Angela Maria Di Vita

Emotional Distress Following Childbirth: An Intervention to Buffer Depressive and PTSD Symptoms

Childbirth for some women is a negative experience associated with depressive and post-traumatic symptoms. The preventive actions focusing on helping mothers to cope with negative emotions experienced after childbirth are strongly recommended. It is also recommended both to intervene early and on all women to avoid the risk that these symptoms can worsen in the months after childbirth. The intervention described in the current study is focalized on the elaboration of post-partum negative thoughts and emotion through a writing task, with the purpose to help new mothers to reflect, understand, evaluate and, thus, reformulate the stressful situation with new beliefs and emotions. 176 women aged from 19 to 43 years (M = 31.55, SD = 4.58) were assessed for depression and PTSD in the prenatal phase (T1). In about 96 hours after childbirth they were randomly assigned to either “Making Sense condition” (MS: in which they wrote about the thoughts and emotions connected with delivery and childbirth) or “Control-Neutral condition” (NC: in which they wrote about the daily events in behavioural terms) and then reassessed for depression and PTSD (T2). A follow up was conducted 3 months later (T3) to verify depression and posttraumatic symptoms. The results showed that depressive symptoms decreased both at 96 hours and at 3 months as a result of making-sense task. Regarding the posttraumatic symptoms the positive effect emerged at three months and not at 96 hours after birth.

North/South Differences Among Italian Emerging Adults Regarding Criteria Deemed Important for Adulthood and Life Satisfaction

The main goal of this study was to compare Northern and Southern Italian emerging adult university students, regarding the importance attributed to criteria for adulthood and the levels of life and education satisfaction. Self-report questionnaires were filled by 475 Northern and Southern Italian University students (Age M = 22.91, 76% females, n = 359). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that Southern emerging adults were more likely to place importance on family capacities, norm compliance, interdependence and role transitions as criteria for achieving adulthood than Northern emerging adults. Regarding gender differences, females were more likely to believe in the importance of norm compliance than males, while males were more likely to espouse the importance of legal transitions. Finally, emerging adults from the North reported higher levels of life satisfaction than their Southern counterparts. We interpreted these findings in light of socio-economical and gender socialization differences among Northern and Southern Italian emerging adults.

ADOLESCENZA, GRAVIDANZA E DINAMICHE INTERGENERAZIONALI. UNA RICERCA PILOTA SULLE RAPPRESENTAZIONI MENTALI

Adolescence, pregnancy and intergenerational dynamics. A pilot re-search on mental representations - The present study focuses on adolescent pregnancy from two different points of view: on the one hand, the phenomenon is analyzed from a psy-chological and psychodynamic perspective; on the other, its social dimen-sion is also focused on. Pregnant adolescents’ mental representations are examined: our subjects are between their sixth and mid-seventh month of pregnancy. Data show that while the adolescent is going through a crisis to achieve her female identity, she also has to undertake new roles and tasks because of the pregnancy, and thus faces losing of control of her life. Our participants have not yet completed the individuation-separation process, neither have they structured their definite identity and consequently they experience the idea of maternity with ambivalence and confusion. Key words: adolescence, pregnancy, mental representations, risk, maternity.

La sfida delle coppie a doppia carriera tra strategie di coping e nodi conflittuali. Un contributo di ricerca

Nella dimensione privata e in quella sociale e organizzativa, il bilanciamento famiglia-lavoro e la genitorialita si risolvono in un sovraccarico di responsabilita a sfavore delle madri e nella effettiva disparita nella professione. Nelle famiglie a doppia carriera, il conflitto tra vita familiare e vita lavorativa ha effetti su varie dimensioni; la ricerca che presentiamo prende in esame la presenza di conflitti WIF (work to family) e conflitti FIW (family to work) in un campione di 483 genitori di coppie a doppia carriera e ha permesso di evidenziare che l’aumento dei compiti familiari relativi alla nascita e all’accudimento dei figli e associato a una strategia di bilanciamento che riflette la tradizionale demarcazione dei ruoli tra pubblico- maschile-breadwinner e privato-femminile-homemaker.

Perinatalità e migrazione : percorsi di ricerca-intervento

Il presente contributo esplora le dinamiche che sottendono la perinatalita in un gruppo di donne migranti provenienti da diverse aree geografi che, con l’obiettivo di individuarne le risorse personali e contestuali, nonche gli elementi predittori di rischio. Lo studio ha in particolare esaminato le modalita di parenting con cui le madri migranti vivono la propria esperienza perinatale in relazione alla identita: materna, a quella del proprio figlio ed altresi culturale. I risultati della ricerca hanno configurato la gravidanza come un evento culturalmente determinato dai significati che ciascuna donna attribuisce alla gravidanza ed evidenziato come la lontananza dal proprio paese d’origine possa incrementarne la vulnerabilita durante questo momento del ciclo di vita. Un elemento particolarmente riscontrato nelle interviste e il senso di solitudine per l’assenza di un sostegno da parte delle rete familiare di riferimento, che enfatizza l’esigenza di favorire da parte dei servizi sanitari un accompagnamento adeguato in situazioni di vulnerabilita psicosociale.