Interviews about pandemics and protective measures: studying key informants' representation to develop a web-application for fostering children and adolescents' resilience.

COVID-19 pandemic can be defined as a biological disaster whose impact is particularly evident for children and adolescents, vulnerable populations because of their level of cognitive and affective development. For this reason, it is of paramount relevance to develop actions focused on disaster-related prevention and preparedness, including psycho-education. In this study, we aimed at exploring key informants' representation of the pandemic, also to identify the contents for the first two levels of a psycho-educational web-application for children and adolescents, i.e., PandHEMOT® (Pandemics - Helmet for EMOTions). We involved 25 experts with different professional roles through semi-structured interviews about a variety of aspects related to the pandemic. We coded each proposition according to four categories (i.e., Basic knowledge, Procedural knowledge, Safety behaviors, and Consequences). First, a generalized linear mixed model revealed that Safety behaviors was the most frequent category, followed by Consequences, and in turn by Procedural and Basic knowledge. Second, through a cluster analysis we identified three clusters corresponding to different response patterns and pandemic representations. Third, we conducted a thematic analysis to select the items to be inserted in the first and second level of PandHEMOT®, focused on the nature of pandemics and pandemic-related protective measures. Notwithstanding the limitations related to the small sample, this research permitted to explore the representation of different experts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, these findings enabled to identify the contents for the initial levels of a web-application designed for increasing children and adolescents' knowledge on pandemics, emotions, and coping strategies. This initiative can be an example of a psycho-educational tool to enhance young people's disaster-related resilience.

Higher education students' achievement emotions and their antecedents in e-learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country survey.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative consequences for higher education students. We explored the generalizability of the control-value theory of achievement emotions for e-learning, focusing on their antecedents. We involved 17019 higher education students from 13 countries, who completed an online survey during the first wave of the pandemic. A structural equation model revealed that proximal antecedents (e-learning self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy) mediated the relation between environmental antecedents (cognitive and motivational quality of the task) and positive and negative achievement emotions, with some exceptions. The model was invariant across country, area of study, and gender. The rates of achievement emotions varied according to these same factors. Beyond their theoretical relevance, these findings could be the basis for policy recommendations to support stakeholders in coping with the challenges of e-learning and the current and future sequelae of the pandemic.

Italian onco-haematological patients' preferences in bad news communication: a preliminary investigation.

BACKGROUND: The manner in which bad news is communicated in oncological contexts can affect patients' engagement, their coping strategies and therapeutic compliance. Although this topic has been broadly investigated since the nineties, to the best of our knowledge, little has been written about Italian patients' experiences and preferences concerning what the oncologists should disclose and how they should intimate patients about their health conditions in different stages of oncological disease. METHODS: In an attempt to fill this gap, an online self-report questionnaire was administered to a sample of Italian onco-haematological patients. Data were analysed both qualitatively (by a content analysis) and quantitatively (by descriptive analysis and Generalized Linear Mixed Model). RESULTS: While the majority of patients elected to know the truth during their clinical course, a polarisation between those arguing that the truth be fully disclosed and those claiming that the truth be communicated in a personalised way was observed at the attitude level. Among demographic variables accounted for, age seems to most affect patients' preferences. Indeed, younger Italian patients decidedly reject concealment of the truth, even when justified by the beneficence principle. This result could be a reaction to some protective and paternalistic behaviours, but it could even reflect a relation according to which the more the age increases the more the fear of knowing rises, or an intergenerational change due to different ways of accessing the information. The qualitative analysis of the final open-ended question revealed three main sources of problems in doctor-patient encounters: scarcity of time, absence of empathy and use of not-understandable language that makes it difficult for patients to assume a more active role. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study, which represents a preliminary step in the subject investigation, will be deployed for the construction and validation of a more sophisticated questionnaire. Better awareness of the Italian onco-haematological patients' preferences concerning bad news communication and truth-telling could be useful in adopting more suitable medical practices and improving doctor-patient relationships.

