Showing papers by "Claudia Venuleo published in 2021"

The affectivization of the public sphere: the contribution of psychoanalysis in understanding and counteracting the current crisis scenarios

Abstract: Current Western societies are characterized by a deep anthropological and socio-institutional crisis. The many signs of this turmoil indicate a creeping affectivization of the public sphere. Psychoanalysis can play a pivotal role in understanding the current socio-institutional scenario beyond a reductionist splitting between individual and society. The affective valence of the forms of social action stimulates and offers the opportunity, for psychoanalytic psychology, to broaden its horizons concerning problems and processes which are crucial to the future challenges. Addressing affective dynamics enables fundamental advances to be made in understanding the reactions against uncertainty and the loss of social bonds. In a dynamic semiotic perspective, affects are forms of embodied, a-semantic, hyper-generalized sensemaking processes. They pragmatically ground cognition, and their roots are cultural, linking forms of intersubjectivity and ways of thinking and acting. From this standpoint, a model of counteractions and interventions can be organized in terms of the development of semiotic capital. This consists of intangible symbolic resources that enable people to internalize the systemic bond to the public sphere and experience it as a basic drive for their thoughts and actions. Semiotic capital instantiates what is psychoanalytically defined as ‘thirdness’, namely the acknowledgment of otherness. The promotion and implementation of ‘intermediate settings’, with social practices where meaningful interpersonal bonds are active, can drive social development in terms of thirdness.

A confirmatory composite analysis for the Italian validation of the interactions anxiousness scale: a higher-order version

Abstract: This study examined the factor structure and model specifications of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) with confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of Italian adolescents ( $$n = 764$$ ). The CCA and PLS-SEM results identified the reflective nature of the IAS sub-scale scores, supporting an alternative measurement model of the IAS scores as a second-order reflective–reflective model.

Problematic Internet Use among adolescents and young adults: a systematic review of scholars’ conceptualisations after the publication of DSM5

Abstract: Scholars’ opinions vary considerably regarding many different aspects of Problematic Internet Use (PIU), including whether it should be conceptualised as an addiction, whether it has to be seen as a discrete category or as the pole of a “normal” to pathological continuum, and whether and how the relationship between a person’s characteristics and socio-cultural environment needs to be considered. The aim of the present study is to qualitatively review the evolving body of literature on PIU among adolescents in relation to the three above-mentioned issues, in order to examine how far existing research has progressed since the publication of DSM-5. Following PRISMA guidelines, studies from 2014 to 2019 identified by a search on SCOPUS and Google Scholar were collected. The PIU conceptualisations employed in studies among adolescents and young adults were analysed. Results showed that the debate on PIU as a form of addiction or a distinct clinical disorder is far from over; nonetheless, in the scientific literature about PIU among adolescents and young adults the idea of Internet use as a way to compensate for unsatisfied needs is growing, calling for a better appreciation of what happens in the life-contexts to explain how youths move to/away from PIU over time.

Problem gambling among older people. An Italian study on habits, representations, levels of engagement and psychosocial determinants

