Admission of an infant into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an experience that has been associated with a variety of both positive and negative health outcomes for parent and child. While both the setting name and the admitted population alludes to a sole focus on the affected infant, what often remains underrecognized is the impact on the ones who care for the newborn long before and longer after their NICU stay. Given the recency and unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, very little research has examined the impact of COVID-19-specific stress on the experience of parents of infants requiring a NICU stay in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. As such, the current study aimed to gather electronic survey data from caregivers (both biological and non-biological) of infants across the United States admitted to a NICU on or after March 1, 2020. Major factors addressed in the survey included anticipation of the NICU, COVID-19-specific stress, NICU-specific stress, global health outcomes (physical, mental, and social health), parental bonding, and parental self-efficacy. It was hypothesized that (1) COVID-specific stress and would be associated with suboptimal NICU experiences; (2) COVID-specific stress would be associated with worse parental health (physical, mental, and social) and parent-child relational health (bonding, self-efficacy) outcomes; (3) NICU stress and parental health would serve as mechanisms through which COVID-specific stress impacts parental-relational outcomes; (4) These associations would vary depending on whether or not a caregiver was anticipating that their infant would need to go to the NICU. Hypotheses were partially supported such that COVID stress was associated with increased NICU stress and poorer caregiver physical and social health. Unique patterns were found depending on facets of caregiver health. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

In just over ten years, internet-based technologies revolutionized several aspects of daily human life, including social interactions. Social media sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, have dramatically changed the way people keep in touch or make new acquaintances. On the flipside, recent research have highlighted the risk for and inappropriate use of SNSs, which might result in personal discomfort or a mental disorder. For this reason, it is important to understand how these issues develop starting from the diverse contexts and individual features. The main aim of the present Ph.D. project is to identify to which extent the interaction between psychological components, like perceived parental warmth, and genetic susceptibility to the familiar environment can describe the social behavior online and offline. The underlying hypothesis is that sensibility to the familiar context will represent a positive factor, if the person recalls a good perception of parental care, leading to confident psychological mechanisms in adulthood, hence to more optimal neural responses to social stressors in real life, and to the appropriate use of social media. To this aim, three studies have been performed: •Study 1. Analysis of the impact of perceived early social experience on the formation of interactional patterns in adult social interaction in two different countries (Italy and Singapore); •Study 2. Investigation on how the interaction between genetic features of oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms and perceived early social experience affect the neurophysiological responses to cries; •Study 3. Exploration of the link between adult psychological dimensions related to social behavior and metrics of usage on Instagram platform. The experimental activities have been performed in two different laboratories: as for the Italian samples, questionnaires and genetic information were collected at the Affiliative Behavior and PhysiologyLaboratory in Rovereto; with regards to the Singaporean sample, participants completed the questionnaires, then were tested for genetics, Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS), Electrocardiogram (ECG) at the Social and Affective Neuroscience set in Nanyang Technological University. One of the purposes of the overall project was the construction of a rich database, which aims to include information about genetic polymorphisms proved to be sensitive to social environment (oxytocin receptor gene rs53576, rs2254298, and serotonin rs25531), recalled parental warmth, main dimensions of adult attachment, neural and physiological responses to social distress, like listening to cries, and behavior on two main social media platforms, such are Facebook and Instagram. This complex design gives the project several strengths, such as the possibility to focus on the contribution of diverse factors within a bio-psycho-i social frame, that is claimed to be the more appropriate by scientific community standard, in order to have a wider and deeper understanding of human behavior. Secondly, results generated from studies based on this database would allow filling the present gap about social media usage and psychological mechanisms, providing a further comparison with offline behavior. Lastly, results might be helpful when implemented in clinical work to understand if and how social media can become a useful mean in clinical work. The temporary fragility of this project is related to the genetic sample size, as a broader sampling would be necessary to have a comparable amount of the different variants and generate more reliable explanations. However, this data collection represents a starting point, as it resents of temporal constraints. Future efforts are necessary to enrich the dataset and to find appropriate methodologies to examine in depth the interaction between all the factors

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Aquest estudi examina les relacions entre la dinàmica familiar, ajustament diàdic conjugal i vincle parental dels joves-adults drogoadictes i no drogoaddictes des del model sistèmic. Per aquesta raó, l’objectiu principal d’aquest estudi és per una banda, determinar si existeix diferències estadísticament significatives entre el grup experimental i el grup control quant a les variables a estudiar. I per l’altra, valorar la importància del paper de la família tant el camp de la prevenció com en el tractament de les drogodependències. Per fer-ho, s’ha utilitzat tres instruments: la FACES III d’Olson i col•l (1985) per mesurar la dinàmica familiar, la DAS de Spanier i col•l (1976) per avaluar l’ajustament diàdic conjugal i el PBI de Parker i col•l (1979) per avaluar el vincle parental. Els resultats indiquen existeix diferències estadísticament significatives entre el grup experimental i el grup control quant a dinàmica familiar. Concretament, la majoria dels joves-adults drogoaddictes perceben una dinàmica familiar estructuralment desvinculada, seguida per la rígidament desvinculada, que dins el model Circumplex d’Olson correspon al tipus de família extrema o moderada, respectivament. Quant al grup control, la majoria de joves-adults no drogoaddictes perceben una dinàmica familiar estructuralment separada, flexiblement separada o connectada; i dins del model Circumplex, correspon al tipus de família equilibrada. Quant a la percepció de l’ajustament diàdic conjugal, destacar que no s’han trobat diferències estadísticament significatives entre els pares i les mares del grup experimental com els pares i les mares del grup control. Finalment, quant al vincle parental, assenyalar que la majoria de joves-adults drogoaddictes perceben un vincle de control sense afecte contràriament als joves del grup control, dels quals la majoria perceben un vincle òptim tant al grup de mares com de pares. La conclusió final ha estat que aquest estudi demostra la importància del paper de la família tant en el camp de la prevenció com en el camp de la intervenció. / Este estudio examina las relaciones entre la dinámica familiar, ajustamiento diádico conyugal y vínculo parental de los jóvenes-adultos drogadictos y no drogadictos desde el modelo sistémico. Por esta razón, el objetivo principal de este estudio es por un lado, determinar si existe diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el grupo experimental y el grupo control con relación a las variables a estudiar. Y por otro lado, valorar a importancia del papel de la familia tanto en el campo de la prevención como en el tratamiento de las drogodependencias. Para llevarlo a cabo, se ha utilizado tres instrumentos: la FACES III de Olson y al. (1985) para medir la dinámica familiar, la DAS de Spanier y al. (1976) para medir el ajustamiento diádico conyugal y el PBI y at. (1979) para medir el vínculo parental. Los resultados indican que existe diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el grupo experimental y el grupo control en cuanto a dinámica familiar. Concretamente, la mayoría de los jóvenes-adultos drogadictos perciben una dinámica familiar estructuralmente desvinculada, seguida por la rígidamente desvinculada, que dentro del modelo Circumplejo de Olson corresponde al tipo de familia extrema o moderada, respectivamente. En cuanto al grupo control, la mayoría de jóvenes-adultos no drogadictos perciben una dinámica familiar estructuralmente separada, flexiblemente separada o conectada; y dentro del modelo Circumplejo, corresponde al tipo de familia equilibrada. Con relación al ajustamiento diádico conyugal, destacar que no se ha hallado diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los padres y las madres del grupo experimental como los padres y las madres del grupo control. Finalmente, en cuanto al vínculo parental, destacar que la mayoría de jóvenes-adultos drogadictos perciben un vínculo de control sin afecto contrariamente a los jóvenes-adultos del grupo control, que la mayoría perciben un vínculo óptimo tanto en el grupo de madres como de padres. La conclusión final que se ha llegado ha estado que este estudio demuestra la importancia del papel de la familia tanto en el campo de la prevención como en el campo de la intervención. / This study examines the relationship between family dynamics, dyadic marital adjustment, and parental bonding in young-adult drug addicts and non-drug addicts from a systemic model. In this sense, the main aim of this study is, on the one hand, to determine whether there are significant differences between the experimental group and the control group with regards to the variables to be studied; and, on the other hand, to assess the importance of the family role both in the field of prevention and in drug addiction treatments. Three measures have been used: FACES III by Olson et al. (1985) to assess family dynamics; DAS by Spanier et al. (1976) to assess dyadic marital adjustment; and PBI by Parker et al. (1979) to assess parental bonding. Results show that there are statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group as regards family dynamics. Particularly, most young-adult drug addicts perceive their family dynamics as structurally detached, followed by strictly detached, which in Olson's Circumplex model corresponds to the extreme or moderate family type, respectively. As for the control group, most young-adult non-drug addicts perceive their family dynamics as structurally separated, flexibly separated or connected; which, according to Olson's Circumplex model corresponds to the balanced family type. With regards to the perception of dyadic marital adjustment, there are no statistically significant differences between fathers and mothers in the experimental group, as in the case of fathers and mothers in the control group. Finally, concerning parental bonding, most young-adult drug addicts perceive their parental bonds as affectionless control, whereas the young subjects in the control group perceive theirs as optimum both in the group of mothers and in the group of fathers. The final conclusion is that this study shows the importance of the family role both in the field of prevention and in the field of intervention.