1,720,996 research outputs found
Exploring the psychosocial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s perinatal experiences and wellbeing: A qualitative study
No full textOBJECTIVE: While many studies have investigated the clinical impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on pregnant women’s mental health, little attention has been paid to the exploration of women’s experiences during the perinatal period from a psychosocial perspective in the Italian context. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the psychosocial changes associated with the pandemic in the perinatal context. METHODS: Twenty-one Italian women who gave birth between March and November 2020 took part in this research by participating in semi-structured interviews, exploring their childbirth experiences. Our data were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. RESULTS: Our findings revealed the enhanced importance of social support as a protective factor against uncertainties, which strongly characterised all phases of the perinatal period during the pandemic. Such uncertainties were mainly linked to the discontinuity in intrapartum care, as well as to concerns of being infected with Covid-19 combined with other pregnancy-specific worries. The main sources of social support were represented by loved ones – most of all partners – along with health care staff and peer networks. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the importance of implementing evidence-based policies and interventions to improve women’s wellbeing in the perinatal period during the pandemic, as well as of guaranteeing intrapartum care continuity and the presence of social support
Navigating women’s cancer prevention: Two cross-sectional studies to investigate psychosocial antecedents of cervical and breast cancer screening attendance
No full textDespite population-based cancer screening programmes effectively decreasing mortality, participation rates are unsatisfactory for both cervical and breast screening. This research tested an integrated theory of planned behaviour model applied to cervical cancer screening (CCS; Study 1) and breast cancer screening (BCS; Study 2) attendance. Women residing in Campania (Italy) and belonging to each screening target population joined two independent surveys (Study 1: n = 332, Mage = 41.03, SD = 11.45; Study 2: n = 298, Mage = 55.03; SD = 5.17). In both studies, screening behaviour was predicted by intention to undergo the screening, action and coping planning. Significant predictors of intention were subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and self-identity in Study 1, and subjective norms, anticipated regret and self-identity in Study 2. A mediation analysis confirmed the role of action and coping planning in the intention-behaviour relation. This model can guide forthcoming interventions and steer enhancements in healthcare access
Finally, the chance to eat healthily: Longitudinal study about food consumption during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy
No full textWith the COVID-19 outbreak, structural constraints and social psychological factors changed the dietary habits of many people. This two-wave longitudinal study performed in Italy aimed to explore people’s perceptions of changes in healthy and unhealthy food consumption before and during the first lockdown and the possible persistence of such changes after its official end, as a function of the number of people cohabiting, negative emotion activation, and individual eating styles. A total of 728 Italian adults completed self-reported food consumption measures and related psychological variables at both time points. In the lockdown period, participants reported an increase in healthy food consumption and involvement in cooking and a decrease in the consumption of junk food. This general pattern was stronger for both young and restrained eaters. The intensity of negative emotions and the number of cohabitants were not associated with the examined behaviour. In the post-lockdown period, the new consumption pattern acquired during the confinement was partially discontinued: participants cut down their healthy food consumption as well as their involvement in food preparation, but they continued to reduce their junk food intake. These results suggest that people’s food consumption patterns can easily improve when the situation is favourable (e.g., more time and opportunities for cooking healthy meals) and offer an interesting theoretical contribution to understanding the factors useful in promoting healthy eating, in the event of a future outbreak
Intuitive eating: Validation of a brief Italian version of IES-2 for university students and its relationship with food intake
Get PDFIntuitive eating is an adaptive eating style referring to a set of eating behaviors characterized by reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues rather than situational and emotional cues. It has four dimensions: Unconditional Permission to Eat, Eating for Physical rather than Emotional Reasons, Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cues, and Body-Food Choice Congruence. Two studies explored the psychometric characteristics of a new Italian version of the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) among university students. Study 1 (n = 462; Mage = 22.36, SD = 2.10; 58.7 % females) evaluated the four-factor structure via CFA, resulting, with post-hoc modifications, in a 15-item version. Measurement invariance across gender, gender differences, and relationships with BMI were tested. Study 2 (n = 359; Mage = 20.35, SD = 1.77; 61.8 % females) verified the construct validity of the 15-item scale and explored criterion validity by examining the correlations with self-esteem, well-being, emotional, external, and restrained eating styles. Furthermore, the relationship between intuitive eating and food intake was explored. Overall results confirmed the four-factor structure, measurement invariance across gender, and criterion validity. The scale showed good psychometric properties in university students. Intuitive eating was associated with a healthier psychological status and lower risk of high-weight status, but it was not consistently associated with all markers of a healthy diet
Facing the Emotional Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening. The Roles of Reappraisal and Situation Selection
