Sebastiano Costa

• PhD in Psychology
• Senior Researcher at University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"

Maintaining a balance between healthy technology use and happy relationships can be challenging. This explorative study aims to examine the association between problematic internet use and relationship satisfaction in couples using a dyadic approach. In a sample of 155 heterosexual couples, a DRSA was conducted to examine the association of both pa...

The scientific literature is full of studies demonstrating that parental use of manipulative educational strategies, such as love withdrawal or guilt induction, may be associated with maladaptive developmental outcomes in children, adolescents, and young adults. These dimensions of parenting can be grouped within the construct of parental psycholog...

The traditional family, today, is outclassed by the spread of dual-career families (Gahlawat et al., 2019), hence the need to seek a balance in the management of work and family and to pay attention to what can affect individual well-being. Through attention to the quality of contexts, it is possible to study those constructs considered fundamental...

Introduction: The intensification of the migration phenomenon led to a growing interest in the public domain about the attitudes towards foreigners. Xenophobia and xenophilia are two opposite orientations towards foreigners, that could be considered the consequences of the interaction between several factors. Based on the self-determination theory,...

Although social distancing measures could be potentially perceived as thwarting conditions for basic psychological needs and thus causing psychological distress, off(on)line social support could compensate for this frustration by providing psychological proximity. Using self‐determination theory, in this study, we aimed (a) to evaluate the change o...

The current study was aimed at contributing to the understanding of the role of perceived parental monitoring, psychological control, and coping strategies on adolescents’ problem behaviors, in terms of anxiety and drinking behavior. Participants were 541 high school students, 17 to 19-year old (M = 17.09, SD = 0.80) high school students in Sicily...

Literature has consistently highlighted the role of time perspective (TP) in predicting different psychological outcomes. Despite the importance that TP seems to have, few studies have investigated its role in personal relationships or attempted to explain the underlying mechanisms within this complex model. The purpose of this study was therefore...

Drawing on the self-determination theory (SDT) framework and the dualistic model of passion, the current study sought to test a model in which psychological basic needs differently predicted harmonious and obsessive passion, which in turn lead to problematic behaviours and flow experience across two different screen-based activities (gaming and soc...

Objective: The main aim of this study was to deepen the literature about parental autonomy support, analysing the relation between its two dimensions, Promotion of Independence (PI) and Promotion of Volitional Functioning (PVF), and adaptive outcomes in adolescents. Specifically, it was hypothesized that both components would predict higher self-es...

This study aimed to examine an integrated model of the mediation role of need satisfaction and frustration in the association between the sibling relationship and interpersonal competence and social anxiety in young adults and their siblings. In a sample of 1621 pairs of siblings with a range age between 16 and 30 years old, the actor-partner inter...

During the pregnancy period, future parents differ substantially in their psychological adjustment, with some parents being more at risk for stress and depression than others. Grounded in self‐determination theory, the present study aimed to investigate the role of motivation to have a child and the social support perceived by both partners in pred...

Although the existence of dysfunctional love relationships is well known and the term “love addiction” dates back to the 1970s, empirical studies on this topic are still limited. The biggest problem is arguably is the lack of a clear definition of the love addiction construct and the lack of psychometric instruments for the assessment of its sympto...

The main purpose of this study is to investigate how students’ perceptions of need satisfaction and need frustration at school are indirectly associated with academic achievement through academic engagement. A modified version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale was used to assess these needs in a school-based context...

The WHOunderlined the importance of a healthy diet for the psychophysical well-being of the person. Self Determination Theory highlighted how the interaction between contextual, such as peer pressure, and motivational factors play a fundamental role in promoting healthy eating habits. The present study aims to assess if peer pressure affects eating...

The aim of this manuscript is to examine the perceived parental perfectionism in undergraduate Italian students. Study 1 aimed at exploring the factorial structure, reliability, and construct validity of the Italian version of the Family Almost Perfect Scale (FAPS). The aim of Study 2 was to cross-validate the FAPS structure with a different sample...

In accordance with the Self-Determination Theory, the interpersonal behavior of others can support or thwart the basic psychological needs and influence the well-being of students. Furthermore, several studies have shown that problematic internet use has a negative influence on the academic field. However, no studies have investigated the impact of...

