Laura Gorla
Biographic Data
| ID | 322199 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura Gorla |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Gorla |
| SIGNATURE | GORLA L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Milano-Bicocca |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5939-3134 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
A Rapid Review of the Technology Megatrend’s Risks and Benefits for Families: Examining Assisted Reproductive Technology, Communication Technology, Digital Interventions, and Remote Work
In 2020, the United Nations identified four global megatrends shaping how people live. Among these megatrends, technology strongly influences families worldwide, especially through assisted reproductive technology, communication technology, digital interventions, and telecommuting. The current rapid review aimed to synthesize available literature on how, in different ways, these four technology-related areas impact families’ formation and charact…
The randomized controlled trial Fast Track multilevel intervention for children with early‐emerging conduct problems breaks intergenerational transmission of violence across three generations
BACKGROUND: Domestic violence mechanisms are frequently transmitted across generations, representing a global issue demanding particular attention. This study investigates the intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence (IPV) and parent-to-child violence (PCV) and whether participating in a multilevel preventive intervention (Fast Track) breaks this transmission. METHODS: In high-risk elementary schools located in the United State…
Positive youth development from early adolescence to young adulthood in nine countries: Intercepts, trajectories, and associations with parental warmth and behavioral control
This longitudinal study concerns initial levels, trajectories of growth, and associations of positive youth development (PYD) with parental warmth and behavioral control from early adolescence to young adulthood. Participants included 1338 adolescents (M = 13.25, SD = 1.04, years; 50% girls) from nine countries trichotomized by income level based on World Bank groupings of economies as well as cultural, sociological, and psychological considerati…
Openly communicate about adoption: The role of parents' attachment and reflective functioning
Future Orientation in Adolescents: Development and the Roles of Parenting in Different Income Countries
Future orientation – the ability to envision and plan for the future – is a crucial task during adolescence. However, little is known about how adolescents’ future orientation develops, how it is influenced by parenting dimensions, and how it varies across countries with different income levels and cultural values. This longitudinal study addresses this gap by exploring how parents’ monitoring, family obligations, individualism, collectivism, and…
Predictors of Young Adults' Primal World Beliefs in Eight Countries
Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture understanding of general characteristics of the world, such as whether the world is Good and Enticing. Children (N = 1215, 50% girls), mothers, and fathers from Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States reported neighborhood danger, socioeconomic status, parental warmth, harsh parenting, psychological control, and autonomy granting from ages 8 to 16 years. At age 22 y…
Supporting Families Through Policies: Effective and Recommended Policies for Communication Technology, Digital Interventions, and Remote Work
Among the megatrends the United Nations identified in 2020, technology strongly influences how families live. Communication technology, digital interventions, and remote work require families to integrate technology into their activities, use digital tools responsibly, and protect themselves from technology-related risks. Family-oriented policies are needed to guide families in these tasks because the family represents the primary nurturing insti…
Adolescents' relationships with parents and romantic partners in eight countries
INTRODUCTION: Creating romantic relationships characterized by high-quality, satisfaction, few conflicts, and reasoning strategies to handle conflicts is an important developmental task for adolescents connected to the relational models they receive from their parents. This study examines how parent-adolescent conflicts, attachment, positive parenting, and communication are related to adolescents' romantic relationship quality, satisfaction, conf…
Individualism, collectivism and conformity in nine countries: Relations with parenting and child adjustment
This study investigated how individualism, collectivism and conformity are associated with parenting and child adjustment in 1297 families with 10‐year‐old children from 13 cultural groups in nine countries. With multilevel models disaggregating between‐ and within‐culture effects, we examined between‐ and within‐culture associations between maternal and paternal cultural values, parenting dimensions and children's adjustment. Mothers from cultur…
Unpacking Beliefs and Representations Surrounding Adoptive Families in Italy
Being an adoptive family member could be challenging, especially if the social context conveys unrealistic representations. In Italy, few studies explored socially shared beliefs about adoptive families. We investigated how adoptive parents and adopted children are perceived within the Italian context and whether attitudes toward adoptive and biological parenthood are different. 630 participants who were not part of adoptive families completed an…
The Relationship between Attachment, Dyadic Adjustment, and Sexuality: A Comparison between Infertile Men and Women
Infertility impacts several life dimensions. Among them, sexuality is particularly affected; yet studies have mainly focused on infertile women. We aimed to explore infertile men's and women's experiences in sexual satisfaction, internal control, and anxiety, and the relationship between attachment, dyadic adjustment, and sexuality. The sample consisted of 129 infertile people (47.3% females, 52.7% males, M age = 39 years) who fulfilled an ad hoc…
Sensitivity and Attachment in an Italian Sample of Hikikomori Adolescents and Young Adults
Hikikomori is a severe form of social withdrawal increasing among the young Italian population. Hikikomori has been connected to psychological problems and high environmental sensitivity. Nevertheless, only a few studies have been carried out in the Italian context, and they did not analyze several aspects strictly related to the hikikomori phenomenon, such as the role of attachment and sensitivity. We aimed to investigate the relationship betwee…
