Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is an important public health challenge. In recent years, there has been a greater awareness concerning this phenomenon, its causes and consequences. Due to the relational nature of IPV, attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) appears a useful framework to read the phenomenon and to better understand its components and its dynamics to provide more precise and tailored interventions in the future.Purpose: To summarize our knowledge of the research concerning IPV and attachment with an aim to better design and implement future research.Methods: Computer database researches were conducted using the following databases: Psychinfo, Psycharticle, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed (all years to the 01/02/2018). Search terms were compiled into two concepts for all database namely Attachment and IPV.Results: After removing the duplicates, a total of 3,598 records was screened, resulting in the identification of 319 full-text articles to be further scrutinized. Upon closer examination, there was consensus that 113 of those studies met the study inclusion criteria. Data was organized considering specifically studies concerning (1) IPV victimization and attachment, (2) IPV perpetration and attachment (both these sections were articulated in Physical, Psychological, and Sexual IPV), and (3) New research (comprising same-sex couples, IPV and attachment in couple contexts and IPV profiles and attachment among perpetrators).Conclusion: A number of studies failed to find significant associations between insecure attachment and IPV victimization or perpetration. Additional research is needed to provide a greater understanding of different IPV forms and to aid in the development of prevention and treatment interventions.

Objective: The attachment theory is a useful framework for interpreting the phenomenon of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Although several studies have examined the relationship between attachment and IPV perpetration, a meta-analysis of these results has yet to be conducted. Method: After a search on five databases (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed) and a screening of 3,852 records recruited, 52 studies comprising 13,653 individuals met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. Results: Results showed a significant effect size for both the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment. However, while the effect sizes for anxiety were consistent ( r = .19–.35) for all types of violence considered, the effect size for avoidance was not significant for generic violence ( r = .07), low for physical ( r = .12) and psychological violence ( r = .14), and medium for sexual violence ( r = .20). Only a few of the examined moderators were significant. Conclusions: The findings highlight some differences in the roles of the two attachment dimensions in IPV. The results underscore the need for additional research to explore the role of other potential moderating and mediating variables in the relationship between attachment and IPV perpetration in order to better support the development of prevention and treatment interventions.

Background: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is currently putting a strain on the mental health resilience of the world's population. Specifically, it is likely to elicit an intense response to fear and to act as a risk factor for the onset of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some individuals may be more at risk than others, with pathological personality variables being a potential candidate as a central vulnerability factor. In addition, the pathways that lead the pathological personality to PTSD and intense fear responses to COVID-19 are likely to be explained by poor emotion regulation capacities, as well as by dissociative mechanisms.Aims: This study aimed to shed light on vulnerability factors that may account for the onset of PTSD and intense responses of fear in response to COVID-19 outbreak and to test the mediating role of emotion dysregulation and dissociation proneness in these pathways.Methods: We used a longitudinal design of research administered to a sample of community individuals (N = 308; meanage = 35.31, SD = 13.91; 22.7% were male). Moreover, we used self-report questionnaires to measure pathological personality, emotion regulation capacities, dissociative proneness at the beginning of the lockdown, and PTSD symptoms and fear of COVID-19 at the end of the Italian lockdown (from March 9 to May 18, 2020). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.Results: We found that pathological personality levels longitudinally predicted PTSD and fear of COVID-19 levels. Moreover, the associations between emotion dysregulation and dissociation were shown to significantly and totally mediate the relationship between pathological personality and PTSD, whereas no significant mediation effects were observed in relation to fear of COVID-19.Conclusions: Individuals with pathological personality traits may be more vulnerable to the onset of negative psychological consequences related to COVID-19 outbreak, such as PTSD symptomatology and fear levels. Emotion regulation capacities appear to be relevant targets of interventions for PTSD symptomatology. Future research should explore the mediating variables linking pathological personality to intense fear responses to COVID-19.

