The enduring role of sense of coherence in facing the pandemic.

Research has been focussing on protective and resistance-related factors that may help people face the long-lasting psychological challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sense of coherence allows to remain healthy and to recover after stressful or traumatic life experiences. We aimed at investigating whether, and the extent to which, social support, in terms of both family and friends support, mediated the well-established link between sense of coherence and mental health as well as that between sense of coherence and COVID-19-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. In May 2021, 3048 Italian respondents (51.5% women) aged between 18 and 91 (Mage = 48.33, SD = 14.04) filled in a self-report questionnaire. The mediation analyses we carried out on their responses showed a difference between focussing on mental health or on a psychological disorder. Indeed, despite the respectively positive and negative relation between sense of coherence and mental health and PTSD symptoms, this confirming the protective role of sense of coherence more than 1 year after the beginning of the pandemic, social support only mediated, partially, the former link. We also discuss practical implications and further expansion of the study.

The relationship between self-forgiveness and psychological wellbeing in prison inmates: The mediating role of mindfulness.

BACKGROUND: Previous research with general population samples has consistently shown that forgiveness and mindfulness facilitate coping with distressing experiences and significantly promote mental health. No study, however, has examined their unique contribution to prisoners' psychological wellbeing nor has considered the different forms of self-forgiveness among prisoners. AIMS: Our aim was to investigate the role of mindfulness in mediating any association between prisoners' self-forgiveness and psychological wellbeing and to test whether any such links are moderated by years spent in prison. In this study self-forgiveness was conceptualised as a multidimensional construct, including presence of genuine self-forgiveness, absence of pseudo self-forgiveness and/or absence of self-punitiveness. METHODS: Participants were recruited from a prison in Northern Italy. Consenting men were asked to complete an anonymous self-report questionnaire with only a researcher present. RESULTS: 104 male prisoners (mean age 46.63 years, SD 11.38) took part. Findings were that self-punitiveness was inversely related to well-being, with mindfulness mediating this relationship, this while controlling for the other dimensions of self-forgiveness and the perceived severity of the crime committed. Contrary to expectation, we found no direct relationship between genuine self-forgiveness and well-being, but the moderated mediation models showed that genuine self-forgiveness was positively associated with mindfulness and, through this, had an indirect association with wellbeing, significant only for prisoners who had already spent several years in prison. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that self-forgiveness is a complex construct, worthy of further investigation among offenders. They suggest that forgiveness interventions for prisoners should include modules aimed at primarily reducing self-punitive attitudes. Promotion of genuine self-forgiveness should be tried only with awareness that this is likely to take a very long time. In such circumstances, interventions may promote energy to be invested in mindful processes with a consequent improvement in psychological wellbeing.

"I forgive myself": The association between self-criticism, self-acceptance, and PTSD in women victims of IPV, and the buffering role of self-efficacy.

The effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) concerning specifically posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology have been widely demonstrated, but the consequences of abuse are not the same for all victims. We know little about the psychological processes that limit these adverse consequences. Therefore, we explored the association between self-criticism felt by abused women and their PTSD, and we investigated self-acceptance as the underlying process explaining this relationship. We also examined self-efficacy as the protective (moderating) factor. The results indicated that self-criticism was indirectly associated with greater PTSD via lower self-acceptance. Critically, the indirect effect only emerged for individuals low in self-efficacy.

Individual and culture-level components of survey response styles: A multi-level analysis using cultural models of selfhood.

Variations in acquiescence and extremity pose substantial threats to the validity of cross-cultural research that relies on survey methods. Individual and cultural correlates of response styles when using 2 contrasting types of response mode were investigated, drawing on data from 55 cultural groups across 33 nations. Using 7 dimensions of self-other relatedness that have often been confounded within the broader distinction between independence and interdependence, our analysis yields more specific understandings of both individual- and culture-level variations in response style. When using a Likert-scale response format, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as similar to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour harmony, similarity with others and receptiveness to influence. However, when using Schwartz's (2007) portrait-comparison response procedure, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant but also connected to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour self-reliance and self-consistency. Extreme responding varies less between the two types of response modes, and is most prevalent among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant, and in cultures favouring self-reliance. As both types of response mode elicit distinctive styles of response, it remains important to estimate and control for style effects to ensure valid comparisons.

Sense of coherence and Covid-19 related stress: A three-wave longitudinal study.

