Childhood maltreatment, personality vulnerability profiles, and borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescents.

Adverse childhood experiences are significant risk factors in the development of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms (BPDs). Theorists have posited that two personality vulnerabilities factors, self-criticism and dependency, may inform our understanding of this relationship. However, no research has examined the associations between early negative experiences, personality vulnerabilities, and adolescent BPDs. The current study aimed to identify profiles of dependency and self-criticism to examine the associations of these profiles with cumulative forms of childhood maltreatment (CM) and BPDs as well as to explore the mediating and moderating role of vulnerable personality profiles in the relationship between cumulative CM and BPDs. Two hundred and forty-one nonclinical and clinical adolescents participated in the study (Mage = 16.37, SD = 1.84). The findings indicated three different profiles: average dependent profile, dependent and self-critical profile, and self-critical profile. Individuals in the average dependent profile presented lower levels of CM and BPDs. Mediation analyses showed that relative to the average dependent profile, a higher cumulative CM history predicted a higher probability of belonging in the dependent and self-critical profile or the self-critical profile and, in turn, this was associated with higher levels of BPDs. No moderating effects of profiles of dependency and self-criticism were found.

Aligning personal and collective interests in emerging adults during the COVID-19 emergency in Italy.

This study investigated the relations of emerging adults' personal (civic competence and interdependent self-construal) and community-based (sense of community and civic engagement) resources as predictors of appraisal of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) and attitudes toward preventing contagion in Italy. Participants were 2873 Italian emerging adults (71% females) aged 19-30 years (M = 22.67, SD = 2.82). Structural equation modeling revealed both direct and indirect positive associations among study variables. Civic competence and interdependent self-construal were related to sense of community and civic engagement behavior which, in turn, predicted appraisal of PHEM. Appraisal of PHEM in turn predicted attitudes toward preventing contagion. Overall, findings highlight the importance of examining the alignment between personal and collective interests to understand emerging adults' evaluative and attitudinal experiences during a period of crisis, such as that created by COVID-19.

Adolescent Psychological Well-being, Radicalism, and Activism: The Mediating Role of Social Disconnectedness and the Illegitimacy of the Authorities.

The identification of factors that counter youth's radicalization while promoting democratic activism is a timely social issue. This paper examines the association of psychological well-being (PWB) with violent radicalism and nonviolent activism, by focusing on the mediating role of both social disconnectedness (SD) and the perceived illegitimacy of the authorities (PIoA). Two mediation structural equation models (full vs. partial) were applied to data collected from 328 Italian adolescents (14-19 years). The results showed how SD and PIoA fully mediated the link of PWB with radicalism (negatively) and activism (positively). This model was further supported when compared with an alternative one proposing PWB as a mediator between SD and PIoA. The findings are discussed in light of the existing literature and provide potential implications for practice.

Mediating and moderating processes in the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants in emerging adults.

Few studies examine intercultural relations in emerging adulthood. Framed from the perspective of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) project, the current paper examined the mediating role of tolerance and perceived consequences of immigration in the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants. Additionally, the moderating role of context was analysed. A two-group structural equation modelling was performed on data collected from 305 Italian emerging adults living both in northern and in southern Italy with different socio-political climates towards immigrants. In both groups, tolerance and perceived consequences of immigration mediated the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants. Also, this indirect relationship was significantly higher for the northern than southern Italians. These findings provide provisional evidence of mediating and moderating processes in the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants and suggest important implications for practitioners interested in promoting intercultural relations among emerging adults.

