Facing the Pandemic in Italy: Personality Profiles and Their Associations With Adaptive and Maladaptive Outcomes

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ psychosocial functioning was widely attested during the last year. However, the extent to which individual differences are associated with adaptive and maladaptive outcomes during quarantine in Italy remains largely unexplored. Using a person-oriented approach, the present study explored the association of personality profiles, based on three broad individual dispositions (i.e., positivity, irritability, and hostile rumination) and two self-efficacy beliefs in the emotional area (i.e., expressing positive emotions and regulating anger emotion), with adaptive and maladaptive outcomes during the first Italian lockdown (March–June 2020). In doing so, we focused also on how different age groups (i.e., young adults and adults) differently faced the pandemic. The study was conducted through an online survey from May to June 2020 and included 1341 participants living in Italy, divided into two groups: 737 young adults aged 18–35 and 604 adults aged 36–60 years old. Latent Profile Analysis identified three personality profiles: resilient, vulnerable, and moderate. A subsequent path analysis model showed that the resilient profile was positively associated with prosocial behavior as an indicator of adaptive outcome, and negatively associated with three maladaptive outcomes: interpersonal aggression, depressive symptoms, and anxiety problems. Contrarily, the vulnerable profile resulted negatively associated with prosocial behavior and positively associated with the three maladaptive outcomes. Finally, regarding age group differences, young adults belonging to the vulnerable profile showed a greater association especially with interpersonal aggression, depression, and anxiety problems, as compared to adults belonging to the same profile. Overall, the results of the present study highlighted the importance to analyze individual functioning during an isolation period by using a person-oriented approach. Findings evidenced the existence of three different profiles (i.e., Resilient, Vulnerable, and Moderate) and subsequent path analysis revealed, especially for the vulnerable profile and young adults, a greater maladaptive consequence of the quarantine. The practical implications will be discussed

Exploring the protective function of positivity and regulatory emotional self-efficacy in time of pandemic covid-19

Despite several empirical studies on the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that have highlighted its detrimental effect on individuals’ mental health, the identification of psychological factors that may moderate its impact on individuals’ behavior and well-being remains partly unexplored. The present study was conceived to examine the mediation role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy in the relationship between positivity and anxiety, depression, and perceived self-efficacy in complying with the containment measures to contrast the COVID-19 spread. Furthermore, the moderation role of age was tested. A sample of 1258 participants (64.2% women; Mage = 42.09, SD = 13.62) enrolled from the Italian general population answered an online survey aimed at investigating the role of individual differences in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. We opted for a snowball recruiting procedure to find participants. The online survey was disseminated through email invitation and using social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram). A multi-group path analysis model was performed using Mplus 8.4 to explore the hypothesized relations among variables. The following criteria were employed to evaluate the goodness of fit: χ2 likelihood ratio statistic, CFI and TLI > 0.95, RMSEA < 0.06 and SRMR < 0.08. The findings corroborated the protective role of both positivity and regulatory emotional self-efficacy in reducing individuals’ anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as in fostering individuals’ capabilities in complying with the containment measures imposed by the government to reduce the risk of illness and to contain the spread of the virus COVID-19. Specifically, regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs partially mediated the relations between positivity and anxiety and depressive symptoms and fully mediated the effect of positivity on perceived self-efficacy beliefs in complying with the containment measures. These paths were equal across ages. The results of the present study appear relevant to implementing psychological interventions aimed to reduce the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health through the promotion of individuals’ optimistic orientation and emotion regulation

Positive Youth Development: Parental Warmth, Values, and Prosocial Behavior in 11 Cultural Groups

The current cross-cultural study aimed to extend research on parenting and children\u27s prosocial behavior by examining relations among parental warmth, values related to family obligations (i.e., children\u27s support to and respect for their parents, siblings, and extended family), and prosocial behavior during the transition to adolescence (from ages 9 to 12). Mothers, fathers, and their children (N = 1107 families) from 8 countries including 11 cultural groups (Colombia; Rome and Naples, Italy; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; Sweden; Thailand; and African Americans, European Americans, and Latin Americans in the United States) provided data over 3 years in 3 waves (M-age of child in wave 1 = 9.34 years, SD = 0.75; 50.5% female). Overall, across all 11 cultural groups, multivariate change score analysis revealed positive associations among the change rates of parental warmth, values related to family obligations, and prosocial behavior during late childhood (from age 9 to 10) and early-adolescence (from age 10 to 12). In most cultural groups, more parental warmth at ages 9 and 10 predicted steeper mean-level increases in prosocial behavior in subsequent years. The findings highlight the prominent role of positive family context, characterized by warm relationships and shared prosocial values, in fostering children\u27s positive development in the transition to adolescence. The practical implications of these findings are discussed

Maternal and paternal psychological control and adolescents’ negative adjustment: a dyadic longitudinal study in three countries

Psychological Control (PC) interferes with autonomy-related processes in adolescence and has a negative impact on adolescents’ development related to internalizing and externalizing problems. Several scholars suggested that PC can be used differently by mothers and fathers. However, these differences are still understudied and mainly grounded on maternal and/or adolescents’ perspectives, leading to potentially incomplete inferences on the effects of PC. The present study extends previous research on PC in two directions. First, we tested the dyadic and cumulative effects of maternal and paternal PC on adolescents’ antisocial behaviors and anxious-depressive symptoms. Secondly, we explored the cross-cultural generalizability of these associations in three countries: Italy, Colombia, and USA. Participants included 376 families with data from three consecutive years (T1, adolescents’ age=13.70). Mothers’ and fathers’ reports of PC and youth’s reports of antisocial and internalizing behaviors were assessed. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) we found that maternal PC predicted adolescents’ reported antisocial behaviors whereas paternal PC predicted lower anxious-depressed symptoms. Comparisons across countries evidenced the cross-cultural invariance of the longitudinal APIM across Italy, Colombia, and USA. The practical implications of these results are discussed

