Is Adolescents' Cyber Dating Violence Perpetration Related to Problematic Pornography Use? The Moderating Role of Hostile Sexism.

Intimate partner violence is an important public health problem. Cyber dating violence (CDV) is a form of intimate partner violence perpetrated within a dating relationship via new communication technologies. This study investigated the moderating roles of hostile and benevolent sexism in the relationship between problematic pornography use and CDV perpetration. The Cyber Pornography Use Inventory, the Cyber Dating Violence Inventory, and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory were completed by 421 Italian adolescents (M = 16.53; females = 63.7%). Results indicated that problematic pornography use was positively related to CDV perpetration. In addition, the relationship between problematic pornography use and CDV perpetration was found to be moderated by hostile sexism. In participants with low levels of hostile sexism, the relationship between problematic pornography use and CDV perpetration was not significant. Conversely, in those with high levels of hostile sexism, this relationship was stronger and significant. Benevolent sexism was not found to be a moderator in the relationship between problematic pornography use and CDV perpetration. Thus, hostile sexism could be a risk factor for the relationship between adolescents' problematic pornography use and their engagement in CDV. Conversely, low levels of hostile sexism could be a protective factor.

Self-efficacy, Motivation and Academic Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of the Number of Friends at University.

BACKGROUND: Academic satisfaction (AS) is a key marker of educational success at university. It is therefore extremely important to investigate any factors that may enhance AS. Drawing on social cognitive theory, Lent's model of life satisfaction, and self-determination theory, the present study examined the roles of academic self-efficacy (ASE) and type of motivation for attending university in AS, while controlling for sex and course year. More specifically, the study investigated whether friendships at university moderated the relationship between AS and ASE, and between AS and the various kinds of motivation for going to university. METHOD: A survey was completed by 431 Italian university students. Five moderation regression analyses were run. RESULTS: Having friends at university affected the relationship between amotivation and AS and between extrinsic motivation and AS: the more students were motivated or had low extrinsic motivation, the more satisfied they were, if they had a high number of friends at university. Conversely, if students lacked motivation or had high extrinsic motivation, they tended to be less satisfied, regardless of how many friends they had at university. CONCLUSIONS: A large number of friends at university maximizes and amplifies the effect of being self-determined on AS. We discuss the educational implications of these findings.

Mothers' and Children's Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: The Mediating Role of Parenting Stress.

The present study, carried out during the first peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, aimed at investigating the mental health of mothers and children during the nationwide lockdown. More specifically, the study investigated children's depression and mothers' individual distress and parenting stress, in comparison with normative samples. The mediating effect of mothers' parenting stress on the relationship between mothers' individual distress and children's depression was also explored. Finally, the study analyzed whether children's biological sex and age moderated the structural paths of the proposed model. A sample of 206 Italian mothers and their children completed an online survey. Mothers were administered self-report questionnaires investigating individual distress and parenting stress; children completed a standardized measure of depression. Mothers' individual distress and parenting stress and children's depression were higher than those recorded for the normative samples. Mothers' parenting stress was found to mediate the association between mothers' individual distress and children's depression. With respect to children, neither biological sex nor age emerged as significant moderators of this association, highlighting that the proposed model was robust and invariant. During the current and future pandemics, public health services should support parents-and particularly mothers-in reducing individual distress and parenting stress, as these are associated with children's depression.

Self-efficacy, Motivation and Academic Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of the Number of Friends at University / Autoeficacia, Motivación y Satisfacción Académica: el Rol Moderador del Número de Amigos en la Universidad

Background: Academic satisfaction (AS) is a key marker of educational success at university. It is therefore extremely important to investigate any factors that may enhance AS. Drawing on social cognitive theory, Lent’s model of life satisfaction, and self-determination theory, the present study examined the roles of academic self-efficacy (ASE) and type of motivation for attending university in AS, while controlling for sex and course year. More specifically, the study investigated whether friendships at university moderated the relationship between AS and ASE, and between AS and the various kinds of motivation for going to university. Method: A survey was completed by 431 Italian university students. Five moderation regression analyses were run. Results: Having friends at university affected the relationship between amotivation and AS and between extrinsic motivation and AS: the more students were motivated or had low extrinsic motivation, the more satisfied they were, if they had a high number of friends at university. Conversely, if students lacked motivation or had high extrinsic motivation, they tended to be less satisfied, regardless of how many friends they had at university. Conclusions: A large number of friends at university maximizes and amplifies the effect of being self-determined on AS. We discuss the educational implications of these findings.(AU)