Anxiety in Attachment and Sexual Relationships in Adolescence: A Moderated Mediation Model
Adolescence is characterized by several transformations, such as identity construction, progressive estrangement from parents, relational interest in peers, and body changes that also involve sexuality issues. In this process, attachment patterns play a fundamental role in relationships, and when these are dysfunctional, they can result in internalizing and externalizing problems. Often, females show their relational difficulties through internal…
Parenting Stress, Maternal Self-Efficacy and Confidence in Caretaking in a Sample of Mothers with Newborns (0–1 Month)
A mother's responses to her newborn and her confidence in the child's caretaking depend on her attachment security, general parental stress, and perceived self-efficacy. However, few studies have analyzed maternal confidence in caretaking and how it is influenced by some mothers' characteristics. We aimed to examine the association between maternal adult attachment and confidence in a child's caretaking and to understand whether this relationship…
Talking about the Birth Family since the Beginning: The Communicative Openness in the New Adoptive Family
Communicative openness within the adoptive family changes over time and helps the child explore his/her history. We aimed to evaluate whether adoptive families communicate about specific adoption-related themes from the beginning of their lives as a family. We created an instrument to track the communication process during the first year of adoption, involving a sample of 537 internationally adopted children (313 males, 224 females, mean age of a…
Psychological implications of the ‘Back to the Origins' journey for intercountry adoptees
One way in which intercountry adoptees can elaborate on their past history is through travelling to their country of birth. This article explores the memories and experiences recalled by a group of adoptees who visited their homeland after being adopted as children by Italian families. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 12 and 40 years who visited their birth country between 2000 and 2013. In 2017–2018, they were asked to complete …
Parenthood Desire in Italian Homosexual Couples
Many Italian gay and lesbian individuals have the desire to become parents, despite the fact that they still face barriers due to the low acceptance of same-sex parenthood. This study investigates the desire and motivation of same-sex couples to have children. The sample consists of 31 same-sex couples (17 lesbian couples and 14 gay male couples) and 31 heterosexual couples. All the participants were childless at the time of the study and had bee…
Predictors of Young Adults' Primal World Beliefs in Eight Countries
Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture understanding of general characteristics of the world, such as whether the world is Good and Enticing. Children (N = 1215, 50% girls), mothers, and fathers from Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States reported neighborhood danger, socioeconomic status, parental warmth, harsh parenting, psychological control, and autonomy granting from ages 8 to 16 years. At age 22 y…
Unpacking Beliefs and Representations Surrounding Adoptive Families in Italy
Being an adoptive family member could be challenging, especially if the social context conveys unrealistic representations. In Italy, few studies explored socially shared beliefs about adoptive families. We investigated how adoptive parents and adopted children are perceived within the Italian context and whether attitudes toward adoptive and biological parenthood are different. 630 participants who were not part of adoptive families completed an…
Anxiety in Attachment and Sexual Relationships in Adolescence: A Moderated Mediation Model
Adolescence is characterized by several transformations, such as identity construction, progressive estrangement from parents, relational interest in peers, and body changes that also involve sexuality issues. In this process, attachment patterns play a fundamental role in relationships, and when these are dysfunctional, they can result in internalizing and externalizing problems. Often, females show their relational difficulties through internal…
Parenting Stress, Maternal Self-Efficacy and Confidence in Caretaking in a Sample of Mothers with Newborns (0–1 Month)
A mother's responses to her newborn and her confidence in the child's caretaking depend on her attachment security, general parental stress, and perceived self-efficacy. However, few studies have analyzed maternal confidence in caretaking and how it is influenced by some mothers' characteristics. We aimed to examine the association between maternal adult attachment and confidence in a child's caretaking and to understand whether this relationship…
Talking about the Birth Family since the Beginning: The Communicative Openness in the New Adoptive Family
Communicative openness within the adoptive family changes over time and helps the child explore his/her history. We aimed to evaluate whether adoptive families communicate about specific adoption-related themes from the beginning of their lives as a family. We created an instrument to track the communication process during the first year of adoption, involving a sample of 537 internationally adopted children (313 males, 224 females, mean age of a…
Psychological implications of the ‘Back to the Origins' journey for intercountry adoptees
One way in which intercountry adoptees can elaborate on their past history is through travelling to their country of birth. This article explores the memories and experiences recalled by a group of adoptees who visited their homeland after being adopted as children by Italian families. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 12 and 40 years who visited their birth country between 2000 and 2013. In 2017–2018, they were asked to complete …
Parenthood Desire in Italian Homosexual Couples
Many Italian gay and lesbian individuals have the desire to become parents, despite the fact that they still face barriers due to the low acceptance of same-sex parenthood. This study investigates the desire and motivation of same-sex couples to have children. The sample consists of 31 same-sex couples (17 lesbian couples and 14 gay male couples) and 31 heterosexual couples. All the participants were childless at the time of the study and had bee…