Promoting prosocial behaviour among Colombian adolescents: the evaluation of a universal school-based program using a multi-informant perspective

The present study evaluated the efficacy of an Italian school-based intervention programme adapted in three Colombian sites (Medellín, Manizales, and Santa Marta) in promoting prosocial behaviour among adolescents. Using a pre-test-post-test design with a multi-informant approach, the present study assessed 451 students (Mage = 12.77, SD = 1.06) of the intervention group and 428 students (Mage = 12.64, SD = 1.01) by using self-report and peer rating measures of prosocial behaviour. After establishing the measurement invariance across time and informants, a latent difference score model showed the positive effect of the intervention programme in improving prosocial behaviour evaluated by peers (Cohen’s d = .379) among Colombian adolescents, across all three sites. Implications of the study will be discussed

Positive Youth Development: Parental Warmth, Values, and Prosocial Behavior in 11 Cultural Groups

The current cross-cultural study aimed to extend research on parenting and children’s prosocial behavior by examining relations among parental warmth, values related to family obligations (i.e., children’s support to and respect for their parents, siblings, and extended family), and prosocial behavior during the transition to adolescence (from ages 9 to 12). Mothers, fathers, and their children (N = 1107 families) from 8 countries including 11 cultural groups (Colombia; Rome and Naples, Italy; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; Sweden; Thailand; and African Americans, European Americans, and Latin Americans in the United States) provided data over 3 years in 3 waves (Mage of child in wave 1 = 9.34 years, SD = 0.75; 50.5% female). Overall, across all 11 cultural groups, multivariate change score analysis revealed positive associations among the change rates of parental warmth, values related to family obligations, and prosocial behavior during late childhood (from age 9 to 10) and early-adolescence (from age 10 to 12). In most cultural groups, more parental warmth at ages 9 and 10 predicted steeper mean-level increases in prosocial behavior in subsequent years. The findings highlight the prominent role of positive family context, characterized by warm relationships and shared prosocial values, in fostering children’s positive development in the transition to adolescence. The practical implications of these findings are discussed

Eventi di vita stressanti causati dall'emergenza Covid-19 e sintomi depressivi: il ruolo protettivo della positivity, del supporto amicale e di coppia

Introduzione Recenti studi hanno osservato una forte relazione tra l’esposizione ad eventi di vita stressanti (EVS) causati dall’emergenza COVID-19(es. morte di una persona cara, problemi economici) e l’insorgenza di sintomi depressivi (SD) nei giovani adulti. Il presente studio si pone l’obiettivo di identificare variabili individuali e contestuali in grado di moderare tale associazione. Tra le caratteristiche individuali, la Positivity (POS), ossia la tendenza a valutare positivamente sé stessi, la propria vita ed il futuro, esercita un’importante funzione adattiva in grado di promuovere strategie efficaci per fronteggiare le avversità. Tra le variabili contestuali, diversi studi convergono nel delineare il ruolo protettivo che il supporto sociale e il coping diadico supportivo (CDS) hanno nel contrastare l’impatto degli EVS sul benessere dei giovani. Il presente studio ha indagato il ruolo indipendente e congiunto della POS, del supporto sociale da parte degli amici durante la quarantena (SSA) e del CDS nella relazione tra EVS e SD. Abbiamo ipotizzato che la relazione tra EVS e SD si attenui per coloro che riportano elevati livelli di POS, un aumento del SSA ed un elevato CDS. Metodo Il campione proviene da un progetto di ricerca trasversale condotto attraverso una survey online. I dati del presente studio fanno riferimento alla fascia d’età 18-35. Le analisi sono state condotte separatamente per la fascia d’età 18-25 anni (290; M=23.00, ds = 2.06; 74.8% femmine) e 26-35 anni (461; M=29.66, ds = 2.79; 66.2% femmine). Strumenti: per la misura degli EVS e del SSA sono state sviluppate scale ad hoc; CESD, Positivity Scale e Dyadic Coping Inventory sono state utilizzate, rispettivamente, per la misura della POS, SD e CDS. Covariate: genere ed educazione. Le analisi di moderazione sono state implementate facendo ricorso al PROCESS Macro in SPSS 24. Risultati Nel gruppo dei giovanissimi, tra i 18-25 anni, viene confermata l’ipotesi di moderazione. Nello specifico emerge che: 1) per coloro che riportano alti livelli di POS, l’associazione tra EVS e SD risulta essere non significativa, al di là del SSA ricevuto. Di contro, un aumento del SSA rappresenta un fattore protettivo in grado di annullare l’effetto negativo degli EVS sui SD per coloro che presentano valori di POS nella media. 2) coloro che riportano di avere un partner altamente supportivo, che li aiuta ad affrontare concretamente i problemi rappresenta un fattore protettivo che contrasta gli effetti negativi degli EVS sui SD anche in coloro che presentano livelli di POS bassi o nella media. Diversamente, nel gruppo dei giovani tra i 26-35 anni è emerso che alti livelli di POS si associano a minori SD, mentre l’esposizione a EVS predice maggiori SD. Conclusioni Il presente contributo evidenzia l’importanza di considerare il ruolo congiunto di caratteristiche individuali e contestuali al fine di implementare interventi volti a ridurre gli effetti deleteri che gli EVS hanno sul benessere dei giovani