Miss, I got mad today! : the anger diary, a tool to promote emotion regulation

Effective management of emotions has strong implications in the development of adaptive behaviours during childhood and adolescence. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a new method of emotion regulation named the ‘aRRabbiadiaro’ (Anger Diary), with primary school children. The participants included 119 children attending 7 classes from three primary schools located in middle-class urban communities in the province of Pavia, Italy. In the first phase, the participants were asked to complete a narrative tool which investigated how they coped with anger in their everyday life and whether the use of narrative applied to episodes of anger and facilitated adaptive ways of coping with negative feelings. Subsequently the study assessed the relationship between effective anger management and social functioning in the peer group. Our findings suggest that the use of diary writing seems to represent a promising instrument to promote the development of emotional and socio-cognitive skills in school children.peer-reviewe

Who Are the Victims of Cyberbullying? Preliminary Data Towards Validation of "Cyberbullying Victim Questionnaire”

In the literature there are more and more works dealing with cyberbullying and adolescents’ perception of this phenomenon. In particular, we are interested in cyberbullying and the effects of cyberbullying on adolescent life. What is more, in 2020 the impact of COVID-19 has increased the digital presence of cyberbullying behaviours. This phenomenon is extremely complex, since it is multicomponential and multifactorial, and many components act on it. Starting with an analysis of the literature, this work offers preliminary data towards the validation of a self-reporting questionnaire; it was administered to 650 adolescents, to evaluate their perceptions of the victims of cyberbullying. The questionnaire consisted of 33 items; Principal Component Analysis was applied, which identified the dimensions resuming the items’ variability. The findings confirmed the multidimensional nature of the issue covered by the questionnaire and highlighted three psychological dimensions: Internalisation, Counterbalance and Marginalisation. The resultssupport the structure of the questionnaire, useful to quickly collect information about adolescents’ perception of cybervictimisation. The assessment of this information might help teachers, educators, and tutors to formulate targeted interventions to combat the spread of cyberbullying aimed for example at improving emotional intelligence, starting from the construction of emotional contagion

Moral disengagement, empathy, and cybervictim’s representation as predictive factors of cyberbullying among italian adolescents

This study aimed to evaluate which aspects of moral disengagement (MD), empathy, and representations of the victim’s experience (VER) could be predictors of cyberbullying (CB). One hundred and eight-nine students (11–17 years old) completed 3 self-report questionnaires: An MD scale, an empathy scale, and a CB questionnaire. In relation to the personal experience of CB, four groups were identified: Victim, bully, bully/victim, and no experience with CB. The linear bivariate correlation analysis shows correlations between empathy and VER, between empathy and MD, and between MD and VER. A multinomial logistic regression identified which predictors could increase a subject’s probability of belonging to one of the four groups regarding the personal experience of CB (victim, bully, bully/victim, no experience). Findings highlighted that low cognitive empathy might increase the probability for a student to belong to the bullies’ group, rather than the victims’ group. Furthermore, low perception of the consequences of CB on the victim might increase the probability of belonging to the bully, bully/victim, and no experience groups. Then, a high score in the diffusion of responsibility was a significant predictor of belonging to the victim group rather than the no experience group. Results from this study confirm the need for preventive measures against CB, including the empowerment of cognitive empathy, decreasing the diffusion of responsibility, and increasing the awareness of the consequences of CB on the victim

Are the Male Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Muscularity scales reliable and valid instruments?

The Drive for Muscularity Scale and Male Body Dissatisfaction Scale were developed for use with men and correspond to measures of drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction in women. The psychometric properties of these measures were evaluated in a sample of 655 Italian men, who completed other 11 measures also. Both scales demonstrated excellent internal consistency and temporal stability as well as criterion-related and concurrent validity. Both measures distinguished between men with high and low levels of disordered eating. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the unidimensional factor structure of both scales. Directions for future research are discussed

Body image dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology: a latent structural equation modeling examination of moderators among adolescent girls

Introduction According to meta-analytic review, body dissatisfaction (BD) is recognized as the strongest risk factor of all forms of eating disorders (EDs).Yet, it has been found that BD is so prevalent among adolescent girls and young adult women that it is “normative”. The present study investigates why only a minority of adolescents girls report severe levels of ED symptomatology, when so many are body dissatisfied? Aims Five theoretically relevant variables are investigated as potential moderators of the BD-ED symptomatology relationship (drive for thinness and bulimic behaviours). Methods A sample of 401 Italian adolescent girls completed questionnaire measures of BD, drive for thinness, bulimic behaviours, as well as the proposed moderating variables of body checking, perfectionism, appearance control beliefs, internalization of socio-cultural standards of beauty, and self-esteem. Results Structural equation modeling with latent factor interactions indicated that body checking, perfectionism, appearance control beliefs and internalization of socio-cultural standards of beauty intensified the primary BD-ED symptomatology, such that BD was strongly related to drive for thinness and bulimic behaviours when levels of each moderator were higher. By contrast self-esteem buffered the deleterious effects of BD, such that when levels of the moderator were higher, the relationship between BD and each criterion variable representing female's ED symptomatology was weaker

