Earthquakes are one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters and lot of studies have been conducted on exposed populations, particularly to evaluate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On April 6th 2009, the town of L’Aquila, central Italy, was struck by an earthquake, with a strength of 5.9 on the Richter scale, and 309 people have died, 1600 were injuried and more than 65000 were displaced.

To investigate the impact of PTSD in a sample of L’Aquila's people.

To evaluate the prevalence rates of PTSD, either full-blown or partial, among 512 students attending the last year of high school in L’Aquila, 10 months after the earthquake.

Assessments included the trauma and loss spectrum-self report (TALS-SR) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES). Gender differences in the symptoms reported were investigated. Partial PTSD is defined as the presence of symptoms in the DSM-IV Criterion B and C or D for PTSD diagnosis.

Our results showed the presence of PTSD in 192 (37.5%) of the students examined, with significantly (p = .000) higher rates in women than men (N = 120, 51.7% and N = 72, 25.7%, respectively). Moreover, 153 (29.9%) students reported partial PTSD (75, 32.3% women and 78, 27.9% men respectively). Significantly higher PTSD symptoms were reported by women with respect to men.

Our results show high rates of full or partial PTSD in adolescents survived to L’Aquila's earthquake. Women resulted more affected than men. These results highlight the need to carefully explore these conditions.

The concept of Deficit Schizophrenia (DS) is considered one of the most promising attempts to reduce heterogeneity within schizophrenia. Few prospective studies tested its longitudinal stability and ability to predict clinical features and outcome at five years follow-up.

In the present study 51 patients with DS and 43 with Nondeficit Schizophrenia (NDS), previously included in an Italian Multicenter Study on Deficit Schizophrenia, were reassessed after 5 years from the initial evaluation. The diagnosis of DS and NDS was made by raters blind to initial categorization using the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome. Clinical, neurocognitive and social outcome indices were also evaluated.

The follow-up diagnosis confirmed the baseline one in forty-two out of 51 patients with DS (82.4%) and in 35 out of 54 with NDS (79.6%). Clinical, neuropsychological and social functioning characterization of patients with DS also revealed high reproducibility with respect to baseline assessment: anergia and negative dimension, social isolation and neurocognitive impairment (in particular general cognitive abilities and attention impairment) were more severe in patients with DS than in those with NDS. In neither group a significant deterioration of clinical, neurocognitive and social functioning indices was found, in line with previous studies in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Study findings provide evidence for the long-term stability of Deficit Schizophrenia.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated gender-specific prevalence and expressions across the different DSM definitions, since its first introduction in DSM-III. The DSM-5 recently introduced important revisions to PTSD symptomatological criteria. Aim of the present study is to explore whether gender moderates rates of DSM-5 PTSD expression in a non-clinical sample of survivors to a massive earthquake in Italy.

A sample of 450 survivors of the L’Aquila 2009 earthquake, previously investigated for the presence DSM-IV-TR PTSD, was reassessed according to DSM-5 criteria in order to explore gender differences. All subjects completed the Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report (TALS-SR).

Females showed significantly higher DSM-5 PTSD rates and rates of endorsement of almost all DSM-5 PTSD criteria. Significant gender differences emerged in almost half of PTSD symptomatological criteria with women reporting higher rates in almost half of them, while men in only one (a new symptom in DSM-5: reckless or self-destructive behavior). Considering the impact of the three new DSM-5 symptoms on the diagnosis, significant gender differences emerged with these being crucial in almost half of the PTSD diagnoses in males but in about onefourth in females.

This study provides a contribution to the ongoing need for reassessment on how gender moderates rates of expression of particular disorders such as PTSD.

PTSD and post-traumatic spectrum symptoms represent the most frequently reported psychiatric sequelae of earthquakes and several studies have investigated the role of risk factors1,2. Aim of the present study was to explore PTSD and post-traumatic spectrum symptoms in L’Aquila (Italy) 2009 earthquake survivors and their correlations with age, gender and degree of exposure.

1488 subjects were investigated by means of the TALS-SR5. The total sample was divided, by random extraction, in 8 homogenous subgroups comparable for gender, age (≤40 vs >40 years) and direct/indirect exposure to the earthquake.

41.3% of exposed subjects presented PTSD vs 16.6% of not exposed. Women reported significantly higher PTSD prevalence rates and post-traumatic spectrum symptoms than men. Exposed subjects reported higher PTSD rates both in the whole sample and in all subgroups, with the only exception of younger men.

Our results confirm different vulnerability to PTSD after earthquake on the basis of gender, age and degree of exposure.

The increased use of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to investigate cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia fostered interest in its sensitivity in the context of family studies. As various measures of the same cognitive domains may have different power to distinguish between unaffected relatives of patients and controls, the relative sensitivity of MCCB tests for relative–control differences has to be established. We compared MCCB scores of 852 outpatients with schizophrenia (SCZ) with those of 342 unaffected relatives (REL) and a normative Italian sample of 774 healthy subjects (HCS). We examined familial aggregation of cognitive impairment by investigating within-family prediction of MCCB scores based on probands’ scores.

Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze group differences in adjusted MCCB scores. Weighted least-squares analysis was used to investigate whether probands’ MCCB scores predicted REL neurocognitive performance.

SCZ were significantly impaired on all MCCB domains. REL had intermediate scores between SCZ and HCS, showing a similar pattern of impairment, except for social cognition. Proband's scores significantly predicted REL MCCB scores on all domains except for visual learning.

In a large sample of stable patients with schizophrenia, living in the community, and in their unaffected relatives, MCCB demonstrated sensitivity to cognitive deficits in both groups. Our findings of significant within-family prediction of MCCB scores might reflect disease-related genetic or environmental factors.