Gender Differences in the Associations Between Perceived Parenting Styles and Young Adults' Cyber Dating Abuse.

Existing literature indicates that parenting styles affect the development of cyber aggression in offspring differently, depending on the gender of children. The present study investigates whether mothers' and fathers' parenting styles show similar gender differences in their associations with a new form of dating violence, i.e., cyber dating abuse (CDA). The limited evidence on the issue focuses on the relation that each parenting style has with CDA perpetration, without considering CDA victimization and the joint effects of fathers' and mothers' parenting styles. The present study contributes to the research on gender differences in parenting by examining whether young adults' perceptions of maternal and paternal parenting styles during childhood were independently and/or jointly related to their perpetrated and suffered CDA and whether these relations differed across young adults' gender. In total, 351 young adults (50.7% men), age between 18 and 35 years and having a romantic relationship, completed online self-reports of the variables of interest that include a bidimensional measure of perpetrated/suffered CDA that assess aggression and control. Results showed that maternal authoritarian parenting was uniquely and positively associated to their children's perpetration and victimization of cyber dating control, whereas maternal permissive parenting was uniquely and positively related to their children's perpetration of cyber dating aggression and victimization of cyber dating control. For daughters, these associations were stronger when the father's style was similar to the mother's one or when a maternal authoritarian style combined with a paternal permissive style, thus indicating that the two parents' parenting styles interact in relating to their daughters' CDA.

The Role of Sexual Prejudice and Aetiology Beliefs in the Italians' Attitudes Toward Adoption by Same-Sex Couples.

Research found that those who believe sexual orientation is inborn have generally positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women. However, other studies have also found that these beliefs could include negative eugenic ideas. This study aims to investigate the role of people's beliefs about the aetiology of sexual orientation in attitudes toward adoption for both gay and lesbian couples in Italy. We hypothesized that this relationship would be mediated by sexual prejudice. To test the predictions, 256 Italian heterosexual participants were asked to answer questions on a scale about their beliefs regarding the aetiology of sexual orientation, sexual prejudice, and attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Results confirmed that the relationship between aetiology beliefs and support for adoption by gay and lesbian couples was fully mediated by sexual prejudice. These results suggest that the belief that sexual orientation is controllable may serve to justify one's prejudice and, in turn, result in a lower support for same-sex couples' adoption.

Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: The role of stigma and appraisals.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines perceived and anticipated stigma towards infected people, threat and impact appraisals of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as distressing personal experiences related to the virus in order to determine the extent to which they directly and indirectly predict hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Investigated experiences included exposure to COVID-19-related news, having being in close proximity to people with a COVID-19 diagnosis or with COVID-19-like symptoms, having being sick or having suffered COVID-19-like symptoms, having tested negative for COVID-19. METHODS: Adults from northern Italy (n = 326; M age = 29.86) provided cross-sectional data through an online survey during the nationwide lockdown period. Structural equation modelling analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Perceived and anticipated stigma, exposure to COVID-19 news, perceived threat and impact on material resources access were negatively and indirectly related to both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being via perceived COVID-19 psychological impact which served as a mediator. Perceived stigma was also directly and negatively related to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, whereas having tested negative for COVID diagnosis was positively and directly associated with eudaimonic well-being. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19-related stigma and appraisals can impair positive feelings about life as well as the pursuit of self-realization and the search for meaning in life. The findings highlight the importance of developing psychological preventive and rehabilitative interventions to help people cope with these risk factors.

The Role of Ethnic Prejudice in the Modulation of Cradling Lateralization.

The left-cradling bias is the tendency to cradle an infant on the left side, regardless of the individuals' handedness, culture or ethnicity. Many studies revealed associations between socio-emotional variables and the left-side bias, suggesting that this asymmetry might be considered as a proxy of the emotional attunement between the cradling and the cradled individuals. In this study we examined whether adult females with high levels of prejudice toward a specific ethnic group would show reduced left-cradling preferences when required to cradle an infant-like doll with ethnical features of the prejudiced group. We manipulated the ethnicity of the cradled individual by asking 336 Caucasian women to cradle a White or a Black doll and then assessed their prejudice levels toward African individuals. Significant correlations were shown only in the Black doll group indicating that the more the prejudice toward Africans, the more the cradling-side preferences shifted toward the right. Furthermore, participants exhibiting low levels-but not those exhibiting high levels-of ethnic prejudice showed a significant left-cradling bias. These findings show that ethnic prejudice toward the specific ethnic group of the cradled individual can interfere with the left preference in the cradling woman. The present study corroborates our suggestion that the left-cradling bias might be considered as a natural index of a positive socio-communicative relationship between the cradling and cradled individuals. On the contrary, the right-cradling bias might be considered as a cue of the presence of affective dysfunctions in the relationship.

Educational Robotics for children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review.