The role of late adolescents' emotion regulation in the experience of COVID-19 lockdown: A longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 pandemic may be considered a unique mass-trauma experience. This study examined the relations between Italian late adolescents' emotion regulation strategies, their anxiety states, and their experience of the lockdown (in terms of discomfort related to restrictions, capacities to create new functional daily routines, and to find positive changes in one's own life) during the first wave of this pandemic. We analysed how participants' reports of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression were associated with anxiety states during the 2020 Italian COVID-19 lockdown (large scale physical distancing and movement restrictions) and one month after the lockdown restrictions had been removed. We also examined how cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and anxiety states were linked to late adolescents' experience of lockdown. The participants were 497 Italian adolescents, aged from 17 to 24 years (Mage  = 21.11, SD = 1.83). A longitudinal structural equation modelling showed that emotion regulation strategies and anxiety states were not associated across time. Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with routine reorganization and positive changes. In contrast, participants' expressive suppression was negatively related to their discomfort related to restrictions, ability to functionally reorganise their daily routine, and ability to find positive changes related to the COVID-19 emergency. Anxiety was positively linked to discomfort related to restrictions. The findings are discussed in light of the current literature related to emotion regulation and anxiety. Limitations and implications for practice are presented.

Health Communication in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of Italian Advertisements.

In the climate of great uncertainty characterizing the COVID-19 pandemic, health communication played a significant role: several communicative strategies and channels were used to inform, educate and alert. Entropy-related risks were soon translated into the "infodemic", a wide-spread phenomenon with psychosocial and cultural roots. Therefore, new challenges for public institutions occurred: public health communication, especially expressed through advertising and audiovisual spots, was engaged to offer key support in combatting the disease, mitigating its effects and supporting health and psychological wellbeing. This work aims to investigate how the Italian public institutions addressed those challenges by employing institutional spots. We tried to answer two main research questions: (a) in line with the literature concerning persuasive communication, what were the main variables that social advertising concerning health attitudes and behaviors relied on; and (b) how the different variables were combined to propose specific communicative pathways following both the different waves/phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and the elaboration likelihood model. To answer these questions, 34 Italian spots were analyzed by means of qualitative multimodal analysis (including scopes, major narratives themes, central and peripheral cues). The results enabled us to individuate different communicative pathways, oriented by inclusivity, functionality and contamination, in line with different rounds as well as with the holistic configurations of cultural narratives, central and peripheral cues.

Relation between fluid intelligence and mathematics and reading comprehension achievements: The moderating role of student teacher relationships and school bonding.

Several studies have shown the relevance among students of the quality of their interpersonal relationships for their academic achievement. Nevertheless, most studies available have explored the relation between the cognitive functioning and academic achievement without taking into account the quality of the relationships experienced in the school environment. Furthermore, the studies that have begun to consider the joint role of these factors in the prediction of academic achievement are scant. Therefore, it appears of relevance to deepen the relation between cognitive functioning and quality of school relationships in order to support students' academic achievement and the potential of youth. In this paper, we examined the moderating role of the quality of student-teacher relationships and school bonding (STR-SB) in the associations of fluid intelligence (Gf) with academic achievement among adolescents (N = 219). A multiple-group structural equation modelling analysis revealed that STR-SB quality moderated unexpectedly only the link between Gf and mathematics. The findings support the idea that the quality of student-teacher relationships may be a relevant dimension to be considered to clarify the association between cognitive functioning and academic achievement.

The Relationship between Parental Monitoring, Peer Pressure, and Motivations for Responsible Drinking among Italian Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Positive Alcohol Expectancies.

This study investigated the associations between parental monitoring, peer pressure, and motivations for responsible drinking, while also taking the mediating role of positive alcohol expectancies into account. The participants were 579 Italian adolescents, aged 14-20 years (M = 16.39 years, SD = 1.27; 55.3% females), involved in a cross-sectional survey. They were administered online self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed both direct and indirect positive associations between study variables. Parental monitoring was positively associated, both directly and indirectly, with adolescents' motivations for responsible drinking through the mediation of positive alcohol expectancies; peer pressure was negatively and indirectly associated with adolescents' motivations for responsible drinking, via the mediating role of positive alcohol expectancies. Findings highlighted the importance of environmental factors with regard to motivations for responsible drinking, suggesting the opportunity to implement prevention programs to improve parental monitoring and increase adolescents' skills to manage peer pressure and to develop realistic expectancies about drinking.

