Interaction through social media: Development and validation of a social network site self-efficacy scale (SNS-SES).

Today, more than ever before, awareness of our ability to interact with others through and use social network sites (SNSs) is of fundamental importance, in light of the fact that we are connected to the Web 24 h a day, 7 days a week. Studies of social media in recent decades have shown that self-efficacy is one of the key variables affecting individual online behavior. The general aim of the studies presented here was to develop and validate a new self-report scale measuring self-efficacy in SNS use (an SNS self-efficacy scale, or SNS-SES). Across two studies, a total of 1295 Italian adolescents and adults (ages 15 to 89; M = 38.21, SD = 15.6) participated. The SNS-SES consists of 24 items assessing four factors of self-efficacy in SNS use: task-oriented/technological, task-oriented/social, interpersonal, and emotional. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed a clear factorial validity of this stable four-factor solution.

Maternal Parenting and Preschoolers' Psychosocial Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study.

Previous research reported that positive parenting and parenting stress might impact children's psychosocial adjustment. The current longitudinal study aimed at evaluating the associations over time between mothers' positive parenting, their parenting stress, and their preschoolers' social-emotional competence and emotional-behavioral difficulties. Participants were 53 Italian mothers, aged between 24 and 47 years (M = 35.30, SD = 5.28) at T0, and their children (females = 51%), aged between 3 and 6 years (M = 4.48, SD = 0.84) at T0. Mothers completed self-report scales at 2 time points (with a 2-year lag). An autoregressive cross-lagged model was tested that had a good fit to the data, χ2(6) = 3.37 ns, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00. The results showed that maternal positive parenting at T0 negatively predicted maternal parenting stress at T1; maternal parenting stress at T0 negatively predicted children's social-emotional competence at T1. Moreover, at each time point, children's social-emotional competence was associated positively with maternal positive parenting and negatively with maternal parenting stress; children's emotional-behavioral difficulties were positively associated with maternal parenting stress. The results confirm that interactions with mothers are fundamental for children's psychosocial adjustment. Implications for research and practice aimed at reducing parenting stress and fostering positive parenting are discussed.