Get PDFBackground: Disgust, embarrassment, and fear can hinder the attendance of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. However, individuals can respond to these emotions differently. The present study tested whether reappraising a negative stimulus versus avoiding a negative stimulus is associated with age; whether these two emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and situation selection) moderate the effects of disgust, embarrassment and fear on CRC screening intention; and the efficacy of a message based on participants' preferred emotion regulation strategy. Methods: We recruited 483 Italian participants (aged 40-84 years) through snowball sampling. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions differing for a message promoting CRC screening with an affective lever, a cognitive lever, both levers or none. Key variables included emotion regulation strategies, emotional barriers and intention to get screened. Results: The preference for reappraisal over situation selection increased with age. Reappraisal neutralized the effect of disgust on CRC screening intention. The combined message with both affective and cognitive levers increased CRC screening intention (b = 0.27, β = 0.11, SE = 0.13 p = .049), whereas reading the message based only on the affective (b = 0.16, β = 0.06, SE = 0.14 p = .258) or the cognitive (b = 0.22, β = 0.09, SE = 0.14 p = .107) lever was not effective. Conclusions: Communication campaigns should support the activation of a reappraisal strategy of emotion control, and messages promoting CRC screening should highlight both the instrumental (i.e., early detection) and affective (i.e., peace of mind) benefits of attendance
Psychosocial Factors Influencing Parents’ Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination for Their Children: An Italian Cross-Sectional Study
Get PDFVaccine hesitancy poses a significant threat to the health of individuals across all age groups, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, an extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was applied to investigate psychosocial variables predicting intention to vaccinate children under 12 against COVID-19 in a sample of 420 Italian parents (Mean age = 40.4, SD = 5.9; Women = 78.1%). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, among the TPB variables, cognitive attitude, descriptive norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted parents’ vaccination intention. Furthermore, including trust in the institutions’ ability to manage the vaccination campaign in the model significantly increased the explained variance in intention. These findings suggest that campaigns promoting childhood COVID-19 vaccination should not only emphasize the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for children but also focus on reducing barriers to vaccination. Additionally, attention should be given to enhancing the perception that this behavior is widespread among other parents, thus leveraging the power of social influence. Finally, and not less important, significant efforts should be directed toward building and reinforcing trust in the system of actors promoting and managing the COVID-19 vaccination campaign
The Mediating Roles of Attitude Toward COVID-19 Vaccination, Trust in Science and Trust in Government in the Relationship Between Anti-vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs and Vaccination Intention
Get PDFSince the outbreak of COVID-19, many conspiracy theories have spread widely, which has the potential to reduce adherence to recommended preventive measures. Specifically, anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs can have a strong negative impact on COVID-19 vaccination attitude and intention. The present study aimed to clarify how such beliefs can reduce vaccination intention, exploring the possible mediating roles of attitude toward vaccination, trust in science, and trust in government, among a sample of 822 unvaccinated Italian adults (Women = 67.4%; M(age) = 38.1). Path analysis showed that anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs influenced intention to get vaccinated both directly and indirectly through the mediating effects of attitude, trust in science, and trust in government. In particular, the simple mediating effect of attitude was the strongest one, followed by the serial mediating effect of trust in science and attitude itself. Findings provide insights into the design of interventions aimed at reducing misinformation and subsequent vaccine hesitancy
Integrating the theory of planned behavior and the self-determination theory to promote Mediterranean diet adherence: A randomized controlled trial
Get PDFThe Mediterranean diet (MD) is one of the healthiest and most sustainable food regimes. Nevertheless, MD diffusion is still limited, emphasizing the need to understand the psychosocial factors that could predict and promote its adoption. Starting from an integrated model of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the present randomized controlled trial investigated the effect of manipulating motivation (autonomous vs. controlled) on intention and MD adherence behavior. Participants included 726 Italian adults randomly allocated to one of three conditions: autonomous motivation manipulation, controlled motivation manipulation, and control group. TPB variables were measured immediately after manipulation (T1), while MD adherence was evaluated 2 weeks later (T2). Results from multivariate analyses of variance highlighted that participants in the autonomous motivation condition reported higher intention and a more favorable cognitive attitude than control group participants. However, no change in behavior was found. Moreover, a path analysis with mediation effect showed that the impact of autonomous motivation condition versus control group on intention was mediated by cognitive attitude. Findings support the integration of TPB and SDT to encourage intention to adhere to the MD, also suggesting that prompting autonomous motivation may help to promote a greater diffusion of this healthy and sustainable dietary pattern
Understanding the psychosocial determinants of Italian parents’ intentions not to vaccinate their children: an extended theory of planned behaviour model
Get PDFAbstract
Objective
This study aimed to identify the psychosocial factors involved in Italian parents’ intentions not to vaccinate their children. For this purpose, we used an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, which included both proximal and distal factors influencing intention not to vaccinate children.
