Language-Related Skills in Bilingual Children With Specific Learning Disorders

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand the characteristics of the language-related skills of bilingual children with specific learning disorders (SLD). The aim is achieved by analyzing language-related skills in a sample of bilingual (Italian plus another language) and Italian monolingual children, with and without SLD. Patients and methods: A total of 72 minors aged between 9 and 11 were recruited and divided into four groups: 18 Italian monolingual children with SLD, 18 bilingual children with SLD, 18 Italian monolingual children without SLD, and 18 bilingual children without SLD. Each child underwent tests to evaluate different aspects of language skills: lexical and grammar, metalanguage and executive functions. Results: With regard to lexical and grammatical skills, the conditions of SLD and bilingualism both impact naming in terms of total number of errors for words with low frequency of use, while the condition of SLD has an effect on semantic errors for words with low frequency of use. The condition of bilingualism impacts on the total errors for words with high frequency of use and on circumlocution-type errors for words with low frequency of use. There were significant effects of bilingualism and SLD on the metalinguistic test for understanding implicit meaning, and an impact of SLD on phonological awareness was also found. Conclusion: The results suggest that both SLD and bilingualism have an effect on some lexical skills, in particular for words with low frequency of use. Both conditions, bilingualism and SLD, seem to impact on metalinguistic abilities that depend on lexical knowledge. These findings reinforce the importance of improving understanding of the neuropsychological profile of bilingual children with SLD

Failures in Reflective Functioning and Reported Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Bereaved Individuals: A Study on a Sample of Family Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients

Introduction. This study aims at examining the role of failures in reflective functioning in predicting anxiety and depression among family caregivers of palliative care patients deceased for at least one year. Methods. A sample of 157 bereaved participants (77.1% females, mean age = 43.50 ± 14.04 years) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ). Results. Results of the correlational analysis showed that anxiety was positively correlated with uncertainty about mental states, indicating one type of impairment in reflective functioning. Anxiety was also negatively correlated with the certainty about mental states. Depression was negatively correlated with certainty but not with uncertainty about mental states. The results of regression analysis indicated that gender and certainty about mental states were statistically significant predictors of anxiety, with the final model explaining 23% of the variance. The results also showed that gender, the condition of being the main caregiver, and the certainty about mental states were significant predictors of depression, with the final model predicting 14% of the variance. Conclusions. Overall, the results of this study point out that the bereaved individuals who scored low on certainty about mental states reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Psychological interventions to prevent mental disorders and to promote psychological health in the context of palliative care should carefully consider these findings

Gender and Psychosocial Differences in Psychological Resilience among a Community of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The study aimed at exploring gender and additional sociodemographic differences in psychological resilience, as well as the association between resilience and psychological distress in older adults, during the first lockdown in Italy, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants attended an online survey during the first lockdown in May 2020. Psychological distress was assessed through the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, the Resilience Scale (RS) was administered to evaluate psychological resilience, and sociodemographic variables were also collected. The study involved 108 community older adults (mean age 70.02 ± 3.5 years). Comparisons revealed that women reported significantly lower total scores of RS (p = 0.027), as well as lower levels of resilience-related domains, namely Meaningfulness (p = 0.049), Self-Reliance (p = 0.011), Perseverance (p = 0.035), and Existential Aloneness (p = 0.014), compared to men. Significantly higher RS scores were found in older adults being involved in a relationship, compared to those not involved in relationships (p = 0.026), and in older adults with children (p = 0.015), compared to those without offspring, suggesting the importance for older adults of not dealing alone with such a dramatic and stressful event, such as the pandemic. Negative correlations were found between psychological resilience and stress, depression, and anxiety. Linear regressions revealed that lower RS total scores, as well as lower scores in the majority of the RS scales, were associated with greater levels of stress, greater levels of anxiety, and greater levels of depressive symptoms. This study suggested that older women might appear more vulnerable in facing the pandemic, compared to men; having not lived alone through the lockdown period might also be considered as a factor of resilience for older adults

From Parental Bonding to Problematic Gaming: The Mediating Role of Adult Attachment Styles

Background: Research has found that parental failures of care during childhood and insecure attachment styles are positively associated with problematic gaming. From a developmental framework, it is possible to hypothesize that attachment styles mediate the relationship between parental bonding and problematic gaming. Methods: This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 598 videogame players (410 males, 68.56%) aged between 18 and 61 years old (M = 26.68, SD = 7.23). Participants were recruited through an online survey. Self-report instruments were administered to assess problematic gaming, parental bonding, and adult attachment styles. Results: Positive paternal care was a direct and negative predictor of problematic gaming, whereas maternal overprotection indirectly predicted problematic gaming through preoccupied attachment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that positive paternal care represents a protective factor for problematic gaming; in contrast, maternal overprotection might foster a negative view of the self in the child, which increases the risk to excessively use videogames, perhaps as a maladaptive coping strategy to regulate negative feelings. Prevention programs might be aimed to improve the responsiveness of parents towards the child’s emotional needs, to prevent the development of problematic gaming. Also, clinical intervention with problematic gamers might foster their feelings of security toward relationships, to promote both a healthier use of videogames and a better quality of life

Insecure adult attachment and reflective functioning as mechanisms of the relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation: A path analysis