Although there is an increasing interest in studying the relations between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and well-being, this association for both parents and adolescents has been to some extent disregarded within the self-determination theory. The present study was aimed at testing a model of relations between father, mother, and a...

Although technological addictions, similar to other behavioural addictions, share psychosocial risk factors with substance-related addictions, the studies on the interplay between contextual and personal variables in the prediction of technological addictions are still limited. For this reason, in accordance with Self-determination Theory (SDT), th...

This study aims to understand the mechanisms that link trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) and parenting in contributing to the development of body uneasiness in adolescents. Participants were 405 adolescents (152 males, 253 females), from 14 to 19 years old, who completed the Perceptions of Parents Scales, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Ques...

Although the broad research regarding parental psychological control, instruments to assess the multidimensionality of the construct are lacking. The aim of the present study was to de-velop multidimensional measure of parental psychological control. In the first study, item se-lection of the new Inventory of Parental Psychological Control (IPPC) w...

Self-determination theory has become a consolidated theoretical framework to deepen the psychological control construct. Numerous studies have widely investigated the consequences of the use of this parenting strategy during the life cycle. Although studies focused on the antecedents of parental psychological control are not so numerous, they provi...

Italy is one of the major COVID‐19 hotspots. To reduce the spread of the infections and the pressure on Italian healthcare systems, since March 10, 2020, Italy has been under a total lockdown, forcing people into home confinement. Here we present data from 1,310 people living in the Italian territory (Mage = 23.91 ± 3.60 years, 880 females, 501 wor...

Although several studies have investigated the roles of teaching practices during the learning process on students, the role of school learned helplessness (LH) and mastery orientation (MO) has not been deeply examined. The present study aimed to verify the dynamics between academic achievement and the perception of the students of their teacher's...

Background and Objectives: The main aim of this study is to test the intergenerational transmission of the relations between coping strategies to well-being from parents to adolescents through the modeling of the coping strategies of the parents to those of the child. Methods: 154 cohabitating families composed by father, mother, and adolescent in...

This study examines the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI ), support, and parental psychological control practices. Three hundred adolescents, between 11 and 13 years old, took part in the study (163 were males and 137 were females). Participants completed the Perceptions of Parents Scales for the parental support, the Dep...

Framed within an ecological perspective of the onset of adolescent problem behaviors, the current study explored the joint role of parent-adolescents’ relationships and youth's individual factors in binge eating and drinking. Firstly, in line with pieces of research highlighting the beneficial impact of effective parenting on youth development, the...

School refusal (SR) is a complex problem that may be caused by different risk factors such as individual and contextual factors (Kearney, 2007; Maynard et al., 2018; Heyne et al., 2019). These mechanisms can be described in the context of self-determination theory (SDT). For these reasons, the purpose of the present study is investigate the relatio...

In the last years, the interest in Internet Gaming Disorder has grown considerably, which has necessitated the development of valid and reliable tools in different cultural contexts. Although, in the scientific literature, there are several measures that evaluate the Internet Gaming Disorder, the Game Addiction Scale has shown to be a valid questio...

Research suggests that psychologically controlling and autonomy-supportive parenting can be described within the Self-Determination Theory’s (SDT) framework. Two studies were conducted to examine (a) the role of parental need frustration as a predictor of parental psychological control, (b) the role of parental need satisfaction as a predictor of p...

Background: Despite the growth in the number of studies on Gaming Disorders (GD), assessing the characteristics of clinical subjects is still limited. Driven by the need to overcome this limitation, a broad systematic review is essential to cover the studies that have already assessed the clinical characteristics of individuals diagnosed with GD. O...

Summary of studies reviewed.

Framed from a framework based on the integration of self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000 ) and Endler and Parker's (1990) conception of coping strategies, the authors analyzed the relationships between peer pressure and binge behaviors (binge eating and binge drinking) in adolescence. Moreover, the authors explored the mediating role of sat...

In accordance with the Self‐determination Theory (SDT), six dimensions of parenting (autonomy support vs. psychological control, structure vs. chaos, warmth vs. rejection) could be defined in their relation to adolescents’ adjustment. However, the mechanisms of these relations need to be further deepened. In accordance with SDT, the aims of this st...

