Background :bullying (and cyberbullying) is a widespread phenomenon among young people and it is used to describe interpersonal relationships characterized by an imbalance of power. In this relationships often show aggressive behavior and intentional "harm doing" repeated over time. The prevalence of bullying among youth has been reported to vary widely among countries (5.1%-41.4%) and this behavior seems generally higher among student boys than girls. Several school interventions have been developed to reduce bullying, but reported inconsistent results possibly related to limitations in the study design or to other methodological shortcomings.Aims:evaluating randomized-controlled trials (RTCs) conducted between 2000 and 2013 to assess the effectiveness of school interventions on bullying and cyberbullying.Methods:a systematic search of the scientific literature was conducted on Pubmed/Medline and Ebsco online databases. We also contacted experts in the field of preventive bullying research.Results:17 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies did not show positive effects in the long term; the interventions focused on the whole school were more effective in reducing bullying than interventions delivered through classroom curricula or social skills training alone.Conclusion:while there is evidence that programs aimed at reducing bullying can be effective in the short term, their long-term effectiveness has not been established, and there are important differences in the results based on gender, age and socio-economic status of participants. Internal inconsistency in the findings of some studies, together with the wide variability of experimental designs and lack of common standardized measures in outcome evaluation, are important limitations in this field of research.

Introduction: Dementia, depression, and cardiovascular disease are major public health concerns for older adults, requiring early intervention. This study investigates whether a virtual reality cognitive remediation program (VR-CR) can improve cognitive function and depressive symptoms in older adults, and determines the necessary sample size for future studies. Integrated VR and CR interventions have shown promising outcomes in older adults with neurodegenerative and mental health disorders. Methods: This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial involves adults aged 58–75 years with bipolar disorder, excluding those with acute episodes, epilepsy, or severe eye diseases. The experimental group received standard treatment plus VR-CR, while the control group received only standard treatment. Results: No baseline differences were found between the experimental and control groups. No significant improvement was observed in the overall cognitive function test (p = 0.897) or in depressive symptoms (p = 0.322). A phase III efficacy study requires a sample size of 28 participants (alpha = 0.05, beta = 0.20). Conclusions: VR-CR can potentially treat depressive symptoms in adults and older adults, but the results support conducting phase III studies to further investigate these outcomes. However, the improvement in cognitive performance in the elderly is less pronounced than in younger individuals.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by repeated airway obstructions during sleep, causing hypopnea, apnea, intermittent hypoxia, and sleep fragmentation. The severity of OSA is measured using the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI), with AHI ≥ 5 indicating OSA. This study aims to assess the frequency and type of depressive disorder characteristics of OSA patients and to evaluate the impact on quality of life, also considering the presence of hyperactivity. Methods: A case-control study using OSA patients referred to Cagliari’s sleep disorder center. Controls were matched by age and sex from community databases. OSA diagnoses were made with AHI > 15. Depressive episodes were identified using BDI-SF, and H-QoL (Health related Quality of Life) was measured with the SF-12, focusing on item 10 for hyper-energy. Results: The clinical sample (n = 25) had a higher frequency of depressive episodes (36%) compared to controls (7% and 4%). Depressed OSA patients had worse H-QoL and higher hyper-energy scores, but the additional burden from depression was relatively low. Conclusions: The OSA sample has a higher frequency of depressive episodes compared to the general population. Depressive episodes in OSA patients are linked to higher scores on item 10 of the SF-12, indicating hyper-energy despite lower overall quality of life scores. While OSA significantly impacts quality of life, the additional burden from depression is less severe than in other chronic diseases. These findings suggest that depressive episodes in OSA may be related to rhythm dysregulation and hyperactivity (DYMERS).

The present study aimed to evaluate the multivariate relationships between variables related to burnout and job stress in healthcare workers, evaluating whether the relationships between these dimensions, the variables related to personal factors (age, seniority of service), and work–family balance factors (overwork related to unused vacation days and accumulated overtime hours) change when the worker is engaged in double-caregiving activities. Indeed, the twofold activities of home caregiving and caring at work might expose workers to challenging situations. To accomplish our aim, we carried out network analyses on data from 466 workers (77.90% females). Participants completed the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) and the Job Satisfaction Scale (OSI). Contrary to expectations, the variables related to work–life balance played a marginal role with respect to job satisfaction and burnout risk for the whole sample. In addition, no significant differences emerged between workers who reported dual-caregiving tasks compared with those who did not. However, some peculiar aspects of the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction emerged in the two subsamples. The results enable an understanding of the interactions among the assessed variables and allow hypothesizing interventions for the sustainability of the work–life balance in healthcare workers with dual-care tasks.

Background/Objectives: Emerging laboratory technologies, such as breathomics, may enhance the early diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, including Bipolar Disorder (BD). This study investigates the detection of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in exhaled breath as potential biomarkers for BD, comparing VSC levels between individuals with BD, healthy controls, and individuals with non-pathological hyperactivity. Methods: A matched case–control study was conducted involving 24 patients with BD and 95 healthy controls recruited at the University Hospital of Cagliari. Controls were selected using a matched-pair design based on age (±5 years) and sex through a block-matching technique to ensure comparability with cases. Participants underwent psychiatric interviews, completed the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), and had their exhaled breaths analyzed for VSCs using a gas chromatograph (OralChroma™). Controls were selected and randomized for age and sex. Results: Patients with BD exhibited significantly higher levels of methyl mercaptan (CH₃SH) compared to healthy controls (18.62 ± 5.04 vs. 9.45 ± 18.64 ppb, p = 0.022). Among individuals without BD, those with positive MDQ scores showed lower levels of CH₃SH than those with negative scores (9.17 ± 5.42 vs. 15.05 ± 18.03); however, this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.254), highlighting how the deep connection between some clinical and laboratory aspects needs to be investigated more thoroughly. Conclusions: The results suggest a correlation between oral dysbiosis and metabolic alterations in patients with BD, with CH₃SH levels being higher in cases compared to controls. Further studies are needed to validate the use of VSCs as potential biomarkers for BD and to investigate their role in individuals with non-pathological hyperactivity.

Background: The objective of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of a cognitive remediation intervention on anxiety symptoms in people with bipolar disorder and the therapeutic effect on people whose anxiety symptoms were above the threshold for a screener and whose comorbidity could be identified as an anxiety disorder. Methods: The experimental intervention included 24 sessions (around 45 min each), two for each week over three months. The entire program was inspired by user-centered rehabilitation principles in a recovery-oriented perspective and an approach to bipolar disorder in an evolutionary and non-discriminating vision. The primary outcomes measure the score of the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), hypothesizing a higher decrease in the experimental group than in the control group. The survey has been conducted per the CONSORT guidelines for feasibility studies. Results: We evaluate a decrease in the overall SAS score from T0 to T1 to be higher in the experimental group compared to the control group, indicating an improvement in anxiety symptoms (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The study suggests that virtual reality could have a role in treating anxiety symptoms and disorders in young adults with bipolar disorders or anxiety symptoms in people with hyperactivity and novelty-seeking behaviorsunder stress and high risk for bipolar disorder.