The relationship between traumatic life events and increased suicide risk has been well reported in literature. However, the complex nature of suicidality phenomena still hinders our ability to comprehend the mediation mechanism underlying this association. In this study, we examined the mediating role of adult attachment and reflective functioning in the relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation. Nine hundred and fifty Italian adults completed an online survey evaluating traumatic life events, adult attachment, reflective functioning and suicidal ideation. The path analysis showed that the positive relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation was partially mediated by attachment anxiety and reflective functioning. From a clinical point of view, these results support the relevance of evaluating and improving patients’ ability to mentalize as a part of psychotherapeutic intervention aimed at reducing suicidality in people with a history of traumatic experiences and attachment anxiety

Biopsy Evidence of Sequential Transthyretin and Immunoglobulin Light-Chain Cardiac Amyloidosis in the Same Patient

Currently adopted diagnostic flow charts consider transthyretin and light-chain cardiac amyloidosis as mutually exclusive. Here, we report for the first time, to our knowledge, the demonstration of a biopsy-proven dual pathology in an 80-year-old man with sequential development of both wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis and light-chain cardiac amyloidosis cardiomyopathy over a 3-year timespan. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.

Discharge FGF23 level predicts one year outcome in patients admitted with acute heart failure

Background: Patients with acute heart failure (AHF) show high levels of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) on admission. We examined if plasma FGF23 changes during an episode of AHF, and if FGF23 holds prognostic significance in this setting. Methods: Consecutive AHF patients were enrolled. Blood samples were collected on admission and at discharge. Patients were then followed for all-cause death or HF hospitalization. Results: Patients (n = 125; median age 76 years [interquartile interval 71–83], 63% men, left ventricular ejection fraction 35% [25%–56%]) had median admission FGF23 70 ng/L (47–100), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) 5844 ng/L (2,503-10,468), high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) 40 ng/L (25–72), and soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (sST2) 26 ng/mL (17–37). While other biomarkers decreased, FGF23 increased by 15% from admission to discharge (p = 0.033), with a significant correlation with percent changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (rho = 0.306, p = 0.001). Over a 12-month follow-up, 64 patients (51%) experienced the endpoint. They were more often men, older, with higher systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP), higher NT-proBNP, hs-TnT and discharge FGF23. The best FGF23 cut-off at discharge from receiver operating characteristics analysis was 78 ng/L. Both discharge FGF23 and the 78 ng/L cut-off independently predicted outcome in models including gender, sPAP, age, and 1) admission NT-proBNP, 2) discharge NT-proBNP, 3) admission NT-proBNP and hs-TnT, 4) discharge NT-proBNP and hs-TnT. The 78 ng/L cut-off also refined risk reclassification. Conclusions: During an AHF episode, FGF23 increases from admission to discharge, and patients with higher discharge FGF23 have a higher risk of worse outcome

The Relationship between Psychological Distress during the Second Wave Lockdown of COVID-19 and Emotional Eating in Italian Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Emotional Dysregulation

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological distress experienced during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional eating and to assess the mediating role of emotional dysregulation in a sample of Italian young adults (20-35). A total of 437 participants provided demographical data and were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Emotional Eating subscale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Correlational analyses were performed to assess the relationship between continuous variables, while ANOVA was conducted to detect differences between males and females for emotional eating. To assess whether demographic and clinical data predicted emotional eating, hierarchical linear regression was performed. Then, a mediation analysis was conducted to assess whether emotional dysregulation was a mediator between psychological distress and emotional eating. Emotional eating was associated with psychological distress and emotional dysregulation. Moreover, higher levels of emotional eating were found in females than in males. Predictors of emotional eating were sex, psychological distress, and emotional dysregulation. Mediation analyses showed that the indirect effect of psychological distress on emotional eating through emotional dysregulation was significant (b = 0.0069; SE = 0.0024; CI = 0.0024-0.0118), confirming that the relationship between psychological distress and emotional eating was mediated by emotional dysregulation, controlling for sex. The model explained 26.8% (R-2 = 0.2680) of the variance. These findings may help to plan and develop psychological interventions aimed at addressing emotional eating in young adults by targeting emotional dysregulation

Pre-symptomatic modified phytohormone profile is associated with lower phytoplasma titres in an Arabidopsis seor1ko line

The proteins AtSEOR1 and AtSEOR2 occur as conjugates in the form of filaments in sieve elements of Arabidopsis thaliana. A reduced phytoplasma titre found in infected defective-mutant Atseor1ko plants in previous work raised the speculation that non-conjugated SEOR2 is involved in the phytohormone-mediated suppression of Chrysanthemum Yellows (CY)-phytoplasma infection transmitted by Euscelidius variegatus (Ev). This early and long-lasting SEOR2 impact was revealed in Atseor1ko plants by the lack of detectable phytoplasmas at an early stage of infection (symptomless plants) and a lower phytoplasma titre at a later stage (fully symptomatic plants). The high insect survival rate on Atseor1ko line and the proof of phytoplasma infection at the end of the acquisition access period confirmed the high transmission efficiency of CY-phytoplasma by the vectors. Transmission electron microscopy analysis ruled out a direct role of SE filament proteins in physical phytoplasma containment. Time-correlated HPLC\u2013MS/MS-based phytohormone analyses revealed increased jasmonate levels in midribs of Atseor1ko plants at an early stage of infection and appreciably enhanced levels of indole acetic acid and abscisic acid at the early and late stages. Effects of Ev-probing on phytohormone levels was not found. The results suggest that SEOR2 interferes with phytohormonal pathways in Arabidopsis midrib tissues in order to establish early defensive responses to phytoplasma infection