Daniele Di Tata

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterized by a broad range of social and communication characteristics, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns o...

White parents adopt various ethnic‐racial socialization (ERS) approaches that shape children's understanding of race and ethnicity, sometimes fostering awareness of ethnic‐racial inequalities and encouraging positive attitudes toward individuals from diverse backgrounds, and sometimes perpetuating a dominating perspective of whiteness as an invisible, natural privilege that is assumed while “othering” non‐White racial and ethnic groups. Whereas a growing body of research has examined ERS among White parents in the United States, less is known about these dynamics in European contexts, where ethnic‐racial relationships are increasingly salient. To address this gap, we examined ERS among White Italian parents and its association with children's prosocial behavior toward outgroup peers. The study involved 296 White Italian parents and their preschool children, recruited from different regions of Italy. Parents completed an adapted Italian version of the White Racial Socialization Questionnaire (WRSQ), assessing three ERS approaches: Conscious, Discussion‐hesitant, and Evasive. Children's prosocial behavior was measured through parental reports and a sticker‐sharing task, in which children were asked to share resources with ingroup and outgroup peers. Factor analysis confirmed three dimensions in our adapted version of the WRSQ. Results from a path analysis, controlling for children's age, sex, and parent education, showed positive and significant associations between parents’ conscious ERS and their children's prosocial behavior toward outgroup peers, as reflected in both parental reports and the sticker‐sharing task. Conversely, parents’ evasive and discussion‐hesitant approaches were not significantly related to their children's prosocial behavior toward outgroup peers. No significant associations emerged between ERS approaches and prosocial behavior toward ingroup peers. Findings provide further evidence for the role of parental ERS in young children's interpersonal behavior, providing valuable insights for fostering inclusive social development in early childhood.

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 represents the biggest global emergency of the twenty-first century. Far from being only an infectious disease, COVID-19 caused social and economic disruption, with an exacerbation of gender inequality across different spheres, including in family duties and responsibilities as well as in occupations and income levels. In this scenario, the study aimed at drawing a picture of gender-related differences about thoughts and feelings relating to time, namely time perspective, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Time perspective - a cognitive style revealing the individual's tendency to mainly focus on the past, the present or the future - influences motivational levels that, in turn, triggers behavior. In this sense, time perspective is a noteworthy factor in elucidating how people cope with adverse events. The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory was administered to 852 emerging adults (M_age = 24.77; 50% female) through an online survey. Results showed that women had more negative views about time, spent more time thinking about temporal dimensions, and tended to use more negative emotional terms to define the present and the future compared to men. Albeit data were collected during COVID-19, the lack of studies comparing time perspective before and after the pandemic does not allow us to ascertain the pandemic's impact on gender differences. Hence, a further understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on thoughts and feelings about time by women and men needs to be addressed to successfully cope with future stressful events.

Depression in adolescents has been linked to poor life outcomes, including suicidal ideation, peer victimization, and fewer friendships. Less is known about how depressed adolescents perceive their peer interactions. Based on the depression-distortion model, we expected that adolescents with depressive symptoms misperceive their social ties by being less likely to like some peers, and more likely to dislike other peers. An Italian dataset about adolescent relationships was used, including 275 first-year secondary school students (M age = 11.80, 46% female) in 12 classrooms across nine schools. Adolescents were asked to nominate classmates they liked and disliked. Longitudinal social network analyses (stochastic actor-oriented models) were conducted, including structural network effects (reciprocity, transitivity, indegree-popularity) and covariates such as gender, immigrant origin, and highest parents’ education level. The results indicated that adolescents with depressive symptoms were less likely to send liking nominations, and conversely, they were more likely to send disliking nominations than non-depressed classmates. Interestingly, adolescents with depressive symptoms were not more disliked or less liked by their peers. These findings seem to support the depression-distortion model by suggesting that, compared to non-depressed peers, adolescents with depressive symptoms misperceive their relationships by overstating negative relationships and underestimating positive ones.

Purpose: This study investigated the associations between retrospective reports of body image victimization (i.e. body shaming) perpetrated by peers and by parents during childhood or adolescence, and food and alcohol disturbance (FAD) in young adulthood, considering the possible mediating role of psychological distress (i.e. subthreshold symptoms of anxiety and depression). Methods: The study involved 1624 young adults aged between 18 and 30 (69% women), who completed an online survey. Results: Our findings revealed that participants who reported more frequent body image victimization episodes during childhood and adolescence exhibited higher levels of psychological distress and, in turn, higher scores of FAD in young adulthood. Conclusions: This result represents a novel contribution to understanding the psychological correlates of FAD in youths. Limitations and implications are discussed. Level of evidence Level V, descriptive study.

The COVID-19 outbreak negatively affected young adults’ psychological well-being, increasing their stress levels and symptoms of anxiety and depression, and potentially triggering health-risk behaviors. The present study was aimed at investigating the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol abuse and drunkorexia behaviors among young adults living in Italy. Participants were 370 emerging adults (63% women, 37% men; M_age = 21.00, SD_age = 2.96, range: 18–30) who were recruited through an online survey between November 2021 and March 2022. Participants completed measures of alcohol abuse, drunkorexia behaviors, negative life experiences, and post-traumatic symptoms related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The results showed that the emotional impact and negative life experiences associated with the pandemic predicted both alcohol abuse and drunkorexia behaviors, albeit in different ways. Specifically, the number of negative life experiences during the pandemic and the tendency to avoid COVID-19–related negative thoughts positively predicted alcohol abuse; and the presence of intrusive thoughts associated with the pandemic significantly predicted the frequency of drunkorexia behaviors. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

This study investigated binge behaviors during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy, exploring individual and contextual risk factors. Participants were 1925 emerging adults ( M _age = 24.18, SD _age = 2.75; 71.9% women), recruited during the national lockdown in Italy. An online survey investigated binge behaviors both prior and during quarantine. Binge drinking significantly diminished during quarantine, while binge eating episodes did not vary in frequency. However, participants with pre-existent binge eating disorder (BED) reported a worsening in BED symptoms. Lower education, lower SES, job suspension due to lockdown, and higher pandemic-related stress were associated to an increase in binge behaviors during home confinement, whereas living with family was a protective factor. Participants reporting co-occurrent binge behaviors also had significantly higher pandemic-related stress and lower perceived support during home confinement, in comparison with no-binge participants. The study provides new insights about protective and risk factors for binge behaviors in emerging adults during COVID-19 lockdown.

This study investigated the individual and contextual correlates of problematic alcohol use among young adults during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Participants were 1533 young adults aged 18 to 26 (M_age = 23.12, SD_age = 2.11; 73.2% women), who completed an online survey during national lockdown. Inclusion criteria for this study were the age-range (18–26 y. o.), and living in Italy during COVID-19 lockdown. Participants with low or very low socioeconomic levels (vs. higher levels) were more at risk for problematic alcohol use, as well as participants who lived alone or with roommates/friends during lockdown. Conversely, participants who spent the lockdown with their family or partner were less at risk for problematic alcohol use. Finally, participants who had their job suspended due to pandemic (vs. other job conditions) were more at risk for problematic alcohol use during lockdown. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.