MANEMOS. The Trigger Situations Inventory. Validation of a Measure Helping Relapse Prevention in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders.

Background: Relapse Prevention (RP) is a cognitive-behavioral approach that aims to identify situations at high risk of relapse and to support patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in developing coping strategies for the maintenance of desired behavioral changes. Based on this framework, the present study aims to assess and validate the psychometric properties of the MANEMOS, a 24-item inventory of alcohol relapse triggering situations. Methods: The internal consistency and factor structure of the MANEMOS were analyzed in a sample of 313 (27.7% women) in-patients and out-patients, attending alcohol treatment programs in Italian addiction treatment facilities. Results: The results support the internal reliability and validity of the measure. A confirmative factor analysis has revealed the existence of eight distinct dimensions measuring relapse risk situations: namely, Pleasant emotions, Unpleasant emotions, Craving, Conflicts with others, Occasions, Social Pressure, Personal Control, and Physical Discomfort. The patients' assessment of the riskiness of the situation showed some significant differences depending on gender and on type of treatment received. Conclusions: The findings indicate that MANEMOS is a valid measure for identifying and reflecting on patients' high relapse-risk situations. This easy and flexible assessment measure may have important implications for prevention and clinical intervention.

Trait Emotional Intelligence and Self-regulated Learning in University Students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediation role of Intolerance of Uncertainty and COVID-19 Perceived Stress.

The coronavirus pandemic strongly impacted the higher education system, challenging university students, who were required to make a considerable effort in terms of revising their personal study approach and managing their emotions. The present study aimed to examine the impact of Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies directly, and indirectly through the mediation of COVID-19 perceived stress (PS) and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU). 1055 Italian university students (mean age = 22.44 years, SD = 2.39) reached via social media, filled out the tools assessing TEI, COVID-19 PS, IU and SRL. Five mediation analyses performed with PROCESS showed that TEI positively predicted all SRL dimensions, and negatively influenced COVID-19 PS and Prospective and Inhibitory IU. COVID-19 PS and Inhibitory and Prospective IU differently predicted specific SRL dimensions. The indirect effects observed suggest that TEI may help university students to cope with stressful and uncertain psychological experiences in order to achieve higher levels of SRL strategies. The study highlights that TEI plays a pivotal role in academic SRL strategies, underlining the importance of its buffering effect in distressing circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Songs and flags: Concern for Covid-19 and submission to authority.

The literature on authoritarianism has shown that the perception of threat and social insecurity is connected to attitudes of submission to authority and a greater acceptance of freedom restraints. In the present research, the relationship between concerns for COVID-19 - measured in terms of the fear of personal and close to others exposure to COVID-19 - on authoritarianism was analysed in Italy while considering participants' basic values as a potential mediator. Results on 406 participants show high mean values on concerns for COVID-19 experienced during the lockdown phase. As hypothesized, such concerns are positively related to authoritarianism, and a mediation analysis showed that the link between these two variables can be explained by the relevance attributed to conservation values.

Value-oriented citizenship index: New extensions of Kelman and Hamilton's theory to prevent autocracy.

In Crimes of obedience, Kelman and Hamilton argue that societies can be protected by the degeneration of authority only when citizenship is based on a strong values orientation. This reference to values may be the weakest point in their theory because they do not explicitly define these values. Nevertheless, their empirical findings suggest that the authors are referring to specific democratic principles and universal values (e.g., equality, fairness, harmlessness). In this article, a composite index known as the value-oriented citizenship (VOC) index is introduced and empirically analysed. The results confirm that the VOC index discriminates between people who relate to authority based on values rather than based on their role or on rules in general. The article discusses the utility of the VOC index to develop Kelman and Hamilton's framework further empirically as well as its implications for the analysis of the relationship between individuals and authority.

Common future and personal responsibilities: a comparison between Italian and Burundian students.