According to a person-oriented approach, the study was addressed to inquire the existence of different groups of emerging adults (EAs) each characterized by distinct configurations of parental psychological control and autonomy support conceptualized in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF) and in terms promotion of independence (PI)....

The Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) is a self-report instrument assessing the satisfaction and frustration of the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness defined by self-determination theory. The aim of this study was to examine the dimensionality, the predictive validity, and th...

Introduction: Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) is a relevant construct that could promote positive development in adolescents and may predict a number of affect-related outcomes. However, studies focused on its antecedents are still scarce. The main aim of this study is to examine the intergenerational transmission of trait EI from parents...

The present study aims to investigate the relation between perceived parental psychological control, school learned helplessness and mastery orientation, and also to test frustration intolerance as a mediator in the relation between perceived psychological control and school learned helplessness. The sample consisted of 214 (86 male and 128 female)...

Researchers have become increasingly interested in investigating the role of the psychological aspects related to the perception of cervical screening barriers. This study investigates the influence of trait EI on perceived cervical screening barriers. Furthermore, this study investigates the incremental validity of trait EI beyond the Big Five, as...

Eating disorders (EDs) are a set of pathologies, which have been increasing in prevalence in the recent years, suggesting the importance of studying symptoms and attitudes associated with EDs in depth. Several studies have showed that both psychological basic needs and trait emotion intelligence (trait EI) are relevant aspects of EDs, however these...

Objective: In the field of perinatal psychology, the majority of studies focused on mothers’ psychological and behavioral states during pregnancy, neglecting the role of their partners. This study used an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model approach to evaluate the role of social support and emotional intelligence in both members of marital couples...

Research has not yet been deepened in the link between personality factors and risk of school refusal. Furthermore, previous studies fail to verify the direct relation between trait EI and the risk of school refusal. The present study examined personality traits, emotion regulation and trait EI for the contributory role they may play in predicting...

The purpose of this multistudy report was to adapt the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) to the Italian context. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, we investigated the dimensionality, reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity of the instrument in a sample of 544 participants (males = 41%) from 16...

The present study examined the contribution of personality traits and academic beliefs (e.g. school self-efficacy, quality of life as a student) that may exert a role in predicting mastery orientation (MO) and learned helplessness (LH). The sample consisted of 196 students (111 males, 85 females) from a middle school (M age = 12.22; SD = .98) in th...

Previous studies have investigated constructs that facilitate adaptation to chronic disease and improve quality of life and constructs that lead to psychopathological complications. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of coping and emotional regulation on the quality of life of patients on dialysis. Three questionnaires were a...

Despite the extensive research on parental psychological control, no study has explored the relation between parental and teacher psychological control, maladaptive perfectionism and learned helplessness (LH). The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) whether perceived teacher psychological control predicts positively LH, (2) whether perceiv...

This study aimed to verify the factorial structure, internal validity, reliability, and criterion validity of The Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education Revised Scale (SACIE-R) in an Italian sample. The SACIE-R is a useful tool to measure three aspects of teachers’ perceptions about inclusion, which are Sentiments, Attitudes a...

Relatively few studies have examined the mediating role of basic psychological needs in the relationship between parenting and psychological outcomes using a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework. This study aimed to examine the role of need satisfaction and need frustration as mediators of the association between parental psychological control...

Renal diseases are distressing and it is, especially, the aspect of uncertainty that exerts an influence on patients’ emotional adjustment to illness. The present study investigates the relationship between uncertainty and trait emotional intelligence (EI), and the role of EI as mediator in the relationship between uncertainty, anxiety, and depress...

Background and aims The current study examined the mediating role of maladaptive perfectionism among parental psychological control, eating disorder symptoms, and exercise dependence symptoms by gender in habitual exercisers. Methods Participants were 348 Italian exercisers (n = 178 men and n = 170 women; M age = 20.57, SD = 1.13) who completed se...

The purpose of this study was the adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi and Ashby, 2001). In a first study, we aim was to explore the factor structure (EFA) of the instrument and to examine the main psychometric properties, examining the relationship between the dim...