Adults' expectations on children's earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes have a highly traumatic impact on psychological functioning. Recently, the study of children's earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies has gathered attention. However, little is known on the corresponding adults' representation, adults who in case of disasters are frequently key informants on children's reactions. Examining the influence of earthquake experience, we explored adults' expectations on children's earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies. The participants were 572 Italian university students. Referring to what happens during and after earthquakes, they were asked to list children's (a) expected emotions, and (b) coping strategies for diminishing fear and sadness. We coded (a) number of fear, sadness, and anger terms; (b) presence of 13 coping strategies. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Fear was more frequent than sadness, and more frequent during vs. after earthquakes (and vice versa for sadness). Some coping strategies were reported rarely, while others were more salient (i.e. problem-solving, information-seeking, self-reliance, support-seeking, and accommodation). Earthquake experience had a marginal impact. Our findings enable us to deepen knowledge on the emotional representation of earthquakes. At an applied level, they can help professionals to develop training programs aimed at increasing children's emotional preparedness.

Factors affecting the choices of adoption/non-adoption of future technologies during coronavirus pandemic.

The literature describes the potential for using future services technologies in public health emergencies. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is resulting in unparalleled challenges to healthcare services in almost all countries, requiring innovative methods of practicing across health professions. Factors affecting pharmacists' choice of telemedicine adoption/non-adoption are yet to be examined, especially in Italy. Thus, we investigate the behavioral intentions of pharmacists related to telemedicine, as a future services technology, in the current pandemic context. Our model draws on the theory of planned behavior and extends it to investigate the mechanisms underlying attitude formation to telemedicine adoption through a cross-sectional approach, using a questionnaire-based survey. The model has medium-to-high power in predicting telemedicine adoption intention, and the two significant direct antecedents of the target construct (attitude to telemedicine, and perceived behavioral control) are almost equally important. The psychological mechanisms linked to the tendency to implement emerging technology are complex and have major management effects. Studies in this field are yet to focus on the issues that affect the pharmacists' decision regarding adopting or not adopting telemedicine, as a future services technology.

Lexical access and competition in bilingual children: The role of proficiency and the lexical similarity of the two languages.

Using a picture-auditory word recognition task, we examined how early child bilinguals access their languages and how the languages affect one another. Accuracy and response times in "false friends" (i.e., words with similar form but unrelated meanings) and semantically related words were compared with control conditions within and across languages and grades. Study 1 tested the performance of school-age children with balanced versus unbalanced knowledge of first-language (L1) Italian and second-language (L2) German. Study 2 compared unbalanced bilingual children with L1 Italian and L2 French or German to investigate the effect of lexical similarity in the children's languages. Children were found to activate both languages on receiving an auditory stimulus; performance in each language was affected by proficiency in the other language, degree of between-language similarity, and length of experience with each language. The BLINCS (Bilingual Language Interactive Network for Comprehension of Speech) model was invoked as a plausible framework for conceptualizing the nature of bilingual phonolexical representation and its effect on word recognition.

An Estimation of a Nonlinear Dynamic Process Using Latent Class Extended Mixed Models: Affect Profiles After Terrorist Attacks.

Conceptualizing affect as a complex nonlinear dynamic process, we used latent class extended mixed models (LCMM) to understand whether there were unobserved groupings in a dataset including longitudinal measures. Our aim was to identify affect profiles over time in people vicariously exposed to terrorism, studying their relations with personality traits. The participants were 193 university students who completed online measures of affect during the seven days following two terrorist attacks (Paris, November 13, 2015; Brussels, March 22, 2016); Big Five personality traits; and antecedents of affect. After selecting students whose negative affect was influenced by the two attacks (33%), we analysed the data with the LCMM package of R. We identified two affect profiles, characterized by different trends over time: The first profile comprised students with lower positive affect and higher negative affect compared to the second profile. Concerning personality traits, conscientious-ness was lower for the first profile compared to the second profile, and vice versa for neuroticism. Findings are discussed for both their theoretical and applied relevance.

Surveying prenatal attachment in fathers: the Italian adaptation of the Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS-IT).

OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the process of the father's bonding with the fetus and aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS). BACKGROUND: The construct of prenatal attachment has been created to systematically investigate the nature of the particular bond that develops in the minds of parents expecting a child. Paternal attachment to the unborn child has not been well explored until now, despite its undoubted importance. The PAAS is a 16-item questionnaire evaluating paternal thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions towards the fetus validated with Australian fathers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. A forward-backward translation was used to obtain the PAAS Italian version (PAAS-IT). A sample of 165 Italian fathers completed the PAAS-IT, the 20-Toronto Alexithymia Scale and a sociodemographic questionnaire also investigating the father's attitudes towards the fetus. The reliability and construct validity of the PAAS-IT were evaluated. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were conducted. RESULTS: The PAAS-IT psychometric characteristics were adequate. The PCA yielded a two-dimensional model explaining 34% of the variance. The CFA acknowledges the truthfulness of this model. The items loading on the two factors did not exactly match that found in the original PAAS, suggesting the influence of specific cultural features. CONCLUSIONS: The PAAS-IT is a reliable and valid instrument to use in Italian clinical settings to investigate the development of the paternal attachment towards the unborn child.

Coping and emotions of global higher education students to the Ukraine war worldwide.

Trauma scientists have raised the alarm about the devastating consequences of the Ukraine war on mental health. We examined how higher education students-as indirect victims-coped with this conflict and how they emotionally reacted during 2022. We involved 2314 students from 16 countries through an online survey. A structural equation model indicated significant relations between war-related worry about military and macroeconomics domains and two coping strategies (opposition, support giving), in turn significantly linked with six emotions. The model was strongly invariant across gender, study field, and geographic area. The most frequent emotions were anger and anxiety, followed by two future-centred emotions (hopelessness and hope). Emotions were more frequent for females and students of the countries geographically close to the war region. Our findings call for evidence-based policy recommendations to be implemented by institutions to combat the negative short and long-term psychological sequelae of being witnesses of armed conflicts.

The Perception of Similarity, Difference and Opposition.

After considering the pervasiveness of same/different relationships in Psychology and the experimental evidence of their perceptual foundation in Psychophysics and Infant and Comparative Psychology, this paper develops its main argument. Similarity and diversity do not complete the panorama since opposition constitutes a third relationship which is distinct from the other two. There is evidence of this in the previous literature investigating the perceptual basis of opposition and in the results of the two new studies presented in this paper. In these studies, the participants were asked to indicate to what extent pairs of simple bi-dimensional figures appeared to be similar, different or opposite to each other. A rating task was used in Study 1 and a pair comparison task was used in Study 2. Three main results consistently emerged: Firstly, opposition is distinct from similarity and difference which, conversely, are in a strictly inverse relationship. Secondly, opposition is specifically linked to something which points in an allocentrically opposite direction. Thirdly, alterations to the shape of an object are usually associated with the perception of diversity rather than opposition. The implications of a shift from a dyadic (same/different) to a triadic (similar/different/opposite) paradigm are discussed in the final section.

Training People to Think in Opposites Facilitates the Falsification Process in Wason's Rule Discovery Task.

With reference to Wason's 2-4-6 rule discovery task, this study investigated the effects of a simple training session that prompted participants to "think in opposites". The results showed a significant improvement in performance under the training condition when compared to the control condition, both in terms of the proportion of participants who discovered the correct rule and how quickly it was discovered. An analysis of whether or not participant submitted test triples formed of descending numbers showed that fewer participants under the control condition considered ascending/descending to represent a critical dimension and, in any case, this occurred later (that is, after more test triples) than in the training condition. These results are discussed in relation to previous literature showing improvements in performance that were prompted by strategies involving "contrast" as a critical factor. The limitations of the study are discussed, as well as the benefits of a training program like this, which is non-content related.

Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave.

