During the COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy, general practitioners (GPs) are ensuring continued access to primary care for citizens while also absorbing more of the impact of the crisis than most professional groups. The aim of this study is to explore the relationships between dimensions of burnout and various psychological features among Italian GPs during the COVID-19 emergency. A group of 102 GPs completed self-administered questionnaires available online through Google Forms, including Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Resilience Scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale Short Form (IU), and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Cluster analysis highlighted four distinct burnout risk profiles: Low Burnout, Medium Risk, High Risk, and High Burnout. The High Burnout group showed both lower Resilience and lower CISS Task-oriented coping strategy than the Medium Risk group and higher IU Prospective than the Low Burnout group. Results of a linear regression analysis confirmed that CISS Emotion-oriented style positively predicted MBI Emotional Exhaustion, CISS Task-oriented and Emotion-oriented emerged as significant predictors (negatively and positively, respectively) of MBI Depersonalization, and Resilience positively predicted MBI Personal Accomplishment. In conclusion, the results showed that the COVID-19 emergency had a significant impact on GPs’ work management. Implementing task-oriented problem management, rather than emotional strategies, appears to protect against burnout in these circumstances. It is possible that the emotions related to the pandemic are too intense to be regulated and used productively to manage the professional issues that the COVID-19 pandemic presents.

(1) Background: The COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a unique challenge as a severe global crisis affecting physical and psychological health. The main purpose of this work is to study the impact of a traumatic event while also observing the human ability to adapt. One of the first theories to study the adaptive importance of the evolutionary lineage of the affective systems is referred to as BrainMind (Panksepp, 2010). This study aims to explore whether primary emotional systems (PES) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies show differences between the pre- and post- lockdown period; and if positive systems and specific emotion regulation pre-pandemic act as a protective or risk factor for mental and physical wellbeing. (2) Methods: 98 participants who had participated in a previous study before the pandemic were re-contacted to refill the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) after the outbreak of the pandemic with the addition of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R). (3) Results: The results showed that the COVID-19 lockdown rules had an impact on Emotional Regulation and on a re-balancing of PES. Moreover, pre-pandemic expressive–suppressive ERQ strategies and ANPS SADNESS scores appeared as relevant risk factors, which predicted higher Global Severity Index (GSI) scores during lockdown. (4) Conclusions: The lockdown appears to have activated PLAY and CARE as protective systems, but has detuned the ability to positively reinterpret the situation.

(1) Background: Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a concept that describes a significant imaginary activity that replaces human engagement and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning. We explored the interaction between attachment style, reflective functioning (RF), and the narrative dimension of MD. (2) Methods: 414 adults completed an online survey, including socio-demographic variables, the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, Relationship Questionnaire, and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. Participants were asked to write a short description of the most representative episodes of their daydreams. Eighty-four participants were identified as maladaptive daydreamers (MDers). (3) Results: A set of t-tests between MDers and non-MDers group showed differences in attachment dimensions, RF, and linguistic measures. A linear regression model with Global Severity Index (GSI) of the revised Symptom Checklist-90 as the dependent variable, and psychological scales as independent variables showed that the MD score was the strongest predictor of GSI. Regarding differences between the two groups in linguistic measures, the MDers showed more use of reflection and sensory-somatic words, and a smaller number of affective words. (4) Conclusions: These results support the idea that the MD is a process connected to psychopathological mechanisms, probably to a sub-symbolic activation, and to dysfunctional self–other relational patterns that are difficult to integrate.

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Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a new proposed mental disorder in which an excessive absorption in vivid, narrative fantasies generates impairments in various life domains. This study aimed to examine the role of traumatic life experiences and immature, neurotic, and mature defense styles in MD. Three hundred and fifty-six Italian adults, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years completed an online survey, including measures of MD, traumatic life events, and defense styles. A multiple mediation model showed that immature, neurotic, and mature defense styles fully mediated the relationship between traumatic life experiences and MD. These findings suggest that clinical interventions for people with a history of traumatic experience who developed MD should aim to help them acquire more adaptive coping strategies to deal with traumatic memories.