Much research has been conducted to study the association between personality and eating disorders using clinical samples. However, less research has been done on personality variables in non-clinical cases of adolescents prone to binge eating. The purpose of this study is to compare a group of 53 adolescents without binge eating with a group of 28...

L’obiettivo del presente studio è quello di analizzare la relazione tra le dimensioni del benessere psicologico e le credenze di intolleranza alla frustrazione. Si è ipotizzato che a più alti livelli di intolleranza alla frustrazione (intolleranza emotiva, intolleranza al disagio, pretese/diritto, perfezionismo/realizzazione) corrisponda un minor i...

The aim of this research was to compare parental stress, coping strategies and social support perceived in families of children with low functioning autism (n = 8), high functioning autism (n = 10), Down syndrome (n = 12) and parents of typically developing children (n = 20). Specifically, the objective was to investigate which variables (coping st...

The aim of this study was to verify the factor structure of a self-report filled out by students to assess learned helplessness (LH) and mastery orientation (MO) in a school environment. Two separate studies were undertaken to accomplish this purpose. Through exploratory factor analysis, Study 1 aimed to explore factor structure of the new Learned...

-Research on the relationship between parental alexithymia and parenting is relatively scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between parental alexithymia and three styles of parenting (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and the relationships between parental alexithymia and two domains of psychological co...

The main purpose of the present investigation, based on Self-Determination Theory, was to examine the mediating role of basic psychological needs (Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness) on the relationship between exercise dependence and maladaptive perfectionism. Participants were 169 Italian subjects, of whom 85 were male and 84 were female (age:...

Relatively few studies have examined the mechanisms through which psychological control creates impairments in the scholastic and academic areas of children’s and adolescents’ functioning. The purpose of this study was to highlight the relation between psychological control and learned helplessness (LH), and also to test school self-efficacy as a m...

This study examined how self and parental ratings of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), relate to self and parental ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems. A total of 263 adolescents between 13 and 17 years and their parents participated in the study, completing two forms of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of psychological well-being and frustration intolerance beliefs. Specifically, it was assumed that a higher level of frustration intolerance (emotional intolerance, entitlement, discomfort intolerance, and achievement frustration), corresponds to a lower index of bo...

Learned helplessness (LH) is defined as a passive behavior characterized by an inability to learn that may affect the academic success of students. Conversely, students who show good motivation skills, optimism and perseverance are more focused on tasks and ‘mastery oriented’ (derived from Mastery Orientation, MO). The purpose of this study was to...

This study aimed to verify whether psychologists and game activities could reduce preoperative anxiety and promote compliance in paediatric patients. More specifically, we sought to evaluate whether it would be better to propose contextualized games or just distracting activities. A total of 104 children undergoing surgery were assigned to the foll...

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between frustration intolerance and emotional-behavioural problems. Specifically, the study explored whether frustration intolerance beliefs were associated with difficulties in assertive behaviour, anxiety, depression, and anger in a non-clinical student sample (N = 250). For this...

Learned helplessness (LH) is defined as a passive behavior characterized by an inability to learn that may affect the academic success of students. Conversely, students who show good motivation skills, optimism and perseverance are more focused on tasks and ‘mastery oriented’ (derived from Mastery Orientation, MO). The purpose of this study was to...

Relatively few studies have examined the relationship between conception of God and psychological outcomes in a self-determination theory (SDT) framework. The aim of this study was to examine the role of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the association between conception of God and psychological outcomes. In a sample of 210 religious youn...

Recent studies have indicated that assessments of need thwarting better predict diminished functioning and ill-being compared to low need satisfaction, which better predict optimal functioning and well-being. In this study we aimed to further explore the important theoretical distinction between psychological need thwarting and need satisfaction in...

The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological control and trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI), while also testing the mediating role of trait EI in the relationship between psychological control and behaviour problems. A total of 260 adolescents, between 13 and 17 years old, participated in the study. Particip...

Media use plays an important role in the social, emotional, and cognitive development of young individuals and accounts for a large portion of their time. For this reason it is important to under-stand the variables that contribute to improve the use of the Internet as a source of information and knowledge in formal and informal contexts. How is it...

