Chiara Fusco

Objective: This study tested an integrated model combining attachment theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to examine how parents' interpersonal functioning relates to socio‐cognitive factors linked to intentions to disclose donor conception to their child. Background: Although early disclosure of donor conception is associated with positive psychological outcomes for donor‐conceived offspring and overall family relations, disclosure practices vary among heterosexual parents. Emotional, relational and socio‐cognitive factors are known to influence decisions; however, these factors have not been examined within a comprehensive framework. Additionally, limited data regarding the Italian context–with its distinctive legal and cultural backdrop surrounding gamete donation–are currently available. Method: One hundred and fifty‐nine heterosexual Italian parents who conceived through gamete donation completed an anonymous survey. Standardised measures included the TPB–Disclosure Questionnaire, the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesised model. Results: Attachment anxiety was indirectly associated with lower disclosure intentions through more negative attitudes toward disclosure. Dyadic adjustment was positively associated with subjective norms. Attitudes and subjective norms, but not perceived behavioural control, were significantly associated with intentions to disclose. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of individual relational patterns and couple dynamics in shaping parents' cognitive evaluations and intentions regarding openness about donor conception. Implications: Interventions to promote disclosure may benefit from targeting attachment‐related relational functioning, strengthening couple communication and fostering supportive attitudes and subjective norms around openness. Contextual and sociocultural implications are discussed.

Objective: This study explored the relationship between communicative openness (CO) and adoptive parents' attachment styles and reflective functioning. Background: CO involves addressing adoption‐related issues within the family. Few studies have examined the connection between parental characteristics and CO. Method: Two hundred seventeen adoptive parents (158 women) completed the Communication About Adoption Within the Family Questionnaire, the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, and the Experiences in Close Relationships—Revised. Path model analyses were conducted. Results: Parents' avoidant attachment (β = −.19, p = .008), maternal overprotection (β = −.19, p = .031), and prementalizing modes (β = −.41, p = .002; β = −.37, p = .001; β = −.45, p < .001, respectively) were linked to lower, less emotionally attuned, and unsatisfying CO. In turn, paternal overprotection (β = .21, p = .008) and certainty about the children's mental states (β = .20, p = .012; β = .33, p < .001; β = .26, p = .010, respectively) were related to more frequent, emotionally attuned, and satisfying CO. Conclusion: These findings highlight the role of parents' attachment styles and reflective functioning in shaping CO. Implications: Health care professionals should consider parents' attachment styles and reflective capacities to support CO in adoptive families.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward parenthood following gamete donation among the general population in Italy.Background: In Western societies, where genetic continuity often defines kinship, couples using gamete donation to conceive may face societal stigma and lack of acknowledgment, potentially impacting their well‐being. As openness about donor conception is encouraged in donor‐conceived families' social networks, research on public perceptions of parenthood after gamete donation is necessary.Method: Six hundred twenty‐four participants completed an online survey exploring their beliefs toward parenthood after gamete donation. Participants also assessed hypothetical parental abilities in five randomly presented scenarios depicting couples having a child using different conception methods.Results: Participants showed limited knowledge of donor conception pathways and positive beliefs about parenthood following donor conception. Greater concerns were expressed regarding parenting abilities in spontaneously conceiving couples compared to those using donor and nondonor assisted reproduction technologies and concerns about the stability of relationships in donor‐conceiving couples.Conclusion: Couples using donor assisted reproduction technologies are perceived as more committed to parenthood despite concerns about genetic asymmetry and limited understanding of donor conception.Implications: The societal unawareness of donor conception may present challenges for families in legitimizing their family building within their social contexts.

Introduction: Several studies point to an association between minority stress, especially internalized homonegativity and the quality of the couple relationship. However, the dimensions of psychological functioning that might moderate this relationship seem to be scarcely explored. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the association between internalized homonegativity and relationship quality by examining the moderating role of adult attachment (dimensions of anxiety and avoidance) in lesbian and gay (LG) people. Materials and Methods: A total of 674 LG participants who had been in a couple relationship for at least 12 months were included in the study and completed self-report questionnaires. Results: The results show a direct negative effect of internalized homonegativity on relationship quality. Adult attachment seems to moderate this relationship: on the one hand, the negative relationship between internalized homonegativity and relationship quality is significant at high levels of anxious attachment, but not at low levels. On the other hand, the negative relationship between internalized homonegativity and relationship quality turns out to be significant at low levels of avoidant attachment, but not at high levels. Discussion: The results suggest that attachment anxiety and avoidance play different roles in the relationship between internalized homonegativity and relationship quality. While high levels of anxious attachment appear to be a risk factor, high levels of avoidant attachment seem to play a protective role. Although future studies are needed to investigate the present preliminary findings further, the results of the present study provide useful clinical and research insights.

