Luca Rollè

Parenting stress, mental health, dyadic adjustment: A structural equation model

Objective: In the 1st year of the post-partum period, parenting stress, mental health, and dyadic adjustment are important for the wellbeing of both parents and the child. However, there are few studies that analyze the relationship among these three dimensions. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between parenting stress, mental health (depressive and anxiety symptoms), and dyadic adjustment among first-time parents. Method: We studied 268 parents (134 couples) of healthy babies. At 12 months post-partum, both parents filled out, in a counterbalanced order, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the potential mediating effects of mental health on the relationship between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment. Results: Results showed the full mediation effect of mental health between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment. A multi-group analysis further found that the paths did not differ across mothers and fathers. Discussion: The results suggest that mental health is an important dimension that mediates the relationship between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment in the transition to parenthood.

Perinatal Parenting Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Outcomes in First-Time Mothers and Fathers: A 3- to 6-Months Postpartum Follow-Up Study

Objective: Although there is an established link between parenting stress, postnatal depression, and anxiety, no study has yet investigated this link in first-time parental couples. The specific aims of this study were 1) to investigate whether there were any differences between first-time fathers’ and mothers’ postnatal parenting stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms and to see their evolution between three and 6 months after their child’s birth; and 2) to explore how each parent’s parenting stress and anxiety levels and the anxiety levels and depressive symptoms of their partners contributed to parental postnatal depression. Method: The sample included 362 parents (181 couples; mothers’ MAge = 35.03, SD = 4.7; fathers’ MAge = 37.9, SD = 5.6) of healthy babies. At three (T1) and 6 months (T2) postpartum, both parents filled out, in a counterbalanced order, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: The analyses showed that compared to fathers, mothers reported higher scores on postpartum anxiety, depression, and parenting stress. The scores for all measures for both mothers and fathers decreased from T1 to T2. However, a path analysis suggested that the persistence of both maternal and paternal postnatal depression was directly influenced by the parent’s own levels of anxiety and parenting stress and by the presence of depression in his/her partner. Discussion: This study highlights the relevant impact and effects of both maternal and paternal stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms during the transition to parenthood. Therefore, to provide efficacious, targeted, early interventions, perinatal screening should be directed at both parents.

Parental Relationship with Twins from Pregnancy to 3 Months: The Relation Among Parenting Stress, Infant Temperament, and Well-Being

Objective: The transition to parenthood, from pregnancy to postpartum period, is a critical process, particularly for couples expecting twins. There is very little literature regarding the links between anxiety, depression, dyadic adjustment, parental stress, and infant temperament spanning from pregnancy to postpartum. This study has two aims: first, to examine whether mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety, depression, and dyadic adjustment, assessed at the sixth month of pregnancy and 3 months postpartum, are associated with infants’ negative affectivity (NA) and parenting stress; second, to examine whether there is any difference between fathers’ and mothers’ levels of parenting stress and perception of the twins’ temperament, as well as to evaluate, separately for mothers and fathers, whether the levels of parenting stress and perception of child temperament differ for each twin. Method: The study participants were 58 parents (29 couples) and their healthy 58 twin babies (51.7% boys, 48.3% girls). Mothers’ ages ranged from 30 to 44 years, (MAge = 36.3 years, SD = 3.2 years), and fathers’ ages ranged from 32 to 52 years, (MAge = 38.2 years, SD = 4.4 years). The parents, during the pregnancy period and 3 months after delivery, filled out the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Three months after delivery they also filled out the Parenting Stress Index—Short Form and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised. Results: The analyses showed a significant correlation between parental anxiety/depression symptoms and infants’ NA and parenting stress (in both mothers and fathers). Moreover, compared to fathers, mothers reported higher scores on specific dimensions of the infants’ NA, [t(28) = -2.62 and p < 0.05; t(28) = 2.09 and p < 0.05], and parenting stress, [t(28) = 2.19 and p < 0.05; t(28) = 2.23 and p < 0.05], but only for Twin 2. Finally, the results showed that mothers’ perceptions of child temperament vary between two twins, [e.g., distress to limitations: t(28) = 2.08 and p < 0.05]. Discussion: This study highlights the peculiarity of twin parenthood during the fourth trimester. In particular, the differences between twins’ mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions are relevant from a clinical perspective and for perinatal professionals. It would be interesting to study the long-term impact of mothers’ and fathers’ differing perceptions of their twins.

Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence and Mental Health: Findings From a European Empowerment Project

Objective: Research shows that women experiencing domestic violence and mental health problems often fall into gaps in services between support for domestic violence and support for mental health. This article reports on an action-research project adopting a strengths-based approach to recovery funded by the European Commission. Multimethod research was carried out in 5 European countries examining how interconnections of domestic violence and mental health impact the lives of women, how their lives can be improved by empowering strategies, and how service providers’ professional learning can be developed. Women survivors’ strengths and posttraumatic growth in the context of domestic violence remains a considerably underresearched area and the study provides new insights into adopting a strengths-based framework. Method: Free training programs were designed, delivered, and evaluated for 2 groups of participants (n = 136) pertaining to women service users and mental health service providers (men and women) working with abused women. Results: Program-evaluation data gained through surveys and focus groups showed that women participants reported growth in self-esteem and coping skills, whereas professionals felt better equipped to address the tandem issues of domestic violence and mental health. Conclusion: Findings extend current knowledge about the barriers and facilitators to empowerment and strengths-based recovery perspectives, professional learning, and offer a more nuanced understanding of women’s agential ability for posttraumatic growth.

