Antonella Somma

Antonella Somma is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (RTD-B) at the Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy. She has held this position since June 1, 2022, following a previous role as Fixed-Term Researcher Type A (RTD-A) in Psychometrics from May 2019 to April 2022. She is actively engaged in research, teaching, and editorial work, with a focus on personality disorders, psychopathology, and clinical assessment.

Dr. Somma earned her Degree in Psychological Sciences in 2008 and Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology in 2010, both with honors (110/110 cum laude) from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. She completed additional specialized training including a Master's in Forensic Psychopathology and Clinical Criminology (2011), a PhD from LUMSA University (2016), and specialized training in Psychotherapy (2018). She is registered with the Order of Psychology of Lombardy (number 14729) and maintains active clinical practice.

Her research focuses on clinical psychology, particularly personality disorders, narcissism, psychopathy, mentalization, and psychometric assessment tools. She investigates the relationships between personality traits, emotional processing, executive functioning, and clinical outcomes. Her work often employs sophisticated methodological approaches including network analysis, latent dimension analysis, and intensive longitudinal data modeling. She has made significant contributions to understanding the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders and the assessment of personality pathology across different age groups.

Dr. Somma has published extensively in high-impact journals, with recent work examining malignant narcissism, psychopathic traits, emotion regulation, and the assessment of personality disorders. Her research demonstrates a consistent focus on bridging clinical theory with empirical validation of assessment tools, particularly in Italian populations. She has contributed to both clinical applications and theoretical advancements in personality assessment.

Among her scientific recognitions are the Youth Research Award from the Italian Society of Psychotherapy (2017) and multiple Best Poster Awards at national psychology conferences (2014, 2015). She serves as Associate Editor for BMC Psychiatry (Personality Disorders section) and has reviewed for several prestigious journals including Psychological Assessment and European Psychiatry.

Dr. Somma is actively involved in teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, offering courses in psychological research methodology, psychological assessment, and multivariate analysis. She provides specialized training in SCID-5-PD and DSM-5 personality disorders assessment. She is also a member of the Research Review Group at the Faculty of Psychology and has supervised numerous student projects. Her commitment to public engagement is evident through numerous media appearances and public lectures on psychological topics for non-academic audiences.