Introduction: Little is known about the role personality traits may have played for university students in diminishing and compensating for the negative impact of COVID-19 in its early phases, promoting adaptive coping. University students represent a population which was consistently obliged to follow social distance rules due to the early shift of many organizations from face-to-face to online learning. Therefore, it is worth exploring whether the Big Five traits acted as risk or protective factors after the outbreak of a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic for Italian university students. Methods: We involved a sample of 2,995 university students who completed an online survey in March 2020. We measured the Big Five personality traits through the Big Five Inventory-2-XS and their coping strategies through the Robust-Pandemic Coping Scale. The latter assessed four COVID-19-related coping dimensions, namely Despair (e.g., including helplessness and feeling lack of control), Aversion (e.g., referring to oppositive strategies), Proactivity (e.g., comprising problem solving and information seeking), and Adjustment (e.g., concerning reappraisal and assertiveness). Results: Preliminarily, two Linear Mixed Models indicated that university students had higher scores in Conscientiousness, followed by Open-Mindedness, and then Agreeableness. These three traits were, in turn, higher than Extraversion and Negative Emotionality, which did not differ among them. Concerning coping, university students reacted more frequently utilizing adaptive strategies (with Proactivity used more frequently than Adjustment) rather than maladaptive strategies (with Despair higher than Aversion). A Path Analysis examining the relations between the Big Five traits and the four coping dimensions showed that Negative Emotionality can be considered as a risk factor, and that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Open-Mindedness can be conceptualized as protective factors. More interestingly, we found that Extraversion entailed both a risk and a protective role for Italian university students after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: Notwithstanding limitations, these findings can be the basis for developing disaster preparation and prevention actions, aiming at promoting students' positive coping towards current and future disasters.

Reading with induced worry: The role of physiological self-regulation and working memory updating in text comprehension.

BACKGROUND: An interplay of emotional and cognitive aspects underlies academic performance. We focused on the contribution of such interplay to text comprehension. AIMS: We investigated the effect of worry on comprehension and the role of two potential moderators of this effect: physiological self-regulation as resting heart rate variability (HRV) and working memory updating. SAMPLE: Eighty-two seventh graders were involved in a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: Students read an informational text in one of two reading conditions: to read for themselves to know more (n = 46; low-worry condition) or to gain the highest score in a ranking (n = 36; high-worry condition). Students' resting HRV was recorded while watching a video of a natural scenario. The executive function of working memory updating was also assessed. After reading, students completed a comprehension task. RESULTS: Findings revealed the moderating role of HRV in the relationship between induced worry and text comprehension. In the high-worry condition, students with higher resting HRV performed better than students who read under the same instructions but had lower HRV. In contrast, in the low-worry condition, students with higher resting HRV showed a lower performance as compared to students with lower HRV. Finally, working memory updating was positively related to text comprehension. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the cognitive component of anxiety, that is, worry, plays a role in performing a fundamental learning activity like text comprehension. The importance of physiological self-regulation emerges clearly. In a condition of high worry, higher ability to regulate emotions and thoughts acts as a protective factor.

Preparing children to cope with earthquakes: Building emotional competence.

Natural disasters, including earthquakes, can have a traumatic impact on children's psychological wellbeing and development. The efficacy of interventions aimed at enhancing children's socio-emotional learning has been documented in the literature. At the same time, these techniques are the key for training children for possible future disasters by enhancing their knowledge about behavioural preparedness and emotional competence. However, research on evidence-based training programs on earthquakes combining digital and traditional activities is scarce. We tested the efficacy of a 10-unit training program for primary school children, developed within the Emotional Prevention and Earthquakes in Primary School (PrEmT) project. The program aimed at increasing knowledge of and metacognition about earthquakes, safety behaviours, emotions, and coping strategies, through digital (using the web-application HEMOT® , Helmet for EMOTions, developed ad-hoc) and traditional activities (completing paper-and-pencil tasks). The participants were 548 second and fourth-graders from Italian schools. They were divided into an experimental group (participating in the training program) and a control group. Both groups participated in pretests and posttests to evaluate changes in their knowledge of training-related contents. For ethical reasons, we also measured children's wellbeing. Generalized linear mixed models indicated an improvement in the experimental group's knowledge and metacognition about earthquakes, safety behaviours, emotions, and coping strategies after the training program, compared to the control group. Children's general wellbeing did not deteriorate during participation in the project. The results documented the efficacy of the evidence-based training program developed within the PrEmT project. The program provides a preventive method for enhancing earthquake-related resilience that could be generalized to other kinds of disasters.