Antecedentes: La satisfacción académica (SA) es un índice importante del éxito educativo en la universidad. Es importante estudiar qué factores mejoran la AS. Basándose en la teoría cognitiva social, el modelo de Lent y la teoría de la autodeterminación, el presente estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar el papel de la autoeficacia académica (ASE) y las motivaciones para asistir a la universidad en el AS, controlando por sexo y año de curso. Este estudio investigó el efecto moderador de las amistades en la universidad en la relación entre ASE y AS, y entre diferentes motivaciones y AS. Método: 431 estudiantes universitarios italianos completaron una encuesta. Se realizaron cinco análisis de regresión de moderación. Resultados: Tener amigos en la universidad condicionó la relación entre desmotivación y SA y entre motivación extrínseca y SA: cuanto más motivados están los estudiantes o tienen baja motivación extrínseca, más satisfechos están si tienen muchos amigos en la universidad; por el contrario, si los estudiantes están desmotivados o tienen una motivación extrínseca alta, están menos satisfechos independientemente del número de amigos en la universidad. Conclusiones: Un alto número de amigos en la universidad amplifica la importancia de ser autodeterminado en SA. Se discuten las implicaciones educativas.(AU)

Parental Mediation of COVID-19 News and Children's Emotion Regulation during Lockdown.

The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in a large amount of emotionally charged messaging that is believed to have a tremendous psychological impact, particularly on children and early adolescents. The present study examined the relationships between children's exposure to COVID-19 news, children's emotional responses to the news, parental styles of mediating COVID-19 news, and children's emotional functioning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy in April 2020. An online survey was completed by 277 parents (Mage = 43.36; SDage = 4.76; mothers = 89.5%) with children aged 6 to 13 years. Regression analyses showed that the parental active mediation style was associated with higher emotion regulation and lower lability/negativity, whereas the restrictive style was associated with higher lability/negativity and the social coviewing style was associated with lower emotion regulation. The results provide evidence for how adults using an active style can mediate messages to reduce children's emotional difficulties during events with high emotional involvement.

COVID-19 and home confinement: A study on fathers, father-child relationships and child adjustment.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore fathers' adjustment and father-child relationships during the first peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak (April 2020). More particularly, the study analysed paternal perceptions of changes concerning familial economic conditions and children's psychological difficulties (viz., emotional problems and hyperactivity) during the lockdown produced by the current pandemic. Furthermore, we investigated the following correlates of fathers' parenting stress: socio-demographic condition, paternal individual stress, anxiety, depression and changes in the father-child relationship during the outbreak. METHODS: A total of 102 fathers (mean age = 41.60 years; SD = 11.54) with minor children were recruited through an online survey and reported data about their socio-economic condition, anxiety, and depressive levels, parenting stress, offspring's adjustment, and changes in their relationship with their children. RESULTS: As for the economic conditions, participants were equally distributed between those who did not perceive changes and those who perceived a worsening. With regard to changes in the child's psychological difficulties, results showed that levels of children's emotional problems and inattention/hyperactivity had significantly increased during the lockdown period. A multiple linear regression analysis highlighted that the principal predictor of paternal parenting stress was living in the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by high levels of paternal anxiety symptomatology and high levels of worsening of the relationship with the child during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our study suggests to consider the effects of COVID-19 on fathers as well, as they have been rather overlooked by previous research that has mainly focused on mothers, and to plan specific interventions able to also take them into account.

Adjustment to COVID-19 Lockdown Among Italian University Students: The Role of Concerns, Change in Peer and Family Relationships and in Learning Skills, Emotional, and Academic Self-Efficacy on Depressive Symptoms.

In Italy strict containment measures against COVID-19 pandemic were implemented from March to May 2020 with home confinement and schools and universities closed. Students shifted to remote learning, experienced a forced isolation from peers and an increased sharing of time and spaces with the family. The influence of these aspects on the psychological adjustment of university students is largely unexplored. This paper was aimed at investigating the role of some correlates of depressive symptoms specific to the lockdown condition experienced by young university students, namely contagion concern, perceived worsening of family, and peer relationships and perceived worsening of learning skills. Moreover, the possible mediating effects of emotional and academic self-efficacy in these relationships were examined. Data were collected from 296 Italian university students (aged 18-25 years; 83% female students) through an online survey by means of a snowball sampling methodology in May 2020. Significant depressive symptoms were reported by 67% of participants. Contagion concerns were related to depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of emotional self-efficacy. Worsening of learning skills was related to depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of academic self-efficacy. Depressive symptoms were directly related to worsening of family relationships but unrelated to worsening of peer relationships. Results are discussed in relation to the need of preventive interventions for this specific population in view of academic activities planning in the post-COVID 19 period.

Self-efficacy, subjective well-being and positive coping in adolescents with regard to Covid-19 lockdown.

