Coping Strategies and Perceived Support in Adolescents and Young Adults: Predictive Model of Self-Reported Cognitive and Mood Problems

The aims of this study were: to assess cognitive and mood problems, perceived social support and coping strategies in adolescence and early adulthood; to understand how coping strategies are related to age, gender and years of schooling; to identify possi- ble stable and modifiable predictors of cognitive and mood problems adopting LISREL software. The participants were 517 adolescents and young adults (age M = 18.95 years, SD = 3.2, range: 14 - 25); 59% were female and with a mean of 13.10 years of schooling (SD = 2.7). Participants were enrolled in secondary schools, association groups or university in Veneto, Italy. They completed a battery of self-report ques- tionnaires via a secure online site or in paper versions. The LISREL model was psy- chometrically solid and showed good fit (\u3c72 = 15.96, df = 12, p = 0.19, RMSEA = 0.025), explaining 26% of the variance and showing how the stable factor gender and some modifiable factors, namely certain coping strategies and friends\u2019 support, pre- dicted cognitive and mood problems

Self\u2010esteem and academic difficulties in preadolescents and adolescents healed from paediatric leukaemia

Adolescents with cancer may demonstrate problems in their self\u2010esteem and schooling. This study aims to screen the preadolescents and adolescents more at risk in their self\u2010esteem perception and schooling difficulties post\u2010five years from the end of therapy. Twenty\u2010five paediatric ex\u2010patients healed from leukaemia were recruited at the Haematology\u2010Oncologic Clinic (University of Padua). The mean age of the children was 13.64 years (Standard Deviation (SD)) = 3.08, range = 10\u201319 years), most were treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) (84%) and relatively equally distributed by gender. They filled in the Multidimensional Self\u2010Esteem Test, while parents completed a questionnaire on their child\u2019s schooling. Global self\u2010esteem was mostly below the 50 percentile (58.5%), especially regarding interpersonal relationships (75%). An independent sample t\u2010test showed significant mean differences on the emotionality scale (t = 2.23; degree of freedom (df) = 24; p = 0.03) and in the bodily experience scale (t = 3.02; df = 24; p = 0.006) with survivors of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) having lower scores. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant mean differences in the bodily experience scale (F = 12.31; df = 2, p = 0.0001) depending on the survivors\u2019 assigned risk band. The parent reports showed that 43.5% of children had difficulties at school. Childhood AML survivors with a high\u2010risk treatment were more at risk in their self\u2010esteem perceptions. Preventive interventions focusing on self\u2010esteem and scholastic wellbeing are suggested in order to help their return to their normal schedules

Motor skill delays in pre-school children with leukemia one year after treatment: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy as an important risk factor

CNS-directed therapies for the treatment of leukemia can adversely affect the acquisition of new skills, such as reading/writing and math. Two years after the end of treatments, children show gross and fine motor skill delays that may persist even when patients are considered healed. The goal of the present study was to assess motor skills difficulties in pre-school children with leukemia one year after treatment. Particular attention has been paid to those patients who had undergone Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) and to the relationship between motor delays and age bands. Participants were 60 children (median age of 5; inter quartile range: 3.07-5.76), including 31 females and 29 males, 91.7% of them were affected by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and 8.3% by acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Five children had undergone HCST. Parents were interviewed by Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) on children\u2019s motor skills and filled in the Italian Temperament Questionnaire (QUIT). VABS\u2019s total scores were converted into equivalent mental age scores (EMA). A score difference of at least three months between current age and equivalent mental age was considered a developmental delay. Non-parametric analyses were run to understand if HSCT treatment and a specific age band influence children\u2019s motor skills. Significant delays were found in global motor skills (56.7%) as well as in fine and gross motor domains. Mann Whitney U tests showed that children with HSCT were reported to have lower gross motor mean ranks (U = 62; p=0.004; Mean rank =15.40) than peers without HSCT (Mean rank = 31.87) and lower mean rank values on motor temperament scale (U = 9; p = 0.003; HSCT Mean rank = 4.75 versus no HSCT Mean rank = 27.81). Kruskal Wallis\u2019 tests identified the high risk treatment showing that HSCT experience negatively impacted the motor skills and temperamental motor activity of pre-school children one year after the diagnosis of leukemia

Health‐related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors who underwent HSCT compared with healthy peers

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Impact of psycho-educational activities on visual-motor integration, fine motor skills and name writing among first graders: A kinematic pilot study