This paper aims to provide a critical review of the studies dealing with Educational Robotics for children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. We aimed to investigate whether in the literature there is a sound evidence that activities with robots improve the abilities and performances of children with special needs. This paper explores the methodological aspects as well as the outcomes of the selected studies to provide a clear picture of the state-of-the-art on this topic. After a systematic search in the online database via keyword searches, 15 scientific papers were included in this review. We applied strict selection criteria limiting our review only to papers reporting educational robotics activities with children (from 3 up to 19 years old) with a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders, in which the children had the opportunity to somehow program the behaviours of real robots. The majority of experiences showed improvements in the participants' performance or abilities, their engagement and involvement, communication/interaction with peers, during robotics sessions. Some studies reported mixed results, calling for the need to carefully design the objective and the related activities of each experience.

Competence and Benevolence as Dimensions of Trust: Lecturers' Trustworthiness in the Words of Italian Students.

Trustworthiness includes at least two dimensions: one dimension captures the authority's benevolence; the other captures authority's competence. This qualitative study explores the representation of the two dimensions of authority trustworthiness: competence and benevolence. We collected free-associations about what lecturers' competence and benevolence actually mean for Italian psychology students (n = 125). The data corpus was content-analyzed. Text units were categorized according to meaning using both a bottom-up strategy, with some categories stemming from the data (inductive reasoning), and a top-down strategy, with some categories following from the analysis of the relevant literature (deductive reasoning). Qualitative content analysis showed that these two dimensions overlapped. Students listed theoretically-defined competence characteristics as indications of both benevolence and competence. The same applied to benevolence. Overall, associations were grouped into two main dimensions: (1) the "can-do" dimension, describing a lecturer's competence and social skill; (2) the "will-do" dimension, describing a lecturer's good intentions, integrity, and personal motivation. In conclusion, the two conceptually distinct dimensions of trust are indistinguishable in the students' words. These preliminary results are in line with scholars debating the multifactorial or mono-factorial nature of trust.

Vaccines and autism: a preliminary qualitative study on the beliefs of concerned mothers in Italy.

Purpose: While a large body of evidence has shown that the administration of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a hesitant attitude towards childhood vaccination is still present among the public. In this study, we aim to investigate the mothers' perceptions of the cause of their child's ASD in order to increase our understanding of vaccine hesitancy.Methods: This study draws on the analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews of mothers of children with ASD on the causes of autism.Results: The interview material was content-analysed. The main themes were 1) childhood vaccines; 2) genetics; 3) specific conditions of the mother or the newborn at the moment of delivery; 4) environmental factors such as the mother's lifestyle or her diet. The link between vaccines and autism was prevalent. About one third of the mothers reported that their child's ASD was a consequence of a combination of two or more factors, i.e., childhood vaccines and specific conditions of the newborn or the mother at the moment of delivery.Conclusion: This study provides preliminary insights into recurring sets of beliefs concerning the causes of ASD among the mothers of affected children.

Omission and Compromise: The Sacredness of Moral Foundations in Political Groups in Italy.

Sacred values are moral foundations that may make public and political debates among groups hard to resolve. A taboo trade-off framework offers the opportunity of measuring the inviolability and the "sacralization" of moral foundations. In this study, moral foundations in a taboo trade-off framework were assessed in a convenience sample of Italians (N = 224) using a new measure to assess sacred values, the Omission as a Compromise on Moral Foundations scale (OC-MF). The OC-MF measures the willingness of individuals to omit moral foundations in exchange for money. It was predicted that Italian center and left-wing participants would be less willing to compromise individualizing moral foundations as opposed to binding ones, and that center and right-wing participants would be less willing to compromise on binding moral foundations than left-wing participants. Confirmatory Factor Analyses demonstrated the two-factor structure of the OC-MF: individualizing and binding. As predicted, Repeated Measures Anova showed that political orientation was related with differential adoptions of moral foundations as sacred values, with center and left-wing participants refusing to compromise more on individualizing than on binding moral foundations. Moreover, left-wing participants were more willing to compromise on binding moral foundations than center and right-wing participants. The OC-MF shows the hypothesized differences between Italian political groups and offers a new understanding of moral reasoning. These findings provide opportunities for improving ideological debates concerning sacred values.

Well-Come Back! Professional Basketball Players Perceptions of Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors Influencing a Return to Pre-injury Levels.