Can a web application foster emotional competence in children and adolescents? The case of PandHEMOT®.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many traumatic consequences for the physical and psychological functioning of children and adolescents. Internet-based interventions can reach a large audience and be a potentially powerful resource for promoting well-being among young people. We tested the efficacy of the web application PandHEMOT®, developed ad hoc for increasing knowledge about pandemics, emotions, and emotion regulation. We involved a sample of 147 Italian third and seventh graders. The sample was assigned to an experimental (participating in the training) and a waitlist condition (who participated following a waitlist design). All the participants completed pretest and posttest measures. The intervention was structured into three units. The training took place between November and December 2021. Generalized linear mixed models and linear mixed models revealed that knowledge about pandemics, emotions, emotion regulation, and metacognitive awareness increased for the experimental condition. Moreover, adolescents performed better than children. The findings supported the efficacy of an Internet-based training for increasing children and adolescents' resilience, according to the standards of evidence-based research.

Measuring pandemic-related anxiety and confidence in care in chronic patients using the Psychological Consequences of a Pandemic Event (PCPE) questionnaire.

The COVID-19 pandemic has determined a considerable increase in psychological distress worldwide. Compared with the general population, patients with chronic conditions experience higher stress levels due to the increased risk of worse health outcomes from COVID-19 infection. Worries and fear of contagion could cause them to avoid going to their health facilities for medical examinations, which results in higher risks of morbidity and mortality. The present study aimed to develop and validate the Psychological Consequences of a Pandemic Event (PCPE) self-report questionnaire, and to assess the psychological effects of exposure to a pandemic on mood and on treatment adherence appropriate for patients with chronic diseases. Data were analysed with Rasch analysis after an Exploratory Factor Analysis and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. We identified a final set of 10 items, divided into two independent factors labelled "pandemic-related anxiety" and "confidence in care". Finally, we transformed the raw scores of both factors into two interval scales (two rulers) that met the requirements of the fundamental measurement. The PCPE questionnaire has demonstrated to be a short and easy-to-administer measure, with valid and reliable psychometric properties, capable of assessing pandemic-related anxiety and confidence in care in patients with chronic clinical conditions.

The Italian epistemic marker mi sa [to me it knows] compared to so [I know], non so [I don't know], non so se [I don't know whether], credo [I believe], penso [I think].

The two studies presented in this paper concern the Italian epistemic marker mi sa [lit. to me it knows], which seems to have no equivalent in other European languages and has received very little attention in the literature. No analysis of the occurrences of mi sa in contemporary spoken corpora can be found (first gap) as well as no investigation on the epistemic relationship between mi sa and (1) the other modal expressions that use the verb sapere [to know] in the first person singular of the simple present, i.e., so [I know], non so [I do not know], non so se [I do not know whether] as well as (2) its supposed synonyms credo [I believe] and penso [I think] (second gap). The two studies are closely intertwined, the first being an exploratory, qualitative pilot study for the second. Study 1 aims to fill the first gap through the analysis of the contemporary Italian spoken corpus KIParla. The quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed five types of occurrences (theoretically reducible to two main ones), the most numerous of which are 'mi sa che + proposition'. Study 2 aims to fill the second gap through a questionnaire administered online. The quantitative and statistical results showed the epistemic relationships between the six markers: for the majority of the participants, in the epistemic continuum that goes from unknowledge to uncertainty and then to knowledge, (1) non so refers to unknowledge; non so se, mi sa, credo and penso refer to uncertainty; so refers to knowledge; (2) mi sa, credo, penso confirm to be synonyms; (3) non so se is evaluated as much more uncertain than mi sa, credo, penso. These four epistemic markers seem to occupy a different position along the uncertainty continuum ranging between two poles: doubt (high uncertainty) and belief (low uncertainty).

