The present study examines parents' self-efficacy about anger regulation and irritability as predictors of harsh parenting and adolescent children's irritability (i.e., mediators), which in turn were examined as predictors of adolescents' externalizing and internalizing problems. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents (N = 1,298 families) from 12 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States) were interviewed when children were about 13 years old and again 1 and 2 years later. Models were examined separately for mothers and fathers. Overall, cross-cultural similarities emerged in the associations of both mothers' and fathers' irritability, as well as of mothers' self-efficacy about anger regulation, with subsequent maternal harsh parenting and adolescent irritability, and in the associations of the latter variables with adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. The findings suggest that processes linking mothers' and fathers' emotion socialization and emotionality in diverse cultures to adolescent problem behaviors are somewhat similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examines associations between parents’ rejection and control, adolescents’ self-efficacy in their regulation of negative emotions, and maladjustment. Path analyses were employed to test (a) whether adolescents’ dysregulation and self-efficacy regarding anger/sadness regulation mediate the relationship between parental rejection/control and adolescent maladjustment; (b) whether adolescent adjustment mediates the association between parental rejection/control and dysregulation and self-efficacy regarding anger/sadness regulation. Participants included 103 Italian adolescents (Time 1: M age = 15.57; 53% male), their mothers (n = 103), and their fathers (n = 79). Follow up data were assessed one year later (Time 2). At Time 1, adolescent reports of the frequency of mothers’ and fathers’ rejection and control were examined. At Time 2, adolescent-reports of their beliefs about self-efficacy in regulating anger and sadness, as well as anger and sadness dysregulation, were assessed by two methods: questionnaire and mobile ecological momentary assessment. At Time 2, mothers’, fathers’, and adolescents’ reports of adolescents’ aggressive behaviors and depressive problems were also assessed. Maternal rejection was associated with higher one year later aggressive problems, which in turn were associated with higher dysregulation of sadness, and lower self-efficacy in dealing with both anger and sadness. In addition, maternal rejection was associated with higher depressive symptoms one year later, which in turn were associated with lower self-efficacy in dealing with sadness and higher dysregulation of both anger and sadness. Finally, maternal control was associated with higher depressive symptoms, whereas paternal control was associated with lower depressive symptoms.

Nearly half of adolescents experience depressive or aggressive symptoms that impair their functioning at some point in adolescence. Experiencing intense difficult emotions and difficulties regulating such emotions may lead to these depressive and aggressive symptoms. However, existing work largely investigates how adolescent emotions at a single time point predict adolescent depressive or aggressive symptoms months or years later. New investigations are needed to capture the dynamic, changing nature of adolescents’ daily experiences of emotions and symptoms of mental distress. Such investigations would further understanding of how emotions affect mental health in adolescents’ everyday lives. Answering this call, the present study investigated how emotion dysregulation moderated and mediated daily associations between sadness and depressive symptoms and between anger and aggression utilizing ecological momentary assessment in a community sample of 103 Italian adolescents (M_age = 16.77, SD = 0.78, range: 15–18 years old; 47% female). The results revealed that if an adolescent experienced higher-than-usual sadness or anger on a particular day, then they also experienced higher than usual depressive or aggressive symptoms, respectively. Emotion dysregulation mediated and moderated these associations. Adolescents with higher anger had greater difficulties regulating their anger, which led to higher aggressive symptoms (a mediating effect). If adolescents’ sadness was higher than usual on a given day, their depressive symptoms were more severe than usual if they also had higher than usual difficulties regulating sadness (a moderating effect). These findings contribute to our understanding of how emotions impact mental distress on a daily basis for adolescents, emphasize the importance of examining specific adolescent emotions, and shed new light on how emotional regulatory capacities influence emotions and mental health in adolescents’ everyday lives.

Despite several empirical studies on the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that have highlighted its detrimental effect on individuals’ mental health, the identification of psychological factors that may moderate its impact on individuals’ behavior and well-being remains partly unexplored. The present study was conceived to examine the mediation role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy in the relationship between positivity and anxiety, depression, and perceived self-efficacy in complying with the containment measures to contrast the COVID-19 spread. Furthermore, the moderation role of age was tested. A sample of 1258 participants (64.2% women; M_age = 42.09, SD = 13.62) enrolled from the Italian general population answered an online survey aimed at investigating the role of individual differences in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. We opted for a snowball recruiting procedure to find participants. The online survey was disseminated through email invitation and using social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram). A multi-group path analysis model was performed using Mplus 8.4 to explore the hypothesized relations among variables. The following criteria were employed to evaluate the goodness of fit: χ² likelihood ratio statistic, CFI and TLI > 0.95, RMSEA < 0.06 and SRMR < 0.08. The findings corroborated the protective role of both positivity and regulatory emotional self-efficacy in reducing individuals’ anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as in fostering individuals’ capabilities in complying with the containment measures imposed by the government to reduce the risk of illness and to contain the spread of the virus COVID-19. Specifically, regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs partially mediated the relations between positivity and anxiety and depressive symptoms and fully mediated the effect of positivity on perceived self-efficacy beliefs in complying with the containment measures. These paths were equal across ages. The results of the present study appear relevant to implementing psychological interventions aimed to reduce the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health through the promotion of individuals’ optimistic orientation and emotion regulation.

Background: Youths' online problematic behaviors, such as smartphone or social network sites (SNS) addiction, gained increasing attention nowadays, due to their impact on concurrent and later adjustment, such as emotional and/or behavioral problems, academic impairments, or relational issues.Aims: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot school‐based intervention to contrast online addictive behaviors while fostering adolescents' self‐regulative abilities.Materials & Methods: The intervention started in January 2022 in an Italian junior high school located in Rome, and consisted of four meetings with students. A total sample of 462 15‐year‐old adolescents (M_age = 15.2; SD = 0.50; 41% females; N_control = 214; N_intervention = 248) was considered. Within the latent difference score framework, we examined short‐term changes from the pre‐to‐the‐postintervention levels of SNS and smartphone addiction, and self‐regulatory self‐efficacy (SRSE) beliefs as a possible booster of the intervention's effectiveness.Results: Results showed a significant decrease in both online addictions (SNS and smartphone addiction), controlling for age, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, because of the short‐term efficacy of the project. The buffering effect of SRSE beliefs was further supported.Conclusion: These findings emphasized the usefulness of promoting youths' self‐regulative beliefs to contrast problematic tendencies, according to a Positive Youth Development perspective which focused on resources rather than only on the prevention of negative outcomes for youths' adjustment.