Sense of coherence (SOC) is the fundamental concept of the salutogenic approach to health promotion. The main aim of the current longitudinal study is to consider whether SOC has had a positive effect in reducing people's levels of stress during the prolonged time of the pandemic or rather stress has posed a threat to SOC. A large sample of Italian adults completed an online questionnaire at three different moments of the Covid-19 pandemic (from March 2020 to May 2021). To test the reciprocal associations between SOC and stress we estimated a cross-lagged panel model. Results questioned the stability of SOC, which changed across the different moments of the pandemic, and its causal role with respect to stress since, after controlling for gender and age, it emerged a significant effect only from stress to SOC. The implications of these results and the further expansions of the study are discussed.

Religiosity and prejudice: different patterns for two types of religious internalization.

The literature on the relationship between religiosity and prejudice has shown inconsistent findings. We argue that it is necessary to distinguish between different types of religiosity and that its relationship with prejudice is mediated by different values. Results of two studies conducted in Italy show that identified religiosity and introjected religiosity predict different levels of prejudice toward Muslim immigrants. Moreover, the negative relationship between identified religiosity and prejudice was mediated by prosocial values, whereas valuing conformity mediated the positive relationship between introjected religiosity and prejudice. The results show that it is possible to better understand the relationship between religiosity and prejudice by disentangling the different ways of being religious.

The Role of Positivity on Depressive Symptoms in Women Seeking Help for Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex and pervasive global phenomenon. Despite extensive research on physical and sexual violence, there has been a relative lack of investigation into the detrimental and distinctive consequences of psychological violence against women. This is surprising given the profound impact it has on the psychological well-being of victims, notably in the form of depression, which is commonly observed as an outcome in cases of psychological IPV victimization. The present study analyzes the impact of psychological IPV on depressive symptoms, considering the moderating influence of personal positivity, defined as positive self-perceptions, optimistic life perspectives, and a hopeful view of the future in a sample of 171 Italian women seeking assistance from anti-violence centers in different localities of Italy. The findings show that in line with the hypothesis, the association between psychological violence and depressive symptoms is moderated by the levels of perceived positivity, even when controlling for instances of physical violence. These results and implications for interventions are discussed within the framework of existing literature on positive psychology and psychological well-being in the context of IPV.

Covid-Related Stress in the Financial, Relational and Health Domains. Which Longitudinal Effects on Present and Future Perception?

While pre-covid literature about stress has indicated the importance of studying domain-specific stress, studies conducted during the pandemic have investigated covid-related stress as a monodimensional construct. The current study aimed to assess the impact that covid-related stress in three domains (financial, relational, health) had on individuals' psychological well-being and future anxiety. Furthermore, we aimed to assess whether the relationship among variables changed during the different phases of the pandemic as well as whether age moderated those relationships. Data were collected from 4185 Italian participants (55.4% female) aged 18-90 years (M = 46.10; SD = 13.47) at three waves: April 2020 (time 1), July 2020 (time 2), May 2021 (time 3). A cross-lagged panel model was run in Mplus. Results indicated that the financial domain is the life domain within which people are most worried during the pandemic, as it had the strongest impact on both psychological well-being and future anxiety. Having high levels of psychological well-being at time t served as a protective factor, as it was negatively related to any kinds of stress as well as to future anxiety at time t+1. These relationships among variables were stable over the course of the pandemic. Finally, we found significant age differences in the mean level for all variables under investigation, where young adults were the group with the highest level of stress and future anxiety as well as the lowest level of psychological well-being. Despite these differences in the variables' level, the relationships between variables were invariant across age groups. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Perceived significant others' values: Are they important in the relationship between personal values and self-reported prosociality?

BACKGROUND: Personal values have been extensively found to be relevant variables linked to prosociality; they are desirable and trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives to select modes, means and actions, these reflecting what people consider relevant and worthy. Research has investigated how cultural background influences people's personal values and prosociality, but little is known about the influence of the perception of the values endorsed by significant others, namely the people belonging to the micro-relational context with whom daily interactions and exchanges are possible. Based on Schwartz's theory of basic human values, we analyzed the moderating role of the perceptions of significant others' values in the relationship between personal values and self-reported prosociality. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: Two hundred and forty-five Italian young adults (66.9% women) aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 22.58, SD = 2.53) completed a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: Specifically, openness to change values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when respondents perceived low importance assigned both to openness to change and self-transcendence by significant others, whereas conservation values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when respondents perceived low importance assigned to self-enhancement by significant others. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show a complex interplay between personal values and perceived significant others' values in shaping young adults' self-reported prosociality.

Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Anger: Resources and Risk Factors for Italian Prison Inmates.