The political, social, and cultural history of a nation modulates the representations of rights and duties. The aim of this research is to compare students from two countries (Italy and Burundi) in terms of how they define their rights and duties. In the two countries, there are differences both in the legal protection of fundamental rights and in regard to material conditions, which in turn ensure the effectiveness of rights. Focus groups structured around nine questions were conducted in Burundi and in Italy. The discussions with Italian and Burundian students showed some clear differences. Although both groups speak of rights as something to be safeguarded and something that everyone is born with, Italian students do not recognize the complementarity of rights and duties and consider the latter simply as a limit and an obstacle to individual enhancement. On the contrary, Burundian adolescents seem more aware of their personal responsibilities and their role in protecting human rights.

Concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice: Pre- and during-pandemic in Italy.

While at first the fear of COVID-19 disease spread was limited by the fact that the pandemic appeared to be confined to China, the growing emergency in Italy and the rapid escalation in positive cases and deaths have made the threat of this disease a national as well as global phenomenon. In the present research, a questionnaire was collected both before (n = 396) and during (n = 250) the outbreak of the pandemic in Italy. The aim of the research was to analyze the possible mediation of binding moral foundations on the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice vis-à-vis immigrants. As hypothesized, the results show that concerns over COVID-19 increased greatly after the start of the Italian pandemic. Moreover, both before and during the pandemic, the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice toward immigrants is mediated by binding moral foundations.

Promoting or Opposing Social Change: Political Orientations, Moral Convictions and Protest Intentions.

The issue of the motivations behind the decision as to whether or not to join protest actions has been investigated by many scholars. In particular, recent studies have considered violations of one's own moral convictions and identification with the protest group as the main predictors of collective actions. The present research will focus on the three orientations to the political system identified by Kelman and Hamilton (1989), which consider distinct reasons behind the attachment to the political system and explain the motivations behind supporting or opposing the institutions. The aim is to examine whether these three orientations have an effect on collective action (through moral convictions, politicized identification, anger, and efficacy) considering social protests both against and in favor of the status quo. Specifically, the political orientations should explain why individuals hold a given attitude (positive or negative) towards a policy position, hold it with moral conviction, and decide to join a protest action. The results of three studies confirm the relevance of considering political orientations. Depending on the aim of the protest, each political orientation has a distinct effect on collective action.

Development of the Substance Use Motives Measure (SUMM): A comprehensive eight-factor model for alcohol/drugs consumption.

A wide range of literature (e.g. Cooper, Kuntsche, Levitt, Barber, & Wolf, 2016) supports the assumption that substance use behaviors are driven by different needs, such as socializing with friends or escaping negative mood, that result in diverse consequences. Starting from the four factors identified by Cooper (1994), in the present research we developed the Substance Use Motives Measure (SUMM). SUMM identifies eight motives for alcohol and substance use (Enhancement, Social, Conformity, Anxiety-Coping, Depression-Coping, Boredom-Coping, Self expansion and Performance) that are assumed to be differentially related to specific patterns of substance use. The current study is a preliminary investigation of the psychometric properties of the SUMM in a nonclinical sample. The results support the internal reliability and validity of the measure and suggest that the eight motives may be linked to the use of diverse substances through different reinforcement processes. Additional results show distinct patterns of correlations between the eight motives and personality traits, as an indication of different profiles of alcohol-drug consumers. This flexible assessment measure may have important implications for research, prevention and clinical interventions.

Agency and responsibility in adolescent students: A challenge for the societies of tomorrow.

BACKGROUND: The literature in educational psychology converges on the idea that students should take an active and accountable position in their learning processes. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research that has systematically put the constructs of agency and responsibility at the core of their interests. AIMS: In this study, we explore whether good experiences at school - here conceptualized as the general level of basic needs fulfilment and interpersonal justice - impact on student agency and responsibility, which in turn are considered as possible mediators between a good educational experience and two outcome measures, that is, academic achievement and career decision-making self-efficacy. PARTICIPANTS: The study was held on a sample of 911 high school students equally distributed between males and females. METHOD: Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire comprising six measures assessing students' basic psychological need fulfilment, interpersonal justice, agentic engagement, responsibility for learning, academic achievement, and career decision-making self-efficacy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Structural equation modelling indicated that basic needs fulfilment positively predicts agency, responsibility, academic achievement, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Interpersonal justice positively predicts responsibility. The indirect effect from basic psychological needs on career decision-making self-efficacy through the mediating effects of student agentic engagement and student responsibility was significant. The indirect effect from interpersonal justice on career decision-making self-efficacy through the mediating effect of student responsibility for learning was significant. These results are commented at the light of their implications for teacher practices, as they emphasize the importance of good experiences at school for promoting in students an active civic sense and a greater accountability.