Peer Reputation Configurations and Associations with Friendship Adjustment.

Peer reputation (PR) refers to how peer groups collectively view an individual in terms of socio-behavioral characteristics, such as aggression, social withdrawal, leadership, and prosociality. Despite considerable research on PR, few studies have considered PRs in relation to indices of friendship, particularly with a person-centered approach. The goal of the current study was to adopt such an approach and identify peer reputation configurations and their defining characteristics, and to examine how such configurations are linked to friendship prevalence and quality. Four hundred and twenty-six Italian seventh-grade students (57.3% male, Mage = 12.07) completed peer nomination measures of PR and reported on their friendships. Their mutual best friends were subsequently determined, and a friendship quality measure was completed. Teachers rated participants' problem behaviors and competencies. Cluster analytic methods produced four PR configurations that were defined by the following characteristics: (1) Shy/Excluded/Victimized, (2) Normative, (3) Aggressive/Arrogant, and (4) Prosocial/Popular. Teacher ratings supported these configurations such that Prosocial/Popular students were rated the lowest in problem behaviors and Shy/Excluded/Victimized and Aggressive/Arrogant were the highest in learning problems. Additional analyses showed numerous linkages between the configurations and friendship. For instance, Prosocial/Popular students were more likely to have mutual and satisfying friendships relative to students in the other groups. These findings provide new insights into the complex linkages between group- and dyadic-level peer experiences during early adolescence and may inform prevention and intervention efforts aimed at Shy/Excluded/Victimized youth struggling with peers.

The Placement of Children in Need of Out-of-Home Care: Forms of Care and Differences in Attachment Security and Behavioral Problems in the Italian Context.

The current paper investigated differences in secure attachment levels and behavioral problems among four groups of children in out-of-home care in Italy: closed adoption (child and birth parents not in contact following adoption), open adoption (child and birth parents still in contact after placement), foster care (child living temporarily with relatives or unrelated foster parents) and institutional care (child in residential care for large groups of children). One hundred and thirty children aged 10-19 were included in this study. The Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence and the Achenbach Youth Self-Report were employed to measure participants' secure attachment levels and behavioral problems. Both a multivariate analysis of covariance and measured variable path analysis were performed. Age, gender and time elapsed between the request for child protection and placement on out-of-home care were used as covariates. The results showed that adolescents in closed adoption had higher secure attachment scores than those in foster care and institutional care, while adolescents in open adoption scored significantly higher on problem behaviors than those in the other out-of-home care groups. Findings were discussed in terms of limitations and implications for future research.

The Role of Parenting, Dysregulation and Self-Esteem in Adolescents' Problematic Social Network Site Use: A Test of Parallel and Serial Mediation Models in a Healthy Community Sample.

The study addresses some gaps in the current understanding of adolescents' Problematic Social Network Site Use (PSNSU) by exploring the role of parenting as a precursor, and dysregulation and self-esteem as possible mediators. The sample includes 148 parents (15% fathers) and their adolescent offspring (23% male, age ranging from 14 to 18 years old, M = 15.96, SD = 1.36). Parent-reported dysregulation and positive/negative parenting style and adolescent-reported PSNSU and self-esteem were collected. As to positive parenting, simple parallel mediations were fully supported: positive parenting was associated with less dysregulation and higher self-esteem and both conditions independently predicted adolescents' PSNSU. Additionally, a serial mediation model was confirmed, suggesting that positive parenting is associated with less PSNSU by means of the sequential effect of dysregulation on self-esteem. As to negative parenting, results only support one simple mediation: negative parenting predicted PSNSU through dysregulation. Self-esteem was not impacted by negative parenting, interrupting the indirect pathways. The direct effect of negative parenting on PSNSU was significant, suggesting a partial mediation. Findings deepen the current understanding of teens' PSNSU and highlight the importance of targeting parenting when implementing interventions to prevent and treat PSNSU.

STEM-Gender Stereotypes: Associations With School Empowerment and School Engagement Among Italian and Nigerian Adolescents.

While many sociocultural, contextual, biological, behavioral, and psychological variables may contribute to the widespread under-representation of girls and women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field, this study focused on STEM-gender stereotypes, school experiences, and adolescence as critical factors in driving students' interest and motivation in STEM. Based on this, the study (a) investigated differences by gender and national context (Italy vs. Nigeria) in adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes, school empowerment, and school engagement in a preliminary step, and (b) simultaneously examined how adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes were related to school empowerment and school engagement as well as to socioeconomic status (SES). These latter relations were considered within the context of the potential moderating role of gender and national context. Participants included 213 Italian adolescents (Mage = 13.91; 52.1% girls) and 214 Nigerian adolescents (Mage = 13.92; 60.3% girls), who completed measures of school empowerment and engagement, STEM-gender stereotypes, and SES. A multivariate analysis of covariance showed that Nigerian girls and boys reported significantly higher levels of school empowerment, school engagement, and STEM-gender stereotypes than their Italian peers. Moreover, regardless of the national context, boys scored significantly higher on school empowerment and STEM-gender stereotypes than girls. Furthermore, a multiple-group path analysis revealed how higher school empowerment was related to lower STEM-gender stereotypes in both Italian and Nigerian girls' groups, while higher school engagement was associated with lower STEM-gender stereotypes only in the Nigerian groups. Regardless of gender and nationality, higher SES was linked to lower STEM-gender stereotypes. These findings particularly suggest that school empowerment and school engagement can be relevant dimensions to be studied and to develop strategies to counteract STEM-gender stereotypes in adolescence. Nonetheless, gender and national context are key factors to be considered. Limitations, strengths, future research, and educational implications are discussed.

Sociodemographic and psychological correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in the young adult population in Italy.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that young adults are more hesitant/resistant to COVID-19 vaccine uptake than older age groups, although the factors underlying this tendency are still under debate. The current study aimed to identify the sociodemographic and psychological correlates of vaccine hesitancy and resistance among young adults (18-40 years) during the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Italy, the first country after China being hit by the pandemic and which suffered a large number of fatalities. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, web-based study conducted in Italy using an ISO-certified international survey company (respondi.com). Data were collected on 1200 participants in June 2021. RESULTS: Vaccine hesitancy/resistance was found for 25% of the sample. In multinomial logistic regression (N = 1159), being aged 30-40 years, residing in northern Italy, having lower educational and income level, being unemployed, and not knowing any friends/relatives diagnosed with COVID-19 were associated with higher odds of hesitancy or resistance. In multivariate analysis of variance (N = 1177), both vaccine hesitant and resistant young adults perceived significantly less social support from friends and family than vaccine accepting ones. Resistant individuals reported significantly higher levels of conspiracy theories and negative attitudes toward vaccines than their accepting and hesitant counterparts. Moreover, resistant individuals reported significantly lower levels of attachment to country and perceptions of a just government compared to accepting ones, with hesitant young adults scoring in between. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the idea that young adults with a hesitant (vs. resistant) attitude show a more nuanced and less extreme psychological profile. Public health messaging should capitalize on social media to provide accessible, transparent, and age-appropriate information concerning COVID-19 vaccine safety. Moreover, policy efforts improving the availability of social support systems are warranted to strengthen connectedness and foster trust in institutions amongst this particular segment of the population.

The Relation Between Empathy and Aggression: The Role of Attachment Style.

This study aimed to examine the explaining and moderating role of attachment style profiles on the association between empathy and aggression. Participants were 548 Italian adults (M = 47.62 years, SD = 6.14) who completed a survey measuring attachment, empathy, and aggression. Using cluster analytic methods, initial results indicated two attachment style profiles to be considered (secure vs. insecure). However, we also extracted a more theoretically guided four-cluster solution including preoccupied, secure, fearful, and dismissing profiles. Moreover, structural equation modelling showed that higher levels of empathy linked to lower levels of aggression. Nonetheless, when introducing in the model the dichotomous or the multi-categorical attachment style profile variable as predictive of both empathy and aggression, their association became not significant, while secure attachment profile significantly presented higher levels of empathy and lower levels of aggression compared to the other profiles. Furthermore, attachment style profile moderated the link between empathy and aggression. Specifically, in the secure group empathy and aggression were negatively related, but no significant association was evidenced in the other groups. Findings are discussed in the light of the literature.

Self-Esteem and Adolescent Bullying/Cyberbullying and Victimization/Cybervictimization Behaviours: A Person-Oriented Approach.

Although previous studies seemed to recognize negative associations between self-esteem and bullying/cyberbullying and victimization/cybervictimization behaviours, the findings are controversial. The current study tried to shed light on this issue by using a person-oriented approach among Italian adolescents. Participants included 936 students aged 13-16 years. Different domains of self-esteem and bullying/cyberbullying and victimization/cybervictimization behaviour during the previous 2-3 months were assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. The results suggested four self-esteem profiles, i.e., school/family-oriented, consistently high, self-derogation, and body/peer-oriented. Students in the consistently high self-esteem profile seemed to be more protected against bullying/cyberbullying and victimization/cybervictimization behaviours compared to those in the self-derogation profile. The findings showed that among adolescents there is a degree of heterogeneity in the self-esteem domain associated with different levels of bullying/cyberbullying and victimization/cybervictimization behaviour. This suggests that different domains of self-esteem and their interdependencies play a crucial role during adolescence, with consequences also in terms of diverse patterns of active and passive aggressive behaviour.

How Do Religiosity and Spirituality Associate with Health-Related Outcomes of Adolescents with Chronic Illnesses? A Scoping Review.

The aim of the current scoping review was to explore the associations between religious and spiritual factors and the health-related outcomes of adolescents with chronic illnesses, as well as to investigate possible mechanisms accounting for these relationships. In total, 20 studies meeting the eligibility criteria were reviewed after performing a search of the Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The results suggested that religious and spiritual beliefs, thoughts, and practices (e.g., spiritual coping activities) might have both beneficial and deleterious effects on the way adolescents deal with their medical condition, on their psychosocial adjustment, on their mental and physical health, and on their adherence to treatments. Mediating and moderating mechanisms explaining these relations were also evidenced. Suggestions for future research and practical implications for healthcare professionals are provided in the concluding section of this work.

Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students.

University psychological counseling (UPC) is receiving growing attention as a means to promote mental health and academic success among young adults and prevent irregular attendance and dropout. However, thus far, little effort has been directed towards the implementation of services attuned to students' expectations and needs. This work intends to contribute to the existing literature on this topic, by exploring the perceptions of UPC among a population of 39,277 students attending one of the largest universities in the South of Italy. Almost half of the total population correctly identified the UPC target population as university students, and about one third correctly expected personal distress to be the main need that UPC should target. However, a large percentage did not have a clear idea about UPC target needs, activities, and population. When two specific student subsamples were analyzed using a person-centered analysis, namely (i) those who expressed their intention to use the counseling service but had not yet done so and (ii) those who had already used it, the first subsample clustered into two groups, characterized by an "emotional" and a "psychopathological" focus, respectively, while the second subsample clustered into three groups with a "clinical", "socioemotional", and "learning" focus, respectively. This result shows a somewhat more "superficial" and "common" representation of UPC in the first subsample and a more "articulated" and "flexible" vision in the second subsample. Taken together, these findings suggest that UPC services could adopt "student-centered" strategies to both identify and reach wider audiences and specific student subgroups. Recommended strategies include robust communication campaigns to help students develop a differentiated perception of the available and diverse academic services, and the involvement of active students to remove the barriers of embarrassment and shame often linked to the stigma of using mental health services.

The Apple of Daddy's Eye: Parental Overvaluation Links the Narcissistic Traits of Father and Child.

This study contributes to the literature on the parental correlates of children's narcissism. It addresses whether parental overvaluation may drive the putative link between parents' narcissism and children's narcissism and self-esteem. The cross-sectional design involved a community sample of 519 school-age children (age ranging from 9 to 11 years old) and their parents from an Italian urban context. Child-reported measures included narcissistic traits and self-esteem, while parent-reported measures included narcissistic traits and overvaluation, as well as parenting styles. A series of structural equation models, run separately for mothers and fathers, showed that both parents' narcissism was directly and positively related to overvaluation and the children's narcissistic traits; overvaluation partially mediated the indirect link between the fathers' and children's narcissistic traits. None of the parenting-style dimensions were related to the children's outcomes, with the exception of the mothers' positive parenting being directly and positively related to children's self-esteem. These findings shed new light upon the parental correlates of child narcissism by suggesting that mothers and fathers convey their narcissism to their offspring through differential pathways. Our findings may be understood from universal as well as cultural specifics regarding the parenting roles of mothers and fathers. Clinical implications for the treatment of youth narcissism suggest the potential of targeting not only children but also their parents.

A Revised Short Form of the Extended Class Play Among Italian Early Adolescents.

Among the measures assessing peer reputation, the Extended Class Play (ECP) is now used extensively in North American settings. Little information is available in other cultural contexts. Furthermore, practical considerations suggest developing a shorter form of the ECP to be used in socio-educational environments. This study examined the ECP dimensions of peer assessment in Italy as well as developed a shorter form of the measure. We revised the ECP using factor analyses according to an explorative-confirmatory approach. The original 37-item ECP was shortened to a 22-item version and, subsequently, the properties of the revised measure were evaluated. We performed two studies comprising, respectively, 643 (55% male; 97% Italian; Mage = 12.20, SD = 0.60) and 652 (58% male; 94% Italian; Mage = 12.26, SD = 0.66) seventh-grade young adolescents living in southern and central Italy. Results revealed a clear and consistent seven-factor structure and acceptable levels of reliability and validity. Factors included constructs such as Shyness-Withdrawal, Prosociality-Leadership, Aggression, Popularity-Sociability, Victimization, Rejection-Exclusion, and Boastfulness. Correlations between the dimensions of the 22-item ECP and teacher ratings of young adolescents' behaviors further confirmed the validity of the solution. Findings suggest the importance of culturally revised measures of social reputation and indicate that the short form of the ECP has considerable promise to be considered a valuable measure to assess the multidimensional aspects of peer relationships.

Mediating Processes in the Relations of Parental Monitoring and School Climate With Cyberbullying: The Role of Moral Disengagement.

In recent years, studies have extensively explored both personal and environmental predictors of cyberbullying. Among these predictors, parental monitoring and school climate were often expected to be associated with cyberbullying behaviors. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms through which these relations may develop. The present study aimed to expand the current research by testing a theoretical model including the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relations between parental monitoring (including less collaborative vs. more collaborative strategies), school climate, and cyberbullying behaviors. Five hundred and seventy-one Italian adolescents (54.5% male) aged 14 to 20 years were recruited from high schools. Measures included demographics and parental monitoring, school climate, moral disengagement and cyberbullying scales. To test the hypothesized model, we estimated full and partial mediation models by structural equation modeling. Results showed negative indirect links of parental monitoring (but only the more collaborative strategies) and school climate with cyberbullying via moral disengagement. Less collaborative strategies of parental monitoring were neither directly nor indirectly related to cyberbullying. The findings revealed moral disengagement as an important process in explaining how ecological factors, such as parenting behaviors and school environments, are associate with cyberbullying. Limitations, strengths, and implications for practice are presented.