Gianluca Serafini
Biographic Data
| ID | 3425129 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gianluca Serafini |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gianluca |
| FAMILY NAME | Serafini |
| SIGNATURE | SERAFINI G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ospedale Policlinico San Martino |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6631-856X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Digital mental health in Italy
National initiatives should firstly address education and training needs of the youngest mental health professionals, particularly those without a mentor/supervisor experienced in providing DMH/DP and in educating younger professionals in the digital clinical practice. Sex-sensitive consolidating strategies should be implemented in those mental health services already digitalized. Longitudinal studies should evaluate the efficacy in the long-term…
Virtual reality as a novel therapeutic approach to Hikikomori
Psychological dimensions in alcohol use disorder
Treatment outcomes for patients with AUD vary between regulatory agencies, but abstinence remains the safest and most preferred objective in managing AUD. Prioritizing abstinence-oriented interventions is crucial for achieving long term recovery and minimizing relapse risk. These results emphasize the intricate relationship between AUD and mental health issues, highlighting the need for comprehensive interventions addressing both alcohol consumpt…
The role of community resilience as a protective factor in coping with mental disorders in a sample of psychiatric migrants
This result underscores the importance of perceived community resilience in mitigating the negative effects of mental disorders on subjective well-being. Perceiving one's community as more resilient seems to protect against the impact of mental disorders on subjective well-being. Our results support an ecological model of migrants' mental health that values the community and its resources in coping with mental disorders in the context of migratio…
Exploring the Link Between Sensory Processing and Psychopathology in a Community Sample of Young Adults
Sensory processing is a fundamental aspect of human experience, and varies significantly between individuals, potentially affecting individual functioning, behaviour, and mental health. This study investigated the associations between sensory processing and psychopathology in a sample of the general population. Participants responded to a general psychiatric screening tool (DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure-Adult) and to the …
Suicide on Italian Instagram
Instagram is the social network with the largest number of adolescent users in Italy; it is also the social network with the largest number of suicide‐related posts. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in Italy in the 15–19 age group. This study aims to describe Italian posts on Instagram related to suicide and to investigate whether there are differences in the number of likes, comments, and hashtags in relation to the characteristics of…
Surrounded, detached”
Features of the detachment personality trait include avoidance of interpersonal experiences, restricted affectivity, and suspiciousness, which affect interpersonal functioning. We suggest that DPPS may represent a characteristic feature of maladaptive personality traits, thus constitute a biomarker or a target for rehabilitative interventions
Covid-19 and psychiatric disorders
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reading facial expressions has become more complex due to face masks covering the lower part of people's faces. A history of psychiatric illness has been associated with higher rates of complications, hospitalization, and mortality due to COVID-19. Psychiatric patients have well-documented difficulties reading emotions from facial expressions; accordingly, this study assesses how using face masks, such…
The Complex Interplay Between Physical Activity and Recovery Styles in Patients With Severe Mental Disorders in a Real-World Multicentric Study
Compared with the general population, people with severe mental disorders have significantly worse physical health and a higher mortality rate, which is partially due to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as heavy smoking, use of alcohol or illicit drugs, unbalanced diet, and physical inactivity. These unhealthy behaviors may also play a significant role in the personal and functional recovery of patients with severe mental disor…
Gender Differences in Covid-19 Lockdown Impact on Mental Health of Undergraduate Students
Background: Prolonged university closures and social distancing-imposed measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic obliged students to at-home learning with online lectures and educational programs promoting potential social isolation, loneliness, hopelessness, and episodes of clinical decompensation. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was carried out in a university institute in Milan, Northern Italy, to assess the COVID-19 lockdown impact o…
Patterns of Care for Adolescent With Schizophrenia
Overall, results showed a significant gap between the acquired scientific knowledge and clinical practice. In this scenario, it should be necessary to plan specific initiatives at a multiple level, to edit recommendations on clinical decision-making, as well as to prompt changes at the political and organizational levels, also involving scientific societies, patients, and family associations, to overcome the barriers that delay the implementation…
Effect of Housing Quality on the Mental Health of University Students during the Covid-19 Lockdown
COVID-19 outbreak imposed rapid and severe public policies that consistently impacted the lifestyle habits and mental health of the general population. Despite vaccination, lockdown restrictions are still considered as potential measures to contrast COVID-19 variants spread in several countries. Recent studies have highlighted the impacts of lockdowns on the population's mental health; however, the role of the indoor housing environment where peo…
