Relevance. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a global public health concern. In recent years, researchers have documented an increasing prevalence of self-injurious behavior among adolescents. Analysis shows that the problem of NSSI is closely related to socioeconomic status, psychological environment, and other factors that influence the adolescent population.
Objective. To examine the main etiological aspects of non-suicidal self-injurious behavior among adolescents; to identify gender and age differences, patterns in the choice of self-injury methods, and the impact of environmental factors on the formation of NSSI; and to conduct a narrative review of the scientific literature on the epidemiology of NSSI.
Method. The article presents a review of domestic and international literature on the epidemiology of NSSI. Russian and foreign articles were selected for analysis. Scientific literature was searched using relevant keywords.
Results. NSSI is most commonly observed among adolescents, with the average age of onset ranging from 12 to 18 years. There is no exact data on the prevalence of NSSI, but it may reach up to 46 %. The frequency varies depending on the region, socioeconomic status, and cultural factors.
Conclusion. Numerous studies indicate that NSSI is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide, with its frequency varying across regions, socioeconomic conditions, and cultural contexts. A critical factor is gender: while findings on prevalence differences remain inconsistent, clear distinctions exist in the methods of self-injury employed. Age also plays a significant role, with a higher incidence typically observed during the transitional period of 12 to 18 years. This underscores the necessity of timely professional support and intervention during this critical developmental stage. Further research into the etiological and epidemiological aspects of adolescent NSSI is essential for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing its prevalence and promoting youth mental health.

Relevance. In the study of low-progressive forms of schizophrenia, differential diagnosis is often complicated by the absence of pronounced thought disorders and the presence of “subtle” symptomatology. This highlights the need to expand and update the repertoire of psychodiagnostic tools that, in addition to assessing cognitive and emotional domains, also capture features of patients’ social cognition. Projective methods aimed at identifying impairments of social cognition may serve as sensitive and informative instruments in differential psychodiagnostics. A pilot study was conducted using an author-developed projective technique designed to detect impairments across different components of social cognition in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The responses demonstrated weak probabilistic forecasting ability in social interaction scenarios. The study revealed the high sensitivity and diagnostic potential of the proposed projective test in assessing social cognition deficits in this clinical group. The novelty of the research lies in the potential for further validation and refinement of the method, which may ultimately provide medical psychologists with a new psychodiagnostic tool.
The purpose of the study: to analyze the responses of patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders when performing the author’s projective technique.
Materials and methods: experimental-psychological, projective testing using photo images. The sample consisted of 64 respondents aged 18 to 59 years, including: 32 conditionally healthy subjects: women – 23; men – 9, and 32 patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders (F20, F21), women – 10; men – 22).
Conclusion: Statistical analysis of the study data supports the assumption that the developed projective test is sufficiently sensitive for detecting impairments in social cognition among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Compared to conditionally healthy participants, patients’ responses showed a greater tendency toward errors in probabilistic forecasting of actions and events in interpersonal situations. Their explanations within this domain were more elaborate and variable, underscoring the need for detailed content analysis of the obtained data.

Relevance. The study of psychological mechanisms in the formation of hypertension is a particularly urgent issue in medical psychology, because this disease is the most common among people of working age. Psychological factors in the form of stress, irritability, non-adherence to therapy, high conflict can provoke high blood pressure and lead to complications.
Intention – to study the personality traits and adherence to therapy of patients with hypertension, to compile practical recommendations for medical psychologists in the cardiology department.
Materials and methods. A total of 418 patients with hypertension (215 women and 203 men, average age 45 ± 7.4 years) were examined. At the time of the assessment, the patients were undergoing inpatient treatment at the private healthcare institution “Medical and Sanitary Unit” and were under the supervision of cardiologists and therapists (Astrakhan, Russia). The study used survey methods, in particular, psychodiagnostic techniques: KOP-25 “Quantitative Assessment of Treatment Adherence Questionnaire” (N.A. Nikolaev, Yu.P. Skirdenko), the Big Five personality test questionnaire (in the Russian adaptation by A.B. Khromov). Empirical data were recorded using the Google Forms Internet service. The parameters of descriptive statistics, the linear correlation coefficient and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient were calculated (Statistics 22.0 program).
Results. The findings revealed low treatment adherence among patients, which negatively affects their physical health and increases the risk of complications and mortality. The study identified personality traits associated with various dimensions of adherence: adherence to medication, medical supervision, and lifestyle changes. Traits such as high self-control and attachment were positively associated with better adherence, whereas emotional instability and expressiveness were found to hinder adherence. Importantly, the risk factors for low adherence identified in the study are modifiable.
Conclusion. These studies are necessary as targets for psychological correction of personality traits that have a negative impact on the formation of adherence to therapy in patients with hypertension. Among the effective measures to increase adherence to therapy in patients with hypertension is a comprehensive approach. Training in the “School of Patients with Hypertension” and regular monitoring of blood pressure contribute to higher treatment efficiency.

Relevance. Cardiovascular diseases predominate in terms of both prevalence and mortality, with coronary artery disease (CAD) playing a central role in overall mortality rates. The relevance of identifying prognostically significant factors for the effectiveness of rehabilitation in patients with CAD is determined by the high prevalence, mortality, and disability associated with the disease; the necessity of ensuring effective control of risk factors during the outpatient rehabilitation stage; and the substantial role of psychological characteristics in disease prognosis.
Objective. To identify social and psychological factors relevant for predicting the effectiveness of rehabilitation in patients with CAD three months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Methodology. 254 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting were examined. Patients were monitored at the stage of inpatient treatment before and after surgery, as well as at the outpatient stage, 3 months after surgery. The clinical-psychological approach and the following psychodiagnostic methods were used: the Trail-Making Test (TMT), Luria´s Memory Words test, Integrative Anxiety Test, Asthenic State Scale modified by L.D. Malkova and T.G. Chertova, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) by Lazarus and Folkman, 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), and the Big Five Personality Test.
Results and Discussion: A factor analysis of the obtained data was performed. 3 groups of factors were obtained: 1) factors based on sociodemographic data from a structured interview: “Social success” , “Loneliness” , “Stability”; 2) factors based on psychological information from a structured interview: “ Anosognosia and a negative attitude towards treatment against the background of adaptation disorder in the family sphere” , “Depression” , “The importance of getting rid of pain and physical discomfort” , “Psychotraumatic situations” , “Negative attitude towards psychodiagnostics” and egocentric response to illness”; 3) factors according to psychodiagnostic methods: “Psychopathological manifestations and decreased memory and attention” , “Anxious-phobic manifestations” , “Orientation towards coping with difficulties” , “Reduced quality of life and unsatisfactory somatic condition” , “Neurotic manifestations of an anxious-suspicious type” , “Asthenic manifestations against the background of aggressive tendencies” . Factors in predicting the effectiveness of rehabilitation were identified: “Social success” and –with negative values – “Stability” , “Significance of getting rid of pain and physical discomfort” , “Psychotraumatic situations” . Psychological factors: prognostic factors with a negative value were noted – “The importance of getting rid of pain and physical discomfort” and “Psychotraumatic situations” . It is advisable to take into account the results obtained in the process of psychological rehabilitation.
Conclusion. Prognostic factors for the effectiveness of rehabilitation after CABG were identified. Notably, no prognostic value was found for factors derived from psychometric assessment data. Prognostically significant variables were limited to those based on structured interview data collected at the preoperative stage. Among social factors, “Social Success” had a positive predictive value, whereas “Stability” had a negative one. Among psychological factors, negative prognostic significance was observed for “Significance of relief from pain and physical discomfort” and “Psychotraumatic situations”. These findings should be taken into account in the course of psychological rehabilitation.

