Alessandra Busonera

Objectives: The present cross-sectional web-based survey study aimed to examine the impact of gender and frontline/non-frontline condition on psychological health (depression and peritraumatic distress) of a sample of Italian healthcare workers, and to explore the mediating effects of emotional processing in these relationships. Methods: Emotional processing styles and depressive and peritraumatic distress symptoms were assessed between March and December 2021, a period which in Italy corresponds to the third and the start of the fourth wave of COVID-19, along with gender, frontline versus non-frontline role in the pandemic emergency, and other sociodemographic and background variables. Results: Results showed that emotional processing mediated the relationship between gender and frontline/non-frontline role with depressive and peritraumatic distress symptomatology. Being a woman, working on the frontlines, and having a maladaptive emotional processing style increased the negative effects of stress during the pandemic. Conclusions: The obtained results strengthen the importance of providing useful psychological support for health professionals to facilitate the expression and management of emotions as well as the learning of healthy and functional styles of emotional processing.

Emotional connections with significant caregivers greatly influence how individuals perceive themselves and others in intimate relationships. Grounded in the differentiation of self theory, this study examined factors that contribute to the quality of couple relationships. It investigated the association between parental attachment bonds and the quality of romantic attachments, as well as whether differentiation of self processes mediate these relationships. The study involved 480 participants in couple relationships, with an average age of 35.4 years, who completed assessments on parental attachment bonds (using the Parental Bonding Instrument), differentiation of self (using the Differentiation of Self Inventory Revised), and couple functioning (using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale). Structural Equation Modeling analyses revealed that the quality of parental attachment predicted distinct patterns of differentiation of self, which subsequently accounted for significant variability in dyadic adjustment levels. The implications of our findings are discussed.

The transition from school to university typically occurs during emerging adulthood; this coming together of multiple challenging development tasks at the same time may be stressful for some students. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and above all the health measures implemented to deal with it, may have been an additional factor contributing to the difficult adaptation of first-year students to academic life. This study evaluated the role played by emotional processing and differentiation of self for psychological well-being in a sample of 218 Italian students (78.4% women) who began their 1st year of college during the pandemic. The results showed that higher levels of differentiation of self, combined with fewer signs of unprocessed emotions, predicted lower psychological distress. The data support the importance of these variables as protective factors in promoting psychological well-being along with the transition to adulthood and adaptation to new life challenges. These findings draw attention to the relevance of support services aimed at university students and of emerging adults in general in considering and promoting the role of self-differentiation and the style of emotional processing for addressing well-being and mental health during the transition to adult life.

An early positive mother-child relationship is a central factor in the development of a psychologically balanced personality. The study aims to identify risk and protective factors for the developm...

Background: The Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) is a widely used questionnaire to measure prenatal attachment. However, its internal structure is controversial. None of the previous studies have investigated the dimensions of the Italian version of the scale using both an exploratory and a confirmatory approach. There is also a need to explore extensively the external validity of the Italian PAI. Objective: We designed a study aimed at shedding further light on the dimensionality of the questionnaire and expanding the evidence of its reliability and validity. Method: Five-hundred and thirty-five Italian expectant mothers participated in the prenatal phase; a subsample of 100 women participated in the postnatal phase of the study. The PAI was administered together with other scales measuring maternal–fetal attachment, psychological wellbeing and relational variables. Results: The hypothesised relationships with external criteria were substantiated overall. The five dimensions described in the Italian study by Barone, Lionetti, and Dellagiulia also emerged from our factor analyses, with the exception of two items. Internal consistency was adequate for the total scale and for four of the five subscales. Conclusion: As the Fantasy subscale showed poor internal consistency, we advise against its use as an independent measure. However, when used as a global score, the PAI is a reliable and valid measure of prenatal attachment in Italian women. Thus, it can be used for research purposes. The use of the PAI could also be very helpful in clinical settings, in order to identify expectant mothers who have difficulty in establishing an affective bond with their unborn infants. To this end, further research should study the characteristics of the PAI on high-risk groups and clinical samples in order to obtain clinical cut-offs.

This study focused on the development of the emotional tie of the expectant mother towards her unborn child and aimed to achieve structural and external validity evidence for an Italian version of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS; Br J Med Psychol 66: 167–183, 1993). The MAAS was translated into Italian and was administered to a sample of 482 Italian expectant women (age 20–43 years), together with other questionnaires measuring maternal–fetal attachment, psychological well-being, and relational variables. The hypothesised relationships with external concurrent and predictive criteria were substantiated. Internal consistencies were adequate for the total scale and for one of the two subscales. Confirmatory factor analyses provided general support for an oblique two-factor model, with minor model misfit. Therefore, an exploratory factor analysis with oblimin rotation was performed. The findings suggested that some items may represent extraneous constructs. Implications for future research regarding the functioning of the instrument are addressed.

This study examined the psychometric properties of a newly translated Italian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR–R) Scale. The sample comprised 1,363 adults (906 women, 456 men, 1 unreported sex; ages 18–64 yr., M=33.4, SD=8.9; 84.4% reported being engaged in a romantic relationship, 9.4% declared being single), all living in Italy and speaking Italian as their first language. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed the expected bi-factorial (anxiety/avoidance) structure and a close correspondence between factors and scales. Test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were adequate. Correlations with the Relationship Questionnaire, a categorical measure of attachment, and with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale were consistent with the theoretical relations among the constructs. The findings confirm the transcultural validity of the ECR–R.