This pilot study presents the eects on acquisition of pre-writing skills of educational activities targeting visual-motor integration and fine motor skills on a convenient sample of first graders. After a 10-week intervention program, visual perceptual skills and fine motor control were tested on 13 six-year-old aged children. Participants completed the Beery-Buktenica VMI and the manual dexterity scale of the Movement ABC-2 at baseline (T1), after the intervention program (T2), and one month after the end of the educational activities (T3). Children\u2019s writing pressure, frequency, and automaticity were measured using a digitizer during the administration of name writing test at T1, T2, and T3. The purpose of the study was to investigate changes in visual-perceptual abilities and fine motor skills after the intervention program and examine correlational eects on children\u2019s kinematic writing performances. Findings reveal that educational activities impacted positively on children\u2019s visual motor coordination component of writing improving VMI scores. No statistically significant dierence was detected across the three time points on students\u2019 manual dexterity skills. Measurement of writing kinematics allows to report and document variations in children\u2019s writing during intervention. This pilot study discusses these findings and their implications for the field on early childhood acquisition of foundational skills for handwriting. It also proposes potential topics for future research on this field

Do predictors of reading differ among transparent orthographies? : Evidence from a longitudinal study

Toinen kirjoittaja Doris Kofler, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy Viides kirjoittaja Kristin Bauer, Justus Liebig University Kuudes kirjoittaja Taverna Livia, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, ItalyThe aim of this study was to use path modelling to establish how rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory (VSTM), letter-sound connection (LSC), phoneme blending (PHB), and Raven tasks predict reading in Finnish and German. Students (N = 769) from Finland, Germany, and Italy (German-speaking children from South Tyrol) were followed from first grade until the end of second grade. Firstly, in all countries, LSC was found to be the strongest predictor for reading in first grade. Secondly, Finnish students' word-reading skills were better than those of German and Italian students throughout the follow-up period, but word-reading level in first grade predicted word-reading level after one year only for Italian and German students. Thirdly, rapid automatized naming (RAN) and verbal short-term memory (VSTM) predicted reading skills in each orthography and country with a different power and at different phases, implying that the educational system also has a role in predicting reading skills.Peer reviewe

Adolescents and young adults with oncohematological disease: use of social networks, impact of SARS-COV-2, and psychosocial well-being

ObjectiveAdolescents and young adults (AYA) with oncohematological diseases could have important psychosocial difficulties that could be worsened by the effects of the COVID19 pandemic. At this developmental stage, it is also important to assess the use of social networks (SNs). This study aims to investigate the type of social network use and the consequences of the COVID19 period. These patients are compared with matched healthy peers.MethodsAfter the informant consent signature, the adolescents completed a series of self-report questionnaires on the use of SNs, on communication preferences, on social anxiety and on Covid19 impact through the online platform of LimeSurvey. Most of the adolescents belonged to the 18–20 age group (42.5%), were female (62%) and mainly off therapy (72%).ResultsAdolescents spent more than 2 h/day on Instagram and 1 h and half on Whatsapp, while Tik Tok use was on average 1 h/day, especially used by younger patients (r = −0.33, p = 0.023). Males used Twitch (t45 = −2.06, p = 0.05) and Youtube (t45 = −2.18, p = 0.03) for longer than females. AYA in therapy used more Tik Tok (U = 137.50; p = 0.03), Ask/Tellonym (U = 172.50; p = 0.05) and Twitch (U = 144; p = 0.017) than those off therapy. Healthy AYA showed lower levels of exposure (Z = −4.17; p = 0.00001) and impact (Z = −5.12; p = 0.00001) to Covid19, while the level of social anxiety is comparable and is in the normal range in both groups.DiscussionSome clinical considerations and suggestions could be given based on these empirical results to health professionals in the care of AYA cancer patients

Conoscenze materne e sviluppo del bambino in due gruppi altoatesini

The study aims to examine whether mothers of two different cultural groups living together in South Tyrol, Italian (I, N = 69) and German (G, N = 69), differ with respect to knowledge of infant developmental milestones. A second purpose of the present work is to understand if possible differences on maternal knowledge could account for diverse levels of mastery on adaptive behaviours. Results show that mothers of the two cultural and linguistic groups did not differ on knowledge of infant milestones, while significant differences emerge in the development of daily living skills and socialization between Italian and German children ( G > I)

Ideation, Representation, Handwriting Realization

Despite the widespread use of electronic devices for activities strictly connected to writing, several studies have proved the importance of developing handwriting, using paper and pen. One study conducted by Cutler and Graham demonstrated that the development of handwriting is so important that it may impact the academic success of a child. Moreover, different studies conducted by Graham have underlined that it is very important to give children clear and correct rules about handwriting from their early developmental stages. Effective handwriting instruction does not require a large amount of time. To see considerable returns, it is enough to spend just a few minutes every day teaching handwriting. To develop this skill, teachers need to feel prepared. The paper will propose a short excursus of suggestions dealing with how handwriting could be enhanced, underlining the importance of developing this skill from the first years of schooling as a tool aimed at preventing other possible future difficulties in the development of the person

Sguardi ecologici. Note introduttive,

il contributo presenta le motivazioni teoriche per pensare una formazione ecologica alla coscienza di appartener