Relevance. Speech disturbances in schizophrenia are among the primary diagnostic criteria listed both in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. However, clear and objective indicators for their assessment have not yet been developed. The study of semantic characteristics of speech in schizophrenia may contribute to broadening and objectifying the psycho­ diagnostics of speech impairments.
Intention. To identify semantic features of speech in patients with schizophrenia that distinguish them from mentally healthy individuals, patients with bipolar affective disorder, and personality disorder.
Methodology. Sample: 183 participants – 56 patients with schizophrenia, 30 healthy individuals, 51 patients with bipolar disorder, and 46 patients with personality disorder. Object – speech of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, personality disorder and healthy participants. Subject – semantic characteristics of their speech.
Methods: Biographical (speech recording and writing), content analysis, and statistical analysis.
Results and discussion. The written speech of patients with schizophrenia was impersonal, thematically sparse, and reflected the patient’s passivity. In contrast, their oral speech was more active, briefly describing the patient’s behaviour and the behaviour and internal experiences of others. The speech of schizophrenia patients was semantically impoverished, impersonal, and passive, whereas the speech of mentally healthy individuals, as well as the written speech of patients with personality disorder and bipolar affective disorder, described goal-directed actions of the speaker, various agents, and their internal experiences. Written speech proved to be more psychodiagnostically significant than oral speech.
Conclusion. Compared to mentally healthy individuals, both oral and written speech in schizo­ phrenia patients lacked a semantic core, an active agent, a subject of speech, and descriptions of others’ experiences. The same semantic features were observed when comparing the written speech of schizophrenia patients with that of patients with bipolar disorder and personality disorder. These findings may serve as semantic indicators of schizophrenia patients’ speech and form the basis of a psychodiagnostic model for speech impairments in schizophrenia. The development of such a model could involve machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.

Relevance. According to the literature, recent years have witnessed an increase in suicide rates among enlisted and non-commissioned contract military personnel, while the proportion of suicides among conscripts has decreased. In most cases, servicemen exhibiting suicidal behavior are diagnosed with borderline mental disorders, underscoring the importance of developing approaches to predict suicidal behavior within this population.
The aim of the study: to develop a model for predicting suicidal behavior in military personnel with borderline mental disorders.
Research objectives: 1. To analyze the structure of borderline mental disorders in various categories of military personnel with suicidal behavior. 2. To study the main factors of suicide risk in privates and sergeants with borderline mental disorders. 3. To analyze the predominant motives and methods of suicidal behavior among privates and sergeants serving under contract. 4. To develop discriminant models for predicting suicidal behavior in privates and sergeants with borderline mental disorders and to propose preventive algorithms for predicting suicidal behavior.
Results. The most common motives for suicidal behavior among military personnel with borderline mental disorders serving in military service are difficulties in adapting to military service and irregular forms of relationships, while military personnel serving under contract have service conflicts, violations in the system of personality-collective relationships, intra-family problems. The developed model for predicting suicide risk in various categories of military personnel makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of early identification of persons with suicidal behavior and psychoprophylactic work in the military, including determining the possibility of further military service under contract. The developed formulas of linear classification functions and an algorithm for determining the prognosis of suicidal behavior of the examined military personnel showed that the factors of suicide risk are a combination of social: level of education, media influence; biological: strength index, Quetelet mass-growth index; standard deviation R–R of heart rate variability intervals and psychological characteristics: history of suicide attempts, addictive behavior, unfavorable psychological and psychiatric history, the level of social introversion. This made it possible to propose a preventive algorithm for predicting suicidal behavior in military personnel with borderline mental disorders and to clarify patient management tactics.