Loneliness, Resilience, Mental Health, and Quality of Life in Old Age: A Structural Equation Model

Objectives: In the scientific literature on aging, a recent core issue has been the role of individuals internal and external resources, which are considered intrinsically connected, in contributing synergistically to physical and psychological quality of life (QoL). The current study investigates the way in which psychological factors—such as, loneliness, resilience, and mental states, in terms of depression and anxiety symptoms—affect the perceived QoL among elderly individuals. Method: Data from 290 elderly Italian participants were used to study the mediation effects of both mental health and resilience to elucidate the relationship between loneliness and psychophysical QoL. Results: The best model we obtained supports the mediation effect of both resilience and mental health between loneliness and mental and physical QoL. These results highlight that loneliness influences mental and physical QoL via two pathways, with the impact of loneliness mediated by mental health and resilience dimensions. Conclusions: The findings suggest the importance of the support that elderly people receive from social relationships. In terms of clinical interventions, the reduction of loneliness could be an important factor in primary prevention or the recovery process. A way to reduce levels of mental distress could be represented by the increasing of resilience and self-efficacy and reduction of loneliness dissatisfaction. A high degree of resiliency contributes to increasing perceived life quality at the physical and psychological levels, and at the same time, reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Fear of childbirth in primiparous Italian pregnant women: The role of anxiety, depression, and couple adjustment

BACKGROUNDnThe prevalence of fear of childbirth in pregnant women is described to be about 20-25%, while 6-10% of expectant mothers report a severe fear that impairs their daily activities as well as their ability to cope with labour and childbirth. Research on fear of childbirth risk factors has produced heterogeneous results while being mostly done with expectant mothers from northern Europe, northern America, and Australia.nnnAIMSnThe present research investigates whether fear of childbirth can be predicted by socio-demographic variables, distressing experiences before pregnancy, medical-obstetric factors and psychological variables with a sample of 426 Italian primiparous pregnant women.nnnMETHODSnSubjects, recruited between the 34th and 36th week of pregnancy, completed a questionnaire packet that included the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, as well as demographic and anamnestic information. Fear of childbirth was treated as both a continuous and a dichotomous variable, in order to differentiate expectant mothers as with a severe fear of childbirth.nnnFINDINGSnResults demonstrate that anxiety as well as couple adjustment predicted fear of childbirth when treated as a continuous variable, while clinical depression predicted severe fear of childbirth.nnnCONCLUSIONSnFindings support the key role of psychological variables in predicting fear of childbirth. Results suggest the importance of differentiating low levels of fear from intense levels of fear in order to promote adequate support interventions.

Intimate partner violence: Attitudes in a sample of Italian students

Abstract Domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) represent a widespread phenomenon. Several studies that focus on students and their attitudes toward DV and IPV indicate that changes in attitudes may depend on gender. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of violence against women among 4,200 undergraduate Italian students and how these perceptions are associated with gender. Students were recruited as volunteers to fill out a questionnaire specifically developed to evaluate their attitudes regarding IPV. Relations were explored by crosstabulation analysis with the Chi-square test and post hoc evaluation of adjusted standardized residuals. The students appeared to be sensitive to relevant topics regarding violence, but they demonstrated a lack of confidence in legal institutions. Looking at gender differences, the male students tended to justify a perpetrator’s actions more than the females. This could be explained as a more distant view of the phenomenon for male students compared to females, probably due to cultural differences.

Italia e Slovenia : un confronto sul fenomeno della violenza domestica

Nel presente articolo gli Autori analizzano il fenomeno della violenza domestica (DV) e della violenza tra partner (IPV) in Italia e in Slovenia. In entrambi gli stati, negli ultimi 20 anni, si e assistito ad un processo di normalizzazione che ha portato le vittime, anche se in numero ancora esiguo, a ricercare l’aiuto di persone esperte. Dopo un’introduzione sui concetti di DV e IPV vengono presentati i dati ISTAT (2007), riferiti all’ultima indagine effettuata sul fenomeno, e quelli dell’indagine nazionale svolta in Slovenia (2010): sono inoltre riportati dati DV su donne con disabilita. Anche se negli ultimi anni le denunce sono in aumento, il numero oscuro di cui non si sa nulla sono una percentuale elevata: la DV e la IPV non sono un fatto privato bensi pubblico.

Homophobia and Transphobia

Materials: chart paper, markers, tape. Due to the nature of the topic area, it is essential to develop ground rules for each student to follow. Ask students to offer some rules for participation in the postxadperformance workshop (i.e., what would help them participate to their fullest). Attempt to obtain a group consensus before adopting them as the official “social contract” of the group. Useful guidelines include the following (Bonner Curriculum, 2009; Hardiman, Jackson, & Griffin, 2007):