Justice and Immigration: The Effect of Moral Exclusion.

Numerous media news items suggest on a daily basis that people tend to use harsher criteria when they judge immigrants than members of their own in-group. In the present research project, we were interested in studying individual justice judgments of a violation of a law by an Italian (in-group) or an immigrant (out-group) member and the influence of moral exclusion processes on the assessment. In particular, we examined whether those people who tend to exclude out-groups from their scope of justice will give such biased judgments and will adopt double standards, while inclusive people will not. A total of 255 people evaluated the seriousness of a crime in two different law-breaking scenarios in which the offender's and the victim's nationalities were systematically changed (either Italian or Romanian). Moreover, participants completed a scale measuring the moral inclusion/exclusion of other social groups. As hypothesized, participants who tended to exclude some groups from their moral community judged the Romanian more harshly than the Italian culprit. On the contrary, those people that tended to have a more inclusive moral community did not show any difference in evaluation. In conclusion, the present research highlights the importance of considering the effect of moral inclusion/ exclusion processes on the evaluation of justice events, especially in an intergroup context.

Numerosas noticias en los medios sugieren que las personas tienden a usar criterios más severos cuando juzgan a miembros de grupos de inmigrantes que a quienes pertenecen a su propio grupo. Esta investigación tuvo como propósito estudiar los juicios morales que hacen los individuos ante la violación de una ley por parte de un miembro italiano (dentro del grupo) o un inmigrante (por fuera del grupo) y la influencia de los procesos de exclusión moral en la evaluación. En particular, se evaluó si los participantes tienden a excluir a quienes no pertenecen a su grupo, si emitían juicios sesgados y adoptarían una doble moral, mientras que las personas incluyentes no lo harían. Un total de 255 personas evaluaron la gravedad de un crimen en dos escenarios diferentes de violación de la ley en los cuales las nacionalidades del delincuente y de la víctima se cambiaron sistemáticamente (ya sea italiano o rumano). Además, los participantes completaron una escala que mide la inclusión/exclusión moral de otros grupos sociales. Según la hipótesis, los participantes que tienden a excluir a algunos grupos de su comunidad, tuvieron un juicio moral más severo ante los rumanos que ante los italianos. Por el contrario, aquellos que eran más incluyentes, no presentaron ninguna diferencia en el juicio moral y la evaluación de la situación. En conclusión, la presente investigación destaca la importancia de considerar el efecto de los procesos de inclusión/exclusión moral en la evaluación de los eventos de justicia, especialmente en un contexto intergrupal.

Left-Right Orientation and Electoral Choices: Divergences in the Relationships With Authority and Out-Groups.

New political parties and movements have recently grown across Europe. These parties often state their distance from the classic left-right juxtaposition, even if their voters still place themselves in the left-right continuum. The aim of the present research was to focus on the Italian political context and to analyze differences between left of center and right of center self-positioned people on attitudes concerning authority-individual and intergroup relationships. The results confirm the hypotheses. Left of center voters have lower attitudes of authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, prejudice, and ethnocentrism; they are less supportive of harsh punitive methods toward delinquents; and attach more importance to democratic values as compared with right of center voters. These differences are significant also considering voters within the same party. Although participants have declared they vote for the same party/movement, the voters who place themselves on the left of center indeed appear to have different views from those on the right of center, as concerns the relationship with authority and attitudes toward minorities.

