The concept of epistemic trust has recently been placed at the center of both academic and clinical debate, being considered a central construct in social-relational development, the impairment of which could underlie psychopathological development. Defined as the individual's mental ability to filter culturally shared knowledge from others, it allows them to perceive it as reliable, generalizable, and relevant. This construct underlies the cultural and relational learning processes by which the individual is able to move within the social world and to regulate their own internal experience. Given the regulatory and relational nature of this construct, it assumes great relevance in a developmental moment characterized by intense affect and new relational modes: adolescence. At this stage of the life, the individual is challenged to face certain developmental tasks, including the consolidation of identity, the process of separation-individuation from parental figures, and the development of effective emotional regulatory skills. All these challenges lead the adolescent to the need to learn from the social context, and consequently the conceptualization of what takes place in the relational exchange of learning turns out to be central. The goal of this doctoral dissertation therefore is to explore the construct of epistemic trust during adolescence, through the identification of specifically developed instruments for assessing the construct and the investigation of the relationships that epistemic trust has with other variables of psychological functioning. This makes possible to delineate in what forms epistemic trust can be considered a protective factor against psychopathological development and in what forms it instead takes on a role as a risk factor. The aim is achieved through the investigations of 4 studies: a preliminary investigation of the construct and its role as a protective factor toward emotional dysregulation during the lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 1); the validation of a self-report instrument, the Epistemic Trust Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) in the Italian version for adults that makes possible to assess the construct specifically (Study 2); the validation of the same instrument in a sample of adolescents to understand the specificities of this developmental group (Study 3); an exploratory investigation through a network analysis model in which epistemic trust, mentalization, emotional dysregulation and psychopathological outcome are included (Study 4). Preliminary results from Study 1 allow to highlight the role of epistemic trust in preventing emotional dysregulation and perceived stress, while supporting the need to develop an ad hoc instrument for measurement. This is what was done in Study 2, from which it appears that the ETMCQ has good psychometric features that allow the identification of certain dimensions within the construct and how it associates with some psychological functioning variables. Similarly, Study 3 shows that the psychometric properties of the instrument are equally good when applying it to the adolescent population, also preliminarily supporting the association of some dimensions of trust with other psychological constructs. Finally, interesting results emerge from Study 4 with respect to the network in which epistemic trust, mentalization, psychopathology, and emotional dysregulation in adolescence are associated. These findings make a significant contribution to the literature concerning epistemic trust, which currently appears to be in its infancy, providing interesting empirical and theoretical perspectives regarding the role of this construct during adolescence.

Il concetto di fiducia epistemica è stato recentemente posto al centro del dibattito accademico e clinico, venendo considerato un costrutto centrale nello sviluppo relazionale, la cui compromissione potrebbe sottostare allo sviluppo psicopatologico. Definita come la capacità mentale dell’individuo di filtrare le informazioni condivise dagli altri, permette di percepirle come affidabili, generalizzabili e rilevanti. Questo costrutto è alla base dei processi di apprendimento culturale, grazie ai quali l’individuo è in grado di muoversi all’interno del mondo sociale e a regolare la propria esperienza interna. Data la natura regolatoria e relazionale di questo costrutto, risulta evidente la rilevanza che assume in un momento evolutivo caratterizzato da affetti intensi e nuove modalità relazionali: l’adolescenza. In questa fase del ciclo di vita, l’individuo è chiamato ad affrontare alcuni compiti evolutivi, tra cui il consolidamento dell’identità, il processo di separazione-individuazione rispetto alle figure genitoriali, e lo sviluppo di capacità regolatorie emotive efficaci. Tutte queste sfide conducono l’adolescente al bisogno di apprendere dal contesto sociale, e di conseguenza la concettualizzazione di ciò che avviene nello scambio relazionale di apprendimento risulta centrale. Obiettivo di questa dissertazione di dottorato risulta quindi l’esplorazione del costrutto di fiducia epistemica durante l’adolescenza, attraverso l’identificazione di strumenti specificatamente sviluppati per la valutazione del costrutto e l’indagine delle relazioni che la fiducia epistemica ha con altre variabili di funzionamento psicologico. Questo permette di delineare in quali forme la fiducia epistemica possa essere considerata un fattore protettivo nei confronti dello sviluppo psicopatologico e in quali forme assuma invece un ruolo di fattore di rischio. L’obiettivo viene raggiunto attraverso le indagini di 4 studi: un’investigazione preliminare del costrutto e del suo ruolo di fattore protettivo nei confronti della disregolazione emotiva durante il lockdown per la pandemia da COVID-19 (Studio 1); la validazione di uno strumento self-report, l’Epistemic Trust Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) nella versione italiana per adulti che rende possibile l’assessment specifico del costrutto (Studio 2); la validazione dello stesso strumento in un campione di adolescenti per comprendere le specificità di questa fascia evolutiva (Studio 3); un’indagine esplorativa attraverso un modello di network analysis in cui sono inclusi la fiducia epistemica, la mentalizzazione, la disregolazione emotiva e l’esito psicopatologico (Studio 4). I risultati preliminari dello Studio 1 permettono di evidenziare il ruolo della fiducia epistemica nella prevenzione di disregolazione emotiva e di stress percepito, supportando allo stesso tempo la necessità di sviluppare uno strumento ad hoc per la misurazione. Questo è quanto fatto nello Studio 2, da cui emerge come l’ETMCQ abbia buone caratteristiche psicometriche che permettono di identificare alcune dimensioni all’interno del costrutto e di come questo si associ ad alcune variabili di funzionamento psicologico. Allo stesso modo, dallo Studio 3 si evince che le proprietà psicometriche dello strumento risultino altrettanto buone nell’applicazione dello stesso alla popolazione adolescenziale, sostenendo preliminarmente anche l’associazione di alcune dimensioni di fiducia con altri costrutti psicologici. Infine, dallo Studio 4 emergono interessanti risultati rispetto al network in cui sono associati fiducia epistemica, mentalizzazione, psicopatologia, e disregolazione emotiva in adolescenza. Questi risultati permettono di contribuire significativamente alla letteratura riguardante la fiducia epistemica che attualmente risulta ai suoi albori, fornendo interessanti prospettive empiriche e teoriche circa il ruolo di questo costrutto durante l’adolescenza.

