Barbara Forresi (Ph.D., Psychotherapist) is Deputy Director of the Master’s Degree program in Psychology and Lecturer at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna (Milan branch). She is also director of the TRAIL Research Lab (Trauma, Resilience, and Adjustment Investigation Lab) at the same institution.
She received her Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) with a dissertation on the epidemiology of post‑traumatic reactions in children, adolescents, and parents following major earthquakes in Italy. After completing her doctorate, she was research fellow at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Before joining SFU, she taught Developmental Psychopathology in the Master’s Degree program in Psychology at the University of Bologna.
In 2006, she was a member of a delegation from the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which she visited tsunami‑affected areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and developed a project to promote mental well‑being among children and adolescents. She has taken part in several post‑disaster psychological interventions, such as after the Molise (2002) and the Emilia‑Romagna (2012) earthquakes.
She has contributed as a researcher and senior evaluator to several European‑funded projects aimed at protecting children from various forms of violence and harnessing digital tools to improve adolescents’ psychological well‑being (e.g., Safer Internet Programme, European Antibullying Network, E‑ABC Antibullying Program).
Research interests
Her primary clinical and research focus is on the impact of early adversities and traumatic events on mental health. She has authored numerous national and international publications, including peer‑reviewed journal articles and book chapters, on psychopathological risk in childhood and adolescence. In 2024, she received start‑up funding for a research project at SFU Vienna entitled Longitudinal Trajectories and Network Models of Post‑Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Adults and Youths Exposed to Natural Disasters.
Selected Pubblications
Sobczak S, Orgeta V, Beenakker M, Boks M, Boltri M, Cations M, Coeur E, Cook JM, Corveleyn X, Dorame AN, van Dijk GC, Forresi B, Fréel S, Gómez-Bautista D, Günak MM, Havermans DCD, Hopwood M, O J, Lawrence KA, Lee LO, Maercker A, Marsman A, Olivé I, Quaedflieg CWEM, Ruisch J, Thorp SR, Woudsma JS, Zabihi S, Olff M (2025) Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress. Post-traumatic stress disorder in older adults: a global collaboration on setting the future research agenda. Lancet Healthy Longev;6(6):100720. doi: 10.1016/j.lanhl.2025.100720. Epub 2025 Jun 20.
Oppo A*, Forresi B*, Barbieri A, Koenen KC. (2024) Trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms following collective violence: A systematic review and meta-analyses. J Trauma Stress. Aug 23. doi: 10.1002/jts.23090.
Saccenti, D., Lodi, L., Moro, A. S., Scaini, S., Forresi, B., Lamanna, J., & Ferro, M. (2024). Novel Approaches for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Interventions and Insights from Clinical Trials. Brain sciences, 14(3),210. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14030210
Caputi M, Bazzoli E., Forresi B., Grazioli S., Rapee RM & Scaini S. (2023) The Italian version of the Preschool Anxiety Scale-Revised (PAS-R): factor structure and psychometric properties, European Journal of Developmental Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2023.2250120
Morello, L., Scaini, S., Caputi, M., Frisello, A., & Forresi, B., (2024) Motivations for using social media, adverse experiences and adolescent emotional difficulties in the pandemic context. Curr Psychol 43,18851–18862 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05008-y
Forresi B, Giani L, Scaini S, Nicolais G, Caputi M. (2023) The Mediation of Care and Overprotection between Parent-Adolescent Conflicts and Adolescents’ Psychological Difficulties during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Which Role for Fathers? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 20;20(3):1957. doi:10.3390/ijerph20031957.
Morello L, Caputi M, Scaini S, Forresi B. (2022) Parenting Programs to Reduce Recurrence of Child Maltreatment in the Family Environment: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health.14;19(20):13283. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013283.
Misitano A, Moro AS, Ferro M, Forresi B. (2022) The Dissociative Subtype of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Literature using the Latent Profile Analysis. J Trauma Dissociation. 4:1-17. doi: 10.1080/15299732.2022.2120155.
Forresi B, Caputi M, Scaini S, Caffo E, Aggazzotti G, Righi E. (2021) Parental Internalizing Psychopathology and PTSD in Offspring after the 2012 Earthquake in Italy. Children (Basel). 17;8(10):930. doi:10.3390/children8100930.
Scaini, S., Caputi, M., Giani, L., & Forresi, B. (2021). Temperament profiles to differentiate between stress-resilient and stress-affected children during Covid-19 pandemic. Psychology Hub, 38(3), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.13133/2724-2943/17582
Caputi M, Forresi B, Giani L, Michelini G, Scaini S. (2021) Italian Children’s Well-Being after Lockdown: Predictors of Psychopathological Symptoms in Times of COVID-19. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 30;18(21):11429. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111429 .
Panciroli G, Forresi B, Soncini F, Botosso E, Di Pietro E, Scarpini G, Scaini S, Aggazzotti G, Caffo E, Righi E (2020) Parental and offspring psychopathological disorders after the 2012 Italian earthquake. European Journal of Public Health, 30 (5). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.602
Forresi B, Soncini F., Bottosso E, Di Pietro E., Scarpini G., Scaini S., Aggazzotti G., Caffo E. Righi E.(2020) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents two years after the 2012 earthquake in Italy: an epidemiological cross-sectional study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 29(2):227-238. doi: 10.1007/s00787-019-01370-0.