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.

Family financial socialization during emerging adulthood: Insights from a cross-lagged panel model.

The present study tested the Gudmunson and Danes (2011) family financial socialization model (FFSM) using three waves of longitudinal data gathered from a college cohort of emerging adults in the United States. Specifically, we aimed to test the validity of this model in emerging adulthood (Aim 1), to verify whether the effect of the parent's socialization on a child's end financial outcome is mediated by intermediary financial outcomes (Aim 2), and to verify whether the effects found when testing the FFSM are stable across time points (Aim 3). Our findings indicate that of eight paths in the model between family socialization processes and financial socialization outcomes, seven paths were significant, thereby lending support for the validity of FFSM in emerging adulthood (Aim 1). Second, we found no mediation effects of parental financial socialization on emerging adult financial behavior and well-being via the internalization of parents' beliefs, values, and practices (Aim 2). We offer plausible explanations for this result. Last, we verified that the financial socialization processes and their effects are generally invariant across the beginning, the middle, and the end of the emerging adulthood (Aim 3). We interpret our findings in the context of the extant literature on emerging adults' transition to adult independence and provide insights for practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

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.

Employment Disruption and Wellbeing Among Young Adults: A Cross-National Study of Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Young adulthood (18-30 years old) is a crucial period due to its developmental tasks such as career establishment and financial independence. However, young adults' relative lack of resources makes them vulnerable to employment disruptions (job loss and income loss), which may have both immediate and long-term effects on their financial wellbeing and mental health. The economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions resulted in an increase in unemployment and a decrease in income worldwide, especially for young adults. This study examined to what extent and how job loss and income loss due to the pandemic influenced young adults' perception of their present financial wellbeing, future financial wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing by using cross-sectional survey data collected from six countries (China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the United States). Results showed that the impact of income loss and job loss on all three types of wellbeing were mediated by young adults' negative perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction (i.e., perceived as a misfortune). Cross-country differences existed in the key variables. The association between employment disruptions, young adults' perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction, and wellbeing were equivalent across countries except China. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Becoming Financially Self-Sufficient: Developing a Need-Supportive and Need-Thwarting Scale for Financial Parenting of Emerging Adults.

The shift in the parent-child relationship during the transition to adulthood presumes that emerging adults progress toward financial self-sufficiency. Research indicates that financial parenting contributes to success in this transition, and these effects extend beyond the financial domain. Nevertheless, there is a lack of theory-based tools to measure relevant financial parenting aspects. By applying the six dimensions of interpersonal behaviors outlined in the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the current study develops a scale targeting the interpersonal style of financial parenting. To validate the scale, it also tests seven preregistered hypotheses predicting internal structure and associations with relevant external variables in a sample of 600 emerging adults (Mage =24.94, SDage = 3.03, range 19-29 years; 52.3% women). The sample, diverse occupational status characteristics, was recruited from an online survey panel using the controlled quota sampling strategy. While study results provide modest evidence for a hypothesized six-factor structure and advocate instead for a more parsimonious two-dimensional one, results provide evidence for the new scale's convergent, discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity. This is the first study that brings SDT into family financial socialization research and opens a new line of research on family financial socialization, achievement of financial self-sufficiency, and emerging adults' wellbeing.

Profiles of emerging adults' resilience facing the negative impact of COVID-19 across six countries.

Although emerging adults (i.e., individuals aged 18-29 years old) may be at a lesser risk of COVID-19 severe illness and mortality, studies have found that the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being is higher among emerging adults when compared to other age groups. The current study aimed to identify profile(s) based on resilience resources, which could help emerging adults in managing the disruptions to their lives following the pandemic. A cross-national sample of 1,768 emerging adults from China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the US was utilized to identify profiles based on different resilience dimensions (ego-resiliency, positivity, religiosity, socioeconomic status, family support, peer support). Results of the Latent Profile Analysis suggest the presence of four different profiles: no resources, only peer, only family, and well-equipped. The association of these profiles with demographic variables, adulthood markers, self-perceived COVID-19 impact, present well-being, and future life perception was investigated. Implications for resilience theory as well as for future interventions are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03658-y.

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts.

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.

The effectiveness of nudging interventions to promote healthy eating choices: A systematic review and an intervention among Italian university students.