The adjustment of prison inmates is recently becoming a social concern. In the current study we focused on the role of gratitude, interpersonal forgiveness, and anger, which have been widely addressed as likely to influence people's health and adaptive behaviors, in shaping prison inmates' psychological wellbeing and criminal attitudes. Participants were 104 male prison inmates aged between 24 and 75 (Mage = 46.63, SD = 11.38) imprisoned in Northern Italy who were asked to fill in an anonymous self-report questionnaire. Results highlighted that all dimensions considered play an important, albeit different and highly specific, role; Gratitude is a promotional factor that enhances psychological wellbeing, whereas interpersonal forgiveness appears to be a protective factor against the adoption of a criminal attitude as violence or antisocial intent. Finally, anger is a risk factor toward both psychological wellbeing and violent behaviors. Implications of these results and further developments of the study are discussed.

Documenting different domains of promotion of autonomy in families.

Parental promotion of autonomy for offspring well-being has been widely recognized in developmental psychology. Recent studies, however, show that this association varies across cultures. Such variation may reflect inappropriate measurement of this dimension of parenting. Therefore, three existing measures of promotion of autonomy were used to derive different dimensions related to the promotion of autonomy in three different domains - promotion of autonomous thought, promotion of autonomous decision-making, and promotion of physical separation. The cross-cultural significance of this three-component model was tested in samples of late adolescents (n = 1361) from four nations- the US, Belgium, Italy and China. Data from all four countries best fit a three dimensional model but the covariance between the three dimensions was moderated by culture. Culture also moderated the impact of promotion of autonomy on offspring well-being.

Fears, beliefs, and quality of life of patients with cancer vs the general population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Lombardy.

AIM: To understand how patients with cancer reacted to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether their quality of life (QoL) was affected. METHODS: In June 2020, 111 patients with cancer treated in the supportive care unit of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Milan and 201 healthy controls from the general population were enrolled and assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively for fears and COVID-19-related beliefs as well as for QoL. RESULTS: Fear of COVID-19 was significantly lower among patients (41% vs 57.6%; p = 0.007), as was fear of cancer (61.5% vs 85.6%; p < 0.001) and other diseases. The perceived risk of getting COVID-19 was lower among patients (25.2% vs 52.7%; p < 0.001), as was the belief of having been exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (18.1% vs 40.8%; p < 0.001). The physical component of QoL was better among the population (54.5 vs 43.8; p < 0.001); the reverse was true for patients' psychological well-being (44.6 vs 39.6; p < 0.001). The qualitative data supported such results, showing a reduced psychological effect on the patients with cancer compared to the controls. Various reasons explain this result, including the awareness of being treated for cancer and nevertheless protected against getting infected in a cancer center of public health reorganized to continue treating patients by protecting them and personnel from the risk of infection. CONCLUSIONS: The experience of a cancer diagnosis, together with proper hospital reorganization, may act as protective factors from fears and psychological consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Gratitude and Social Media: A Pilot Experiment on the Benefits of Exposure to Others' Grateful Interactions on Facebook.

Facebook and other social networking sites allow observation of others' interactions that in normal, offline life would simply be undetectable (e.g., a two-voice conversation viewable on the Facebook wall, from the perspective of a real, silent witness). Drawing on this specific property, the theory of social learning, and the most direct implications of emotional contagion, our pilot experiment (N = 49) aimed to test whether the exposure to others' grateful interactions on Facebook enhances (a) users' felt gratitude, (b) expressed gratitude, and (c) their subjective well-being. For the threefold purpose, we created ad hoc Facebook groups in which the exposure to some accomplices' exchange of grateful messages for 2 weeks was experimentally manipulated and users' felt/expressed gratitude and well-being were consequently assessed. Results partially supported both hypotheses. Observing others' exchange of grateful posts/comments on Facebook appeared to enhance participants' in-person expression of gratitude (i.e., self-reported gratitude expression within face-to-face interactions), but not their direct and subjective experiences of gratitude. Similarly, exposure to others' grateful messages improved some components of subjective well-being, such as satisfaction with life, but not negative and positive affect. Taken together, however, our preliminary findings suggest for the first time that social networking sites may actually amplify the spreading of gratitude and its benefits. Implications of our results for professionals and future research in the field of health, education, and social media communication are discussed.

Perceived Changes in Family Life During COVID-19: The Role of Family Size.

