Kidney transplantation is a serious event that involves profound psychological, relational and social changes both for the patient and his family context. Assessment of personality profile, awareness of disease, family and social support of the patient candidate for kidney transplantation are necessary because factors not adequately considered, can influence the success of the transplant and alter the psychological stability of the patient. The present study aims to provide a systematic review of the literature of the last twelve years (2006-2018), focusing in particular on patient's readiness level and illness management and on possible psychopathology. Sixty-two studies were examined. Based on the Downs and Black checklist, most studies (n = 32) were of high quality; 15 of which related to lifestyle, health education, and therapeutic adherence in post-renal transplantation, 17 studies concerned the possible existence of psychopathology and cognitive impairment of renal deceased transplanted subjects. The literature used has shown that the population of kidney transplant patients is exposed to a high risk of psychiatric disorders with repercussions on the quality of life and the risk of rejection. Therefore, an adequate pre-transplant psychosocial assessment is necessary, which allows a more indepth knowledge of the candidate to plan coping strategies and possible posttransplant psychotherapy.

Renal transplantation is a well established treatment for end-stage renal disease, allowing most patients to return to a satisfactory quality of life. Studies have identified many problems that may affect adaptation to the transplanted condition and post-operative compliance. The psychological implications of transplantation have important consequences even on strictly physical aspects. Organ transplantation is very challenging for the patient and acts as an intense stressor stimulus to which the patient reacts with neurotransmitter and endocrine-metabolic changes. Transplantation can result in a psychosomatic crisis that requires the patient to mobilize all bio-psycho-social resources during the process of adaptation to the new foreign organ which may result in an alteration in self-representation and identity, with possible psychopathologic repercussions. These reactions are feasible in mental disorders, e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and psychosomatic disorders. In organ transplantation, the fruitful collaboration between professionals with diverse scientific expertise, calls for both a guarantee for mental health and greater effectiveness in challenging treatments for a viable association between patients, family members and doctors. Integrated and multidisciplinary care should include uniform criteria and procedures for standard assessments, for patient autonomy, adherence to therapy, new coping strategies and the adoption of more appropriate lifestyles.

The fear of contagion during the COVID-19 pandemic has been indicated as a relevant cause of psychological pathologies occurring in this period. Food represents a compensating experience, distracting from the experiences of uncertainty, fear and despair, causing alterations in eating habits and behaviors. The study aims at evaluating the relations between fear of a pandemic, mood states and eating disorders in Italian college students, taking into account gender differences. During the lockdown for the pandemic, a sample of 469 college students equally distributed by gender, was recruited online using a questionnaire including the FCV-19S for the assessment of fear of COVID-19, the profile of mood states (POMS) for the evaluation of different emotional states, the eating disorder inventory-2 (EDI-2) and the binge eating scale (BES) to evaluate the presence of the levels of eating disorders. As expected, all emotive states measured by POMS (tension, depression, anger, tiredness, confusion) resulted significantly correlated with the fear of COVID-19. Women were more exposed to fear of COVID-19 showing greater tension, fatigue, depression and confusion, and a significantly higher total mood disturbance score than males. Regarding the EDI-2 and BES variables, tension and anxiety resulted significantly correlated also with bulimic behavior, while depression with interoceptive awareness, impulsivity, and binge eating behaviors, without gender differences. In conclusion, the negative impact of the fear of COVID-19 on the emotional profile and eating behavior suggests the need to implement strategies against psychological distress during the pandemic emergency, and to design psycho-educational interventions aimed at modifying the lifestyle for preventing risks of mental disorders fostering health-oriented behaviors.

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Introduction: As of March 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been declared a “pandemic” by the WHO. This has led to the need for governments around the world to implement restrictive containment and isolation measures to stem the spread of the virus; these measures have included social distancing, isolation, and quarantine. The fear of contagion has been indicated as one of the causes of stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia in the general population. With respect to the response of young people to the pandemic, the category of University students deserves further attention. The sudden change in “University” habits (i.e., poor interaction with teachers and colleagues, disturbing learning environment, and difficulty in adapting to online learning), the consequent loss of a social network, and the economic problems in their families have seriously affected the psychophysical well-being of University students. The aim of this study was to explore, in a sample of Italian University students, the relationships among anxiety, perceived vulnerability to disease, and smartphone use during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A sample of 194 volunteer college students (i.e., 86 males and 108 females) aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 21.74; SD = 2.39) were recruited to participate in this study. Participants were recruited through an online questionnaire sent to students of the University of Catania, Italy, and distributed from September 2020 to January 2021. The volunteer participants were given an online protocol that included the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) for the evaluation of fear, the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD) for the evaluation of perceived vulnerability to disease, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) for the evaluation of trait and state anxiety, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version for Adolescents and Young Adults (SAS-SV) for the evaluation of use, abuse, or addiction of smartphone use.Results: The fear of COVID-19 did not reach an intensity such as to be defined as serious (i.e., fear score: 15.53) in the whole sample. Both men and women showed a high risk of smartphone addiction (i.e., score of males: 28.33 and score of females: 26.88) in SAS-SV. University students showed moderate trait and state anxiety [i.e., a score of 51.60 in Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and a score of 47.21 in State Anxiety Inventory (SAI)] in STAI. In addition, students showed moderate perceived vulnerability to disease (i.e., a score of 51.51) in PVD. The results showed that fear of COVID-19 and trait anxiety appear to be the predictors of SAI and PVD but not the predictors of risk of smartphone addiction (SAS-SV).Conclusions: The data highlighted the presence of a perception of vulnerability to infections in subjects in which there was also a moderate anxiety, both state and trait, associated with the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that a large part of the population will soon be vaccinated, including University students, and therefore, it would be desirable to carry out further assessments in the post-vaccine phase to highlight any differences in the state of anxiety and the perception of vulnerability to infections. The possible positive role of the use of smartphones in maintaining social contacts should also be emphasized.

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in mental distress such as phobic anxieties, depressive reactions, hypochondriac concerns, and insomnia. Among the causes are risk of infection and prolonged isolation. This study aimed to analyze psychopathological variables and dysfunctional lifestyles related to adequate therapeutic compliance in kidney transplant recipients.Methods: Eighty-nine kidney transplant recipients were evaluated using an online protocol including a questionnaire concerning habits, lifestyle and psychophysical well-being in the COVID-19 period, the Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire (MHQ) and the SF-36 Health Survey to evaluate the perception of their physical and emotional health.Results: Of these recipients, 28.6% reported changes in their emotional state. Sleep quality deteriorated for 16.1%. Anxiety (M = 5.57, r = 0.33; p < 0.05) and phobia (M = 6.28, r = 0.26; p < 0.05) correlated with concerns related to physical health. There was no negative impact on relational and socialization aspects, which were likely well compensated by the use of remote technologies such as video phone calls, Zoom meetings and use of computers (r = 0.99; r = 0.80; p < 0.05).Conclusions: It would be interesting to maintain this remote visit and interview mode to monitor, on a clinical and psychological level, kidney transplant recipients in subsequent follow-ups (12–18 months), to check for any psychopathological disorders and/or changes in their resilience capacity in the Coronavirus emergency.