Nudges are changes in choice architecture (i.e., the environment in which people make decisions) aiming to steer a person's decision to a particular choice, without restricting alternative options or changing financial incentives. These strategies have been extensively used to promote healthy eating, above all among youths, whose behaviors can still be easily shaped compared to older people's. The current paper describes two studies aiming to investigate the effectiveness of nudging interventions in promoting healthy eating among university students. The first study consisted of a systematic review mapping all the published studies which describe the effectiveness of this kind of intervention worldwide. Twelve eligible records were selected after a search of three different databases. Information about the publication of the record, the adopted research methods and the described intervention was retrieved from each selected record. Based on this review's results, a new nudging intervention was developed to promote healthy food choice among Italian university students. The intervention aimed to modify students' choice for each of the Italian meal courses: first course (pasta, rice or soup), second course (meat, fish, cheese or cured meat), side dish, bread, and fruit. An Italian university cafeteria was observed in two phases: a pre-intervention phase (baseline) and a post-intervention phase (nudging strategies were implemented in the cafeteria's architecture). The applied nudging intervention was effective in promoting healthy choices in relation to the second course, the side dish, and the bread, but it did not significantly affect choices related to the first course or the fruit. Implications of these results and suggestions for future interventions are discussed.

The Use of the Intensive Longitudinal Methods to Study Financial Well-Being: A Scoping Review and Future Research Agenda.

Financial well-being is a positive financial condition that has an objective (e.g., income) and a subjective (e.g., financial satisfaction) side. Much research has examined financial well-being using cross-sectional and classic longitudinal designs. More recently, researchers have begun to examine financial well-being using intensive longitudinal designs, collecting data in a repeated (at least five measurements) and intensive (short time interval between measurements) way. The goal of the current study was to systematically review all published research on financial well-being using intensive longitudinal methods, summarize themes from this work, and suggest future research directions. Searching three databases (Scopus, PsycINFO, Econpapers), we found nine articles that respected inclusion and exclusion criteria. From each selected article, we extracted information about (1) research field diffusion, (2) data collection methods, (3) financial well-being's definition and operationalization, (4) research questions addressed and (5) data analysis. Findings showed that most of the studies adopted an interval-contingent research design, collecting data once a day; that both the objective and subjective sides of the construct were assessed, and that, most of the time, the construct was conceptualized as financial stress (lack of financial well-being). Different kinds of research questions were addressed across studies and these were often analyzed using multilevel analysis. In the discussion section, future research directions are suggested.

Factor structure, reliability, inter-rater agreement and convergent validity of the parent and child Italian versions of the paediatric quality of life inventory multidimensional fatigue scale for children and adolescents in paediatric inpatients with obesity and their parents.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, inter-rater agreement and convergent validity of the child and parent Italian versions of the paediatric quality of life inventory multidimensional fatigue scale (PedsQL-MFS) in paediatric inpatients with obesity and one of their parents. METHODS: 100 pairs of children/adolescents (64% female, mean age = 15.34) with obesity and one of their parents completed the PedsQL-MFS and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) or the Youth Self Report. RESULTS: Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that the three correlated first-order factors model corresponding to the published subscales demonstrated acceptable fit and achieved strict invariance across parent and child informants. Bifactor Analysis supported the multidimensionality and the reliability of the total and subscale scores as multidimensional composites. Parent-child agreement was low with latent means higher for parent reports. PedsQL-MFS total scores were strongly correlated with Somatic Complaints scores on the CBCL, and moderately associated with anxiety, depression, social problems and school problems. CONCLUSIONS: Total scores of the child and parent Italian versions of the PedsQL-MFS demonstrated good reliability and convergent validity in paediatric inpatients with obesity and their parents, and are complementary rather than interchangeable. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: No level of evidence.

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.

Latent Congruence Model to Investigate Similarity and Accuracy in Family Members' Perception: The Challenge of Cross-National and Cross-Informant Measurement (Non)Invariance.

