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Article History

Received: 21 December 2025

Revised: 11 April 2026

Accepted: 19 April 2026

First Online: 15 August 2026

Declarations

Conflict of interest: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethical Approval: This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical and deontological principles applicable to psychological research and in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. As this was a qualitative, non-interventional study involving healthy adults in a non-clinical setting, approval from an ethics committee was not required under Italian regulations. All participants provided written informed consent after being fully informed about the aims and procedures of the research. Confidentiality and data protection were ensured in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, EU 2016/679). All recordings and transcripts were pseudonymized and stored securely on password-protected drives accessible only to the research team. The study complies with the Code of Ethics of Italian Psychologists. Beyond formal ethical requirements, particular attention was paid to the relational and emotional dimensions of the research process. Given the sensitivity of the topic, interviews were conducted with empathy and care, allowing participants to express personal experiences at their own pace and depth. The interviewers remained attentive to signs of emotional discomfort, offering the possibility to pause or withdraw at any time. Ethical reflexivity was also maintained within the research team through ongoing discussion of the emotional and relational implications of engaging with participants’ narratives. In general, our study did not require ethical board approval because it did not contain human or animal trials.