Design
Participants included 447 Italian parents, each completed an online questionnaire, which measured intention not to vaccinate children, attitude toward not vaccinating, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, anticipated regret, negative attitude toward vaccines, risk perception, trust in healthcare institutions, trust in science and religious morality.
Results
Results showed that attitude toward not vaccinating was strongly associated with intention not to vaccinate children. Furthermore, attitude toward not vaccinating was associated with negative attitude toward vaccines, which in turn was affected by all the distal factors considered (risk perception, trust in healthcare institutions, trust in science, religious morality). Finally, negative attitude toward vaccines fully mediated the effect of the distal factors on attitude toward not vaccinating children.
Conclusion
These findings provide support for the validity of the proposed extended TPB model in explaining parents’ intention not to vaccinate children. Theoretical and practical implications, in terms of understanding and promoting vaccination behaviour, are discussed
Esplorare la motivazione degli studenti universitari nei confronti delle scelte alimentari sostenibili. Un’applicazione della teoria dell’autodeterminazione
No full textL'urgenza di modificare gli attuali modelli alimentari per mitigare il cambiamento climatico ha dato impulso a diverse iniziative per promuovere scelte alimentari sostenibili. Tuttavia, le conoscenze sulle motivazioni che spingono i consumatori, in particolare i giovani, ad adottare uno stile alimentare più eco-sostenibile sono limitate. Questo studio intende colmare tale lacuna nella ricerca psico-sociale, indagando le motivazioni degli studenti universitari italiani nei confronti dell'alimentazione sostenibile. In merito, la Self-Determination Theory (SDT) è stata applicata per indagare le motivazioni alla base delle scelte alimentari sostenibili. In particolare, la ricerca esplora le relazioni tra i principali tipi di motivazione (autonoma, controllata e amotivazione), l'intenzione di adottare un'alimentazione sostenibile e indici di sintesi costruiti sulla base di specifici comportamenti alimentari sostenibili adottati. I dati sono stati raccolti mediante un questionario online contenente misure della SDT, dell'intenzione e di una serie di comportamenti associabili all’alimentarsi sostenibilmente. Hanno preso parte allo studio 434 studenti universitari italiani (59.4% donne; età media 22.6 anni). Sono state condotte analisi fattoriali e di regressione. I risultati preliminari delle analisi di regressione indicano che la motivazione autonoma promuove l’intenzione di mangiare in modo sostenibile, mentre l’assenza di motivazione la inibisce. La quota di varianza spiegata dell’intenzione è pari al 60%. L’indice composito relativo all’alimentarsi in modo sostenibile è associato positivamente e significativamente al genere, alla motivazione introiettata e all’intenzione. I comportamenti relativi alla consapevolezza sulla sostenibilità degli alimenti sono invece associati alla motivazione autonoma e all’intenzione di seguire un’alimentazione sostenibile. Nel complesso, i modelli testati spiegano rispettivamente il 31 e il 24% della quota di varianza dei due insiemi di comportamenti alimentari considerati. I risultati confermano l'utilità della SDT per comprendere le scelte alimentari sostenibili, sottolineando il ruolo della motivazione autonoma e offrendo nuove prospettive per ricerche e interventi nei giovani adulti
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