L. Fusar-Poli, Italy

University of Catania Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine

Presenter of 2 Presentations

Oral Communications (ID 1110) AS28. Personality and Personality Disorders

O201 - Do personality traits influence the stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness? A web-survey among university students.

Date
Sat, 10.04.2021
Session Time
07:00 - 21:00
Room
On Demand
Lecture Time
13:12 - 13:24

ABSTRACT

Introduction

People from the general population often tend to believe that psychiatric patients may be incurable, dangerous, and unpredictable. Stigma represents a critical issue which should be defeated. In spite of the interest of research, little is known about the relationship between personality traits and level of stigma toward people with mental illness.

Objectives

To evaluate whether certain personality traits can influence the level of stigma towards mental illness in a population of university students.

Methods

A web-survey was spread on social networks between March and June 2020 through Google Forms. Eligibility criteria for inclusion were:1) Being 18 years of age or older; 2) Attending a degree course in an Italian University; 3) Provide informed consent. Socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were collected. Stigma was measured using the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-27), personality traits were evaluated through the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS-i) investigated the knowledge about mental illness. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 24.0.

Results

We computed a multiple linear regression to calculate potential predictors of stigma, adjusted on the basis of the knowledge of mental illness. Results showed that age and faculty class were not related to stigma. Agreeableness (A) and Openness to experience (O) were associated with less stigmatizing attitudes. Conversely, Neuroticism (N) and Conscientiousness (C) seemed to predict higher levels of stigma.

Conclusions

Our results suggest an interesting relationship between personality traits and stigmatizing attitudes, which deserves to be further studied. They also confirm the importance of implementing appropriate strategies against the stigma of mental illness.

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Oral Communications (ID 1110) AS45. Sleep Disorders & Stress

O281 - The relationship between sleep disorders and psychotic-like symptoms in the general population

Date
Sat, 10.04.2021
Session Time
07:00 - 21:00
Room
On Demand
Lecture Time
02:44 - 02:56

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Abnormalities of sleep patterns are common in people with psychiatric disorders and often represent a source of distress, worsening the outcome. However, little is knwon about the relationship between psychotic-like symptoms and sleep disorders in the general population.

Objectives

1. Whether there is a relationship between sleep disorders and psychotic-like experiences in a sample of individuals belonging to the general population. 2. Which sleep disorders are more commonly associated with psychotic-like experiences.

Methods

A web survey was spread thorugh social networks. We administered the SLEEP-50 to investigate the presence of sleep disorders and the Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPE) for psychotic-like symptoms. Moreover, socio-demographic characteristics of participants were collected.

Results

The web-survey was completed by 824 participants. Six people refused to give consent and 95 were excluded because they declared to suffer from psychiatric disorder sor other medical conditions potentially infleuncing on sleep. Therefore, 729 subjects were included in the analysis. Pearson correlation coefficients showed strong correlations between the scale regarding SLEEP-50 "All sleep disorders" scale and CAPE Total and Depressive scales (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). A moderate correlation was found between "All sleep disorders" and CAPE Negative (r = 0.49) and Positive (r = 0.32) scales. Correlations with specific SLEEP-50 subscales were also found.

Conclusions

There seems to be a strong relationship between psychotic-like symptoms and sleep problems in the general population. Our findings might indicate that some sleep abnormalities may represent earlier symptoms of a psychiatric condition and need to be always monitored even in the non-psychiatric population.

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