Born in Genoa IT, in 04/09/1961
My research focuses on the mechanisms of socio-emotional development, with a specific attention on attachment and risk factors in development. I am particularly interested in the intersection between social and emotional processes in children’s development, and accordingly I use a range of diverse methods, including observational techniques for measuring family processes (attachment, parenting), molecular genetics for examining genes and gene-environment interactions, and interventions for experimentally testing developmental outcomes. Another area of interest is in prevention science, with a focus on evidence based interventions targeting both parents and children’s wellbeing in the familial context. I’m currently dealing with atypical parenting and children’s socioemotional adjustment, i.e. adoptive and same-sex families. As my primary interest is in development, much of my work involves longitudinal cohort studies, and multivariate longitudinal data analysis. Another area of interest is Borderline Personality Disorder treatment models; Dialectical Behavior Therapy – DBT model of Marsha Linehan and related pervasive emotional dysregulation issues are the models I deserved mostly of my clinical and scientific work (2011 invited Professor at Washington University by Marsha Linehan).
Current research activities involve: