Minority stress and mental health in European transgender and gender diverse people: A systematic review of quantitative studies.

The current study aimed at systematically reviewing evidence on the relationships between gender minority stress and mental health outcomes among European transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. A systematic search was conducted in PsycINFO, PubMED, Scopus, and Google Scholar. It was based on Boolean operators to combine terms related to minority stress, TGD identities, and mental health. Thirty studies were identified as eligible. The results confirmed that gender minority stress factors are significantly related with mental health problems among European TGD individuals. Distal stressors were identified as strongly associated with poorer mental health, with gender-related discrimination emerging as the most documented risk factor. The significant role of proximal stressors was also highlighted, with some mediation analyses detecting an indirect effect on mental health. However, identity concealment appeared unrelated to mental health outcomes. Resilience-promoting factors buffering the impact of stressors were also identified, including self-esteem, pride, transitioning, and social support. Conversely, data on community connectedness as a source of resilience were inconclusive. The studies reviewed have several limitations, including lack of longitudinal designs, sampling bias, variability in measurement methods, and unaccounted ethnic variables. Research and clinical recommendations in this field are reported.

Emotion Dysregulation and Conspiracy Beliefs about COVID-19: The Moderating Role of Critical Social Media Use.

As COVID-19 has spread worldwide, conspiracy theories have proliferated rapidly on social media platforms, adversely affecting public health. For this reason, media literacy interventions have been highly recommended, although the impact of critical social media use on the development of COVID-19 conspiracy theories has not yet been empirically studied. Moreover, emotional dysregulation may play another crucial role in the development of such theories, as they are often associated with stress, anxiety, lack of control, and other negative emotions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation would be positively associated with conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 and that critical use of social media would attenuate this association. Data from 930 Italian participants (339 men and 591 women) were collected online during the third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. A moderated model was tested using the PROCESS Macro for SPSS. Results showed that: (1) emotion dysregulation and critical social media use accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19; and (2) critical social media use moderated the effect of emotion dysregulation on conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19. Implications for preventing the spread of conspiracy theories are discussed.

An Animal-Assisted Education Intervention with Dogs to Promote Emotion Comprehension in Primary School Children-The Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology.

Emotion comprehension (EC) is a crucial competence for children, as it determines the quality of peer interactions. This study assessed the efficacy of an animal-assisted education (AAE) intervention with dogs based on the Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology (FMHZ) to promote EC in a group of primary school children. One hundred and four children (48 females) aged 6-7 years took part in the study, of whom 63 participated in the AAE intervention (i.e., experimental group) and 41 did not (i.e., control group). The intervention was deployed in a school setting through a group format and consisted of five bimonthly sessions. EC was assessed pre- and post-intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up. Student's t-test and mixed-model ANOVA were performed to analyze the effect of the intervention on EC. EC significantly improved in children of the experimental group compared to the control group. Significant time effects from pre- to post-intervention, post-intervention to follow-up, and pre-intervention to follow-up assessment were found in the experimental group only. AAE based on FMHZ was effective in improving EC in children.