Relationship between weak central coherence and mental states understanding in children with Autism and in children with ADHD.

The central coherence involves the processes of perceptual coding and attention mechanisms, highly deficient in children with ADHD (Booth Happé, 2010). According to this theory, also children with autism are overly focused on details to the expense of a global perspective, and this negatively affects their ability to integrate environmental stimuli into a coherent whole (Happé, Booth, Charlton, Hughes, 2006). The aim of this study was to determine differences in central coherence of children with high functioning autism (ASD; n=10), children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n=10) and typically developing peers (n=10). Individuals with ADHD exhibit significant deficits in perceptual skills and problem solving, failing also in mental states understanding tasks. While the children with autism spectrum disorder show impairments in making pragmatic inferences. Future research should therefore concentrate on the investigation of the cognitive and psychological mechanisms underlying these effects

L’insegnante inclusivo: fattori individuali, percezione della disabilità e strategie didattiche

The purpose of this study1 was to investigate the relationship between the didactical strategies and educational practices and the teachers perception about inclusion and disability; and if this relationship was different on the level of experience that the teacher has acquired in inclusive context. The results showed that a positive attitude towards inclusion encourages the use of adequate educational strategies. It is also clear, a significant correlation between teachers acceptable job satisfaction and professional self-efficacy and a greater propensity to inclusion and interaction with disabled students. This seems more evident in the group of teachers with greater experience of interaction with pupils with special educational needs; unlike the less experienced colleagues for inclusion which manifest, however, a higher concern and opinions not favorable towards inclusion context. This confirms the need to focus attention on the “education” of the teacher, particularly of the curriculum one, often unable even just to imagine the different possibleworlds that an inclusive context can offer, and not just to the pupils.L’obiettivo della presente ricerca è indagare la relazione tra le strategie e le prassi educativodidattiche legate all’insegnamento e la percezione degli insegnanti circa l’inclusione e la disabilità; e come tale relazione può variare in funzione del livello di esperienza che il docente ha acquisito in ambito inclusivo. I risultati hanno evidenziato come un atteggiamento positivo nei confronti dell’inclusione favorisca l’utilizzo di strategie didattiche e prassi educative funzionali.Emerge, inoltre, una corrispondenza significativa tra adeguata soddisfazione lavorativa e autoefficacia professionale degli insegnanti e una maggiore propensione all’inclusione e all’interazione con alunni disabili. Ciò sembra maggiormente evidente nel gruppo di docenti con maggiore esperienza di interazione con alunni con bisogni educativi speciali; a differenza dei colleghi meno esperti di inclusione che manifestano, invece, una più elevata preoccupazione e opinioni non favorevoli nei confronti dell’inclusione scolastica. Ciò conferma l’esigenza di focalizzare l’attenzione della ricerca educativa sulla formazione “personale” del docente, soprattutto di quello curriculare, molto spesso incapace anche solo di immaginarsi i mondi diversi possibili che un percorso di inclusione può offrire, e non solo alla classe

Examining relationship between personality characteristics and exercise dependence

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relation between personality traits, based on the five factor model, and exercise dependence symptomatology. There were 423 voluntary participants (216 male and 201 female) who exercised regularly over a year selected for this study. By using Eating Disorder Inventory–2 questionnaire, participants who scored in the at-risk range were excluded from analysis. All athletes completed the Exercise Dependence Scale and the Big Five Questionnaire. The results seem to confirm the relation between exercise dependence and certain personality characteristics (Hausenblas & Giacobbi, 2004) suggesting that extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness may potentially be underlying factors in exercise dependence symptomatology. This finding aims to contribute to understanding the role that personality can play in the etiology of exercise dependence. This could be relevant for potentially identifying individuals who may be at risk for dysfunctional dependence behaviors

Psychometric examination and factorial validity of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised in Italian exercisers

Background and aims: The purpose of this study was to verify the factorial structure, internal validity, reliability, and criterion validity of the 21-item Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) in an Italian sample. Methods: Italian voluntary (N = 519) users of gyms who had a history of regular exercise for over a year completed the EDS-R and measures of exercise frequency. Results and conclusions: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated a good fit to the hypothesized 7-factor model, and adequate internal consistency for the scale was evidenced. Criterion validity was evidenced by significant correlations among all the subscale of the EDS and exercise frequency. Finally, individuals at risk for exercise dependence reported more exercise behavior compared to the nondependent-symptomatic and nondependent-asymptomatic groups. These results suggest that the seven subscales of the Italian version of the EDS are measuring the construct of exercise dependence as defined by the DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence and also confirm previous research using the EDS-R in other languages. More research is needed to examine the psychometric properties of the EDS-R in diverse populations with various research designs

