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"Testoni, Ines"
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New Psychological Perspectives on Death and Dying—Between Normality and the COVID-19 Emergency
In recent decades, there has been a constantly increasing preoccupation with physical perfection and the scientific urge to improve life expectancy [...].In recent decades, there has been a constantly increasing preoccupation with physical perfection and the scientific urge to improve life expectancy [...].
Journal Article
Maternal Regret and the Myth of the Good Mother: A Psychosocial Thematic Analysis of Italian Women in a Patriarchal Culture
Motherhood regret still constitutes a major taboo that limits the possibility of processing the negative exposure to being a mother. This qualitative study involved Italian women living both in Italy and abroad, where traditional patriarchal thinking remains influential. Sixteen women defining themselves as ‘regretful were interviewed to explore their experiences of regret, the changes following the birth of children, family and social support, and employment. The thematic analysis highlighted several recurring themes: the idealisation of motherhood and the hidden struggles it conceals; the guilt associated with feeling inadequate and the indifference of some fathers; the social pressure that compels women to conform to maternal expectations; the perception of being trapped in a predefined role; and the conflict between personal identity and the ideal of the “perfect mother.”. The findings reveal that maternal regret is deeply intertwined with internalised patriarchal norms, the myth of the “good mother,” and the social expectation of women’s self-sacrifice. Despite recognising these as cultural constructs, participants expressed feelings of guilt, anger, and inadequacy, intensified by the unequal division of domestic and parental responsibilities. This issue and the need for a revival of women’s consciousness-raising groups to open a space for dialogue on the topic in countries where patriarchy is still strong, such as Italy, are discussed.
Journal Article
Beyond the Wall: Death Education at Middle School as Suicide Prevention
This study investigates the psychological effects of participation in Death Education (DeEd) by middle school children in two towns in northeast Italy in which suicides occur to a greater extent than in the rest of the region. The aims of the project “Beyond the Wall” were inherent to the prevention of suicide, address existential issues and enhance the meaning of life through positive intentions for the future and reflection on mortality. It involved eight classes (150 students in four classes in the experimental group; 81 in four classes in the control group) engaging with films, workgroup activities, photovoice and psychodrama. The constructs of resilience, emotional competency and psychological well-being were monitored with the Resilience Scale for Adolescents, the Hopelessness Scale for Children, the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children and the Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale. The DeEd intervention was found to be significantly related to some of the variables investigated, improving the students’ ability to recognise emotions and communicate them verbally while maintaining stable initial characteristics, such as psychological well-being and positive expectations for the future.
Journal Article
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) grieve over the loss of a conspecific
Behavioural reactions towards a dead conspecific have been observed rarely in wild canids and there is no documented scientific evidence of grief in pet dogs. A quantitative analysis of grief-related responses in both dogs and owners was conducted, using the validated online Mourning Dog Questionnaire. The survey was completed by 426 Italian adults who had owned at least two dogs, one of whom died while the other was still alive. This research aims to explore whether, how and what a dog may experience over the loss of a companion dog. Multiple logistic regression indicates that both a friendly or parental relationship between two dogs but also the fact that dogs used to share food and the owner’s grief and anger are principal predictors of negative behavioural changes. According to dog owners’ answers, the surviving dog after the death of the companion dog changed both in terms of activities (“playing”, “sleeping”, and “eating”) and emotions (fearfulness), which occurred as a function of the quality of the relationship between the two animals. By contrast, the time the two dogs had spent together had no effect on the behaviours of surviving dog. Owner perceptions about their dog’s reactions and emotions were not related to the memory or suffering of the event that tended to diminish over time. These findings indicate that a dog may show grief-related behavioural and emotional patterns when a close conspecific dies, with aspects of the latter possibly related to the owner’s emotional status.
Journal Article
Ecologies of care: qualitative insights from a psychosocial study on veterinarians' experiences in Northeastern Italy
Over the last decade, literature has raised concerns about the psychological well-being of veterinarians, highlighting exposure to economic, organizational, and clinical stressors. However, most research is quantitative and concentrated in Anglophone contexts (UK/US), leaving a significant gap in qualitative, EU-based data. While quantitative research highlights trends, qualitative methods offer in-depth insight crucial for developing tailored interventions. Addressing this gap, this study adopts a qualitative methodology informed by a psychosocial framework to explore the lived experiences of 20 companion animal veterinarians in Northeastern Italy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Five themes were generated, revealing that veterinary science and veterinarians are undergoing a profound transformation within their evolving sociocultural role and mandate. Findings highlight tensions related to fragmented communities, socioemotional delegitimization, and the hidden weight of changing client dynamics. This ripple effect, marked by complex tensions affecting personal (expectations) and professional (caring function) domains, challenges the coherence and sustainability of their occupational identity and psychosocial well-being, requiring an ongoing labor of readaptation. The study concludes that contemporary psychosocial distress in veterinary work should not be understood solely through individual-level factors. Rather, distress reflects profound changes in the sociocultural landscape, including shifts in how human-animal relationships are framed and changing client expectations. This highlights a pressing need for veterinary science to engage in deeper dialog with the human and social sciences. An ecological perspective is essential for designing targeted systemic interventions, informing policy, and creating effective, context-sensitive training.
