Rally 'round the flag effects are not for all: Trajectories of institutional trust among populist and non-populist voters.

Using the Consequences of COVID-19 (COCO) dataset (quota sample of the adult Italian population, surveyed seven times by email), we analysed the trend of trust in political (political parties, parliament and local administrations), super partes (president of the Republic, judiciary and police) and international (the European Union and the United Nations) institutions from June 2019 to October 2022. Three latent growth curve models showed that trust in political institutions increased between June 2019 and April 2020 and subsequently decreased below the pre-pandemic level. Trust in super partes institutions decreased slightly between June 2019 and April 2020, decreased from April 2020 to April 2022 and increased in the subsequent months. Trust in international institutions declined between June 2019 and April 2020 and then returned to pre-pandemic levels. Three piecewise decompositions showed different trends in trust for non-populist voters, populist voters and non-voters. Strengths, weaknesses and possible developments of the study are discussed.

The Effects of Social Support on Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

Patients with metastatic prostate cancer (PC) live longer than patients with metastatic tumours of other sites. Consequently, their social network can influence their quality of life (QoL) during a remarkable life span. The aim of this article is to present the findings of a systematic review of the studies that focused on social network supporting the quality of life of these patients. A systematic review for studies meeting specific criteria was undertaken on three databases. Some level of unmet psychological needs was present in 54 % of the patients. Depression and fatigue are highly prevalent, and the dyads, patient and partner, are at higher risk for distress symptoms. The efforts of individuals to cope with metastatic PC appear influenced by adaptative skills and specific types of family support. Psychological and relational problems predominate in the hormone-sensitive stage and are increasingly replaced by physical symptoms, social and spiritual needs in the later stages. In the early castration-resistant stage, patients will discuss with their doctors information about drugs, control of side effects and treatment strategies. In metastatic PC patients, needs change during the course of the disease. Social support plays a major role in maintaining or disrupting QoL and in the efficacy of psychosocial treatments. The trajectory of disease and its effect on the reduced QoL over the entire life expectancy should be kept in mind by health system providers and social workers.

Household crowding during the COVID-19 lockdown fosters anti-democracy even after 17 months: A 5-wave latent growth curve study.

In an earlier cross-sectional study, Roccato et al. (2021) showed that household crowding during the COVID-19 lockdown was positively related to support for anti-democratic political systems. However, little is known about the persistence of these effect over time. In this study, we examined its duration in a longitudinal study structured in five waves, the first in May-June 2019 (before the COVID-19 outbreak, N = 1504) and the others during the pandemic, in April 2020 (during the lockdown, N = 1199), October 2020 (N = 1156), April 2021 (N = 1148), and October 2021 (N = 1151). The increase in support for anti-democratic systems associated with household overcrowding in the initial phase of the lockdown (Wave 2) did not change over the subsequent 17 months. Moreover, the effect was stronger among those who had high (compared with low) trust in democratic political institutions before the pandemic. Strengths, limitations, and potential developments of the study are discussed.

Household crowding can have political effects: An empirical study on support for anti-democratic political systems during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy.

We analysed some political consequences of household crowding during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown across a wide quota sample of the Italian adult population, stratified as concerns gender, age, level of education, geographical area of residence, and size of area of residence, interviewed before (May-June 2019) and during (April 2020) the lockdown (N = 1,047, 51.2% women, M age = 50.44, SD = 14.36). Path analysis showed that household crowding during the lockdown was positively associated with support for anti-democratic political systems, through the partial mediation of the perceived relative impact of COVID-19 on one's family and of expectations of future lifestyle restrictions due to the pandemic. These associations did not depend on participants' pre-pandemic socio-economic status and predisposition to strong political leaders. Strengths, limitations, and possible developments of the study are discussed.

