Anger is probably one of the mostly debated basic emotions, owing to difficulties in detecting its appearance during development, its functional and affective meaning (is it a positive or a negative emotion?), especially in human beings. Behaviors accompanied by anger and rage serve many different purposes and the nuances of aggressive behaviors are often defined by the symbolic and cultural framework and social contexts. Nonetheless, recent advances in neuroscientific and developmental research, as well as clinical psychodynamic investigation, afford a new view on the role of anger in informing and guiding many aspects of human conducts. Developmental studies have confirmed the psychophysiological, cognitive and social acquisition that hesitate in the pre-determined sequence appearance of anger and rage in the first two years of life. The so-called affective neurosciences have shown the phylogenetic origin of the two circuits underlying the emergence of anger along with its evolutionary role for promoting survival. This view has been integrated by the psychodynamic theory of motivational systems that attribute a double role to anger: on the one hand, this affect works as an inwardly directed signal concerning a pressure to overcome an obstacle or an aversive situation; on the other hand, anger is also an outwardly directed communicative signal establishing differentiation and conflict within interpersonal relationships and affective bonds. Of course, human peculiar mental functioning requires the appraisal of such signals by higher cortical functions and, there is little doubt that the meaning that orientates individual behaviors is, eventually, construed on a social and cultural level. At the same time, everyday life experiences as well as clinical insights into psychopathic, narcissistic and borderline personality pathology clearly illustrate the necessity to correctly interpret and give answers to the basic questions raised around the topic of anger as a basic emotion.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably influenced all domains of people’s lives worldwide, determining a high increase in overall psychological distress and several clinical conditions. The study attempted to shed light on the relationship between the strategies adopted to manage the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, and distinct features of personality and mental functioning. Methods: The sample consisted of 367 Italian individuals (68.1% women, 31.9% men; M age = 37, SD = 12.79) who completed an online survey, including an instrument assessing four response styles to the pandemic and lockdown(s), the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form, the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales-Self-Report-30, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, and the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust, Credulity Questionnaire. Results: Maladaptive response patterns to pandemic restrictions were related to dysfunctional personality traits, immature defense mechanisms, poor mentalization, and epistemic mistrust or credulity. Moreover, more severe levels of personality pathology were predictive of an extraverted-maladaptive response style to health emergency through the full mediation of low overall defensive functioning, poor certainty of others’ mental states, and high epistemic credulity. Conclusions: Recognizing and understanding dysfunctional psychological pathways associated with individuals’ difficulties in dealing with the pandemic are crucial for developing tailored mental-health interventions and promoting best practices in healthcare services.

Non-binary people may face specific challenges in psychological settings. Psychotherapists often display a lack of preparation for non-binary gender identities, resulting in overt or subtle forms of prejudice that compromise the therapeutic alliance. The present study aimed to provide data on non-binary clients’ positive and negative experiences within therapeutic relationships. Twenty-five interviews were conducted with non-binary people in the age range of 19–35. Using codebook thematic analysis, the researchers identified three main themes: (1) the self of the psychotherapist, consisting of the impact of the therapist’s personal (i.e., sexual identity) and professional (i.e., competence) characteristics on the therapeutic experience; (2) the practice of the psychotherapist, emerging as affirmative (validation and microaffirmations) or negative (gender identity change efforts, manifest aggressions, and microaggressions) approaches toward non-binary identities; (3) the therapeutic relationship, referring to the alliance, rupture, and reparation based on the therapists’ openness toward non-binary identities. To provide a safer setting for non-binary clients, psychotherapists should incorporate issues related to gender minority identities in their training, acknowledge clinical errors when they occur and adopt an active predisposition to learn through the client’s experience, giving value to their unique contribution.

This work presents a review of research papers examining the role of emerging personality pathology in suicidal ideation and behaviours in adolescence. Initially, 226 studies were selected in line with PRISMA guidelines, and 33 articles were finally included in this review. The data show percentages of any personality disorder diagnosis ranging from 19.5 to 22.8% in suicide attempters, while in autopsy studies, the rate of personality disorder diagnosis varied between 29.6 and 42.1%. The overwhelming majority of the studies focus on the role of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in suicidal behaviours, also highlighting its predictive role at a longitudinal level. Furthermore, the literature review shows that personality traits supposed to underlie BPD, such as affective instability, impulsivity and identity diffusion, have specific predictive links with suicidal conduct. Other personality pathology dimensions, such as aggressiveness, sadism and perfectionism that are associated with other personality disorders, namely, antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders, have also shown a significant mediating role for suicidal risk. Overall, these results seem to parallel the role of personality pathology in predicting suicide in adulthood and point to the relevance of assessing the presence of emerging patterns of personality disorders for the clinical management of suicidal risk in adolescence.

Background: Depressive disorders in adolescence are among the most challenging clinical syndromes to diagnostically identify and treat in psychotherapy. The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Second Edition (PDM-2) proposes an integration between nomothetic knowledge and an idiographic understanding of adolescent patients suffering from depression to promote a person-centered approach. This single-case study was aimed at describing and discussing the clinical value of an accurate diagnostic assessment within the PDM-2 framework. Method: Albert, a 16-year-old adolescent with a DSM-5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder, was assessed using instruments from various perspectives: the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5; the Psychodynamic Chart-Adolescent of the PDM-2, and other clinician-report instruments; and the Shedler–Westen Assessment Procedure for Adolescents and Defense Mechanisms Rating Scale Q-sort, coded by external observers. Results: Albert’s assessment revealed impairments in various mental capacities, especially in regulating self-esteem. He presented a borderline personality organization at a high level and an emerging narcissistic personality syndrome. Conclusions: The case discussion showed the importance of providing clinically meaningful assessments to plan for effective treatments in youth populations. Especially, it is necessary to understand the adolescent’s unique characteristics in terms of mental and personality functioning and consider the developmental trajectories and adaptation processes that characterize this specific developmental period.

The notion of intersubjectivity has achieved a primary status in contemporary psychoanalytic debate, stimulating new theoretical proposals as well as controversies. This paper presents an overview of the main contributions on inter-subjectivity in the field of neurosciences. In humans as well as—probably—in other species, the ability for emotional resonance is guaranteed early in development. Based on this capacity, a primary sense of connectedness is established that can be defined inter-subjective in that it entails sharing affective states and intentions with caregivers. We propose to define such a form of inter-subjectivity ascontingent, since the infant’s early abilities for resonance do not imply the more generalized capacity to permanently conceive of the relationship outside the realm of current interactions and the infant-caregiver’s mutual correspondence of internal states. This form of connection, hence, results in a self-referential, bodily, and affectively codified, context- and time dependent, like-me experience of interactions. The gradual maturation of brain structures and processes as well as interactive experiences allow proper intersubjectivity exchanges, grounded on new intentional and representational capacities, to evolve. In this more mature form of intersubjectivity, the individual is allowed to conceive of her own psychic space both as distinct and as possibly connected with the other’s contents and experience, even in the absence of current behavioral indicators of such correspondence. This multi-layered model of intersubjectivity, which is embraced by current neuroscience research, seems to allow for new interpretations of psychoanalytic models of human relatedness based upon classic clinical observations.