Calibrating self-reported church attendance questions in online surveys ; Experimental evidence from the Italian context

Despite widespread use in survey research, the accuracy and validity of self-reported church attendance questions have often been debated. Since the seminal article by Hadaway et al. (1993), that this indicator leads to an overestimation of the number of regular churchgoers has entered common knowledge. However, no systematic work to improve the understanding and command of the measurement instrument has been carried out. This contribution analyses the effect of different formulations of the self-reported church attendance question in online questionnaires, by means of survey experiments on a sample of Italian Catholics. In particular the most common \u2018how often\u2019 version of the question is compared to an alternative version asking how many times respondents went to church in the last month. The experimental results show that, despite criticism, the \u2018how often\u2019 version remains the best option for obtaining information on individual religious practice in survey research. This version is robust to changes in the formulation of answer categories and produces more informative results for respondents with low attendance. Finally, the study supplies evidence consistent with the growing body of literature that underlines the role of religious identity and self-conception in answering questions on church attendance

Assessing the reliability and validity of Google Scholar indicators : The case of social sciences in Italy

Google Scholar is an appealing data source for the measurement of scientific production in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) fields. Its appeal derives from its extensive coverage of the literature. This contrasts with issues of data quality, which are still quite controversial. This chapter aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of bibliometric indicators taken from Scholar as well as their coverage of the scientific production in the social sciences. The analysis will be based on a comparison of Scholar with other bibliometric data sources (Web of Science and Scopus) plus an institutional dataset. The reliability of Scholar indicators will be investigated through correlational analysis, while their validity will be assessed using different external criteria (the results of national evaluation procedures based on a peer review approach). The analysis will be developed for the population of Italian university professors in a subset of SSH: political philosophy, history, political science and sociology. The final discussion of the results will take into account the various purposes that bibliometric exercises try to achieve

Trait emotional intelligence and eating problems in adults: associations with alexithymia and substance use

Background: Eating Disorders (EDs) often co-occur with substance use contributing to increasing concern about the individual's health; both the conditions share several core features such as the tendency to use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. The present study investigated associations between trait emotional intelligence (Trait EI), alexithymia and EDs, namely dieting, bulimia and oral control, in a nonclinical sample of adults. Moreover, the relationships with substance use frequencies were also examined with the aim of exploring the links between personality emotional competence traits (trait EI and alexithymia) and different addictive risk behaviours (EDs and substance use) in adulthood.Methods: Data were collected from a convenience sample composed of 394 (312 women; between ages 18 and 65; mean age = 32.34; SD = 11.97) participants, through online administration of questionnaires assessing trait emotional intelligence (TEIQue-SF), eating problems (EAT-26), alexithymia (TAS-20) and frequency of substance use (in the last year).Results: The group that exceeds the cut-off for EDs (n = 58; 14.7 %) has significantly lower trait EI scores (in all dimensions) and higher alexithymia scores than the other group. Some differences between the two groups were found on frequencies of nicotine and diuretics use. Age and all trait EI factors were negatively associated with eating disorders and alexithymia. Weak inverse correlations have emerged between EI and frequencies of substance use (namely cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol and tobacco). Female gender, well-being and self-control factors of EI emerged as significant predictors of EDs in adulthood.Conclusions: Our results suggest the importance of targeting emotion dysregulation for EDs and substance use behaviours. Interventions aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles could benefit from trait EI enhancement efforts. Practitioners and health educators need to recognize the potential efficacy of including trait EI within gender specific interventions planned to address ED symptoms and addictive behaviours in general

The Bacterial and Fungal Microbiota of “Robiola di Roccaverano” Protected Designation of Origin Raw Milk Cheese

Robiola di Roccaverano is an artisanal Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) soft cheese made with raw goat’s milk and by the addition of Natural Milk Culture (NMC) to drive the fermentation process. Cheeses collected from five different dairy plants were analyzed for their bacterial and fungal microbiota diversity. Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were the main bacterial population, while Galactomyces candidum and Kluyveromyces marxianus constituted the core mycobiota but many other minor taxa were observed, suggesting a high level of complexity in fungal composition by these cheeses compared to bacteria population

Videoconferencing analytic psychodrama in treating young adults’ psychological suffering : preliminary results

The study aims to explore the effects that videoconferencing Analytic Psychodrama (AP) has on the psychological wellbeing and emotional competence of young adults who are suffering from mental health problems. Twenty-two undergraduate students, asking for help at the Psychological Counselling Service of the University of Bologna for anxiety-depressive problems, took part in the three online groups that met weekly from October 2020 to July 2021. The Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Group Climate Questionnaire were used as test-retest questionnaires for clinical outcomes, emotional competence, and group climate evaluations. There was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and 10-month scores for patients in clinical outcomes. Alexithymia significantly decreased and emotional intelligence and group engagement increased post-intervention. Videoconferencing AP sounds promising for alleviating psychological problems and to improve young adults' emotional competence