Communicative openness (CO) defines the willingness of parents and children to explore the significance of adoption. Especially in the first year of adoption, CO could be challenging for adoptive parents, who are influenced by personal characteristics. Using a retrospective assessment, we investigated parents’ communicative experiences in the first year of adoption and whether these are affected by romantic attachment and empathy. In the study, 290 adoptive parents (females = 73%, mean age 50 years) filled (a) an ad hoc questionnaire for CO, (b) Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) for attachment, and the (c) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) for empathy. During the first year, most parents reported difficulties in controlling their emotions and understanding their children’s emotions. Parents with an avoidant attachment and personal distress in empathy were more likely to feel fatigued in sharing and controlling personal feelings and understanding their children’s feelings. Open adoption-related communication is a complex and challenging process for adoptive parents, which can be facilitated or not by individual characteristics such as avoidant attachment and personal distress in emotional situations. These results could help develop psychological interventions targeting adoptive parents during the first year after the child enters the family system.

Hikikomori is a severe form of social withdrawal increasing among the young Italian population. Hikikomori has been connected to psychological problems and high environmental sensitivity. Nevertheless, only a few studies have been carried out in the Italian context, and they did not analyze several aspects strictly related to the hikikomori phenomenon, such as the role of attachment and sensitivity. We aimed to investigate the relationship between attachment, sensitivity, and psychological problems in a sample of Italian hikikomori. Our sample comprised 72 Italian adolescents and young adults (49 males and 23 females), meanly aged 22.5 years, recruited through online forums and clinical centers for the hikikomori phenomenon. Our participants fulfilled the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ), and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R). The results showed high psychological issues (i.e., depression and anxiety), environmental sensitivity, and insecure attachment orientations. Moreover, we discovered a significant relationship between attachment dimensions, environmental sensitivity, and psychopathology. Our study sheds light on a novel research path and could help both the researchers and the clinicians who work with people suffering from social withdrawal.

The literature has widely acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young adults. Despite extensive research, eudaimonic well-being, which focuses on self-knowledge and self-realization, has been scarcely investigated. This cross-sectional study aimed to add knowledge on the eudaimonic well-being of young adults one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, verifying its potential linkages with fear of death and psychological inflexibility. A total of 317 young Italian adults (18–34 years), recruited through a chain sampling method, completed measures of psychological inflexibility, fear of death, and eudaimonic well-being included in an online survey. The study’s hypotheses were tested with multivariate multiple regression and mediational analyses. Results showed that psychological inflexibility was negatively associated with all the dimensions of well-being, while fear of the death of others was associated with autonomy, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance. Furthermore, in the association between fear of death and well-being, the mediation role of psychological inflexibility was verified. These results contribute to the extant literature on the factors associated with eudaimonic well-being, providing clinical insights into the work with young adults within challenging times.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health, adjustment, and psychological well-being of young adults. Despite extensive research conducted in this area, eudaimonic well-being, one specific form of psychological well-being focusing on self-knowledge and self-realization within existential challenges, has received comparatively less attention. The current study aimed to investigate the potential linkages between two key psychological factors, psychological inflexibility and fear of death, with eudaimonic well-being among young adults in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. One year after the outbreak, 317 young Italian adults (18-34 yrs.) participated in an online survey, including measures of psychological inflexibility (AAQ-II), fear of death (CL-FODS), and eudaimonic well-being (PWB). Results showed that psychological inflexibility was negatively associated with all the dimensions of Ryff’s model of eudaimonic well-being, while fear of death of others was found to be associated with three of these dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance). Results also indicated a mediation role of psychological inflexibility in the association between fear of death and eudaimonic well-being. These findings expand our knowledge of the potential factors that may influence eudaimonic well-being and provide insights for clinical work with young adults challenged by uncertain times.