The psychological factors influencing a return to sport has gained increased research attention. In the current investigation, we explored professional basketball players' perceptions of the psychosocial and behavioral factors facilitating a return to performance equal to or exceeding previous performance standards. We also sought to describe athletes' experiences - both positive and negative - of returning to sport following injury recovery. Ten Italian professional male basketball players (age range 22-36 years), were retrospectively interviewed in relation to three time-periods: (1) from the commencement of rehabilitation to their first official competition, (2) the first official competition, and (3) the 6-months following the initial competition. Qualitative content analysis of the data revealed numerous themes across the three time periods. In regards to Period 1, participants indicated that social support, investment in rehabilitation and training programs, coping skills and motivation were fundamental in reaching pre-injury performance levels. During their first official game (i.e., Period 2), athletes reported that realistic performance expectations, focusing on the performance, positive emotions, motivation, arousal and social support facilitated their return to sport. Athletes, however, also described a predominance of factors that hindered their return to pre- injury levels (i.e., low confidence in personal abilities, decrements in skill execution and dysfunctional physical sensations). Moreover, participants typically described a substandard level of performance during their first competition back following injury. In recounting experiences during the 6 months following their first official game, basketballers reported improvements in skill execution and highlighted the importance of coping skills, motivation and social support. The process of restoring self-confidence in one's ability to successfully perform was perceived as crucial in enabling participants to move beyond a mere return to sport to a return to high performance - that is, to reach a level of proficiency equal to or exceeding previous performance standards. Findings support the relevance of cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses highlighted in the Integrated Model and suggest the importance of addressing psychological factors throughout the return-to-sport process. Finally, results from the present study hold a number of practical implications for athletes' aiming to achieve a return to pre-injury levels.

Learning Climate and Job Performance among Health Workers. A Pilot Study.

This paper will explore if and how psychological strain plays a mediator role between the learning climate and job performance in a group of health workers. Although the relationship between learning climate and job performance has already been explored in the international literature, the role of psychological strain, which may hamper or deepen this relationship, has yet to be investigated. The research hypothesis is that psychological strain mediates the relationship between the climate toward learning (including also the error avoidance climate) and job performance. Data were gathered in a Public hospital in Italy. Participants (N = 61) were health professionals (nurses and obstetricians). Considering the relatively small sample size, a mediation analysis with the aid of the SPSS macro PROCESS was performed. The results show that the relationship between the learning climate (specifically its dimension of organizational appreciation toward learning) and job performance is mediated by psychological strain. The future research agenda and practical implications are discussed in the paper.

Psychosocial factors affecting uptake of prenatal genetic testing: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the psychosocial factors which influenced the undergoing of prenatal genetic testing (PGT) in a sample of pregnant women. METHOD: An online questionnaire was emailed to a convenient sample of 105 pregnant women, recruited from among those attending two antenatal education programmes and via snowball sampling. RESULTS: A minority of respondents underwent chorionic villous sampling and amniocentesis (12 and 11, respectively). Advanced maternal age was related to undertaking PGT. The path analysis model (χ(2) (16, N = 97) = 19.01, ns; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.04; WRMR = 0.64) confirmed that three dimensions, namely having a more supporting attitude towards PGT (ß = 0.54, p < 0.001), perceiving PGT as reliable (ß = 0.29, p < 0.05) and the request for more scientific information (ß = 0.22, p < 0.01), related to test uptaking. CONCLUSION: Empirical researches investigating pregnant women's beliefs and attitudes relating to actual test uptake could help genetic counsellors and policy makers to better understand their client's profile in relation to the determining factors affecting the undertaking of PGT.

Prenatal genetic testing: an investigation of determining factors affecting the decision-making process.

Despite the increase in popularity of prenatal genetic testing, relatively little is known about the role psychological factors play in the decision-making process. In this analogue study, a sample of Italian female university students was used to investigate determining factors that predict the intention of undergoing prenatal genetic testing. Structural Equation Modelling was used to describe the dynamic interplay between knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and health-related behaviour such as prenatal genetic testing. Following the Theory of Reasoned Action, three dimensions predicted the intention to undergo prenatal genetic testing: the need for more scientific information, a positive attitude towards genetic testing, and the inclination to terminate pregnancy after receiving a positive test result. Results showed that less religious women tended to be more in favour of prenatal tests and in undertaking such tests. This preliminary study provides genetic counsellors and policy makers with a clearer picture of their clients' motives and attitudes behind the decision-making process of prenatal genetic testing, contributing to improving both the communication process between counsellors and their clients and the organization of genetic services.

The discourse around usefulness, morality, risk and trust: a focus group study on prenatal genetic testing.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the underlying values and beliefs that guide women's reasoning on prenatal genetic test (PGT) uptake, as framed by their own words, during a group discussion, in a Catholic country such as Italy. METHODS: Women's reasoning was explored by means of five focus group consisting of seven pregnant women and 13 new mothers. RESULTS: The focus group material content was analysed using the Nudist software. The discourse around PGT was rooted into four frames of reference: The usefulness dimension was used to express the positions in favour of PGT, whereas morality, risk and trust were used to express negative evaluations on such a technology. Participants advocated for themselves the choice of being tested, besides giving some credit to the partner's opinion. Moreover, participants reported little knowledge on PGT. CONCLUSION: The research shed some light on the frames of reference used by participants to build their positions on PGT uptake, confirming the public's ability to translate scientific accounts into personally meaningful information. A more complete understanding of the reasons for decisions to test would help counsellors to better communicate with women and couples, and to better assist them to make a better informed testing decision.