Gratitude and Social Generativity Among Young Adults: The Role of Sex and Age.

For a very long period of time gratitude has been mainly studied because of its positive link with personal psychological adaptation and well-being. However, gratitude does not simply enrich the individual, but it also plays a key role in the wider context where the person lives, by for example promoting prosocial behaviors and enhancing reciprocity. The current study considered the moderating role of sex and age in the association between gratitude and social generativity.

COVID-19-Related Stress and Resilience Resources: A Comparison Between Adoptive and non-Adoptive Mothers.

Despite an increasing interest in how adoptive parents deal with situations appraised as stressful, there is a lack of research regarding adoptive parents' adjustment to the challenges posed by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The current study explores similarities and differences between adoptive and non-adoptive mothers in terms of risks (i.e.

School victimization and psychosocial adjustment among Eastern European adopted adolescents across Europe.

Background: Little is known about bullying experienced by internationally adopted teens residing in Europe.

Objectives: Within the framework of an international research effort involving several European countries, the main goal of this study was to explore the experiences of bullying victimization suffered by adopted adolescents, as well as its impact on their psychological adjustment.

Methods: The sample consisted of 199 adolescents born in Eastern European countries and adopted in France (n = 50), Italy (n = 59), Norway (n = 25) and Spain (n = 65).

The enduring role of sense of coherence in facing the pandemic.

Research has been focussing on protective and resistance-related factors that may help people face the long-lasting psychological challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sense of coherence allows to remain healthy and to recover after stressful or traumatic life experiences. We aimed at investigating whether, and the extent to which, social support, in terms of both family and friends support, mediated the well-established link between sense of coherence and mental health as well as that between sense of coherence and COVID-19-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Personal Values and Substance Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Risk or Protective Factors?

: Personal values are desirable trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives and have been widely found to be related to people's behavior. : This study aimed at investigating the relation between personal values and youth involvement in frequency of alcohol and cannabis use and problems related to substance use, comparing two groups of adolescents and young adults: 237 adolescents (age 14-19 years; 58.2% females) and 236 young adults (age 20-30 years; 78.

Bullying victimization among internationally adopted adolescents: Psychosocial adjustment and moderating factors.

Bullying constitutes a serious risk factor for the psychosocial adjustment of young people in both the general population and minority groups. Among minorities, international adoptees are likely to show a specific vulnerability to the experience of being bullied, moderated by specific risk and protective factors. This study aimed to investigate the association between adoptees' experience of bullying victimization and their psychosocial adjustment, and to explore the moderating role of adoptive identity and reflected minority categorization.

Perceived Changes in Family Life During COVID-19: The Role of Family Size.

Objective: The current study was aimed at exploring Italian parents' perceived negative and positive changes in family life during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the role of the stage of the family life and family size.

Background: During the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of families drastically changed their daily life and routines. Little evidence exists on how family characteristics, such as family size or presence of children, are related to families' experience of family change.

Sense of Coherence and COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study.

The strong restrictive measures adopted in 2020 against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy have deeply affected the general population's mental health. In the current longitudinal study, we specifically focus on sense of coherence (SOC), both in terms of comprehensibility/manageability and meaningfulness, among a large sample of Italian adults; SOC is a potential resource likely to foster the ability to cope with stressors. A total of 2,191 Italian participants (65.

The quiet migration of adopted adolescents in Italy: Ethnic identity, reflected minority categorization, and ethnic discrimination.

Internationally adopted adolescents face the crucial developmental task of shaping their ethnic identity by balancing their dual belongingness to the current cultural background and the birth country's ethnic background. This process does not depend exclusively on individual variables, but it is embedded within the social context. The present study was aimed at exploring the role of ethnic discrimination in moderating the association between reflected minority categorization, on the one hand, and ethnic identity, on the other.

Adoptees facing adolescence: What accounts for their psychological well-being?

Introduction: In accordance with the "resilience paradigm", this study was aimed at exploring the role of the parent-child relationship in supporting internationally adopted adolescents' ability to develop a strong adoptive identity and a feeling of satisfaction with their own life.

Methods: Participants were 105 Italian adopted adolescents (13-17 years) asked to complete a self-report questionnaire.

Results: Results showed that adolescents generally feel fairly comfortable discussing adoption-related issues (especially with their mothers), have a medium-high level of adoptive identity, and appear to be quite satisfied with their life.

Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Sense of Coherence.

The worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, the ensuing pandemic, and the related containment measures pose considerable challenges to psychological resilience and well-being. Researchers are now forced to look for resources to cope with negative experiences linked to this health emergency. According to the salutogenic approach proposed by Antonovsky, the sense of coherence (SOC) is a major source of resilience.

The Role of Personal Values in Gambling: A Preliminary Study with Italian Adolescents.

Values have been defined as trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people's life to select modes, means, and actions. Despite values being relevant predictors of behaviors, their role in shaping adolescents' gambling ones has been under investigated. Specifically, the present study aimed at exploring whether and which values may be protective or risk factors for gambling behaviors, this also considering gender differences.

"What Makes Us Strong?": Dyadic Coping in Italian Prospective Adoptive Couples.

Becoming an adoptive parent is a particularly stressful transition, given the additional challenges couples have to face. Dyadic coping, an under-investigated dimension in the adoption literature, may play a relevant role for prospective adoptive couples' ability to better cope with the adoptive process. The general aim of the present study was to investigate the association between dyadic coping and relationship functioning, in terms of relationship satisfaction and couple generativity, among prospective adoptive couples.

Launching adoptees into adulthood: Mothers' and fathers' promotion of volitional functioning.

In the psychological literature, there is growing evidence that parental support of children's volitional functioning is one of the most prominent protective factors during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. According to the Self-Determination Theory, children cope best with developmental tasks when they acquire a sense of self-governance and self-endorsed functioning. In the field of adoption research, however, the parental promotion of volitional functioning (PVF) and its relation to the adopted child's development are still underinvestigated.

Transracial adoptees bridging heritage and national cultures: Parental socialisation, ethnic identity and self-esteem.

Transracial adoptees represent a specific group of immigrants who experience unique immigration processes that bring them face-to-face with two cultural backgrounds: that of their heritage culture on one hand and that of their national culture on the other hand. However, there is a scarcity of studies focused on the way these processes unfold within adoptive families. This study was aimed at exploring how transracial adoptees cope with the construction of their ethnic identity.

Gender differences in the self-defining activities and identity experiences of adolescents and emerging adults.

Activity participation provides a unique context for adolescents and emerging adults to explore interests, talents, and skills and for identity work to occur. Research has found consistent gender differences in the types of activities in which males and females participate. The current study drew on Eudaimonistic identity theory to examine the subjective identity-related experiences of personal expressiveness, flow experiences, and goal-directed behaviour [Waterman, 1984; Waterman, 2004.