Screening for depression in primary care with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
The Role of Attitudes Toward Medication and Treatment Adherence in the Clinical Response to LAIs
Background: Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are efficacious in managing psychotic symptoms in people affected by severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The present study aimed to investigate whether attitude toward treatment and treatment adherence represent predictors of symptoms changes over time. Methods: The STAR Network "Depot Study" was a naturalistic, multicenter, observational, prospective study t…
Inflamed Mind
Background: Understanding and predicting suicide remains a challenge, and a recent paradigm shift regarding the complex relationship between the immune system and the brain brought attention to the involvement of inflammation in neuropsychiatric conditions including suicide. Among cytokines, IL-6 has been most frequently implicated in suicide, yet only a few candidate gene studies and without considering the effect of stress investigated the role…
Meteorological Variables and Suicidal Behavior
This study analyzed the impact of meteorological variables and high-lethality suicide attempts (HLSA) to assess a potential time shift of HLSA affected by climate evolution to predict the suicide attempt cases over different periods of the year. After attempting suicide, 225 subjects were admitted to the emergency ward of the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino and later to the psychiatric unit from March 2016 to July 2018. Socio-demographic a…
Severe Suicidality in Athletes with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) results from repetitive brain injuries and is a common neurotraumatic sequela in contact sports. CTE is often accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms, which could escalate to suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behaviour (SB). Nevertheless, fairly limited emphasis about the association between suicidality and CTE exists in medical literature. Here, we report two cases of retired professional athletes in hig…
Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Psychiatric Admissions to a Large Swiss Emergency Department
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency with profound mental health consequences. The psychiatric emergency department (ED) plays a key role during this mental health crisis. This study aimed to investigate differences in admissions at a Swiss psychiatric ED from 1 April to 15 May during a "pandemic-free" period in 2016 and a "during-pandemic" period in 2020. The study included 579 consultations at psychiatri…
Hopelessness and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Healthcare Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has many psychological consequences for the population, ranging from anxious-depressive symptoms and insomnia to complex post-traumatic syndromes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of healthcare workers, focusing on the association between hopelessness, death anxiety, and post-traumatic symptomatology. Eight hundred forty-two healthcare workers were rec…
The psychological impact of Covid-19 on the mental health in the general population
As a result of the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a situation of socio-economic crisis and profound psychological distress rapidly occurred worldwide. Various psychological problems and important consequences in terms of mental health including stress, anxiety, depression, frustration, uncertainty during COVID-…
Understanding the Complex of Suicide in Depression
Objective Amongst psychiatric disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most prevalent, by affecting approximately 15–17% of the population and showing a high suicide risk rate equivalent to around 15%. The present comprehensive overview aims at evaluating main research studies in the field of MDD at suicide risk, by proposing as well as a schematic suicide risk stratification and useful flow-chart for planning suicide preventive and ther…
Clinical Differences Between Single and Multiple Suicide Attempters, Suicide Ideators, and Non-suicidal Inpatients
Single suicide attempters (SSAs) and multiple suicide attempters (MSAs) represent distinct subgroups of individuals with specific risk factors and clinical characteristics. This retrospective study on a sample of 397 adult psychiatric inpatients analyzed the main sociodemographic and clinical differences between SSAs and MSAs and the possible differences between SSAs, MSAs, and psychiatric patients with and without suicidal ideation (SI). Clinica…
Suicidality Assessment of the Elderly With Physical Illness in the Emergency Department
Taking into account and evaluating the presence of a physical illness plays a crucial role in the clinical encounter with the elderly who may present suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior (SB) (1, 2). On the one hand, physical illness is associated with greater suicidality risk in the elderly. This association has been inferred from both quantitative and qualitative findings based on population and registry cohorts (3–5), case-control stud…
Recent Stressful Life Events in Euthymic Major Depressive Disorder Patients
Having a family history of suicide, history of psychotropic medications use, and reduced use of antidepressants is linked to a specific "at risk" profile characterized by the enhanced vulnerability to experience SLE
Covid-19 Lockdown
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic on 11 March, severe lockdown measures have been adopted by the Italian Government. For over two months of stay-at-home orders, houses became the only place where people slept, ate, worked, practiced sports, and socialized. As consolidated evidence exists on housing as a determinant of health, it is of great interest to explore…
Suicidal Behavior and Alcohol Abuse
Suicide is an escalating public health problem, and alcohol use has consistently been implicated in the precipitation of suicidal behavior. Alcohol abuse may lead to suicidality through disinhibition, impulsiveness and impaired judgment, but it may also be used as a means to ease the distress associated with committing an act of suicide. We reviewed evidence of the relationship between alcohol use and suicide through a search of MedLine and Psych…