Abundant research has shown that parental psychological control is related to internalizing problems across different life periods, including middle childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Relatively few studies, however, have addressed the mediating mechanisms that account for this relation. On the basis of selfdetermination theory, the aim o...

In this study we aimed to determine whether or not the siblings of children with disabilities have more emotional (stress levels) and relational (parental education levels, family functioning levels, relational and behavioral problems of children while at school), problems than do their peers. We selected 32 couples (16 with and 16 without children...

The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of parental psychological control on exercise dependence symptoms in young competitive athletes by gender. Participants were 262 athletes (M age = 20.93, SD = 1.90, 51 % male athletes) who completed self-report questionnaires assessing socio-demographic characteristics, parental psychological cont...

Although exercise can have many advantages, there are still many people that tend to be less active. For this reason, an attempt was made to understand the factors related to physical activity and those related to encouraging exercise, which is an essential area of health promotion and a priority in preventing serious diseases. The aim of the study...

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between frustration intolerance and emotional-behavioural problems. Specifically, the study explored whether frustration intolerance beliefs were associated with difficulties in assertive behaviour, anxiety, depression, and anger in a non-clinical student sample (N = 250). For this...

Objectives: The purpose of our study was to explore the prevalence, and the role of mood, exercise frequency, age, and gender differences of exercise dependence. Methods: Regular exercisers (N = 409) completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Exercise Dependence Scale, and the Profile of Mood States. For data analyses, the participants were s...

Aim. Physical activity can be motivated by a variety of reasons and the self-determination theory offers a suitable framework for studying exercise behaviour. The Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2) is a useful tool for assessing sport motivation in regular exercisers from the point of view of the Self-determination Theory. A...

Several researches have focused on association between personalities and eating disorders, however, only few studies have analyzed the gender role. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to describe the correlation for no clinical adolescent males and females in the association between eating behavior and personality. 324 male and 267 female...

The main objective of this paper is to examine the results of an observational study on the use of Facebook by adolescents in an informal context. The authors describe the preliminary results of the research and analyze the significant variables that contribute to improve the current, important debate about the social network as a source of informa...

Researchers have become increasingly interested in the psychological aspects of inflammatory disorders. Within this line of research, the present study compares the trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) profiles of 827 individuals with various inflammatory conditions (rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ankylosing spondylitis, multiple sclerosis, and RA p...

The study aimed to investigate whether certain physical self-concept predicted exercise dependence among young regular exercisers using a multidimensional prospective. One hundred fifty-two regular gym users, 78 were male and 74 female, completed: Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ), Exercise Dependence Scale-21 (EDS-21), and Eating Diso...

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in personality traits, exercise motivation and mood states, in weekend exercisers and non-weekend exercisers. A sample of 536 individuals was included in the study. The results have shown that weekend exercisers have higher scores in certain personality aspects, selfdetermined regulation and...

Bodybuilder rischiano lo sviluppo di disturbi del comportamento alimentare come gli atleti praticanti altri sport che enfatizzano peso e forme corporee e sono esposti alla dipendenza da esercizio fisico. Questo studio indaga le differenze tra atleti praticanti bodybuilding e attività di fitness rispetto a percezione corporea, motivazione all’eserci...

Several researches have focused on association between personalities and eating disorders, however, only few studies have analyzed the gender role. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to describe the correlation for no clinical adolescent males and females in the association between eating behaviour and personality. 324 male and 267 femal...

Background and aims: The purpose of this study was to verify the factorial structure, internal validity, reliability, and criterion validity of the 21-item Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) in an Italian sample. Methods: Italian voluntary (N = 519) users of gyms who had a history of regular exercise for over a year completed the EDS-R and m...

The aim of this research was to explore parent-child interaction processes. In particular, parent training was experimented in order: a) to modify parents’ misguided beliefs about mental retardation and children’s behavioural problems; b) to reduce parental stress and increase parenting skills. 28 couples of parents with mentally retarded children...

This study investigated the concept of family resilience in relation to parenting styles comparing four factors that enable parents to cope with a special-needs child: family functioning, couple satisfaction, parental stress and parenting style. Four aspects (Focus of Attention, Experiential Modality, Regulation and Energy) of parent-child interact...