Abstract: Gambling participation among older people has grown over the years. Elders constitute a large and fast-growing population in Italy, but little empirical evidence describes gambling patterns among older Italian adults and the problem gambling (PG)’s psychosocial determinants, so a range of questions which are crucial to orient prevention strategies remain unanswered. The present study aims to investigate habits, representations, levels of engagement in gambling among Italian elders and the role of loneliness, social support and well-being in explaining their problem with gambling. A convenience sample of 165 participants (mean age: 66.93; SD = 5.73; women: 43.1%) was involved. Gambling activities, habits, representations and PG rates were examined. A group “at moderate risk/problem gambling” (scoring >7 on PGSI, n = 40) and a control group (scoring 0 on PGSI, n = 40) were selected from the whole sample, balanced on socio-demographic characteristics; a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the two groups on the target psychosocial variables. 11.5% of the sample was found to meet the PGSI criteria for PG; 26.7% for moderate risk; 11.5% for problem gambling; 50.3% were classified as no-problem gamblers. Scratch cards were the main form of gambling among all groups; the chance to make more money and to distract oneself from other problems were the main reasons to gamble. Finally, the group “at moderate risk/problem gambling,” compared to the control group, expressed higher loneliness, as well as lower perceived social support and well-being. Resume La pratique des jeux de hasard chez les personnes plus âgees augmente au fil des annees. Les aines representent un segment important et a croissance rapide de la population en Italie, mais peu de donnees empiriques decrivent les habitudes de pratique de jeux de hasard des adultes italiens plus âges et les determinants psychosociaux du jeu compulsif. Tout un eventail de questions essentielles a l’orientation des strategies de prevention reste sans reponse. La presente etude se penche sur les habitudes, les representations et les niveaux de pratique de jeux de hasard chez les aines italiens, ainsi que le role de la solitude, du soutien social et du bien-etre pour expliquer leurs problemes lies au jeu, a l’aide d’un echantillon de commodite de 165 participants (moyenne d’âge : 66,93; ecart-type de la population = 5.73; femmes : 43,1 %). La pratique des jeux de hasard, les habitudes, les representations et le jeu compulsif ont ete examines. Un groupe « a risque moyen/jeu compulsif » (pointage >7 sur l’indice de gravite de jeu compulsif (IGJC), n = 40) et un groupe temoin (pointage de 0 sur l’IGJC, n = 40) ont ete choisis parmi l’ensemble de l’echantillon, equilibres du point de vue des caracteristiques sociodemographiques; une analyse de variance a un critere de classification (ANOVA) a ete utilisee pour comparer les deux groupes par rapport aux variables psychosociales cibles. On a constate que 11,5 % de l’echantillon repondaient aux criteres de jeu compulsif de l’IGJC; 26,7 % repondaient aux criteres de risque modere; 11,5 %, aux criteres de jeu compulsif; et 50,3 % etaient classes comme des joueurs ne presentant pas de probleme. Les cartes a gratter constituaient la forme principale de jeu de hasard dans tous les groupes; les principales raisons de jouer etaient la possibilite de faire plus d’argent et d’oublier d’autres problemes. Enfin, par rapport au groupe temoin, le groupe « a risque moyen/jeu compulsif » a exprime un plus grand sentiment de solitude et percevait un moins grand soutien social et un moins grand bien-etre.

The COVID-19 Pandemic from the Health Workers’ Perspective: Between Health Emergency and Personal Crisis

Abstract: Different scholars have emphasised the psychological distress experienced by health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there are almost no qualitative studies and we know very little about the everyday experience of this group. The present study’s goal was to explore how health workers interpreted the meaning of the pandemic crisis in their life. An online survey was available during the Italian lockdown. Respondents were asked to write a passage about the meaning of living in the time of COVID-19. A total number of 130 questionnaires (M = 42.35; DS = 10.52; women: 56.2%) were collected. The Automated Method for Content Analysis (ACASM) procedure was applied to the collected texts to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents’ narratives. Such factors were interpreted as the markers of latent dimensions of meanings (DS). The two main DS that emerged were characterised by the pertinentisation of two extremely basic issues: what the pandemic represents (health emergency versus personal crisis) and its impact (powerlessness versus discovery of new meanings). On the whole, health workers’ narratives help to highlight the risk of normalising the feelings of fear and impotence experienced when facing the health emergency and the need to recognise that such feelings are strictly intertwined with the limited resources received to “face the battle”; the need to recognize the human vulnerability of the women and men “inside the lab coat” and the human effort to maintain or reconstruct a sense of self and purpose in the face of troubled circumstances.