The Relationship between Attachment, Dyadic Adjustment, and Sexuality: A Comparison between Infertile Men and Women
Infertility impacts several life dimensions. Among them, sexuality is particularly affected; yet studies have mainly focused on infertile women. We aimed to explore infertile men's and women's experiences in sexual satisfaction, internal control, and anxiety, and the relationship between attachment, dyadic adjustment, and sexuality. The sample consisted of 129 infertile people (47.3% females, 52.7% males, M age = 39 years) who fulfilled an ad hoc…
Sensitivity and Attachment in an Italian Sample of Hikikomori Adolescents and Young Adults
Hikikomori is a severe form of social withdrawal increasing among the young Italian population. Hikikomori has been connected to psychological problems and high environmental sensitivity. Nevertheless, only a few studies have been carried out in the Italian context, and they did not analyze several aspects strictly related to the hikikomori phenomenon, such as the role of attachment and sensitivity. We aimed to investigate the relationship betwee…
Adolescents' relationships with parents and romantic partners in eight countries
INTRODUCTION: Creating romantic relationships characterized by high-quality, satisfaction, few conflicts, and reasoning strategies to handle conflicts is an important developmental task for adolescents connected to the relational models they receive from their parents. This study examines how parent-adolescent conflicts, attachment, positive parenting, and communication are related to adolescents' romantic relationship quality, satisfaction, conf…
Individualism, collectivism and conformity in nine countries: Relations with parenting and child adjustment
This study investigated how individualism, collectivism and conformity are associated with parenting and child adjustment in 1297 families with 10‐year‐old children from 13 cultural groups in nine countries. With multilevel models disaggregating between‐ and within‐culture effects, we examined between‐ and within‐culture associations between maternal and paternal cultural values, parenting dimensions and children's adjustment. Mothers from cultur…
Unpacking Beliefs and Representations Surrounding Adoptive Families in Italy
Being an adoptive family member could be challenging, especially if the social context conveys unrealistic representations. In Italy, few studies explored socially shared beliefs about adoptive families. We investigated how adoptive parents and adopted children are perceived within the Italian context and whether attitudes toward adoptive and biological parenthood are different. 630 participants who were not part of adoptive families completed an…
Openly communicate about adoption: The role of parents' attachment and reflective functioning
Future Orientation in Adolescents: Development and the Roles of Parenting in Different Income Countries
Future orientation – the ability to envision and plan for the future – is a crucial task during adolescence. However, little is known about how adolescents’ future orientation develops, how it is influenced by parenting dimensions, and how it varies across countries with different income levels and cultural values. This longitudinal study addresses this gap by exploring how parents’ monitoring, family obligations, individualism, collectivism, and…
Predictors of Young Adults' Primal World Beliefs in Eight Countries
Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture understanding of general characteristics of the world, such as whether the world is Good and Enticing. Children (N = 1215, 50% girls), mothers, and fathers from Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States reported neighborhood danger, socioeconomic status, parental warmth, harsh parenting, psychological control, and autonomy granting from ages 8 to 16 years. At age 22 y…
Supporting Families Through Policies: Effective and Recommended Policies for Communication Technology, Digital Interventions, and Remote Work
Among the megatrends the United Nations identified in 2020, technology strongly influences how families live. Communication technology, digital interventions, and remote work require families to integrate technology into their activities, use digital tools responsibly, and protect themselves from technology-related risks. Family-oriented policies are needed to guide families in these tasks because the family represents the primary nurturing insti…
A Rapid Review of the Technology Megatrend’s Risks and Benefits for Families: Examining Assisted Reproductive Technology, Communication Technology, Digital Interventions, and Remote Work
In 2020, the United Nations identified four global megatrends shaping how people live. Among these megatrends, technology strongly influences families worldwide, especially through assisted reproductive technology, communication technology, digital interventions, and telecommuting. The current rapid review aimed to synthesize available literature on how, in different ways, these four technology-related areas impact families’ formation and charact…
The randomized controlled trial Fast Track multilevel intervention for children with early‐emerging conduct problems breaks intergenerational transmission of violence across three generations
BACKGROUND: Domestic violence mechanisms are frequently transmitted across generations, representing a global issue demanding particular attention. This study investigates the intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence (IPV) and parent-to-child violence (PCV) and whether participating in a multilevel preventive intervention (Fast Track) breaks this transmission. METHODS: In high-risk elementary schools located in the United State…
Positive youth development from early adolescence to young adulthood in nine countries: Intercepts, trajectories, and associations with parental warmth and behavioral control
This longitudinal study concerns initial levels, trajectories of growth, and associations of positive youth development (PYD) with parental warmth and behavioral control from early adolescence to young adulthood. Participants included 1338 adolescents (M = 13.25, SD = 1.04, years; 50% girls) from nine countries trichotomized by income level based on World Bank groupings of economies as well as cultural, sociological, and psychological considerati…
Psychology (12 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Anxiety (4 works) · Child Welfare and Adoption (4 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works)