The Robust Italian Validation of the Coping Humor Scale (RI-CHS) for Adult Health Care Workers.

The Coping Humor Scale (CHS) is a seven-item tool widely used to assess the use of humor in coping with stressful situations. The beneficial effect of humor in buffering the impact of negative experiences has been investigated in several contexts and populations; for this reason, the CHS has been used in many languages, but its solid validation in Italian is still missing. Our study aimed at building a robust instrument to measure coping humor strategies among Italian health care workers, a category which has been particularly exposed to stressful situations in the last two years. The CHS translated into Italian was administered to a sample of 735 health care workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis were performed. As a result, a six-item Robust Italian Coping Humor Scale (RI-CHS) was validated and ready to use for future studies on Italian health care workers' samples. This study gives evidence that our six-item solution works as a ruler (i.e., an instrument that meets the conditions of fundamental measurement in the context of the human sciences) to measure the degree to which Italian health care workers rely on humor to cope with stress.

Long-term intergenerational transmission of memories of the Vajont disaster.

OBJECTIVE: Previous literature documented the traumatic consequences of exposure to disasters on psychological functioning, but little attention has been paid to the intergenerational transmission of the memory of disasters. We explored long-term effects on the memory of the Vajont dam disaster in Northeast Italy that claimed 1,910 lives in 1963. METHOD: We collected data from 52 two-generation families in which the first generations were born before the disaster and the second generations after. The families were divided into an experimental group whose first generation survived the disaster and a control group whose first generation had moved there afterward. The interviews included an open-ended narrative on the memory of the disaster. We coded free narratives focusing on the richness of the memories (i.e., length, causes, core, aftermath), analyzing negative emotions and salience of the natural and psychological domains. RESULTS: We applied generalized linear mixed models. The richness of the memories, including references to negative emotions, diminished with lower exposure and with intergenerational transmission. Moreover, the participants built a shared representation of the disaster that did not markedly differ across exposure or generation. The reported causes were attributed more to the natural rather than the human domain; the consequences more to the psychological compared to the material domain. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the processes through which collective memories of historical traumatic events are built over the long term and the way a collective identity develops to bear the burden of highly dramatic events and to transmit intergenerational lessons from the past. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Development and evaluation of psychoeducational resources for adult carers to emotionally support young people impacted by wars: A community case study.

Wars and armed conflicts have a devastating impact at the economic, social, and individual level. Millions of children and adolescents are forced to bear their disastrous consequences, also in terms of mental health. Their effects are even more complicated when intertwined with those of other disasters such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. To help them face such adverse events, lay adults can be supported by psychoeducational interventions involving simple tools to assist children and adolescents emotionally. Hence, we planned and implemented two public communication campaigns concerning wars to support adult carers such as parents, teachers, educators, psychologists, first responders, and others interested in young people's wellbeing. We developed psychoeducational materials to help children and adolescents cope with negative emotions related to indirect and direct exposure to wars. This study had the objective to identify the content for two pamphlets, testing their comprehensibility, usability, and utility, and monitoring their dissemination. First, based on classifications of coping strategies and on a previous campaign about COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to include in the psychoeducational materials basic information on news about wars and common reactions to wars, respectively; on emotions that might be experienced; and on coping strategies for dealing with negative emotions. For the first pamphlet, we identified the strategies involving 141 adults. They completed an online survey with open-ended questions concerning ways to help children and adolescents cope with negative emotions associated with the Russia-Ukraine war. For the second pamphlet, we selected the contents based on Psychological First Aid manuals. Through content analyses, we chose 24 strategies. Second, data gathered with 108 adults who had consulted the psychoeducational materials supported their comprehensibility, usability, and utility. Third, we monitored the visibility of the campaigns after the release of the pamphlets, using Google Analytics™ data from the HEMOT® website through which we disseminated them. To conclude, our findings supported the comprehensibility, the usability, and the utility of the two pamphlets, to be disseminated as psychoeducational materials in the early phase of a disaster.