Background: Our study aimed to test the hypotheses that an increased level of loneliness experienced during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confinement was predictive of internalizing symptoms and that this pathway was mediated by emotion dysregulation levels.Methods: To reach this aim, we performed an online longitudinal survey recruiting 1,330 participants at Time 1 (at the beginning of the lockdown) and 308 participants at Time 2 (few days before the end of the lockdown). All filled out a set of questionnaires: demographic data, University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale−18 items, and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale−21 items. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling in two steps and controlling for age. First, hypotheses were tested on cross-sectional data. Then, a cross-lagged panel analysis was performed on longitudinal data.Results: Models obtained a good fit and evidenced the predictive role of loneliness levels on the three outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Moreover, we found that emotion dysregulation levels partially mediated the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and both depression and stress but not between loneliness and anxiety levels.Conclusions: This study points out that a central goal of clinical intervention could be the ability to regulate negative emotional states.

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A number of researches showed high prevalence of personality disorders among addicted gamblers. However, there are still few studies investigating the role of pathological personality facets in Gambling Disorder (GD). Moreover, the nature of the relationship between GD and pathological personality is not clear. We administered to a group of addicted gamblers (N = 79) and a group of healthy participants (N = 101) a battery of self‐report questionnaires encompassing the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), The Personality Inventory for DSM‐V (PID‐5), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Analyses of variance showed that addicted gamblers, compared to healthy participants, scored higher on most of the subscales of the DERS, on the Suppression Dimension of the ERQ and on the five main domains of the PID‐5 whereas they obtained lower scores on the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that some specific facets of pathological personality, emotion dysregulation and lack of cognitive reappraisal, significantly predict GD's severity. Finally, emotion dysregulation levels and lack of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between these and GD's severity. Our results confirmed the central roles played by both pathological personality and deficit in emotion regulation capacities in GD. Specifically, Impulsivity, Lack of Perseverance and Suspiciousness may be important predictors of GD severity. Moreover, emotion dysregulation and lack of adaptive emotion regulation strategies partially explained such relationship. As such, training for emotion regulation abilities appears strategically useful in the treatment of addicted gamblers with pathological personality traits.

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The COVID-19 outbreak has been shown to have had a negative impact on mental health: furthermore, lockdown measures may have increased levels of loneliness and addiction. Preliminary studies indicated an increased frequency of gaming and social media use during this time and augmented levels of loneliness likely account for the increase in gaming and social media addiction during lockdown. We conducted a longitudinal study administering a battery of self-report questionnaires at the beginning of lockdown (Stage 1) and three days before the end of the lockdown (Stage 2). Specifically, we measured loneliness feelings, frequency of gaming, and social media use, as well as both gaming and social media addiction. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling. We found that loneliness levels longitudinally predicted both gaming and social media addiction, even when controlling for gaming and social media use at Stage 1. Increased feelings of loneliness, a well-known risk factor for gaming, along with social media addiction, may be a central variable heightening vulnerability to the onset or the maintenance of technological addiction during forced social isolation. Thus, future preventive interventions may want to target this issue.RésuméL’éclosion de la COVID-19 a eu un effet nuisible sur la santé mentale. De plus, les mesures de confinement ont intensifié la solitude et les addictions. Les études préliminaires indiquent une augmentation de la fréquence d’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux pendant cette période. Cette hausse est probablement attribuable à l’accroissement de la solitude. Nous avons mené une étude longitudinale à l’aide d’une batterie de questionnaires d’autoévaluation, qui ont été remplis au début du confinement (étape 1) et trois jours avant la fin du confinement (étape 2). En particulier, nous avons mesuré le sentiment de solitude, la fréquence d’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux, et la dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux. Nous avons eu recours à la modélisation par équation structurelle pour analyser les données. Nous avons observé que le niveau de solitude est un prédicteur longitudinal de la dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux, en contrôlant par l’effet de l’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux observée à l’étape 1. Le sentiment accru de solitude, qui est un facteur de risque connu de dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux, pourrait être une variable centrale de l’accroissement de la vulnérabilité au développement ou à la persistance d’une dépendance à la technologie dans un contexte d’isolement social imposé. Par conséquent, les interventions à venir en matière de prévention pourraient cibler ce problème.