OBJECTIVE: The current study was aimed at exploring Italian parents' perceived negative and positive changes in family life during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the role of the stage of the family life and family size. BACKGROUND: During the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of families drastically changed their daily life and routines. Little evidence exists on how family characteristics, such as family size or presence of children, are related to families' experience of family change. METHOD: A large sample of 1,407 Italian parents (70.1% mothers) filled in an anonymous online survey during the third week of the lockdown period (between March 30 and April 7, 2020). RESULTS: Results showed that parents reported perceiving more positive changes than negative ones, especially in terms of feeling more emotionally close to their children and spending more fun time with them. Interestingly, parents with two or more children reported more positive changes in family life compared with parents who had one child, showing a greater relational regenerative capacity in the face of COVID-19 lockdown. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Investing in family relationships, especially for larger families, is an effective coping strategy to deal with traumatic situations and promote positive family changes in stressful situations.

Sense of Coherence and COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study.

The strong restrictive measures adopted in 2020 against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy have deeply affected the general population's mental health. In the current longitudinal study, we specifically focus on sense of coherence (SOC), both in terms of comprehensibility/manageability and meaningfulness, among a large sample of Italian adults; SOC is a potential resource likely to foster the ability to cope with stressors. A total of 2,191 Italian participants (65.8% female) aged 18-82 completed an anonymous online self-report questionnaire at Time 1 (during the lockdown, March 2020) and at Time 2 (at the resumption of most activities, July 2020). The Repeated Measures Latent Profile Analysis (RMLPA) allowed us to identify seven different SOC profiles based on the change in both SOC dimensions, ranging from a strong "crisis" in terms of this resource in the face of the pandemic to a solid possibility to count on it. Interestingly, female and younger respondents were more likely to belong to those profiles characterized by lower levels of SOC, and these profiles have specific relations with fear and wellbeing. The implications of these results and the further expansion of the study are discussed.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2021.1952151 .

Together Against COVID-19 Concerns: The Role of the Dyadic Coping Process for Partners' Psychological Well-Being During the Pandemic.

The situation caused by the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been representing a great source of concern and a challenge to the psychological well-being of many individuals around the world. For couples in particular, this extraordinary rise in concern, combined with the stress posed by the virus containment measures, such as prolonged cohabitation and lack of support networks, may have increased the likelihood of couple problems. At the same time, however, COVID-19 concerns may have been a stimulus to activate couples' stress management processes. A couple's resource, which may have an important role in dealing with COVID-19 concerns and stress, is dyadic coping, i.e., the process through which partners face stress together. Drawing on a sample of 1,823 Italian individuals involved in a couple relationship, the current study tested a serial mediation model in which concerns about COVID-19 predicted psychological well-being, through both explicit stress communication and perceived partner dyadic coping responses. In addition, the study explored whether this dyadic coping process functioned the same way in satisfied and dissatisfied couples. Results showed that concerns about the situation related to COVID-19 significantly threatened individuals' psychological well-being. However, these concerns positively predicted explicit stress communication, which in turn positively predicted perceived partner's dyadic coping responses, which finally positively predicted psychological well-being. In addition, in the group of dissatisfied individuals, the association between explicit stress communication and perceived partners' dyadic coping responses was not significant. The present study adds to the research on couples' coping by testing for the first time the whole theoretical model of dyadic coping and does so during a global emergency situation. The study also suggests key components of preventive interventions for individuals in couples.

Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Sense of Coherence.

The worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, the ensuing pandemic, and the related containment measures pose considerable challenges to psychological resilience and well-being. Researchers are now forced to look for resources to cope with negative experiences linked to this health emergency. According to the salutogenic approach proposed by Antonovsky, the sense of coherence (SOC) is a major source of resilience. Thus, this study aimed at assessing the role of SOC in moderating the link between illness experiences (in terms of knowing persons diagnosed with COVID-19 and fear of contracting COVID-19) and psychological well-being. 2,784 participants, taken from a large sample of the Italian population (65.4% females) and aged between 18 and 85 years, filled in an anonymous online survey during the 3rd week of the lockdown. Findings supported the moderating role of SOC in shaping the link between illness experiences and psychological well-being. Specifically, participants who knew at least one person diagnosed with COVID-19 showed lower levels of psychological well-being at low levels of SOC. The negative relation between participants' fear of contracting COVID-19 and psychological well-being was stronger for those who showed higher levels of SOC. This study discusses the implications of these results for interventions aimed at reducing the pandemic's detrimental effects and promoting resilience.

Knowledge, Concerns, and Behaviors of Individuals During the First Week of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Italy.

