The Robust Italian Validation of the Coping Humor Scale (RI-CHS) for Adult Health Care Workers

The Coping Humor Scale (CHS) is a seven-item tool widely used to assess the use of humor in coping with stressful situations. The beneficial effect of humor in buffering the impact of negative experiences has been investigated in several contexts and populations; for this reason, the CHS has been used in many languages, but its solid validation in Italian is still missing. Our study aimed at building a robust instrument to measure coping humor strategies among Italian health care workers, a category which has been particularly exposed to stressful situations in the last two years. The CHS translated into Italian was administered to a sample of 735 health care workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis were performed. As a result, a six-item Robust Italian Coping Humor Scale (RI-CHS) was validated and ready to use for future studies on Italian health care workers’ samples. This study gives evidence that our six-item solution works as a ruler (i.e., an instrument that meets the conditions of fundamental measurement in the context of the human sciences) to measure the degree to which Italian health care workers rely on humor to cope with stress

Associations between Personality Traits, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Coping Strategies, and Stress in Italian Frontline and Non-Frontline HCWs during the COVID-19 Pandemic\u2014A Multi-Group Path-Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a very difficult physical and psychological challenge for the general population and even more for healthcare workers (HCWs). The main aim of the present study is to test whether there were significant differences between frontline and non- frontline Italian HCWs concerning (a) personality traits, intolerance of uncertainty, coping strategies and perceived stress, and (b) the models of their associations. A total of 682 Italian HCWs completed a self-report questionnaire: 280 employed in COVID-19 wards and 402 in other wards. The analysis of variance omnibus test revealed significant differences between the two groups only for perceived stress, which was higher among the frontline. The multi-group path analysis revealed significant differences in the structure of the associations between the two groups of HCWs, specifically concerning the relations between: personality traits and intolerance of uncertainty; intolerance of uncertainty and coping strategies. Regarding the relation between coping strategies and stress no difference was identified between the two groups. In both of them, emotionally focused coping was negatively related with perceived stress, whereas dysfunctional coping was positively related with stress. These results could be useful in planning actions aiming to reduce stress and improve the effectiveness of HCWs\u2019 interventions. Training programs aimed to provide HCWs with a skillset to tackle uncertain and stressful circumstances could represent an appropriate support to develop a preventive approach during outbreaks

Associations between Personality Traits, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Coping Strategies, and Stress in Italian Frontline and Non-Frontline HCWs during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Multi-Group Path-Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a very difficult physical and psychological challenge for the general population and even more for healthcare workers (HCWs). The main aim of the present study is to test whether there were significant differences between frontline and nonfrontline Italian HCWs concerning (a) personality traits, intolerance of uncertainty, coping strategies and perceived stress, and (b) the models of their associations. A total of 682 Italian HCWs completed a self-report questionnaire: 280 employed in COVID-19 wards and 402 in other wards. The analysis of variance omnibus test revealed significant differences between the two groups only for perceived stress, which was higher among the frontline. The multi-group path analysis revealed significant differences in the structure of the associations between the two groups of HCWs, specifically concerning the relations between: personality traits and intolerance of uncertainty; intolerance of uncertainty and coping strategies. Regarding the relation between coping strategies and stress no difference was identified between the two groups. In both of them, emotionally focused coping was negatively related with perceived stress, whereas dysfunctional coping was positively related with stress. These results could be useful in planning actions aiming to reduce stress and improve the effectiveness of HCWs’ interventions. Training programs aimed to provide HCWs with a skillset to tackle uncertain and stressful circumstances could represent an appropriate support to develop a preventive approach during outbreaks

Coronavirus Disease Stress Among Italian Healthcare Workers: The Role of Coping Humor

The study aimed to understand how coping strategies in general and humorbased coping strategies in particular modulate the perception of pandemic-related stress in a sample of Italian healthcare workers during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Italy. A total of 625 healthcare workers anonymously and voluntarily completed a 10-min questionnaire, which included psychometrically valid measurements preceded by a set of questions aimed at determining workers\u2019 exposure to COVID-19. The Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure healthcare workers\u2019 stress levels, and the Brief COPE Scale and Coping Humor Scale were used to assess participants\u2019 avoidant or approach coping style and verify the degree to which they relied on humor to cope with stress. The results show that (1) levels of perceived stress were higher in healthcare workers who were more exposed to COVID-19 (i.e., who came into contact with COVID-19 patients or worked in wards dedicated to COVID- 19) in comparison to less-exposed workers; (2) participants who reported a higher use of avoidant coping strategies perceived the situation as more stressful than those who used them less; and (3) healthcare workers who reported higher use of humor-based coping strategies perceived the situation as less stressful in comparison with those who reported less use of coping humor. Such findings expanded other research studies by including coping humor as a potential factor to mitigate the perceived stress related to COVID-19. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for future research and limitations of the study

The achievement of educational identity in adolescents and emerging adults adopted in Argentina and in Italy

This study presents the results of research carried out on adolescents and emerging adults adopted both in Italy and in Argentina. The main aim is to investigate the role and the associations of satisfaction with life, self-concept clarity, and parental attachment on educational identity. The main results showed: adopted Argentines perceive themselves as more satisfied with their lives, have higher levels of educational commitment and less scores of reconsideration, compared to their Italian counterparts

Adozione & Attaccamento. La costruzione della relazione di cura.

