Background: Body image and psychosocial functioning represent central challenges during adolescence and early adulthood. Malocclusion, defined as an irregularity in the alignment of the teeth, is known to negatively influence psychological outcomes. The current study aimed to elucidate the role of malocclusion, together with age, gender, and dental class, in body image and psychological functioning. Methods: A total of 126 participants aged from 12 to 19 years old (mean: 15.87, SD: 2.35, female participants: 52.4%, male participants: 47.6%) were recruited. Participants were visited at the University Hospital of Messina, Italy, and completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Body Image Concern Inventory (I-BICI), and the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ). Results: Significant correlations were found between age, dental class, the BICI, and the PIDAQ. In particular, age showed a positive and significant correlation with PIDAQ—total score. The correlations between occlusal status and the BICI variables were all significant and positive. All correlations between occlusal status and the PIDAQ variables were all significant and positive, except for dental self-confidence. The correlations between the variables of the PIDAQ and BICI instruments were all significant and positive, except for dental self-confidence, where the directions were significant and negative. Moreover, age, gender, and occlusal status predicted BICI and PIDAQ scores. Age was a positive predictor for PIDAQ self-confidence, gender for BICI and PIDAQ total scores, along with dysmorphic symptoms, social impact, psychological impact, and aesthetic concerns. Several significant gender differences were highlighted by the analyses, with higher scores in the female group on all the BICI variables, except symptom interference, and all the PIDAQ variables, except dental self-confidence. Conclusions: Malocclusion appeared to play a central role in the psychological, representational, and psychosocial life of the participants. This research suggests that malocclusion and dental issues influence the psychological, representational, and psychosocial life of adolescents. Further research is required to examine the psychological impact of dental problems.

Background: Alexithymia has been recognised as a predictor of negative outcomes in various chronic conditions, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, evidence concerning its role in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) remains limited. This systematic review aims to explore the relationship between alexithymia and T1DM. Methods: In June 2025, following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted using Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Studies specifically addressing the relationship between alexithymia and type 1 diabetes mellitus were analysed. The search strategy included the keywords “Alexithymia” AND (“Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus” OR “T1DM”). The NIH Study Quality Assessment Tool was employed to evaluate the methodological quality of the selected studies. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The systematic analysis of the literature highlighted three dominant themes: alexithymia was found to be associated with patients’ health status concerning weight and obesity, glycaemic control, and psychopathological symptoms. Moreover, alexithymia emerged as a potential predictor of adverse outcomes in T1DM self-management. Conclusions: Available evidence suggests that alexithymia has a clinically relevant impact on the management of T1DM. However, further research involving larger samples and longitudinal designs is needed to bridge the gap with other chronic conditions. Promoting evidence-based research in this area is aligned with the need for targeted psychological assessment, specific interventions, and improved care strategies.

Depression represents a pervasive and devastating psychological difficulty. It affects over 21% of the population at some point in their lives and can have an unimaginable impact on both individuals and society. Behavioural activation represents a popular intervention for depression and is commonly used by psychologists internationally. Despite its popularity, the cognitive mechanisms underpinning the efficacy of behavioural activation remain elusive. This paper will review the literature on this intervention and propose an account of the cognitive mechanisms underlying its therapeutic efficacy. Specifically, it is argued that behavioural activation is effective because it increases both the density of outcomes in ones environment and the density of highly salient action-outcome contingencies, which may otherwise be absent due to reduced motivation. The clinical implications are subsequently discussed, with reference to future research.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) represents a complex pathology affecting a large number of people. Research suggests that psychological factors influence coping with T1DM. This study aimed to investigate the presence and role of psychopathology, alexithymia and uncertainty in people affected by T1DM. The sample consisted of 137 patients (88 females, 49 males) affected by T1DM aged from 11 to 19 years old (Mean: 13.87; SD: 2.40). The diagnostic protocol consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire, Self-administration Psychiatric Scales for Children and Adolescents (SAFA), Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and Intolerance to Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12). Descriptive, differential, correlational and regression analyses were performed in order to examine the relationships between these variables. The results suggested the sample had high levels of psychopathological indexes, alexithymia and intolerance of uncertainty. Also, there were significant differences between TAS-20 and IUS-12 distributions with respect to psychopathology. Correlations and multivariate linear regressions indicated age, gender and education significantly predicted alexithymia and intolerance of uncertainty. This data suggest the presence of elevated psychopathology, alexithymia and uncertainty in people with diabetes.

Background: The Salience Hypothesis posits that aberrations in the assignment of salience culminate in hallucinations and unusual beliefs, the “positive symptoms” of schizophrenia. Evidence for this comes from studies on latent inhibition (LI), referring to the phenomenon that prior exposure to a stimulus impedes learning about the relationship between that stimulus and an outcome. Design: This article reviewed all published studies examining the relationship between LI and both schizophrenia and schizotypy. Results: Contemporary literature suggests that LI is attenuated in both people with schizophrenia and those loading highly on measures of schizotypy, the multidimensional derivative of schizophrenia. This suggests that these individuals assign greater salience to stimuli than healthy controls and people scoring low on measures of schizotypy, respectively. However, several confounds limit these conclusions. Studies on people with schizophrenia are limited by the confounding effects of psychotropic medications, idiosyncratic parsing of samples, variation in dependent variables, and lack of statistical power. Moreover, LI paradigms are limited by the confounding effects of learned irrelevance, conditioned inhibition, negative priming, and novel pop-out effects. Conclusions: This review concludes with the recommendation that researchers develop novel paradigms that overcome these limitations to evaluate the predictions of the Salience Hypothesis.