Stefano Ferracuti
Biographic Data
| ID | 5222372 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stefano Ferracuti |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stefano |
| FAMILY NAME | Ferracuti |
| SIGNATURE | FERRACUTI S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Sapienza University of Rome |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
An integrative review exploring decision-making processes in forensic psychopathology investigations
Forensic psychopathology assessments play a critical role in legal decisions, particularly those related to criminal responsibility. However, despite their influence, the decision-making processes behind these assessments remain largely underexplored and inconsistently supported by empirical evidence. Emerging literature suggests that these decisions are shaped by multiple factors, including individual reasoning styles, team dynamics, and the inf…
Addressing insanity in paedophilic disorder: The need for a cognitive approach for forensic assessment to correctly identify idiopathic, acquired and iatrogenic forms
Assessing insanity in individuals with paedophilic disorder presents unique challenges, particularly due to the diverse aetiologies of the condition, which lead to varying symptomatology and behavioural manifestations. To address this complexity, in this article we overview the characteristics of three variants of paedophilic disorder - idiopathic, acquired, and iatrogenic - and highlight the key obstacles in differentiating these forms, resultin…
ADHD in adults and criminal behavior: The role of psychiatric comorbidities and clinical and sociodemographic factors in a clinical sample
INTRODUCTION: ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with functional, behavioral, and relational difficulties. Its onset is in childhood, before the age of 12, and it often persists into adulthood. This study investigates the link between ADHD in adulthood, psychiatric comorbidities, and the risk of criminal behavior, analyzing the impact of clinical and sociodemographic variables. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a sample o…
Insanity defense and social dangerousness: A comparative study between China and Italy
The determination of criminal responsibility and the evaluation of social dangerousness in the criminal proceedings of offenders with mental disorders are crucial and complex issues. Forensic psychiatric evaluation practices and regulations vary significantly across jurisdictions, offering comparative analysis opportunities. This paper compares the forensic psychiatric evaluation processes in China and Italy, emphatically examining and analyzing …
Structured instruments for insanity defense evaluations: Opportunities and limitations
Insanity evaluations are often criticized for their—alleged—lack of objectivity, reliability and transparency. Structured tools to guide and support forensic evaluators during these evaluations have been developed—but they are rarely employed in forensic practice. In the present article, we consider the value of these tools for forensic practice in terms of opportunities and limitations. First, we briefly describe different insanity criteria used…
A Medical-Legal and Psychological Systematic Review on Vitriolage Related to Gender-Based Violence
Attacks perpetrated using acid are a particular form of interpersonal violence, possibly one of the most heinous manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Acid attacks are mainly motivated by extramarital cheating, marital conflicts, women’s rejection of marriage proposals, and sexual advances. As these attacks are not well understood from a psychological perspective, we conducted a systematic review, following Preferred Reporting Items …
Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization among migrants in Italy: A matched sample study
BACKGROUND: Immigrants in Europe appear to be at higher risk of psychiatric coercive interventions. Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization poses significant ethical and clinical challenges. Nonetheless, reasons for migration and other risk factors for involuntary treatment were rarely addressed in previous studies. The aims of this study are to clarify whether immigrant patients with acute mental disorders are at higher risk to be involuntarily …
Managing and preventing acts of violence against health workers: Results of a review evaluating hospital control procedures
Purpose Violence against health-care workers represents a public health issue that affects individuals, organizations and may have legal consequences. In Italy, workplace violence (WPV) constitutes a “sentinel event”, defined as a particularly serious, potentially avoidable adverse event, which may result in death or serious harm to health-care workers, and which leads to a loss of public confidence in the health-care system. In 2007, the Italian…
The association of problematic use of social media and online videogames with aggression is mediated by insomnia severity: A cross‐sectional study in a sample of 18‐ to 24‐year‐old individuals
One of the worrying concomitants of problematic use of Internet (PUI) is aggression. Although the mechanisms underlying such link have not been completely clarified, it has been suggested that problematic use of social media and online videogames (i.e., two common forms of PUI among young adults) lead to increased sleep disturbances which, in turn, represent a relevant trigger for aggression. We have tested this hypothesis in a sample ( N = 480) …
Detecting faking-good response style in personality questionnaires with four choice alternatives