Competenza emotiva, strategie di coping e atteggiamenti inclusivi nella relazione insegnante/alunno ipovedente

The aim of this study was to analyze the teacher / blind pupil relationship and to identify the factors that can influence this relationship. Specifically, it was investigated the correlation between certain teacher individual factors (emotional intelligence, inclusive self-efficacy, attitude towards inclusive practices) and the quality of the relationship that teachers engaged in activities supporting visually impaired children, identifying any factors that predict the quality of this social interaction. Fifty teachers (16 M and 34F; age: M = 41.45; SD = 7.862) took part in the study; they were asked to fill in: socio-demographic schedule, SACIE-R (Forlin et al., 2011), TAIS (Monsen et al., 2015), TEIQue-SF (Petrides, Furnham, 2003), COPE (Sica et al., 2008) TEIP (Sharma et al, 2012), STRS (Fraire et al., 2008). By correlational analysis, significant relationships emerge between the different factors investigated. In particular, higher level of teacher emotional competence is related to lower propensity to interact in a hostile and aggressive way. While those who perceive the inclusion of disabled pupil as worrying and complicated are also those who most likely tend to define relationships in a more conflictual and dysfunctional way.Finally, the teacher who perceives himself competent in using inclusive strategies believes that the inclusive process does not involve major implications and upsets for the special needs children.The analysis of linear regression seems to confirm, moreover, the fundamental role of emotional competence and of the effectiveness level that teacher believes to possess in order to face the challenges of inclusion in determining the quality of interaction between teacher and special educational needs student.It is obvious that these factors intersect with the contextual ones, that is, with a whole series of system variables and important alliances to overcome prejudices and offer more and adequate support. Working with people with visual disabilities requires therefore a continuous and proactive training of allthe caregivers, a training that teaches how to activate the students to work with their difference, but, at the same time, responds to the teacher's need to work on their own self-regulation ability, because only under these conditions the educational value of inclusion is to be understood both by the services and by the schools.The aim of this study was to analyze the teacher / blind pupil relationship and to identify the factors that can influence this relationship. Specifically, it was investigated the correlation between certain teacher individual factors (emotional intelligence, inclusive self-efficacy, attitude towards inclusive practices) and the quality of the relationship that teachers engaged in activities supporting visually impaired children, identifying any factors that predict the quality of this social interaction. Fifty teachers (16 M and 34F; age: M = 41.45; SD = 7.862) took part in the study; they were asked to fill in: socio-demographic schedule, SACIE-R (Forlin et al., 2011), TAIS (Monsen et al., 2015), TEIQue-SF (Petrides, Furnham, 2003), COPE (Sica et al., 2008) TEIP (Sharma et al, 2012), STRS (Fraire et al., 2008). By correlational analysis, significant relationships emerge between the different factors investigated. In particular, higher level of teacher emotional competence is related to lower propensity to interact in a hostile and aggressive way. While those who perceive the inclusion of disabled pupil as worrying and complicated are also those who most likely tend to define relationships in a more conflictual and dysfunctional way.Finally, the teacher who perceives himself competent in using inclusive strategies believes that the inclusive process does not involve major implications and upsets for the special needs children.The analysis of linear regression seems to confirm, moreover, the fundamental role of emotional competence and of the effectiveness level that teacher believes to possess in order to face the challenges of inclusion in determining the quality of interaction between teacher and special educational needs student.It is obvious that these factors intersect with the contextual ones, that is, with a whole series of system variables and important alliances to overcome prejudices and offer more and adequate support. Working with people with visual disabilities requires therefore a continuous and proactive training of allthe caregivers, a training that teaches how to activate the students to work with their difference, but, at the same time, responds to the teacher's need to work on their own self-regulation ability, because only under these conditions the educational value of inclusion is to be understood both by the services and by the schools

Fattori psicologici e competenze interculturali del docente: un’interazione funzionale per un’inclusione efficace