The study is aimed at examining the relationship between emotional and self-regulated learning self-efficacy, subjective well-being (SWB) and positive coping among adolescents and youths, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 485 Italian students (74% girls; mean age 19.3) filled in an online questionnaire during the lockdown period. The hypothesized model in which both the forms of self-efficacy were predictors of SWB and positive coping, and SWB partially mediated the relation between self-efficacy measures and positive coping was tested by means of Structural equation modeling. Results largely supported the hypothesized relationships and suggested paying special attention to adolescents' self-efficacy in regulating basic negative emotions, in order to promote positive coping strategies to face challenges coming from everyday life and from non-normative events.

Patterns of love and sexting in teen dating relationships: The moderating role of conflicts.

According to the triangular love theory, this study investigated the roles of three components of love (i.e., passion, intimacy, commitment) and the moderating role of conflicts in predicting different forms of sexting (i.e., experimental, nonconsensual, under pressure) in teen dating relationships. Participants were 409 adolescents (Mage = 17.20, SDage = 1.61; 62.6% girls) who completed an online questionnaire. Three moderated regressions were performed. Conflicts positively predicted all forms of sexting. Passion positively predicted experimental sexting. Intimacy negatively predicted experimental and nonconsensual sexting, and positively predicted sexting under pressure. Three interaction effects emerged, pointing out the moderating role of conflicts. Passion positively predicted nonconsensual sexting in the presence of high conflicts, while this relationship became negative when conflicts were low. Commitment negatively predicted nonconsensual sexting and sexting under pressure in the presence of high conflicts, but these relationships were not significant when conflicts were low. Research and applicative implications are discussed.

Academic Failure: Individual, Organizational, and Social Factors / El fracaso académico: factores individuales, organizativos y sociales

The high percentage of university dropouts in Europe underlines the relevance of understanding which factors lead students to leave university and to be dissatisfied with this experience. Previous studies have focused on only some predictors of academic failure. The present study tested a structural equation model with latent variables to determine the impact of psychological, organizational, and relational variables on the intention to drop out of university and dissatisfaction with the university experience. An online survey was completed by 431 university students (M = 23.06, SD = 5.5, 362 females) recruited from different courses at several Italian universities. Results showed that the intention to drop out of university was negatively related to self-efficacy, institutional commitment, and academic integration, and positively related to an external locus of control. Dissatisfaction with the university experience was negatively associated with self-efficacy, institutional commitment, and academic integration. Implications for preventive programs and interventions are presented. (AU)

El alto porcentaje de abandono universitario en Europa subraya la pertinencia de la comprensión de los factores que llevan a los estudiantes a abandonar la universidad y a estar insatisfechos con esta experiencia. Estudios previos se han centrado solo en algunos predictores de fracaso académico. El presente estudio puso a prueba un modelo de ecuación estructural con variables latentes para determinar el impacto de las variables psicológicas, organizativas y relacionales en la intención de abandonar la universidad y la insatisfacción con la experiencia universitaria. Una encuesta en línea fue cumplimentada por 431 estudiantes universitarios (M = 23.06, SD = 5.5, 362 mujeres) reclutados de diferentes cursos de varias universidades italianas. Los resultados mostraron que la intención de abandonar la universidad estaba relacionada negativamente con la autoeficacia, el compromiso institucional y la integración académica y positivamente con locus de control externo. La insatisfacción con la experiencia universitaria se asoció negativamente con la autoeficacia, el compromiso institucional y la integración académica. Se exponen las implicaciones para los programas e intervenciones preventivas. (AU)

The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries.

BACKGROUND: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries. METHODS: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed.

School Achievement and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Self-efficacy and Peer Relationships at School.

Depressive symptoms are common during adolescence. Failure at school often relates to low self-efficacy that, in turn, is associated with depressive symptoms. Several studies have supported the role of friends in counteracting depression in adolescence. The present study tested a mediation model in which the indirect effect between school achievement and depressive symptoms, mediated by perceived self-efficacy, was moderated by peer relationships at school. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 1004 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (M = 15.5; SD = 1.2). The moderated mediation model showed that the mediation of self-efficacy in the relation between school achievement and depressive symptoms was moderated by peer relationships. Higher self-efficacy was associated to lower depressive symptoms, in particular in adolescents with more school friends. Conversely, the magnitude of this association is weaker for those with fewer school friends. Programs aimed at reducing psychological malaise should focus on fostering positive relationships among classmates.

The Role of Identity Motives on Quality of Life and Depressive Symptoms: A Comparison Between Young Adults With Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Peers.