Several methods are available to answer questions regarding similarity and accuracy, each of which has specific properties and limitations. This study focuses on the Latent Congruence Model (LCM; Cheung, 2009), because of its capacity to deal with cross-informant measurement invariance issues. Until now, no cross-national applications of LCM are present in the literature, perhaps because of the difficulty to deal with both cross-national and cross-informant measurement issues implied by those models. This study presents a step-by-step procedure to apply LCM to dyadic cross-national research designs controlling for both cross-national and cross-informant measurement invariance. An illustrative example on parent-child support exchanges in Italy and Germany is provided. Findings help to show the different possible scenarios of partial invariance, and a discussion related to how to deal with those scenarios is provided. Future perspectives in the study of parent-child similarity and accuracy in cross-national research will be discussed.

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 .

The Self-Regulation of Learning - Self-Report Scale for Sport Practice: Validation of an Italian Version for Football.

Self-regulation of learning (SRL) is a key psychological factor that supports young athletes aiming to reach the elite level by promoting their involvement in deliberate practice. We contributed to the validation of the Italian version of the Bartulovic et al. (2017) Self-Regulation of Learning - Self-Report Scale for Sport Practice by testing its factorial structure, reliability, and measurement invariance among elite and non-elite football players, involving 415 male professional, semi-professional, and amateur youth academy players (M age = 16.2, SD = 1.51). The original six-factor structure (planning, reflection, effort, self-efficacy, self-monitoring, and evaluation) did not fit the data well and a five-factor solution (where self-monitoring and evaluation items load on the same factor, named "self-supervision") was a better fit. This five-factor solution was measurement invariant across groups of elite and non-elite athletes. We found that elite athletes scored significantly higher than non-elite ones in each SRL subprocess. Implications for future validation studies and for the use of this tool are discussed.

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.

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.

The transition to adulthood around the Mediterranean: contributions of the special issue.

This analysis of the papers in the special issue on the transition to adulthood around the Mediterranean calls attention to the role of the family of origin in the transition itself. All the papers analyzed a specific aspect of family relationships, focusing especially on the parent-child relationship. Moreover, several outcomes were considered, such as identity, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and criteria of adulthood, highlighting the multidimensional features of the transitional phase young people are facing. Together, these papers make a great contribution to the current literature, especially for the ones linked to the Mediterranean area, and provide both foundation and new paths for future research.

Felt obligation and the family life cycle: a study on intergenerational relationships.

Since the 1990s researchers have considered as the dominant view on family obligation a set of responsibilities, duties, and obligation of care and assistance,that adult children should assume when parents are old or infirm. This concept is limited, because it assumes that family obligation is salient only in one period of life: when parents reach old age and are infirm. In contrast, a relational approach to family obligation considers family relationships as central to understanding children's duties and responsibilities. Following Stein, family obligation can be defined as felt obligation: expectations for appropriate and negotiated behaviour, perceived within the context of specific personal relationships with kin across life course. Felt obligation is conceptualized in five dimensions: a duty to maintain contact, assistance, avoidance of conflict, personal sharing, and self-sufficiency. The purpose of the present study was to analyze perceptions of felt obligation in intergenerational relationships (parent-child and family of origin) in different phases of the family life cycle in a specific cultural context (Italy). The sample was composed of 92 parents with children of different ages (infants, school-aged children, and young adults).The measure addressed the five dimensions of felt obligation, all assessed in various phases of family life. Results indicated differences in dimensions of felt obligation between intergenerational relationships (both parent-child and with family of origin). Some of these differences, such as self-sufficiency and personal sharing, assumed more importance and salience in some periods of the life cycle than in others.

Adolescents' perceptions of parental practices: a cross-national comparison of Canada, France, and Italy.

This study compares two dimensions of parenting-emotional bonding and control-as perceived by adolescents living in three countries: Canada (province of Québec), France, and Italy. A cross-sectional sample was composed of 1256 adolescents who filled out a self-report questionnaire. Multiple Correspondence Analyses provided a graphic synthesis of cross-cultural results. Results indicate that parents are perceived as highly emotionally bonded, yet the perception of parental control produced two contrasting models. Canadian adolescents perceive less control and disciplinary actions from parents, and more tolerance. Conversely, Italian adolescents perceive more requirements and rules, and stricter disciplinary actions, while French adolescents' perceptions fall between the two. Results also suggested a gradual decrease in the perception of parental control between the ages of 11 and 19 years across all three countries. This reduction in parental constraints is perceived earlier by Canadian adolescents and later by Italian adolescents.