L\u2019adozione presenta molteplici aspetti delicati, sia sotto il profilo culturale e valoriale, sia sul versante specificamente tecnico, clinico e sociale. E\u2019 una realt\ue0 complessa, in cui il valore del biologico, l\u2019eventuale differenza etnica, la costruzione del nuovo legame di attaccamento, le possibilit\ue0 di recupero di bambini che hanno vissuto esperienze pi\uf9 o meno gravemente sfavorevoli, sono solo alcuni dei temi pi\uf9 significativi. Ci\uf2 non significa che tutti i bambini siano destinati ad avere problemi, ma nell\u2019insieme, come gruppo, sono pi\uf9 a rischio, rispetto ai coetanei. In realt\ue0, gli individui hanno modalit\ue0 e risorse diverse per affrontare l\u2019adozione: alcuni alla fine la vivono in modo resiliente e ne sono scarsamente colpiti, altri percepiscono il fatto di essere stati adottati come stigmatizzante, minaccioso o potenzialmente dannoso. Per tale ragione sembra importante innanzi tutto parlare pi\uf9 di persone che sono state adottate piuttosto che di una persona adottata, spostando l\u2019accento da fattori prettamente disposizionali a variabili pi\uf9 situazionali. Di fronte a tale \u201cvulnerabilit\ue0 unica\u201d non pu\uf2 esistere un individuo uguale all\u2019altro. Anche se si \ue8 convissuto nello stesso istituto, con modalit\ue0 similari di trattamento e di permanenza, ognuno manifester\ue0 i propri disagi, il proprio attaccamento e la propria gioia di vivere e in modo totalmente singolare. Allo stesso tempo \ue8 indubbio che accanto agli aspetti controversi, le ricerche e l\u2019esperienza indicano in modo inequivocabile che un adeguato accompagnamento e sostegno nelle varie fasi del percorso adottivo, sia un fattore determinante nell\u2019incrementare le possibilit\ue0 di riuscita dell\u2019adozione e, principalmente, per accrescere il benessere psicofisico del minore. Bench\ue9 l\u2019adozione possa rappresentare un vantaggio per i bambini rendendo stabili le loro vite, migliorando una sana crescita, garantendo un\u2019affettivit\ue0 continuata e sicura essa pone delle sfide ai genitori che possono influire sull\u2019autostima, l\u2019identit\ue0, le relazioni e l\u2019adattamento in generale. Succede frequentemente che, nonostante i molteplici studi, nelle implicazioni educative quotidiane ci si trovi a vivere una sorta di impotenza operativa, perch\ue9 spesso, anche dopo aver catalogato il disagio, esso non si riduce. Si ritiene, pertanto, fondamentale nei percorsi di ricerca e di formazione porre al centro l\u2019individuo. Comprendere come tutto il network adottivo affronta, nel corso delle transizioni, le questioni istituzionali e personali legate all\u2019adozione \ue8 un aspetto centrale che i ricercatori, in primis, i clinici e gli educatori dovrebbero considerare nel loro lavoro, anche attraverso una preparazione specifica sul tema

La genitorialit\ue0. Le prime relazioni diadiche e triadiche

Il tema della co-costruzione dei processi relazionali precoci nella diade e nella triade familiare focalizza l'attenzione su interconnessioni tra genitorialit\ue0 e relazioni precoci: aspettative, fantasie genitoriali da una parte e competenze e bisogni dei bambini dall'altra. Il lavoro esamina il ruolo dei legami familiari secondo la prospettiva teorica dell'attaccamento ponendo in rilievo le questioni relative alla sensibilit\ue0 adulta, alla qualit\ue0 delle cure, alla responsivit\ue0 genitoriale

I ruoli genitoriali nelle teorie scientifiche e nella cultura degli ultimi 50 anni

affrontare i problema del ruolo del padre nella vita dei figli non significa parlare del ruolo dei singoli, della loro capacità e incapacità, ma piuttosto coinvolge un contesto ampio in cui una rilevanza va attribuita alle teorie scientifiche e alla cultura sottesa alla determinazione delle figure genitoriali, ma forse ancor di piùdei ruoli di genere