The diagnosis of a chronic illness during young adulthood represents a non-normative life transition influencing the identity definition process, as well as the individual psychological adjustment. The study examined if relationships between identity motives (self-esteem, efficacy, continuity, distinctiveness, belonging, and meaning), health-related quality of life, and depressive symptoms differ between healthy young adults and young adults diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Two hundred one people (101 MS patients and 100 healthy controls), aged 18-35 years, completed a self-report questionnaire. Young adults with MS reported lower health-related quality of life and lower efficacy motive than their healthy peers. Among MS patients, high meaning was related to lower depressive symptoms, whereas high continuity and high belonging were related to higher health-related quality of life than in healthy controls. The study highlights the relevance of identity motives for the adjustment to MS and has implications for psychological interventions with young patients.

Parents and Children During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Influence of Parenting Distress and Parenting Self-Efficacy on Children's Emotional Well-Being.

On March 10, 2020, Italy went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The World Health Organization highlighted how the lockdown had negative consequences on psychological well-being, especially for children. The present study aimed to investigate parental correlates of children's emotion regulation during the COVID-19 lockdown. Within the Social Cognitive Theory framework, a path model in which parenting self-efficacy and parental regulatory emotional self-efficacy mediated the relationship between parents' psychological distress and both children's emotional regulation, and children's lability/negativity, was investigated. A total of 277 parents of children aged from 6 to 13 years completed an online survey that assessed their psychological distress, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and parenting self-efficacy. Parents reported also children's emotional regulation and lability/negativity. A structural equation model (SEM) using MPLUS 8.3 was tested. Results showed that the hypothesized model exhibited excellent fit, chi-square (83) = 140.40, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96, SRMR = 0.04. The influences of parents' psychological distress and parents' regulatory emotional self-efficacy on children's emotional regulation and lability/negativity were mediated by parenting self-efficacy. The mediation model was invariant across children's biological sex and age, and geographical residence area (high risk vs. low risk for COVID-19). Results suggested how parents' beliefs to be competent in managing parental tasks might be a protective factor for their children's emotional well-being. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

Empathy and Depression Among Early Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Parental Support.

Early adolescence is a period of development of emotional competence, but also of increasing vulnerability for the onset of depressive symptoms. While literature underscored that empathy promotes social relationships and psychological well-being over the life course, the possible role of high empathy levels as a risk factor for depression has been under investigated, especially among early adolescents. Moreover, although parenting practices are known to influence both empathy and depression in adolescence, few studies investigated if parenting moderates the relationship between empathy and depression. Therefore, the aims of the study were: (1) to investigate the relationships between affective and cognitive empathy and depression; (2) to investigate the moderating role of perceived paternal and maternal support on the associations between affective and cognitive empathy and depression; (3) to examine if the relationships among affective and cognitive empathy, maternal and paternal support and depression vary as a function of early adolescents' gender. The study involved 386 Italian students aged between 12 and 14 (M age = 13, SD = 0.3, 47.9% girls) who completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire, including measures of cognitive and affective empathy, paternal and maternal support and depression. Results showed that with a mean level of affective and cognitive empathy, higher maternal support was related to lower depression for girls, whereas higher paternal support was related to lower depression for both boys and girls. Both maternal and paternal support moderated the relation between empathy and depression. In particular, maternal support moderated the non-linear relation between affective empathy and depression and the relation was further moderated by early adolescents' gender: boys with low affective empathy reported lower depression in a context of high maternal support. Paternal support moderated the linear relation between cognitive empathy and depression, independently of early adolescents' gender: boys and girls with high cognitive empathy reported higher depression in a context of low paternal support. The results of the study suggested that high empathy might be a risk factor for depression during early adolescence and mothers and fathers have a differential moderating role in relation to the affective and cognitive dimensions of empathy, also in relation to early adolescents' gender.

Adolescent risk behaviours and protective factors against peer influence.

This study examined the relationships between protective factors and involvement in risk behaviour of Italian adolescents with friends involved in risk. Protective factors were drawn from models of peers and from individual skills (perceived regulatory self-efficacy, intolerant attitudes about deviance) and orientation (to health, school, religion). The data are from two waves, 1 year apart, of a questionnaire survey of adolescents in northwestern Italy. Participants were 908 adolescents (42% boys) ages 14-16 years. Results of a hierarchical regression revealed that religiosity is a protective factor and that friends' models for conventional behaviours and positive attitude about health can mitigate the influence of deviant friends on adolescent risk behaviour 1 year later, even after controlling for prior levels of risk behaviour. Possible implications of this study suggest the importance of implementing preventive interventions by involving the peer group, especially at about 16 years, and working with heterogeneous (deviant and nondeviant) groups.