"I cannot stand the boredom." Binge drinking expectancies in adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: The main aim of this study is to improve our knowledge on binge drinking behavior in adolescents. In particular, we tested a model of predictors of binge drinking focusing on boredom proneness; we also examined the predictive and mediating role of drinking expectancies on binge drinking. METHODS: A questionnaire designed to assess current drinking behavior, such as binge drinking, drinking expectancies and boredom proneness, was administered to 721 Italian adolescents (61% females) aged between 13 and 19 years (M = 15.98, SD = 1.61). RESULTS: Structural equation modeling confirmed the evidence on drinking expectancies as predicted by boredom proneness and as predictive of adolescents' binge drinking. Interestingly, disinhibition and relief from pain seem to play a more important mediating role between boredom and alcohol outcome. Conversely, no mediation was found for interpersonal and social confidence expectancies on binge drinking. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the results suggest that preventative interventions on alcohol misuse should focus on personality traits and underlying drinking expectancies.

The delinquency-drug relationship: the influence of social reputation and moral disengagement.

A large number of studies have focused on the relationship between drug use and violent delinquency in adolescence. Most of these studies underline that even if substance use and delinquency often co-occur, they may result from common causes that increase the risk for both outcomes. In particular, the delinquency-drug relationship may be mediated both by the type of drug and the incidence of other variables. In this article, social reputation and moral disengagement are studied as predictors of both drug use and violent delinquency in a 336 adolescent participants. Results confirm the hypotheses that social reputation and moral disengagement predict drug use and delinquency and that heavy drug use predicts delinquency.

Enemy construction after 9/11: aggressor identity effect on the representation of terrorism / Construção do inimigo após o 11 de setembro: os efeitos da identidade do agressor na representação do terrorismo / Construcción del enemigo después del 11 de setiembre: los efectos de la indentidad del agresor en la representación del terrorismo

At the time of the research, there were daily reports in the media regarding terrorist acts. What is it that indeed characterizes an act as being a terrorist one? From a psychosocial perspective, an ambiguous notion of terrorism may legitimate the ingroup/outgroup differentiation that affects intergroup relations. The aim of this research is to understand what people refer to when they talk about terrorism and to study the influence of different variables on the interpretation of some actions such as war or terrorism acts. Results on a sample of 251 University students confirm that the basic criterion for the evaluation of the actions is founded upon the distinction between military or civilian targets (i.e. target effect). However, some subjects use also a criterion based on the aggressor’s ethnic-cultural identity (i.e. actor effect).(AU)

No momento da pesquisa, haviam registros diários na mídia sobre ações terroristas. O que de fato caracteriza um ato como sendo terrorista? A partir de uma perspectiva psicossocial, uma noção ambígua de terrorismo pode legitimar a diferenciação de pertencimento ou não ao grupo, que afeta as relações intergrupais. O objetivo dessa pesquisa é entender ao que as pessoas se referem quando falam sobre terrorismo e estudar a influência das diferentes variáveis na interpretação de algumas ações como guerras ou atos terroristas. Resultados de uma amostra de 251 estudantes universitários confirmam que o critério básico para a avaliação destes atos é encontrado na distinção entre alvos civis ou militares (efeito alvo). No entanto, alguns participantes também usaram um critério baseado na identidade étnicacultural do agressor (efeito ator).(AU)

En el momento de la investigación, había registros diarios en la prensa sobre acciones terroristas. ¿Lo que de echo caracteriza a un acto como terrorista? A partir de una perspectiva psicosocial, una noción ambigua de terrorismo puede legitimar la diferenciación de pertenecimiento o no al grupo, que afecta a las relaciones intergrupales. El objetivo de esa investigación es entender a lo que las personas se refieren cuando hablan sobre terrorismo y estudiar a la influencia de las diferentes variables en la interpretación de algunas acciones cómo guerras ó actos terroristas. Resultados de una muestra de 251 estudiantes universitarios confirman que lo criterio básico para la evaluación de estos actos es encontrado en la distinción entre dianas civiles o militares (efecto diana). Todavía, algunos participantes también utilizaran un criterio basado en la identidad étnica-cultural del agresor (efecto actor).(AU)