Deliberate attempts to portray oneself in an unrealistic manner are commonly encountered in the administration of personality questionnaires. The main aim of the present study was to explore whether mouse tracking temporal indicators and machine learning models could improve the detection of subjects implementing a faking-good response style when answering personality inventories with four choice alternatives, with and without time pressure. A to…
Psychometric Properties of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale Administered to Italian Women in the Perinatal Period
Literature stressed the importance of using valid, reliable measures to assess anxiety in the perinatal period, like the self-rated Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS). We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian PASS version in a sample of Italian women undergoing mental health screening during their third trimester of pregnancy and its diagnostic accuracy in a control perinatal sample of psychiatric outpatients. Sample c…
Body Image and Eating Disorders are Common among Professional and Amateur Athletes Using Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs: A Cross-Sectional Study
The use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is not uncommon in athletes and appears to be associated with several psychopathological disorders of unclear prevalence. In this multicenter, cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of body image disorders (BIDs) and eating disorders (EDs) in PIED-using athletes vs. PIED nonusers. We enrolled 84 consecutive professional and amateur athletes training in sport centers in I…
Shibari: Double Hanging During Consensual Sexual Asphyxia
Competence to Consent to Sexual Activity in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders
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 Personality Traits in Physically and/or Sexually Abused Acute Psychiatric Inpatients: A Preliminary Study
The aim of the present study was to analyze hopelessness and the affective temperament profile and MMPI characteristics among suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients with or without childhood physical and sexual abuse. The participants were 62 acute psychiatric inpatients (14 men, 48 women) admitted to the Sant'Andrea Hospital's psychiatric ward in Rome. Participants were administered the Italian versions of the Childhood Trauma Questionn…
Rorschach Findings for Patients with Pseudoseizures
This study used the Rorschach test to investigate the possible differences between a carefully selected group of 16 patients with pseudoseizures, defined as spontaneous behavior resembling partial complex epilepsy and with or without tonic clonic generalization, and a group of 12 epileptic patients with partial complex seizures. Analysis of the structural data of protocols does not support a significant difference in the Rorschach findings betwee…
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…
Shibari: Double Hanging During Consensual Sexual Asphyxia
Rorschach Findings for Patients with Pseudoseizures
This study used the Rorschach test to investigate the possible differences between a carefully selected group of 16 patients with pseudoseizures, defined as spontaneous behavior resembling partial complex epilepsy and with or without tonic clonic generalization, and a group of 12 epileptic patients with partial complex seizures. Analysis of the structural data of protocols does not support a significant difference in the Rorschach findings betwee…
Suicide Risk and Personality Traits in Physically and/or Sexually Abused Acute Psychiatric Inpatients: A Preliminary Study
The aim of the present study was to analyze hopelessness and the affective temperament profile and MMPI characteristics among suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients with or without childhood physical and sexual abuse. The participants were 62 acute psychiatric inpatients (14 men, 48 women) admitted to the Sant'Andrea Hospital's psychiatric ward in Rome. Participants were administered the Italian versions of the Childhood Trauma Questionn…
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…
Competence to Consent to Sexual Activity in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders
Shibari: Double Hanging During Consensual Sexual Asphyxia
Body Image and Eating Disorders are Common among Professional and Amateur Athletes Using Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs: A Cross-Sectional Study
The use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is not uncommon in athletes and appears to be associated with several psychopathological disorders of unclear prevalence. In this multicenter, cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of body image disorders (BIDs) and eating disorders (EDs) in PIED-using athletes vs. PIED nonusers. We enrolled 84 consecutive professional and amateur athletes training in sport centers in I…
Detecting faking-good response style in personality questionnaires with four choice alternatives
Deliberate attempts to portray oneself in an unrealistic manner are commonly encountered in the administration of personality questionnaires. The main aim of the present study was to explore whether mouse tracking temporal indicators and machine learning models could improve the detection of subjects implementing a faking-good response style when answering personality inventories with four choice alternatives, with and without time pressure. A to…
Psychometric Properties of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale Administered to Italian Women in the Perinatal Period
