Anna Panzeri wins Best Doctoral Thesis Award at the XXX AIP Congress
Dr. Panzeri was awarded for her thesis “Assessment in Health Psychology: Development, Validation and Applications of Self-Report Tools for Patients and Caregivers.”

During the AIP Congress – Experimental Section in Noto (SR), held from September 22 to 25, 2024, Dr. Anna Panzeri received the award for the best doctoral thesis.
This Ph.D. thesis focuses on advancing psychometric assessment in psychological science by proposing methodological steps for developing, validating, and applying measurement tools. Psychometrically sound tools are essential for investigating constructs, leading to precise effect estimates and improved replicability in psychological research.
Health psychology was selected as the application field, with a focus on transdiagnostic clinical constructs. Original research was conducted in large clinical samples of patients and informal caregivers facing illness. For developing and validating measures of uncertainty in illness and caregiver burden, special attention was given to construct validity. A cross-validation strategy was proposed, using Exploratory Graph Analysis in the exploratory phase and Confirmatory Factor Analysis in the confirmatory phase with an independent sample.
One key application of effective tools is estimating relationships among constructs. A hypothesis on the pathways leading to anxiety was tested using Structural Equation Modeling, which aligned with existing literature.
Overall, the findings highlight the importance of combining psychometrics, rigorous methodology, robust statistical approaches, and domain-specific knowledge to create valid and reliable assessment tools. These methods are crucial for addressing the replication crisis in psychological science and have wide applicability. The results also enhance clinical knowledge, enabling health professionals to make informed decisions that improve individual and societal well-being.

Dr. Panzeri’s work was supervised by Emeritus Professor Giulio Vidotto and Professor Gioia Bottesi from the Department of General Psychology.