Importance: At the beginning of a public health crisis, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is important to collect information about people's knowledge, worries, and behaviors to examine their influence on quality of life and to understand individual characteristics associated with these reactions. Such information could help to guide health authorities in providing informed interventions and clear communications. Objectives: To document the initial knowledge about COVID-19 and recommended health behaviors; to assess worries (ie, one's perception of the influence of the worries of others on oneself), social appraisal, and preventive behaviors, comparing respondents from areas under different movement restrictions during the first week after the outbreak; and to understand how worries, perceived risk, and preventive behaviors were associated with quality of life and individual characteristics among Italian adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: This convenience sample, nonprobablistic survey study recruited adult participants with a snowballing sampling method in any Italian region during the first week of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy from February 26, 2020, to March 4, 2020. Data were analyzed from March 5 to 12, 2020. Exposures: Information was collected from citizens living in the quarantine zone (ie, red zone), area with restricted movements (ie, yellow zone), and COVID-19-free regions (ie, green zone). Main Outcomes and Measures: Levels of knowledge on the virus, contagion-related worries, social appraisal, and preventive behaviors were assessed with ratings of quality of life (measured using the Short Form Health Survey). Additionally, some individual characteristics that may be associated with worries and behaviors were assessed, including demographic characteristics, personality traits (measured using Big Five Inventory-10), perceived health control (measured using the internal control measure in the Health Locus of Control scale), optimism (measured using the Revised Life Orientation Test), and the need for cognitive closure (measured using the Need for Closure Scale). Results: A total of 3109 individuals accessed the online questionnaire, and 2886 individuals responded to the questionnaire at least partially (mean [SD] age, 30.7 [13.2] years; 2203 [76.3%] women). Most participants were well informed about the virus characteristics and suggested behaviors, with a mean (SD) score of 77.4% (17.3%) correct answers. Quality of life was similar across the 3 zones (effect size = 0.02), but mental health was negatively associated with contagion-related worries (ß = -0.066), social appraisal (ß = -0.221), and preventive behaviors (ß = -0.066) in the yellow zone (R2 = 0.108). Social appraisal was also associated with reduced psychological well-being in the green zone (ß = -0.205; R2 = 0.121). In the yellow zone, higher worries were negatively correlated with emotional stability (ß = -0.165; R2 = 0.047). Emotional stability was also negatively associated with perceived susceptibility in the yellow (ß = -0.108; R2 = 0.040) and green (ß = -0.170; R2 = 0.087) zones. Preventative behaviors and social appraisal were also associated with the need for cognitive closure in both yellow (preventive behavior: ß = 0.110; R2 = 0.023; social appraisal ß = 0.115; R2 = 0.104) and green (preventive behavior: ß = 0.174; R2 = 0.022; social appraisal: 0.261; R2 = 0.137) zones. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that during the first week of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, people were well informed and had a relatively stable level of worries. Quality of life did not vary across the areas, although mental well-being was challenged by the social appraisal and worries related to the contagion. Increased scores for worries and concerns were associated with more cognitive rigidity and emotional instability.

Measuring offence-specific forgiveness in marriage: the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale (MOFS).

Three studies involving 328 married couples were conducted to validate the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale, a new measure assessing offence-specific forgiveness for marital transgressions. The studies examined the dimensionality; internal consistency; and discriminant, concurrent, and predictive validity of the new measure. The final scale comprised 2 distinct correlated dimensions, 1 positive (Benevolence) and 1 negative (Resentment-Avoidance), both of which had adequate internal consistency. The 2 dimensions discriminated marital forgiveness from affective empathy, rumination, attributions, and marital quality. Convergent validity of the new scale was indicated by significant relationships between its underlying dimensions and a host of predicted sociocognitive, relationship, trait, and well-being correlates of forgiveness. Providing evidence for predictive validity, forgiveness dimensions accounted for variability in relationship variables over a 6-month period.

Identity motives underlying desired and feared possible future selves.

Desired and feared possible future selves are important motivators of behavior and provide a temporal context for self-evaluation. Yet little research has examined why people desire some possible selves and fear others. In two studies, we tested the reflection of identity motives for self-esteem, efficacy, meaning, continuity, belonging, and distinctiveness in people's desired and feared possible future selves and in their possible future identity structures. As predicted, participants desired especially those possible futures in which motives for self-esteem, efficacy, meaning, and continuity would be satisfied, and they feared especially those in which the same four motives and, marginally, the motive for distinctiveness would be frustrated. Analyses supported an indirect path from belonging via self-esteem to desire and fear. Desired and feared possible future selves reflect potential satisfaction and frustration of these identity motives.