Literature stressed the importance of using valid, reliable measures to assess anxiety in the perinatal period, like the self-rated Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS). We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian PASS version in a sample of Italian women undergoing mental health screening during their third trimester of pregnancy and its diagnostic accuracy in a control perinatal sample of psychiatric outpatients. Sample c…
Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization among migrants in Italy: A matched sample study
BACKGROUND: Immigrants in Europe appear to be at higher risk of psychiatric coercive interventions. Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization poses significant ethical and clinical challenges. Nonetheless, reasons for migration and other risk factors for involuntary treatment were rarely addressed in previous studies. The aims of this study are to clarify whether immigrant patients with acute mental disorders are at higher risk to be involuntarily …
Managing and preventing acts of violence against health workers: Results of a review evaluating hospital control procedures
Purpose Violence against health-care workers represents a public health issue that affects individuals, organizations and may have legal consequences. In Italy, workplace violence (WPV) constitutes a “sentinel event”, defined as a particularly serious, potentially avoidable adverse event, which may result in death or serious harm to health-care workers, and which leads to a loss of public confidence in the health-care system. In 2007, the Italian…
The association of problematic use of social media and online videogames with aggression is mediated by insomnia severity: A cross‐sectional study in a sample of 18‐ to 24‐year‐old individuals
One of the worrying concomitants of problematic use of Internet (PUI) is aggression. Although the mechanisms underlying such link have not been completely clarified, it has been suggested that problematic use of social media and online videogames (i.e., two common forms of PUI among young adults) lead to increased sleep disturbances which, in turn, represent a relevant trigger for aggression. We have tested this hypothesis in a sample ( N = 480) …
Structured instruments for insanity defense evaluations: Opportunities and limitations
Insanity evaluations are often criticized for their—alleged—lack of objectivity, reliability and transparency. Structured tools to guide and support forensic evaluators during these evaluations have been developed—but they are rarely employed in forensic practice. In the present article, we consider the value of these tools for forensic practice in terms of opportunities and limitations. First, we briefly describe different insanity criteria used…
A Medical-Legal and Psychological Systematic Review on Vitriolage Related to Gender-Based Violence
Attacks perpetrated using acid are a particular form of interpersonal violence, possibly one of the most heinous manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Acid attacks are mainly motivated by extramarital cheating, marital conflicts, women’s rejection of marriage proposals, and sexual advances. As these attacks are not well understood from a psychological perspective, we conducted a systematic review, following Preferred Reporting Items …
ADHD in adults and criminal behavior: The role of psychiatric comorbidities and clinical and sociodemographic factors in a clinical sample
INTRODUCTION: ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with functional, behavioral, and relational difficulties. Its onset is in childhood, before the age of 12, and it often persists into adulthood. This study investigates the link between ADHD in adulthood, psychiatric comorbidities, and the risk of criminal behavior, analyzing the impact of clinical and sociodemographic variables. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a sample o…
Insanity defense and social dangerousness: A comparative study between China and Italy
The determination of criminal responsibility and the evaluation of social dangerousness in the criminal proceedings of offenders with mental disorders are crucial and complex issues. Forensic psychiatric evaluation practices and regulations vary significantly across jurisdictions, offering comparative analysis opportunities. This paper compares the forensic psychiatric evaluation processes in China and Italy, emphatically examining and analyzing …
An integrative review exploring decision-making processes in forensic psychopathology investigations
Forensic psychopathology assessments play a critical role in legal decisions, particularly those related to criminal responsibility. However, despite their influence, the decision-making processes behind these assessments remain largely underexplored and inconsistently supported by empirical evidence. Emerging literature suggests that these decisions are shaped by multiple factors, including individual reasoning styles, team dynamics, and the inf…
Addressing insanity in paedophilic disorder: The need for a cognitive approach for forensic assessment to correctly identify idiopathic, acquired and iatrogenic forms
Assessing insanity in individuals with paedophilic disorder presents unique challenges, particularly due to the diverse aetiologies of the condition, which lead to varying symptomatology and behavioural manifestations. To address this complexity, in this article we overview the characteristics of three variants of paedophilic disorder - idiopathic, acquired, and iatrogenic - and highlight the key obstacles in differentiating these forms, resultin…
Medicine (11 works) · Psychiatry (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works) · Medical emergency (6 works) · Poison control (6 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works) · Forensic psychiatry (4 works) · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works)