(2023). I hear what you say - Explorations around the concept of epistemic trust in adolescence. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2023).

I hear what you say - Explorations around the concept of epistemic trust in adolescence

MILESI, ALBERTO
2023

Abstract

The concept of epistemic trust has recently been placed at the center of both academic and clinical debate, being considered a central construct in social-relational development, the impairment of which could underlie psychopathological development. Defined as the individual's mental ability to filter culturally shared knowledge from others, it allows them to perceive it as reliable, generalizable, and relevant. This construct underlies the cultural and relational learning processes by which the individual is able to move within the social world and to regulate their own internal experience. Given the regulatory and relational nature of this construct, it assumes great relevance in a developmental moment characterized by intense affect and new relational modes: adolescence. At this stage of the life, the individual is challenged to face certain developmental tasks, including the consolidation of identity, the process of separation-individuation from parental figures, and the development of effective emotional regulatory skills. All these challenges lead the adolescent to the need to learn from the social context, and consequently the conceptualization of what takes place in the relational exchange of learning turns out to be central. The goal of this doctoral dissertation therefore is to explore the construct of epistemic trust during adolescence, through the identification of specifically developed instruments for assessing the construct and the investigation of the relationships that epistemic trust has with other variables of psychological functioning. This makes possible to delineate in what forms epistemic trust can be considered a protective factor against psychopathological development and in what forms it instead takes on a role as a risk factor. The aim is achieved through the investigations of 4 studies: a preliminary investigation of the construct and its role as a protective factor toward emotional dysregulation during the lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 1); the validation of a self-report instrument, the Epistemic Trust Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) in the Italian version for adults that makes possible to assess the construct specifically (Study 2); the validation of the same instrument in a sample of adolescents to understand the specificities of this developmental group (Study 3); an exploratory investigation through a network analysis model in which epistemic trust, mentalization, emotional dysregulation and psychopathological outcome are included (Study 4). Preliminary results from Study 1 allow to highlight the role of epistemic trust in preventing emotional dysregulation and perceived stress, while supporting the need to develop an ad hoc instrument for measurement. This is what was done in Study 2, from which it appears that the ETMCQ has good psychometric features that allow the identification of certain dimensions within the construct and how it associates with some psychological functioning variables. Similarly, Study 3 shows that the psychometric properties of the instrument are equally good when applying it to the adolescent population, also preliminarily supporting the association of some dimensions of trust with other psychological constructs. Finally, interesting results emerge from Study 4 with respect to the network in which epistemic trust, mentalization, psychopathology, and emotional dysregulation in adolescence are associated. These findings make a significant contribution to the literature concerning epistemic trust, which currently appears to be in its infancy, providing interesting empirical and theoretical perspectives regarding the role of this construct during adolescence.
PAROLIN, LAURA ANTONIA LUCIA
Fiducia Epistemica; Mentalizzazione; Adolescenza; Psicopatologia; Assessment
Epistemic Trust; Mentalization; Adolescence; Psychopathology; Assessment
M-PSI/07 - PSICOLOGIA DINAMICA
English
16-mag-2023
35
2021/2022
embargoed_20260516
(2023). I hear what you say - Explorations around the concept of epistemic trust in adolescence. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2023).
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
phd_unimib_779366.pdf

embargo fino al 16/05/2026

Descrizione: I hear what you say - Explorations around the concept of epistemic trust in adolescence
Tipologia di allegato: Doctoral thesis
Dimensione 1.2 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.2 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/415683
Citazioni
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
Social impact