Relevance. Oncological diseases significantly alter an individual’s perception of their life, generating uncertainty regarding the meaning and direction of their future. Cognitive-behavioral therapy remains the most commonly applied method of psychological support for oncology patients. However, psychotherapeutic work aimed at addressing the problem of constructing a meaningful future in cancer patients represents a promising and relevant direction in psychotherapy.
Aim: To facilitate the formation of a meaningful future in an oncology patient through the use of metaphoric associative cards.
Materials and methods. This study presents a clinical case of a female patient undergoing outpatient oncological treatment for breast cancer. The psychotherapeutic intervention was carried out using metaphorical associative cards, namely “The World of My Possibilities”, “The Joys of Everyday Life”, and “Small Happiness”, alongside the application of authorial techniques such as “Life Values”, “My Meaning of Life”, and “Internal and External Supports/Resources”.
Results. As a result of the intervention, the patient identified the following personal values: work, family, carefreeness, and harmony with oneself. During the therapeutic process, these values were transformed, with harmony with oneself emerging as the most significant, followed by family and work. The patient identified her family as the primary source of meaning in her future life. Resources were defined as contact with nature, creativity, and friendships.
Conclusion. The metaphorical associative cards demonstrated their effectiveness in supporting the process of shaping a meaningful future in a patient with breast cancer.

Relevance. Neuromotor and dance-movement therapy are conceptualized as right-hemisphereoriented psychotherapeutic approaches, as they primarily engage psychomotor functions. Psychomotor activity encompasses motor coordination, motor memory, affect regulation, and attentional processes. These domains are frequently impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Accordingly, right-hemisphere therapeutic methods may provide a pathway to restoring contact with reality in such patients. Contemporary psychotherapy is undergoing a paradigm shift from an intrapsychic perspective, centered on the individual, to an interpersonal perspective, emphasizing dyadic processes and ultimately aiming for an integrated model of both. Neuromotor and dancemovement therapy exemplify this shift. Within synchronized therapeutic interactions, nonverbal mechanisms of relational and emotional change are activated through right-hemisphere-mediated communication between participants, facilitated by affectively engaged intersubjectivity. This process gives rise to an ultra-rapid, and therefore largely imperceptible, right-hemisphere-to-righthemisphere communicative system within the therapeutic relationship, characteristic of affectfocused psychotherapeutic models.
This study aims to examine and describe the therapeutic correction of persistent psychomotor agitation in a patient with schizophrenia using right-hemisphere psychotherapeutic methods (neuromotor and dance-movement therapy) in the context of long-term pharmacoresistance.
Methodology. The article describes the current condition of a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia aggravated by pharmacoresistance over a long period of time. Particular attention is directed toward identifying a therapeutic target for neuromotor psychotherapy, grounded in interventions focused on motor coordination. The selection and application of appropriate psychodiagnostic instruments for evaluating the patient’s condition are also addressed.
Results and their analysis. The difficulty of overcoming a stable pathological condition is that compensatory reactions are mobilized by the memory matrix. In a stable pathological condition, the use of brain reserves for compensation is limited. In this case, it was motor memory as a righthemisphere function of the brain that became the impetus, developing which we were able to achieve stable remission.
Conclusion. The insufficient effectiveness of pharmacotherapy, the irreversibility and severity of its side effects make the correction of mental disorders with the help of new techniques (in particular, neuromotor and dance-movement therapy) an urgent task. The path of neuromotor and dance-movement therapy as methods of right-hemisphere psychotherapy is the activation of unused reserves of the brain to compensate for painful manifestations due to the structural and functional capabilities of the patient’s brain.

Relevance. The high prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and the diversity of its shortand long-term consequences have long been recognized in academic discourse. In recent decades, cognitive-focused interventions for survivors have become increasingly widespread. Nevertheless, emotional and behavioral problems are often foregrounded, leaving the cognitive aspects of trauma overshadowed by more overt symptoms.
Intention. To review the studies on the cognitive component of trauma within the paradigms of neurocognitive functioning, cognitive development, and cognitive models in psychology and psychotherapy to summarize the available evidence.
Methodology. Literature was retrieved from electronic academic resourses: PubMed, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and SpringerLink. The initial search was restricted to sources published in the past five years; however, selected earlier studies were included to illustrate certain key consequences that are not always covered in more recent research.
Results and Discussion. The review indicates that the experience of sexual abuse can adversely affect neurodevelopment, the formation of mental processes, and patterns of information processing, as well as leave lasting imprints on survivors’ beliefs and representations across different stages of life.
Conclusion. Further research may enable a more comprehensive assessment of both specific consequences of sexual trauma and the complex interrelationships among its various cognitive dimensions.

Background. Clinical-psychological characteristics of women who alter their appearance surgically and women with symptoms of eating disorders (EDs) are rarely examined in a comparative framework. This article presents the results of an empirical study aimed at comparing body image perception, self-attitude, and severity of psychopathological symptoms in women undergoing cosmetic surgery and in women with symptoms of EDs.
Materials and Methods. The study included 74 women with a history of cosmetic surgery (mean age 37±8.27 years) and 41 women with symptoms of EDs (mean age 31.5±9.65 years). All participants completed an online survey. The following instruments were employed for data collection: the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R; L. Derogatis, R. Lipman, L. Covi, 1977; adapted by N.V. Tarabrina), the Self-Attitude Questionnaire (S.R. Panteleev, V.V. Stolin, 1988), the Body Image Questionnaire (O.A. Skugarevsky, S.V. Sivukha, 2006), the Appearance-Based Rejection Sensitivity Scale (Park, 2007; adapted by A.Yu. Razvalyaeva, N.A. Polskaya), the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI; Cash & Fleming, 2002; adapted by L.T. Baranskaya et al.), the Value Orientations Method (O.I. Motkov, T.A. Ogneva, 2008), and an author-designed questionnaire.
Results and Analysis. In both groups, appearance was identified as an important value. However, women with disordered eating reported lower self-esteem, higher severity of psychopathological symptoms, greater body image dissatisfaction, and heightened sensitivity to appearance-based rejection. They also demonstrated a pronounced negative impact of body image perceptions on quality of life and psychological well-being.
Conclusion. The findings highlight the importance of psychological assessment aimed at identifying potential contraindications for cosmetic surgery.

Relevance. The problem of the influence of mass media (the media – further) on human behavior is interdisciplinary and is studied within such scientific fields as philosophy, psychology, sociology, linguistics, and so on. This analysis presents a clinical and psychological point of view on the problem of the psychogenic impact of the media. The article presents an analysis of research on the phenomenon of “psychogeny”: the history of the problem, the concept, definitions and classifications. For the first time, the role of the media in the formation of a distorted attitude towards the disease in patients with COVID-19 is considered. The article provides an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on the problem of psychogenic effects from the media on patients who have suffered COVID-19.
Objective. To examine the role of the psychogenic factor of the information environment in shaping illness perception during the pandemic.
Methodology: theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literary sources for the years 1971– 2024 on the study of the role of the psychogenic factor in the formation of attitudes towards the disease. The search for publications was carried out on the foreign scientific databases SpringerLink, JSTORE, ResearchGate, as well as on the Russian libraries CyberLeninka and eLibrary.ru.
Results. The COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented in terms of its global impact, has been widely covered by mass media. On the one hand, mass media play a preventive role by disseminating information aimed at limiting the spread of epidemics and pandemics. On the other hand, repeated and daily reporting on hospitalization and mortality rates exerts a psychotraumatic (psychogenic) effect. During the pandemic, such information may actualize existential concerns about death and threats to life and health among broad population groups, thereby negatively affecting adaptive psychological capacities. Consequently, distorted attitudes toward illness may form prior to any diagnosis, while the act of receiving a diagnosis itself becomes a trigger that initiates a predetermined maladaptive reaction to the disease.
Conclusion. The findings highlight the significance of considering psychogenic media influence when designing psychopreventive programs for populations exposed to emergencies, including future pandemics. They also underscore the relevance of accounting for psychogenic factors in the clinical interaction with patients, particularly those recovering from acute respiratory infections in pandemic contexts, while taking into account their individual psychological characteristics. Furthermore, the results may inform subsequent research on the psychological effects of media exposure.