several factors were selected and grouped into three categories: illness-related variables, personal resources and context-related factors. Some of these variables were never investigated before in relationship with real-life functioning. In 921 patients with schizophrenia living in the community, we found that variables relevant to the disease, personal resources and social context explain 53.8% of real-life functioning variance in a structural equation model. Neurocognition exhibited the strongest, though indirect, association with real-life functioning. Positive symptoms and disorganization, as well as avolition, proved to have significant direct and indirect effects, while depression had no significant association and poor emotional expression was only indirectly and weakly related to real-life functioning. Availability of a disability pension and access to social and family incentives also showed a significant direct association with functioning. Social cognition, functional capacity, resilience, internalized stigma and engagement with mental health services served as mediators. The observed complex associations among investigated predictors, mediators and real-life functioning strongly suggest that integrated and personalized programs should be provided as standard treatment to people with schizophrenia.