Analysis of the Personality Characteristics and Lifestyle of Young People Who Access Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics (APGP)

Analysis of the Personality Characteristics and Lifestyle of Young People Who Access Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics: a Qualitative Study

Considering the growing importance of services psychiatric and psychological for adolescence and adulthood incidence of discomfort expressed in this age group, comes assessed the need to provide adequate and targeted services.

Reasons:

The study aims to evaluate the characteristics and trends of adolescents who access the service, in order to frame the type of discomfort expressed and the expectations with respect to access to the service and the resource base on which it can the therapeutic intervention must be thought out and organised. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the factors that influence the request for help and evaluate the quality of the assistance received, with the aim of improving it effectiveness.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Life Style; Personality
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Using a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data on adolescents' experiences and perceptions. The Italian version of the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) was develop

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 115

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Marianna Mazza; Phone Number: +390630154122; Email: mariannamazza@hotmail.com

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Roma
    • Rome, Roma, Italy, 00168
      • Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A.Gemelli IRCCS
      • Contact: Marianna Mazza; Phone Number: +390630156196; Email: mariannamazza@hotmail.com
      • Principal Investigator: Marianna Mazza

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

The study involves the enrollment of 115 adolescents aged between 13-21 years treated at the psychiatric clinic.

Description

Inclusion criteria:

- Participants will be selected based on their age between 13 and 21, their availability to sign the informed consent.

Exclusion criteria:

• Patients who do not give their consent are excluded from the study.
• Patients who do not speak fluent Italian or those who due to cognitive and/or thinking characteristics would not be able to understand or complete the questionnaire are also excluded.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Analyze the characteristics of adolescents who access the clinic, both with respect to the discomfort presented and the resources available to them	Data analysis through qualitative methods to identify recurring trends and patterns.	one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Relate these characteristics to the ways of relating within the family, through meetings that also involve their parents	Administration of psychometric scales: The Italian version of the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) was developed as a self-rated instrument to assess mentalization. It consists of 15 items with responses ranging from 1 = 'no agreement at all' to 5 = 'total agreement' on a 5-point Likert scale. Calculated sum scores for the total scale range from 15 to 75 with higher scores indicating lower mentalization capacities.; The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) is a measure of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions (alexithymia). It has twenty statements rated on a five-point Likert scale. The total score ranges from 40 to 200 and the higher score indicates a greater level of alexithymia.	one year

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Collect useful information to improve the effectiveness and variety of therapeutic paths to be offered to adolescents who consult the clinic and their parents.	Administration of psychometric scales: The Italian version of the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) was developed as a self-rated instrument to assess mentalization. It consists of 15 items with responses ranging from 1 = 'no agreement at all' to 5 = 'total agreement' on a 5-point Likert scale. Calculated sum scores for the total scale range from 15 to 75 with higher scores indicating lower mentalization capacities.; The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) is a measure of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions (alexithymia). It has twenty statements rated on a five-point Likert scale. The total score ranges from 40 to 200 and the higher score indicates a greater level of alexithymia.	one year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marianna Mazza, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 15, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 23, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): January 3, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 12, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 11, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Personality Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 7088

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No