Emotional Intelligence as a Protective Factor in Times of Educational Reforms: First Steps of an Investigation on Italian High-School Teachers

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RESCUR : surfing the waves - a resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools - a teacher's guide

This book is based on a European Project, RESCUR, financed by the EU LLP Comenius Programme, together with the six Universities taking part in the project, namely the University of Malta (coordinator), University of Crete, Greece, University of Lisbon, Portugal, University of Pavia, Italy, Orebro University, Sweden, and the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The Maltese version of this book is also available in this section.RESCUR Surfing The Waves is a resilience programme for early years and primary schools in Europe developed by six European universities The curriculum seeks to empower vulnerable children at risk of early school leaving, absenteeism, disengagement, bullying, social exclusion and marginalisation through a universal, whole school approach. Amongst its special features, it includes story telling making use of two specially created animal characters, mindfulness activities at the beginning of each session, ready made activities and resources for the classroom teacher, interactive multisensory activities, learners portfolio, take home activities, teacher and self assessment checklists for each theme and subtheme, finger and cloth puppets, theme posters, and activity sheets. The activities are experiential, spiral, developmental, inclusive and make use of the SAFE approach. The programme consists of a Teachers Guide, a Parents Guide, and three manuals of activities and resources for Early Years, Early Primary Years and Late Primary Years respectively. It is available in hard and soft copies and available in English and six other languages (Croatian, Greek, Italian, Maltese, Portugese and Swedish). The Maltese version of this book is also available in this section.peer-reviewe

Kurikul otpornosti za rane godine i osnovnu školu u Europi: Poboljšavanje kvalitetnog obrazovanja

About twenty percent of school children experience social, emotional and behaviour problems during the course of any given year and may need the use of mental health services. The number may rise to up to fifty percent amongst children coming from socio-economically disadvantaged areas and from vulnerable communities. The economic crisis which Europe is undergoing at the moment has exacerbated the risks among those already facing disadvantages such as unemployment of young people and new families, increasing poverty and social disadvantage for the whole communities and regions. These challenges underline the need to equip children from an early age with the requisite skills to help them overcome the challenges and obstacles they are set to face in such circumstances while providing healthy and protective contexts which promote their health and well-being. This paper describes the development of a resilience curriculum for children in early years and primary schools in Europe with the aim of enhancing quality education for all children, including the most vulnerable ones. It presents and discusses the curriculum framework developed from the existing literature, including the key principles, processes and themes underlying the curriculum.Oko dvadeset posto školske djece ima socijalne, emocionalne i druge probleme u ponašanju zbog čega bi im mogla zatrebati pomoć stručnjaka za mentalno zdravlje. Taj bi se postotak mogao povećati i do pedeset posto u djece lošijeg socioekonomskog statusa ili djece koja dolaze iz posebno osjetljivih zajednica. Ekonomska kriza kojom je Europa trenutno pogođena dodatno je povećala rizik među onima koji su već od prije bili suočeni s problemima poput nezaposlenosti mladih pojedinaca i obitelji, povećavanja siromaštva i socijalne nesigurnosti cijelih zajednica i regija. Ti izazovi povećavaju potrebu da se djeci već od rane dobi pruže potrebne vještine koje će im pomoći da prevladaju izazove i prepreke s kojima se u tim okolnostima suočavaju, pružajući im u isto vrijeme zdrav i zaštitnički kontekst koji će promicati njihovo zdravlje i dobrobit. U ovom je radu opisan razvoj kurikula otpornosti za djecu predškolske i osnovnoškolske dobi u Europi s ciljem poboljšanja kvalitetnog obrazovanja sve djece, uključujući i najranjivije skupine. U radu se raspravlja o okviru kurikula razvijenog iz postojeće literature, uključujući ključna načela, procese i teme koje su mu u podlozi

RESCUR : surfing the waves - a resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools - a teacher's guide [Revised edition]

Lifelong Learning Programme Comenius Project. This publication is a product of the project ‘RESCUR - Developing a Resilience Curriculum for Primary Schools in Europe’ www.rescur.eu, funded by the EU Commission Lifelong Learning ProgrammeRESCUR Surfing The Waves (Revised) is a resilience programme for early years and primary schools developed by six European universities, published in 10 languages and implemented in schools across Europe and other countries such as Australia, Russia and Turkey. The programme seeks to empower children at risk of early school leaving, absenteeism, disengagement, bullying, social exclusion and marginalisation through a universal intervention implemented within an inclusive context. Amongst its special features, it includes story telling based on two specially designed characters, mindfulness activities, ready-made activities and resources for the classroom teacher, interactive multisensory activities, take home activities, and teacher and self-assessment checklists for each theme. The 2022 revised edition of the programme includes a Revised Teachers Guide, two new story books with pictures, a Revised Parents Guide, and three revised manuals of activities and resources for Early Years, Early Primary Years and Late Primary Years respectively.peer-reviewe