Director: Daniela Villani (Associate Professor of General Psychology, Faculty of Education)

Components: Giuseppe Riva (Full Professor of General Psychology, Faculty of Psychology) Emanuela Confalonieri, (Full Professor of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology), Luca Milani (Full Professor of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology), Davide Massaro (Full Professor of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education), Claudia Carissoli (Postdoctoral research fellow in General Psychology, Faculty of Psychology), Flavia di Natale (Postdoctoral research fellow in General Psychology, Faculty of Education), Elisa Pancini (Ph.D. student in General Psychology, Faculty of Education), Clelia Malighetti, (Adjunct Lecturer), Luca Bernardelli (Co-founder and CEO of Become).

Presentation

Digital media are radically transforming certain psychological and social processes, giving rise to completely new phenomena. These processes of change can be observed in different contexts such as health, education, sports, and work and at different stages of the life cycle.

The Research Unit in Digital Media, Psychology, and Wellbeing aims at studying the relationship between digital media and well-being from a psychological perspective. This objective can be declined into two trajectories of analysis and application.

On the one hand, the goal is to analyze the contribution that the natural use of digital media can offer to the well-being of the individual, both in its hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions, and to promote digital well-being. Particular interest is therefore directed to the identification of risk and protective factors at the individual and psychosocial levels with reference to specific phenomena, such as problematic use of social media, addictions to video games, sexting, aggressive behavior, and cyberbullying. Furthermore, interest is devoted to the identification of the opportunities that digital media offer in terms of the development of individual skills, such as emotional regulation, and psychosocial skills, such as empathy and prosociality. Digital well-being, in fact, refers not only to the prevention of problematic behaviors related to the use of digital media but also concerns the ability to use technologies to develop one's resources, support one's meaningful activities, and realize one's potential.

On the other hand, the object of study is the strategic use of digital tools to promote health and well-being, in line with the scientific approach of Positive Technology. Positive Technology is an emerging field within human-computer interaction that studies how interactive technologies can be used in wellbeing promotion grounded on evidence-based findings from the world of research. At the theoretical level, Positive Technology aims to develop conceptual frameworks and models to understand how technologies can be used effectively to help people achieve greater well-being. At the methodological and applied level, Positive Technology is concerned with the design, development, and evaluation of effectiveness and user experience of innovative protocols that integrate digital experiences to foster individual and interpersonal empowerment (e.g. through inducing and amplifying positive emotions, activating flow, proposing content consistent with the meanings of the people using them, and supporting positive relationships). To this end, smartphones, wearable devices, virtual/augmented reality, social media and the Internet provide a wide range of useful tools and resources to support psychological interventions that stimulate positive emotions, personal growth, creativity and social connectedness.

The establishment of the Research Unit is motivated, on the one hand, by the opportunity to stimulate synergies among members of the Department who, at the individual and research group level, are interested in related topics, and, on the other hand, to present itself outside the Department with a specific qualification to promote activities to monitor experience with digital media, design interventions to promote digital well-being, and provide training about the positive use of new media.

The actions that the Research Unit intends to pursue are as follows:

• Participate in the advancement of research on understanding the protective and promotional factors of positive digital media use,
• Contribute to the definition of innovative methodologies and protocols for promoting individual and interpersonal wellbeing that can take advantage of the opportunities offered by new digital media,
• Develop and test technologysupported application tools for promoting well-being,
• Promote training and educational activities on the topics of interest,
• Activate knowledge dissemination events aimed at citizens and the academic community.

Publications

1. Villani, D. & Riva, G. (2012). Does interactive media enhance the management of stress? Suggestions from a controlled study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15 (1): 24-30
2. Villani, D., Grassi, A., Cognetta, C., Cipresso, P., Toniolo, D., Riva, G. (2013). Self-Help Stress Management Training Through Mobile Phones: An experience with oncology nurses. Psychological Services,10, 3, 315-322, doi: 10.1037/a0026459
3. Carissoli, C., Villani, D., Riva, G. (2015). Does a Meditation Protocol Supported by a Mobile Application Help People Reduce Stress? Suggestions from a Controlled Pragmatic Trial. CyberPsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 18, 1, 46-53.
4. Villani, D., Cognetta, C., Toniolo, D., Scanzi, F., & Riva, G. (2016). Engaging Elderly Breast Cancer Patients: The Potential of eHealth Interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1825.
5. Villani, D., Carissoli, C., Triberti, S., Marchetti, A., Gilli, G., & Riva, G. (2018). Videogames for Emotion Regulation: A Systematic Review. Games for Health journal, 7(2), 85-99
6. Villani, D., Cognetta, C., Repetto, C., Serino, S., Toniolo, D., Scanzi, F., & Riva, G. (2018). Promoting emotional well-being in older breast cancer patients: results from an eHealth intervention. Frontiers in Psychology, 9.
7. Carissoli, C., & Villani, D. (2019). Can Videogames Be Used to Promote Emotional Intelligence in Teenagers? Results from EmotivaMente, a School Program. Games for Health Journal, 8(6), 407-413.
8. Carissoli, C., Gasparri, G., Riva, G. & Villani, D. (2021). Mobile well-being in pregnancy: suggestions from a quasi-experimental controlled study, Behaviour& Information Technology, DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2021.1894484
9. Malighetti, C., Bernardelli, L., Pancini, E., Riva, G., & Villani, D. (2023). Promoting Emotional and Psychological Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Self-Help Virtual Reality Intervention for University Students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Books

1. Villani, D., e Triberti, S. (2018). La personalità online: tracce digitali dell'identità. Giunti, Firenze.
2. Gaggioli, A., Villani, D., Serino, S., Banos, R., Botella, C., (eds). (2019). Positive Technology: Designing E-experiences for Positive Change. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88963-023-3