The quality of family interactions may be a critical factor for restrictive eating disorders (REDs). Adolescent patients with RED have interpersonal problems that can be inferred by observing their behaviours during family interactions. To date, the assessment of the association among RED severity, interpersonal problems, and patients’ interactive behaviours in the family is partially explored. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore how adolescent patients’ interactive behaviours observed during the Lausanne Trilogue Play—clinical version (LTPc) were associated with both RED severity and interpersonal problems. Sixty adolescent patients completed the EDI-3 questionnaire to assess RED severity using the Eating Disorder Risk Composite (EDRC) and Interpersonal Problems Composite (IPC) subscales. Moreover, patients and their parents took part in the LTPc, and patients’ interactive behaviours were coded as participation, organization, focal attention, and affective contact in all the LTPc four phases. A significant association emerged between patients’ interactive behaviours during the LTPc triadic phase and both EDRC and IPC. Better patients’ organization and affective contact significantly correlated with lower RED severity and fewer interpersonal problems. These findings suggest that investigating the quality of family relationships and patients’ interactive behaviours may contribute to better identifying adolescent patients at risk for more severe conditions.

Transference, initially introduced by Sigmund Freud, represents a crucial concept in psychoanalysis, referring to the displacement of feelings, fantasies, and desires from past relationships onto the therapist. Though central to psychoanalytic therapies, transference is acknowledged across many psychotherapeutic approaches, albeit with differing views on its clinical relevance. Empirical research has shown that transference phenomena occur in all close relationships, including therapeutic settings, and are influenced by factors like the patient's attachment style. While the relationship between transference and therapy outcomes remains ambiguous, insights gained from transference work—particularly through its interpretation—are seen as beneficial to therapeutic progress, enhancing patient's awareness and improving treatment results. This systematic review examines the development and validation of 15 assessment tools for measuring transference, offering a comprehensive overview of instruments used across various psychotherapies. The tools vary in their method of data collection, including observational ratings, clinician reports, and patient self‐reports. The review highlights the need for further studies comparing these instruments, exploring their effectiveness across different patient populations, and addressing the relationship between transference and therapeutic alliance to improve clinical practice.

Life events (traumatic and protective) may be critical factors associated with eating disorders and their severity. To date, there is little literature concerning the role of life events in adolescence. The main goal of this study was to explore in a sample of adolescent patients with restrictive eating disorders (REDs) the presence of life events in the year before enrolment and to characterize them according to timing. Furthermore, we investigated correlations between REDs severity and the presence of life events. In total, 33 adolescents completed the EDI-3 questionnaire to assess RED severity using EDRC (Eating Disorder Risk Composite), GPMC (General Psychological Maladjustment Composite), and the Coddington Life Events Scales—Adolescent (CLES-A) questionnaires to define the presence of life events in the last year. Of these, 87.88% reported a life event in the past year. A significant association emerged between elevated clinical GPMC and the presence of traumatic events: patients who had experienced at least one traumatic life event in the year before enrolment presented higher clinically elevated GPMC compared to patients who had not. These results suggest that obtaining early information about traumatic events in clinical practice may help prevent the occurrence of new events and improve patient outcomes.

Background/Objectives: Research is lacking about the development of personality disorders (PDs) from adolescence to early adulthood. This study aimed to characterize the profile of high-risk adolescents compared to adolescents with full-blown PDs and adolescents with other psychiatric disorders and to identify clinical markers that constitute a risk profile. Methods: We evaluated 99 adolescents (12–17 years old) through DSM-5-based semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, cognitive tasks, and scales regarding functioning and disorder severity. We divided patients into three groups: 22 adolescents with full-blown personality disorder (FBPD), 57 adolescents at high risk for personality disorders (HPD), and 20 adolescents with other DSM-5 psychiatric disorders (OTH). At follow-up, 56 patients completed the assessment. Possible developmental trajectories of FBPD and HPD patients were remission (total or partial) of PD-related symptoms, stability of symptoms, or transition from HPD to FBPD. Results: FBPD adolescents had more impaired family backgrounds. At baseline, the HPD group was mainly composed of female patients, younger than the FBPD ones. Externalizing symptoms may represent prodromal symptoms of FBPD. High-risk patients who made the transition were younger than those who did not, and their mothers reported higher internalizing symptoms at baseline. None of the FBPD patients remitted. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis of a PD “at-risk mental state” and the importance of the implementation of PD early detection and treatment in adolescents, regardless of patient age.

Background/Objectives: Suicidal risk is a major public health concern among adolescents. Pharmacological treatment in this population remains complex and often targets underlying psychiatric disorders rather than suicidal risk itself. This study aimed to examine associations between suicidal concern (SC) and psychotropic prescriptions in hospitalized adolescents with psychiatric disorders. A secondary aim was to assess whether suicidal risk level predicted pharmacological treatment at discharge (T1). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 adolescents (men age = 15.4, SD = 1.55). SC was assessed using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Participants were categorized into SC and without SC (No Suicidal Concern—NSC) groups and further stratified by low and high suicidal risk. Psychotropic prescriptions at admission (T0) and T1 were compared, adjusting for age, gender, and psychiatric diagnoses. Results: The SC group showed more severe clinical presentations, including higher symptom burden and functional impairment. At discharge, they were more frequently prescribed antipsychotics and supplements, and more often received multiple medications compared to the NSC group. Logistic regression confirmed SC as a significant predictor of antipsychotic and supplement prescriptions at T1, independent of age, gender, and diagnosis. In contrast, suicidal risk level did not significantly predict specific prescriptions or polypharmacy prescriptions. Conclusions: SC appears to influence pharmacological decisions beyond diagnostic classifications, with a tendency toward risk-containment strategies. These findings emphasize the need for individualized, developmentally appropriate, and evidence-based treatment planning. Importantly, SC should be considered not only as a symptom but as a potential independent treatment target in adolescent psychiatry.

Suicide is an important public health issue. To examine the differences in personality characteristics between a group of adolescents with suicidal ideation (SI) and a group with a history of suicidal attempts (SA), we conducted a cross-sectional study. We enrolled 55 adolescents (51 females; 12–18 y.o.) who presented SI and/or SA. Using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, we divided the sample into two groups: adolescents with SI and adolescents with SA. All participants filled in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent (MMPI-A). Adolescents in the SA group had greater difficulties in social relations, risky behaviors, and more intense suicidal ideation compared to those in the SI group. Adolescents in the SA group scored higher in Omission, in the Lie Scale, the Conduct Problem Scale, the Less Aspirations Scale, the Repression Scale in the MMPI-A, and item 283 of the MAST compared to the other group. The results suggest that using the MMPI-A to assess certain features (e.g., tendency to lie, repression) may be helpful in identifying young people who are at high risk of suicide. However, further research is required to determine the effectiveness of using this instrument.