Suicide risk and psychopathology in immigrants
Suicidal Behavior and Alcohol Abuse
Suicide is an escalating public health problem, and alcohol use has consistently been implicated in the precipitation of suicidal behavior. Alcohol abuse may lead to suicidality through disinhibition, impulsiveness and impaired judgment, but it may also be used as a means to ease the distress associated with committing an act of suicide. We reviewed evidence of the relationship between alcohol use and suicide through a search of MedLine and Psych…
Suicide risk and psychopathology in immigrants
Trends in alcohol-related deaths in the EU countries in 1980–2003
AIMS: To explore temporal trends since 1980 in alcohol-related death for people resident in the European Union (EU) and to examine differences between EU members admitted prior to 2004 and new EU members admitted since 2004. METHODS: The data were extracted from the World Health Organization's European mortality database and the European Health for All database. RESULTS: New EU members had higher rates of alcohol-related deaths (135.0 ± 18.48 vs …
Violent deaths among Russian and EU male older adults
AIMS: This ecological comparison study explored temporal trends since 1985 in age-adjusted suicide and homicide rates for older male adults (over the age of 65) resident in the EU and the Russian Federation. METHODS: The data were extracted from the World Health Organization's (WHO) European mortality database. RESULTS: Older men resident in the Russian Federation had a higher risk of dying a violent death (by homicide and by suicide) than their …
The Association Between Dyslipidemia and Lethality of Suicide Attempts
Evidence supports the existence of an association between dyslipidemia, psychiatric disorders, and suicide risk due to the effects of altered lipid profiles on serotoninergic neuron membranes. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in c-reactive protein (CRP), thyroid functioning, total cholesterol, high lipoprotein density cholesterol (HDL-c), low-lipoprotein density cholesterol (LDL-c), and triglycerides (TG) serum levels in l…
Physical Exercise in Major Depression
Major depression shortens life while the effectiveness of frontline treatments remains modest. Exercise has been shown to be effective both in reducing mortality and in treating symptoms of major depression, but it is still underutilized in clinical practice, possibly due to prevalent misperceptions. For instance, a common misperception is that exercise is beneficial for depression mostly because of its positive effects on the body ("from the nec…
Maximum Temperature and Solar Radiation as Predictors of Bipolar Patient Admission in an Emergency Psychiatric Ward
Environmental variables can regulate behavior in healthy subjects. Recently, some authors investigated the role of meteorological variables in bipolar patients with an impact on both the onset and course of bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of meteorological variables and other indexes in bipolar hospitalized patients. We examined all patients admitted to the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit of San Luigi Gonzaga…
The psychological impact of Covid-19 on the mental health in the general population
As a result of the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a situation of socio-economic crisis and profound psychological distress rapidly occurred worldwide. Various psychological problems and important consequences in terms of mental health including stress, anxiety, depression, frustration, uncertainty during COVID-…
Understanding the Complex of Suicide in Depression
Objective Amongst psychiatric disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most prevalent, by affecting approximately 15–17% of the population and showing a high suicide risk rate equivalent to around 15%. The present comprehensive overview aims at evaluating main research studies in the field of MDD at suicide risk, by proposing as well as a schematic suicide risk stratification and useful flow-chart for planning suicide preventive and ther…
Clinical Differences Between Single and Multiple Suicide Attempters, Suicide Ideators, and Non-suicidal Inpatients
Single suicide attempters (SSAs) and multiple suicide attempters (MSAs) represent distinct subgroups of individuals with specific risk factors and clinical characteristics. This retrospective study on a sample of 397 adult psychiatric inpatients analyzed the main sociodemographic and clinical differences between SSAs and MSAs and the possible differences between SSAs, MSAs, and psychiatric patients with and without suicidal ideation (SI). Clinica…
Suicidality Assessment of the Elderly With Physical Illness in the Emergency Department
Taking into account and evaluating the presence of a physical illness plays a crucial role in the clinical encounter with the elderly who may present suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior (SB) (1, 2). On the one hand, physical illness is associated with greater suicidality risk in the elderly. This association has been inferred from both quantitative and qualitative findings based on population and registry cohorts (3–5), case-control stud…
Recent Stressful Life Events in Euthymic Major Depressive Disorder Patients
Having a family history of suicide, history of psychotropic medications use, and reduced use of antidepressants is linked to a specific "at risk" profile characterized by the enhanced vulnerability to experience SLE
Covid-19 Lockdown
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic on 11 March, severe lockdown measures have been adopted by the Italian Government. For over two months of stay-at-home orders, houses became the only place where people slept, ate, worked, practiced sports, and socialized. As consolidated evidence exists on housing as a determinant of health, it is of great interest to explore…
Anxiety, Prenatal Attachment, and Depressive Symptoms in Women with Diabetes in Pregnancy