Journal Article
The experience of children with a parent suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic
Children that have a parent with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) suffer from the progressive loss of their beloved ones. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the difficulties faced by these children have increased. The study aimed to detect whether there were differences between the minors experiencing a relative’s ALS and the minors with no experience of ALS and it aimed also to detect the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on these minors. The study involved Italian participants, in particular: the target group consisted of 38 children (7–18 years) (T0/T1); the control group consisted of 38 children (9–14 years) (T0 only). The following variables were measured: attachment with the Security Scale (SS), affects with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C), behavioural problems with Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), death representation with Testoni Death Representation Scale for Children (TDRS-C), self-concept with the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS), resilience and socio-emotional skills with the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA). The results showed higher negative affectivity (
p
< .001), externalising behaviours (
p
< .05), uncertainty in reflective function (
p
< .05) in the target group compared to the control one; after the COVID-19 pandemic minors in the target group showed reduced certainty of mental states (
p
< .05) and interpersonal and scholastic self-esteem (
p
< .05). The impact of ALS on these minors is significant and produces negative affect, externalizing behaviours and uncertainty of mental states. The lockdown situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated minors in their school and interpersonal self-esteem.
Journal Article
Spirituality for Coping with the Trauma of a Loved One’s Death During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Italian Qualitative Study
Spirituality may be a key factor in reducing the negative psychological effects of traumatic events and a means by which the experience of grief can be processed.The objective of the present research is to assess whether and how spirituality provided concrete support in those who lost a loved one during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants are 8 people from the most affected cities in northern Italy. They were interviewed in depth, the interviews were transcribed and the texts were analyzed through Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The results show that spirituality has been found to be a protective factor with regard to the processing of grief in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular with regard to the belief that the deceased loved one is now in an otherworldly dimension. In addition, the celebration of a funeral rite offers support to the grieving person in the early stages of mourning thus laying the foundation for a healthy grieving process. It is therefore important to support individual spirituality, which can be a useful tool for processing the traumatic experience, especially in difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Journal Article
Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults
Creative arts therapies (CAT) provide a safe and creative environment for older adults to process life experiences and maintain personal growth while aging. There is a growing need to make creative arts therapies more accessible to the aging population, as many have limited access to these services. This need has been catalyzed by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tele-CAT offers a possible solution. This study explored the experiences of older adults who participated in an online creative process of digital photocollage based on CAT. Twenty-four Italian and Israeli community-dwelling older adults aged 78 to 92 participated in this research through Zoom teleconferencing software. Transcriptions of the sessions and the art produced through the photocollage were qualitatively analyzed through Thematic Analysis. The findings show that the projective stimuli of digital photographs supported older adults’ narratives and engaged them in a more embodied emotional experience. Participant experiences involved artistic enjoyment within a positive and safe interaction with therapists. The creation of digital photocollages allowed the participants to process their life experiences and create an integrative view of their life, a vital developmental task in late life. These results point to the advantages and challenges of tele-CAT for older adults.
Journal Article
Conceptual Development and Content Validation of a Multicultural Instrument to Assess the Normalization of Gender-Based Violence against Women
The normalization of gender-based violence (GBV) consists of all those cultural beliefs and values that sustain, justify, or minimize GBV perpetration. Acknowledging the lack of instruments addressing the normalization of GBV and its constitutive sociocultural dimensions, this article presents the conceptual development and initial validation of the Normalization of gender-based violence against women scale. This 18-item instrument could be used to assess the normalization of violence against women in GBV survivors of various cultural contexts. The scale has been developed through a sizeable mixed-methods study. This paper reports the qualitative portion of the study that allowed the development of the instrument and assessment of its content and face validity. In particular, the method section details the process by which the assessed scale’s domain has been identified through an expert panel workshop, the analysis of GBV survivor’s interviews, and the review of existing scales. The assessment of face and content validity, trough expert judges’ evaluation and Cognitive Interviewing, is presented. This instrument is the first normalization scale developed by a multicultural team for use with violence survivors. The techniques used to construct this scale aimed to capture cultural aspects of normalization that might be shared across women from diverse groups. Therefore, its use could enable social or health care providers worldwide to program or evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to contrast GBV by promoting a clearer understanding of cultural and social norms that sustain the acceptance and normalization of violence.
Journal Article