The Lasting Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Support for Anti-Democratic Political Systems: A Six-Month Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: We aimed to analyze the enduring effects exerted by COVID-19 exposure and subjective economic threats on support for anti-democratic political systems. Method: We performed a two-wave longitudinal study on a quota panel of the Italian adult population (N  =  1,073), surveyed first in April 2020, during the first peak of the pandemic (T 1) and the first lockdown, and second in October 2020, at the onset of the second peak of the pandemic and of the second lockdown (T 2). Results: A mediation model showed that COVID-19 exposure and subjective economic threats, measured at T 1, fostered a negative evaluation of how the government managed the pandemic, which, in turn, had a positive association with support for anti-democratic political systems, both measured at T 2. Conclusion: The existential threats related to the COVID-19 pandemic have enduring political consequences, undermining people's support for democracy, even six months after their onset.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic through institutional trust: Rally effects, compensatory control, and emotions.

Objective: Exogenous shocks trigger rally effects, leading the public opinion toward increased trust in institutions. Rally effects have an important social function because they help society react to shocks rapidly and efficiently as a single unit and cohesively face the threat. However, little is known about the individual functions that these effects fulfil. In this study, we aimed to analyze the individual functions of the rally effect. Method: In a three-wave longitudinal study on a quota sample of the Italian adult population (N = 1070), we analyzed the individual consequences of the increase in institutional trust triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A path analysis showed that increased trust in political, super partes and international institutions fostered well-being, reducing anxiety, collective angst, and anger via the mediation of participants' perceived control over their lives. Conclusion: Beyond their well-known social functions, rally effects fulfil the individual function of favoring people's psychological well-being.

A Democratic Emergency After a Health Emergency? Exposure to COVID-19, Perceived Economic Threat and Support for Anti-Democratic Political Systems.

Objectives: The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to impose restrictions on individual freedom and required citizens to comply with these restrictions. In addition, lockdowns related to COVID-19 have led to a significant economic crisis. We aimed to study how the pandemic and related economic threats have impacted support for anti-democratic political systems. Method: We analyzed data from a quota panel of the Italian adult population (N = 1,195), surveyed once before and once during the pandemic. Results: A hierarchical regression model showed that exposure to COVID-19 and perceived economic insecurity were associated with support for anti-democratic political systems, independent of participants' predispositions toward a strong leader. Conclusion: An authoritarian personality is not a necessary precondition for individual anti-democracy: when facing severe personal threats, anyone could restore a subjective sense of control over the social world by becoming anti-democratic, independent of their initial predisposition to support anti-democratic political systems.

Intergroup conflict, out-group derogation, and self-directed negative affect among Italian South Tyroleans.

In South Tyrol, a multiethnic Italian province, the authors examined the self-directed negative affect that members of an Italian group experienced after they evaluated members of the German and Albanian groups. The authors examined the affect as a function of out-group derogation. The authors argued that to the extent that out-group derogation may run counter to norms toward intergroup fairness, such normative nonconformity will elicit negative affect directed at the self as a function of perceived intergroup conflict. The findings support the authors' line of reasoning: among Italian South Tyroleans, those who expressed greater out-group derogation were led to experience stronger negative self-directed affect when they rated a low-conflict out-group, but not when they rated a high-conflict out-group, compared to participants whose out-group derogation was less.

Health-related quality of life assessment in prospective trials of systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: which instrument we need?

Knowledge about psychological health of men with prostate cancer is still limited. HRQoL assessment adds value in symptom management by allowing a broader understanding of the impact of symptom management beyond the targeted symptom, on functioning, and on overall QoL. In this paper, the results of the commonly used HRQoL questionnaires in phase III randomized clinical trials of chemotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer has been discussed. An overview about symptom burden, treatments and HRQoL domains, a description of available HRQoL instruments used for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were reported. Finally, the characteristics of most commonly used HRQoL instruments were identified and compared. To provide better empirical justification for the selection of HRQoL instruments, head-to-head comparisons of them within the same studies are needed. Estimating a minimal important difference could be significant when interpreting trial results. The impact of HRQoL scores in clinical practice remains unclear; poor communication of clinical significance of the results and limited training of clinicians are the most important barriers to a widespread use of HRQoL questionnaires.