Teachers’ role in education requires many various abilities. Emotional aspects in the teaching process influence overall student performance, which has been proved in many studies. Particularly,when considering the intercultural approach to education, it is important to emphasize that a successful education is not only a question of teaching and curriculum content, but includes many different values, feelings, perceptions and reciprocal relations freed from any kind of barriers. This study aimed to explore the emotional aspects and intercultural competences among teachers. For this purpose five scales were administered to the sixty-two in service teachers to see the role of emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, and cross cultural sensibility on teacher multicultural attitude and its inclusive practice efficacy. The results shown that emotional competence and cultural adaptability are predictive, more than other variables, of teacher propensity to work in multicultural educational contexts

Motivational aspects and personality correlates of physical exercise behavior

Although exercise can have many advantages, there are still many people that tend to be less active. For this reason, try to understand factor related to physical activity and that encouraging exercise is an essential area of health promotion and a priority to prevent serious diseases. The aim of the study was to analyze psychological factors (personality traits and motivation) related to physical activity and that encouraging or reducing exercise. 474 voluntary regular exercisers were recruited for the study. Participants completed Big Five Questionnaire and Behavioural Regulation Exercise Questionnaire-2, and also their exercise frequency was recorded.  Results showed that personality traits and motivation are strongly related with exercise frequency and, both seem to play a significant predictive role in structuring exercise behavior

Minori stranieri tra resilienza e adattamento scolastico

The purpose of this study is to highlight the psychological, educational and social difficulties presented by foreign minor students placed in primary and secondary schools of the first degree in the province of Syracuse. Specifically, the relationship between factors such as anxiety, depression, resilience and behavioral and emotional problems was assessed, and how this relationship is modified according to age and time in Italy. Additionally, it was evaluated if these factors differ between group of accompanying children and not accompanying children and between those attending inclusive schools vs not inclusive schools. Sixty-five non-EU minorities participated to the study. The results showed the school’s difficulty in practicing inclusion, in many cases perpetuating not functional patterns of integration. It seems as though the teachers are still unclear how an inclusive climate is created, which is not solely based on language education programs, but rather in a differentiated use of methodological/didactic strategies that affect the whole sphere of personality dimensions and emotional processes, in order to avoid risk conditions and dysfunctional development trajectories

Qualità di vita e bisogni di sostegno in soggetti con disabilità intellettiva

According to the ecological-systemic perspective, disability is configured as a topological spacein which numerous paths converge determined by the interaction between the person and hisenvironment. These paths, in turn, branch out and intersect with the design of spaces that offerthe possibility, through strategic supports, to improve the individual functioning of disabledsubjects. To ensure this functioning, however, it is necessary to hypothesize multidimensionalinterventions, aimed at realizing the individual's life project, which despite its "disabled identity"is the bearer of special needs that interact with self-esteem and subjective well-being. Multipleneeds, qualitative and quantitative, which can be grasped to the extent that it leaves the logicof the standards of the interventions and focuses on the overall management of the person. Inthis direction, the study, in which 15 adults with intellectual disabilities participated, intends toanalyze the system of supports, through the application of the Supports Intensity Scale. Specifically,the results highlighted significant relationships between the supports intensity, intellectualfunctioning and adaptive behavior

Fattori individuali e contestuali del burnout: una ricerca descrittiva sugli insegnanti curricolari e di sostegno

L’obiettivo principale di questo studio è valutare la relazione tra alcuni dei fattori individuali (assertività e strategie di coping) e contestuali (percezione del contesto lavorativo, attaccamento al lavoro, impegno organizzativo, coinvolgimento e soddisfazionelavorativa) che si legano alla comparsa della sindrome del burnout nell’insegnante. Lo studio ha coinvolto un gruppo di insegnanti curriculari (N=35) e un gruppo di insegnanti di sostegno (N=38), a cui sono stati somministrati dei questionari.I risultati confermano quanto emerge in letteratura nazionale e internazionale circa la presenza di evidenti elementi di complessità intrinseca legati alla categoria degli insegnanti di sostegno, più esposti degli altri a pratiche educative impegnative e a un maggior addensamento di emergenze educative, che sembrano predisporli a situazioni di maggiore rischio di esaurimento psico-fisico-sociale