During February and March 2020, the Italian government decided to provide guidelines in order to counter the spreading of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Several studies have shown that the first Lockdown deeply affected the psychological well-being of the individuals, but the role of possible protective variables is currently not known. In the present study we aimed to investigate the impact of several behavioral variables on individuals’ mental states and emotions experienced during the first Lockdown in Italy. Participants were 172 Italian adults and they were asked to answer several questions regarding the intensity of mental states and emotions experienced, the perceived usefulness of lockdown, the feeling of living a normal life, and the coping strategies implemented to face the pandemic. Results showed that, during the first wave of COVID-19 in Italy, only the perceived usefulness of lockdown positively affected people’s emotions. This result suggests that a better communication of the experimental findings supporting the political decisions made, and behavioral measures shaped to increase people’s commitment to the proposed rules are crucial in order to enhance people’s wellbeing. While this result is limited to the first wave and the first lockdown, future research should assess the role of rule acceptance and coping strategies in subsequent waves of COVID-19, and consequent partial or total lockdowns.

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Tests derived from the implicit social cognition framework allow practitioners to control faking outcomes in clinical and forensic assessments. The questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (qIAT) is a new assessment technique, based on reaction times in a categorization task of items taken from self-report measures.The aim of this study is (1) to apply the qIAT in measuring depression-related constructs and (2) to assess its vulnerability to faking.Using items derived from the BDI-II scale, two different versions of Depression-qIAT were created and tested for their psychometric properties in two studies (Study 1: 118 participants; Study 2: 71 participants). Internal consistency, convergent validity and criterion validity of the two versions were assessed, also comparing their proneness to faking with that of the BDI-II scale.Results show adequate (but non optimal) internal consistency for both versions of the Depression-qIAT, along with small/moderate correlations with self-report measures of depression, proving their convergent validity. Moreover, in the second study qIAT criterion validity is supported by its significant correlation (with a small/moderate effect size) with self-esteem, life satisfaction and positive affects measures.Finally, both studies demonstrate considerably lower vulnerability to faking in qIAT compared to the BDI-II. Implications for psychological assessment are discussed.

After a year from the emergence of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on February 2020, between March and May 2021 Italy faced its third wave of infections. Previous studies have shown that in the first phases of the pandemic certain factors had a protective role against distress. However, as the months in the pandemic went by, people’s feelings and experiences significantly changed and little is known regarding the role of possible protective variables after prolonged pandemic situations. In the present study we aimed to investigate the impact of several behavioral variables on individuals’ mental states and emotions experienced during the third COVID-19 wave in Italy. 454 Italian adults were asked questions regarding the intensity of mental states and emotions experienced, the perceived usefulness of lockdown, the feeling of living a normal life, and the coping strategies implemented to face the pandemic. Using a data driven approach, we calculated the best model on the participation of each factor in explaining participants’ emotions and mental states. Our findings indicate that the presence of acceptance attitudes toward restrictive measures and the implementation of recreational activities helped participants face a prolonged pandemic with positive emotions.

In the last decades many studies demonstrated that self-report measures are massively prone to malingering, especially in specific sensitive assessment contexts where socially desirable responding assumes a particularly relevant role (e.g., clinical assessment for the assignment of a disability pension). In this regard, within the tradition of implicit social cognition, numerous measures that are less prone to faking effects than self-report measures were proposed. Among them, the questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (qIAT) appears to be a particularly suited measurement technique, as it allows to include items taken from classical self-report scales, such as the BDI-II. The present research is aimed at applying the to measure depression,. In two studies (with 118 and 71 participants respectively), a Depression-qIAT task was created using items derived from the BDI-II scale Internal consistency, convergent and criterion validity of two different versions of the Depression-qIAT were assessed, and proneness to faking was compared with that of the BDI-II scale. The results showed an adequate internal consistency for both versions of the depression qIAT, along with small/moderate correlations with self-report measures of depression, supporting their convergent validity. Moreover, in the second study emerged that the qIAT was significantly correlated (with a small/moderate effect size) with self-esteem, satisfaction with life and positive affects, supporting the criterion validity of the new measure. Finally, in both studies, the Depression-qIAT revealed a considerably lower vulnerability to faking compared to the BDI-II.