Communication skills are vital to social functioning. Patients with schizophrenia, who often exhibit impairments in social functioning, experience difficulties in both verbal and nonverbal communication. This study aimed to compare the influence of nonverbal sensitivity and verbal communication disturbance on the social functioning of schizophrenia patients. The study included 38 schizophrenia patients (SCH) and 40 healthy controls (HC). Nonverbal and verbal abilities were assessed using the Mini Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (Mini-PONS) and the Communication Disturbance Index (CDI), respectively. Social functioning was measured with the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), and symptom severity was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly lower nonverbal sensitivity and higher verbal communication disturbance compared to healthy controls. Mini-PONS and CDI scores were significantly correlated with SFS scores in the schizophrenia group but not in healthy controls. Regression models revealed that PANSS and Mini-PONS scores significantly predicted social functioning in schizophrenia patients. Furthermore, symptom severity fully mediated the relationship between verbal communication disturbance and social functioning. Nonverbal communication impairments exert a more pronounced effect on the decline in social functioning among schizophrenia patients. These findings underscore the importance of addressing communication deficits to improve social outcomes in this population.

Objective: Somatic symptoms are more likely to be present in depression and anxiety, which causes to waste medical resources due to excessive hospital addmissions. It has been observed that the unclarity of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of somatization depending on the type of depression influences clinical practice less than expected. In the present study, it was aimed to determine the hallmarks of somatic symptoms in depression groups and to investigate the factors that might have an effect on somatic symptoms. Method: One hundred consecutive patients (50 with Bipolar Depression (BD), 50 with Unipolar Depression (UD)) who met the criteria participated in the study. Patients were assessed for depressive symptoms with Montgomery Asberg Depression Scale and for somatic symptoms with Bradford Somatic Symptom Inventory. Clinical features were obtained by the clinician via Sociodemographic Data Form. Results: It was found that no significant difference in somatization characteristics between the depression groups. (p> .05). Somatic symptom severity was higher in the UD group in the presence of psychiatric comorbidity (p= .013), but not in BD. Another prominent finding was that the severity of depression was noted the only predictor of severe somatization. Conclusion: The results show that increased somatic symptoms are associated with the severity of depression, suggesting treatment of depression with somatization rather than differential diagnosis should be primary concern.

Background/Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem associated with adverse mental health outcomes among women. Although prior research has focused on psychological distress (PD), mental well-being (MWB) is a distinct dimension of mental health that has received less attention in IPV research, particularly in clinical samples. Childhood trauma (CT) and self-compassion (SC) may contribute to variability in IPV-related outcomes. This study examined associations between IPV and MWB, considering SC, PD, and CT within an integrated framework. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 340 married women aged 18–65 years attending psychiatric outpatient clinics completed self-report measures of IPV, CT, SC, PD, and MWB. Hierarchical regression analyses examined predictors of MWB, and conditional process analysis tested moderated serial mediation models evaluating indirect associations of IPV with MWB through SC and PD, with CT as moderator. Results: SC subscales accounted for the largest incremental variance in MWB (ΔR² = 0.256 and 0.294, both p < 0.001), exceeding contributions of IPV and CT. CT moderated the IPV–SC association (B = 0.0052, 95% CI (0.0008, 0.0097), p = 0.022), but not the IPV–PD pathway. IPV showed indirect associations with MWB through SC and PD. Conclusions: These findings suggest that IPV-related mental health outcomes may be better understood within an integrative framework including vulnerability-related factors and psychological resources. Clinically, routine assessment of IPV, CT, SC, PD, and MWB together may help clinicians develop more comprehensive, trauma-informed and self-compassion-focused care plans for women in psychiatric outpatient settings.:

Chronic pruritus without a primary dermatosis or systemic disease is a clinically challenging condition in which psychological factors may be relevant and substantial psychosomatic burden may be present. This case-control study examined childhood trauma, psychological symptoms and psychosomatic characteristics in this patient population. A total of 75 patients and 75 healthy controls aged 18–65 years were included. Childhood trauma, dissociation, depressive and anxiety symptoms, somatic symptom burden, alexithymia, health anxiety, somatosensory amplification and itch burden were assessed using validated self-report instruments. Group differences were analysed using multivariate analysis of covariance and follow-up ANCOVAs adjusted for age, sex and education. Patients showed higher somatic symptom burden, alexithymia, health anxiety, somatosensory amplification, anxiety and depressive symptoms than controls, whereas dissociative symptoms did not differ. Among childhood trauma dimensions, emotional abuse and physical abuse were higher in patients, while other trauma domains were not significantly different. Itch severity was correlated with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and somatic symptom burden; in exploratory regression analyses, depressive symptoms emerged as the only independent predictor of itch severity. These findings suggest that patients with chronic pruritus without a primary dermatosis or systemic disease may have a broad psychosomatic burden extending beyond affective symptoms alone.