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between anxiety, prenatal attachment, and depressive symptoms among women with diabetes in pregnancy. Participants were 131 consecutive pregnant women between the ages of 20 and 45 with a diagnosis of gestational or pregestational type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Data on previous psychiatric symptoms were obtained from the Anamnestic and Social Questionnaire and the Mini-International Neuropsyc…
Screening for depression in primary care with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
The Role of Attitudes Toward Medication and Treatment Adherence in the Clinical Response to LAIs
Background: Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are efficacious in managing psychotic symptoms in people affected by severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The present study aimed to investigate whether attitude toward treatment and treatment adherence represent predictors of symptoms changes over time. Methods: The STAR Network "Depot Study" was a naturalistic, multicenter, observational, prospective study t…
Inflamed Mind
Background: Understanding and predicting suicide remains a challenge, and a recent paradigm shift regarding the complex relationship between the immune system and the brain brought attention to the involvement of inflammation in neuropsychiatric conditions including suicide. Among cytokines, IL-6 has been most frequently implicated in suicide, yet only a few candidate gene studies and without considering the effect of stress investigated the role…
Meteorological Variables and Suicidal Behavior
This study analyzed the impact of meteorological variables and high-lethality suicide attempts (HLSA) to assess a potential time shift of HLSA affected by climate evolution to predict the suicide attempt cases over different periods of the year. After attempting suicide, 225 subjects were admitted to the emergency ward of the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino and later to the psychiatric unit from March 2016 to July 2018. Socio-demographic a…
Severe Suicidality in Athletes with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) results from repetitive brain injuries and is a common neurotraumatic sequela in contact sports. CTE is often accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms, which could escalate to suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behaviour (SB). Nevertheless, fairly limited emphasis about the association between suicidality and CTE exists in medical literature. Here, we report two cases of retired professional athletes in hig…
Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Psychiatric Admissions to a Large Swiss Emergency Department
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency with profound mental health consequences. The psychiatric emergency department (ED) plays a key role during this mental health crisis. This study aimed to investigate differences in admissions at a Swiss psychiatric ED from 1 April to 15 May during a "pandemic-free" period in 2016 and a "during-pandemic" period in 2020. The study included 579 consultations at psychiatri…
Hopelessness and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Healthcare Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has many psychological consequences for the population, ranging from anxious-depressive symptoms and insomnia to complex post-traumatic syndromes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of healthcare workers, focusing on the association between hopelessness, death anxiety, and post-traumatic symptomatology. Eight hundred forty-two healthcare workers were rec…
Covid-19 and psychiatric disorders
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reading facial expressions has become more complex due to face masks covering the lower part of people's faces. A history of psychiatric illness has been associated with higher rates of complications, hospitalization, and mortality due to COVID-19. Psychiatric patients have well-documented difficulties reading emotions from facial expressions; accordingly, this study assesses how using face masks, such…
The Complex Interplay Between Physical Activity and Recovery Styles in Patients With Severe Mental Disorders in a Real-World Multicentric Study
Compared with the general population, people with severe mental disorders have significantly worse physical health and a higher mortality rate, which is partially due to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as heavy smoking, use of alcohol or illicit drugs, unbalanced diet, and physical inactivity. These unhealthy behaviors may also play a significant role in the personal and functional recovery of patients with severe mental disor…
Gender Differences in Covid-19 Lockdown Impact on Mental Health of Undergraduate Students
Background: Prolonged university closures and social distancing-imposed measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic obliged students to at-home learning with online lectures and educational programs promoting potential social isolation, loneliness, hopelessness, and episodes of clinical decompensation. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was carried out in a university institute in Milan, Northern Italy, to assess the COVID-19 lockdown impact o…
Patterns of Care for Adolescent With Schizophrenia
Overall, results showed a significant gap between the acquired scientific knowledge and clinical practice. In this scenario, it should be necessary to plan specific initiatives at a multiple level, to edit recommendations on clinical decision-making, as well as to prompt changes at the political and organizational levels, also involving scientific societies, patients, and family associations, to overcome the barriers that delay the implementation…
Medicine (28 works) · Psychology (26 works) · Psychiatry (24 works) · Clinical Psychology (17 works) · Clinical Psychology (17 works) · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies (10 works) · Mental health (9 works) · Poison control (9 works) · Medical emergency (8 works) · COVID-19 and Mental Health (7 works)