Problematic internet use among adolescents and the view of context: a pls-structural equation model

Abstract: "The idea of Internet use as a way to face psychosocial malaise is growing in the scientific literature about Problematic Internet Use (PIU). The present study, assuming the Semiotic Cultural Psycho-social Theory (SCPT) (Salvatore, 2018) as theoretical framework, postulates and emphasizes that the context in which the subject is embedded provide the symbolic resources, which ground the way adolescents perceive, experience, and therefore deal with the material and social world, including the likelihood of using the Internet as a way to facing life problems and difficulties. SCTP adopts the term “Symbolic Universes” (SU) to denote affect-laden assumptions concerning the world which may (or not) promote adaptive responses. Specifically, the present study aimed to test a mediation model in which each Symbolic Universes (i.e. independent variable) is associated with the psychosocial malaise in terms of social anxiety, loneliness, and negative emotions (i.e. mediator variable), which in turn has effects on PIU (i.e. dependent variable). Measures of PIU (GPIUS), symbolic universes (VOC), negative affect (PANAS), social anxiety (IAS), loneliness (ILs) among a total of 764 Southern Italy youths aged from 13 to 19 (mean age =15.05 ± 1.152). A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was firstly run to detect SU; a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was then performed on R for testing the hypothesized mediation model. The results demonstrated that Symbolic Universes characterized by anomie and unreliability of the social context are associated with adolescents’ PIU though the mediation of social anxiety, loneliness, and negative emotions. Overall, findings suggest that within an anomic and unreliable scenario, PIU might acquire the meaning of a way to face life in an environment that seems meaningless, uncertain, and detrimental. On the plane of intervention, this points to the need for programs that address social and cultural influences in youths’ Internet use."

“What Game are We Playing?”: the Psychosocial Context of Problem Gambling and Gaming Among Italian High School Students

Abstract: Gambling and gaming are not infrequent among adolescents and preventing low-risk youth from becoming at-risk appears to be a priority of public health strategies. Greater scrutiny of the risk and protective factors in the relationships and community of young people appears crucial in steering prevention initiatives adequately. This study aimed to explore how the qualities of relational networks (i.e. family functioning, perceived social and class support), family and peer approval and attitude to the social environment combine in predicting problem gambling, problem gaming and overall well-being among adolescents. High-school students aged 14-18 years (N: 595; female: 68,7%) completed a survey including the target variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the role of socio-demographic characteristic and psychosocial predictors on gaming, gambling, and well-being. Multivariate multiple regressions identify a common core underpinning problem gambling, gaming and poor well-being but also the distinct roles of psychosocial variables: being male, with low parental monitoring, higher gambling approval from family and friends and the tendency to have a reactive, extreme and negative attitude towards the social environment all interact in predicting problem gambling and gaming, which were also found to be associated. Poor family functioning, low support and a view of the social environment as anomic and untrustworthy interact in predicting poor well-being. On the whole the findings suggest the need to look more closely at the way adolescents, their system of activity and their culture interact with each other in constructing the meaning of gambling and gaming activities and their impact on adolescents’ well-being, so that future studies and strategies can more effectively examine the relational dynamics in which problem gambling and gaming develop.

Being online during covid-19 and the relationship with well-being: narratives among university students

Abstract: "During COVID-19 outbreak various technological devices have provided a basis for maintaining social connections with friends, family, work and community networks, and media have reported a global increase in Internet use. Scholars debate whether Internet use represented a resource for well-being or on the opposite a risk for health. In the frame of Semiotic, Cultural Psychosocial Theory, we argue that the meaning of Internet use and its impact on well-being might depend on semiotic resources people possessed to represent the crisis and to use the Internet in a healthy manner. The study examines the meanings of being online during the COVID-19 pandemic based on narratives collected from Italian young students (N=323; Mean age = 22.78, SD = 2.70; 77.3% women; 81.9% living with their parents), recruited by Microsoft Forms online survey during first Italian Lockdown, and explores whether different views of being online related to different connotations of the Internet during the pandemic and different levels of well-being. Computer-assisted Content Analysis was used to map the main Dimensions of Meaning (DM) characterizing the texts. Then, ANOVA was used to examine (dis)similarities between DM related to Internet connotations (e.g., resource, danger or refuge); Pearson’s correlations were computed to examine the relationships between DM and well-being. Two DM emerged, the first represent the relationship between being online and the daily life context; the second, the Internet functions during the pandemic. Relations between DM, internet connotation and well-being were found. Findings highlight how a plurality of representations of being online are active in the cultural milieu and their potential role in explaining the different impact of Internet use on well-being during pandemic."