Presentation

The Research Unit on the Psychology of Trauma, founded in 2007 by Prof. Paola Di Blasio and today coordinated by Chiara Ionio and Sarah Miragoli, brings together researchers and clinicians from different disciplinary fields (from developmental psychology to clinical psychology, from work psychology to health and wellbeing psychology) who share the interest in better understanding the impact of exposure to traumatic events on mental health at different stages of the life cycle.

The aim of the UdR is to promote and disseminate the most up-to-date knowledge (theoretical and operational) on the subject of trauma (both in terms of prevention and treatment) and to establish links and dialogues with national and international scientific societies working in this field. Our working approach is, therefore, aimed at promoting interdisciplinary and network work in the study of the different contexts that can lead to traumatic outcomes for the individual, investigating the mechanisms and processes that lead to the development of post-traumatic responses and, subsequently, to the possible onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In particular, the main topics addressed in recent years cover the following areas:

• Developmental outcomes of child maltreatment and abuse,
• Characteristics of childhood trauma narratives (narrative completeness and coherence),
• Impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on the testimony of the child victim of sexual abuse,
• Impact of Adverse Child Experiences on the intergenerational transmission of trauma,
• Maternal and paternal traumatic events in the perinatal period and impact on child development,
• Post-traumatic outcomes of paediatric cancer diagnosis,
• Post-traumatic responses in emergency situations (war, migration, earthquakes, etc.),
• From IPV to assisted violence, from feminicides to special orphans.

 

Collaborations

Numerous national (Lombardy Region, Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, OPL, ATS Brescia, Soleterre Foundation, SISST, ATS Monza and Brianza, CISMAI, CESVI, Italian Centre for the Promotion of Mediation, Milan Community Foundation, Artemisia Onlus Association, etc.) and international (Liverpool University, City University of London, Universidad Lusofona do Porto, Ulster University, University of Cincinnati, Northern Illinois University, Université Catholique de Louvain, Stanford University, London Metropolitan University, Mayo Clinic, etc.) research and clinical collaborations have been set up over the years, which have led to scientific and divulgative publications, and to dissemination and intervention actions in the territory.

 

Promotion of knowledge and skills

The members of the UdR on the Psychology of Trauma, aware of the importance of constantly promoting skills and knowledge among professionals, but also of bringing psychological awareness and culture to our society, is active in organising and participating in both scientific and popular events.

In recent years, UdR members have organised or brought their voices to these events:

• Listening to the traumatised child, within the DREAM Project - Diamo Risposte Efficaci contro l'Abuso e il Maltrattamento sui Minori, promoted by Cooperativa Sociale ALICE (Prato) and Associazione Artemisia Onlus (Florence), 26 March 2024;
• Resilience in action with users at risk: theoretical perspectives and application models, 8 March 2024, Università Cattolica, Milan;
• Perinatal Psychopathology: What it is and why we need to deal with it, 8 March 2024, Cattolica University, Milan (event organised in collaboration with the Italian Marcè Society);
• Psychological assessment on sexual abuse - Case presentation, within the Master Psychodiagnostics and psychological assessment, organised by Humanitas University Consortium (Rome), 3 February 2024;
• CRIdee Multi-method Assessment System: Parenting and main areas of dysfunctionality, within the DREAM Project - Diamo Risposte Efficaci contro l'Abuso e il Maltrattamento sui Minori, promoted by Cooperativa Sociale ALICE (Prato) and Associazione Artemisia Onlus (Florence), 1 February 2024;
• Minors victims of witnessing violence and minors victims of gender-based violence. Support strategies, 24 November 2023, ATS Brescia;
• L'audizione protetta delle persone minorenni: formazione e ascolto (Protected hearing of minors: training and listening), promoted by the Justice and Protection Solidarity Fund, Childhood and Adolescence in the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed with the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Juvenile Court of Milan and with the Order of Psychologists of Lombardy, October-November 2023.
• Global initiative in the care of adolescents and young adults with cancer, London Global Cancer Week 14 November 2023, World Child Cancer;
• Trauma as a consequence of human rights violations. The importance of psychological intervention, 31 May 2023, Ordine degli Psicologi della Lombardia;
• Orphans of Femicide. The importance of psychological intervention, 9 May 2023, Ordine degli Psicologi della Lombardia;
• Puerperal psychosis: from research to the clinic, 5 May 2023, Catholic University, Milan
• Children facing war. Il lavoro psicologico di prevenzione, supporto e cura, 14 December 2022, Università Cattolica, Milan;
• Supervision as a tool to support the operator, Advanced Training course within the project "Riannodare i fili della Vita" (lead partner Elefanti Volanti) project selected by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for the fight against juvenile educational poverty, March-June 2023;
• Trauma and tools for assessing parenting skills, Advanced Training Course within the project "Re-establishing the threads of Life" (lead partner Elefanti Volanti) project selected by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for the fight against juvenile educational poverty, January-May 2023;
• Tools for assessing the trauma of the maltreated child Advanced Training Course within the project "Re-establishing the threads of Life" (lead partner Elefanti Volanti) project selected by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for the fight against juvenile educational poverty, February-July 2023;
• Gender-based violence: Screening Tool, Emergence and Sending Procedures, within the Project RAISE! Against Gender Violence, on a call from Fondazione Comunità di Milano and in collaboration with Fondazione Guzzetti, 14 February 2023;
• Promoting positive parenting and resilience, within the Mondo Blu Project, funded by the Family Policies Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and in collaboration with Dafne Onlus - Association for the Protection of Women and Minors, 13 January 2023;
• Towards a new understanding of pregnancy denial. La gravidanza non riconosciuta come disturbo dissociativo, 8 October 2022, Università Cattolica, Milan;
• Perinatal Mental Health. Parliamone insieme, 4 May 2022, Università Cattolica, Milan
• (In) Adapt. Covid and Adolescents, 9 March 2022, Fondazione Pontificia Scholas Occurrentes, Rome.

 

UdR members have also been involved in numerous Third Mission projects. Below are the most recent ones:

• 2023-2025  Project Upgrade. Youth empowerment paths in collaboration with Fondazione Soleterre (lead organisation), Fondazione Guzzetti and S. Matteo Hospital in Pavia, financed within the AttentaMente 2022 call for proposals by Fondazione Cariplo
• 2021-2024   TenerAmente verso un'infanzia felice Project, in cooperation with CESVI Onlus.
• 2021-2023   ENABLE (Early Network-based Action Against Violent Behaviours to Leverage victim Empowerment), European Research Project (Justice Programme: Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme) " in cooperation with the Italian Centre for the Promotion of Mediation (Milan, Emilia, Liguria and Sardinia), the Ministry of the Interior and the Ares Association.
• 2020-2023  Experience of interventions in favour of underage women victims of violence and minors victims of witnessing violence by ATS Brescia pursuant to d.g.r. 3393/2020, financed by the Lombardy Region from the national resources disbursed in implementation of the National Strategic Plan on male violence against women 2017 - 2020 - DPCM 4 December 2019 "Fund for policies relating to rights and equal opportunities, year 2019, referred to in Articles 5 and 5 bis of Decree Law 14 August 2013, n.93, converted with amendments into Law 15 October 2013, n.119
• 2021:          REMÌ Project - Networks for combating violence against minors, in cooperation with Fondazione ISMU - Initiatives and Studies on Multiethnicity (Milan).
• 2018-2021: Guidelines adaptation terminology sexual exploitation of children, ECPAT Italy Working Group.

 

The importance of a good assessment

The awareness of the importance of having assessment tools that can help the timely detection of post-traumatic responses led some members of the UdR to the Italian validation of some tests. We recall, among others, the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-SF, Guarino et al., 2016) to assess parental stress; the Trauma Symptoms Cheklist for Children (TSCC, Di Blasio, 2011) for post-traumatic responses in childhood; the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI, Miragoli et al, 2015, 2016, 2017) for assessing the risk of child physical abuse; the Centrality of Events Scale (CES, Ionio et al, 2018) to better understand the role of traumatic experiences in the identity dimension; the City Birth Trauma Scale (City BiTS, Ionio et al., in press) to assess postpartum PTSD. The Italian validation of the Trauma and Attachment Beliefs Scale (TABS) in collaboration with SISST and other Italian research units is currently being launched.

 

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Coordinators

• Chiara Ionio, Professore Associato in Psicologia dello Sviluppo e dell’Educazione, UCSC
• Sarah Miragoli, Professore Associato in Psicologia dello Sviluppo e dell’Educazione, UCSC

 

Members of the Research Unit

• Emanuela Confalonieri, Full Professor in Developmental Psychology, UCSC
• Luca Milani, Full Professor in Developmental Psychology, UCSC
• Silvio Ripamonti, Associate Professor in Work and Organizational Psychology, UCSC. 
• Gaia Cuccì, Researcher in Developmental Psychology, UCSC
• Francesca Giordano, Researcher in Developmental Psychology, UCSC
• Giancarlo Tamanza, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, UCSC
• Davide Margola, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, UCSC
• Giulia Ciuffo, PhD Student, UCSC
• Vittoria Badino, PhD Student, UCSC
• Elena Camisasca, Full Professor in Developmental Psychology, E-Campus University
• Damiano Rizzi, President of Fondazione Soleterre onlus, Milano
• Paolo Tartaglione, President of Cooperativa Arimo
• Alessandra Bramante, President of Società Marcè Italiana
• Vittoria Ardino, President of SISST
• Maddalena Sacchi, tutor for the teaching of Psychology of Trauma Relations
• Dominic McSherry, Reader in Psychology, School of Psychology, Ulster University
• Avv. Laura De Rui, Lawyer at the Milan Bar

 

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Pubblications

 

Some of the most recent publications by UdR members:

Camisasca, E., Milani, L., Di Blasio, P., & Miragoli, S. (2021). Postpartum depressive symptoms as a linking mechanism between maternal sleep and parenting stress: The conditional indirect effect by social support. Children's Health Care, 50(1), 64-82. doi: 10.1080/02739615.2020.1824675

Cuervo S., Creaghead N., Vannest J., Hunter L., Ionio C., Altaye M., Parikh N.A. (2023). Language Outcomes of Children Born Very Preterm in Relation to Early Maternal Depression and Anxiety. Brain Sciences, 13 (10), art. no. 1355. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13101355

Faccio F., Mascheroni E., Ionio C., Pravettoni G., Alessandro Peccatori F., Pisoni C., Cassani C., Zambelli S., Zilioli A., Nastasi G., Giuntini N., Bonassi L. (2020). Motherhood during or after breast cancer diagnosis: A qualitative study. European Journal of Cancer Care, 29 (2), art. no. e13214. DOI: 10.1111/ecc.13214

Ionio C., Bigoni F., Sacchi M., Zecca M., Bergami E., Landoni M., Ciuffo G., Rovati A., Rizzi D. (2023). Exploring the Effects of Cancer as a Traumatic Event on Italian Adolescents and Young Adults: Investigating Psychological Well-Being, Identity Construction and Coping Strategies. Pediatric Reports, 15 (1), pp. 254 - 262. DOI: 10.3390/pediatric15010021

Ionio C., Ciuffo G., Colombo C., Melani O., Figlino M.F., Landoni M., Castoldi F., Cavigioli F., Lista G. (2024). Preterm Birth and Maternal Mood States: What Is the Impact on Bonding? Pediatric Reports, 16 (1), pp. 35 - 45. DOI: 10.3390/pediatric16010004

Ionio C., Ciuffo G., Landoni M. (2021) Parent–infant skin-to-skin contact and stress regulation: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (9), art. no. 4695. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094695

Ionio C., Ciuffo G., Villa F., Landoni M., Sacchi M., Rizzi D. (2024). Adolescents in the Covid Net: What Impact on their Mental Health? Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 17 (1), pp. 115 - 121. DOI: 10.1007/s40653-022-00497-8

Ionio C., Mascheroni E. (2021). Psychological well-being and graphic representations of self in child victims of violence. Arts in Psychotherapy, 72, art. no. 101740. DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2020.101740

Ionio C., Mascheroni E., Banfi A., Olivari M.G., Colombo C., Confalonieri E., Lista G. (2020). The impact of paternal feelings and stress on mother–child interactions and on the development of the preterm newborn. Early Child Development and Care, 190 (7), pp. 1005 - 1016. DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2018.1509858

Ionio C., Mascheroni E., Segre G. (2020). IPV and prematurity: What does literature say? Maltrattamento e Abuso all'Infanzia, 22 (1), pp. 67 - 88. DOI: 10.3280/MAL2020-001006

Ionio C., Milani L. (2022). Buttare la chiave: violenza di genere e trattamento dei maltrattanti. Maltrattamento e Abuso all'Infanzia, 24 (3), pp. 7 - 10. DOI: 10.3280/MAL2022-003001

Landoni M., Missaglia S., Tavian D., Ionio C., Di Blasio P. (2022). Influence of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on postpartum depressive and posttraumatic symptoms. Psychiatric Genetics, 32 (1), pp. 9 - 14. DOI: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000299

Landoni M., Silverio S.A., Ionio C., Ciuffo G., Toscano C., Lega I., Gelabert E., Kalcev G., Roca-Lecumberri A., Estrade A.P., Brenna V., Garcia-Esteve L., Alvarez S.S., Giménez A.T., Bramante A. (2022). Mothers who kill their children: A systematic review of perinatal risk factors. Maltrattamento e Abuso all'Infanzia, (2), pp. 33 - 61. DOI: 10.3280/MAL2022-002004

Landoni M., Silverio S.A., Ionio C., Giordano F. (2022). Managing Children’s Fears during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Strategies Adopted by Italian Caregivers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (18), art. no. 11699. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191811699

Mascheroni E., Faccio F., Bonassi L., Ionio C., Peccatori F.A., Pisoni C., Cassani C., Ongaro G., Cattaneo E., Nastasi G., Pravettoni G. (2020). Exploring differences in psychological aspects during pregnancy between cancer survivors and women without a history of cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer, 28 (5), pp. 2255 - 2263. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-019-05048-w

Milani, L., Grumi, S., Camisasca, E., Miragoli, S., Cattani, M., & Di Blasio, P. (2023). The CPS workers’ assessment of parenting skills in cases of domestic and witnessed violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(9-10), 6819-6842.

Milani, L., Grumi, S., Camisasca, E., Caravita, S., Miragoli, S., Traficante, D., & Di Blasio, P. (2020). Familial risk and protective factors affecting CPS professionals’ child removal decision: A decision tree analysis study. Children and Youth Services Review, 109, 104687. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104687

Milani, L., Miragoli, S., Grumi, S., & Di Blasio, P. (2020). Risk and protective factors in family violence: A multi-method assessment system. In N. Balvin & D. Christie (Eds.), Promoting Peace with Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Approach to Peace Psychology. New York: Springer.

Miragoli, S., & Camisasca, E. (2022). An examination of the synergy of age and PTSD on narrative coherence in child sexual abuse testimony. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 31(6), 743-757.

Miragoli, S., Cascone, C., Sgrò, F., Badino, V. & Milani, L. (2023). Incidenza e caratteristiche dei minori accolti in Strutture Residenziali in Regione Lombardia. Maltrattamento e abuso all'infanzia, 27(3), 67-83.

Miragoli, S., Milani, L., Di Blasio, P., & Camisasca, E. (2020). Difficulties in emotion regulation in Child Abuse Potential: Gender differences in parents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106, 104529. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104529

Miragoli, S., Procaccia, R., Camisasca, E., & Di Blasio, P. (2020). How are sexually abused children interviewed during criminal proceedings in Italy? European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17(2), 246-262. doi: 10.1080/17405629.2019.1573665

Procaccia, R., Miragoli, S., Camisasca, E., & Di Blasio, P. (2020). Children in conflictual separations: Representations of Self and family through the Blacky Pictures’ Test. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 20(2), 185-204. doi: 10.1080/24732850.2020.1714404

Rizzi D., Ciuffo G., El Gour F., Erradi J., Barone L., Ionio C. (2023). Perspectives on early insights: pediatric cancer caregiving amidst natural calamities – A call for future preparedness. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, art. no. 1319850. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1319850

Rizzi D., Ciuffo G., Landoni M., Mangiagalli M., Ionio C. (2023). Psychological and environmental factors influencing resilience among Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons: a systematic review of coping strategies and risk and protective factors Frontiers in Psychology, 14, art. no. 1266125. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1266125

Rizzi D., Ciuffo G., Sandoli G., Mangiagalli M., de Angelis P., Scavuzzo G., Nych M., Landoni M., Ionio C. (2022). Running Away from the War in Ukraine: The Impact on Mental Health of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees in Transit in Poland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (24), art. no. 16439. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192416439