An exploratory study on internet addiction, somatic symptoms and emotional and behavioral functioning in school-aged adolescents

Objective: In the last two decades there has been a significant transformation regarding the use of new technologies. Despite growing acknowledgement concerning the different activities and functions of digital technologies, there remains a lack of understanding on how technology overuse may negatively impact both physical and psychosocial well-being. Although researchers have begun to explore the meaning and implications of excessive Internet use in non-clinical populations of children and adolescents, there is still little consistent knowledge on the topic. This study aimed to extend existing knowledge on the excessive use of the Internet among school-aged adolescents, focusing on its association with recurrent somatic symptoms, depressive risk and behavioral and emotional problems. Method: Two hundred and forty adolescents (51.9% females) aged between 10 and 15, participated in this study. Data was collected using the Children’s Somatization Inventory, the Internet Addiction Test, the Children’s Depression Inventory, the Youth Self Report and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Structural Equation Model analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Approximately 21.8% of participants reported excessive Internet use based on Young’s criteria. Higher levels of Internet use were associated with somatic and depressive symptoms as well as emotional and behavioral problems. Depressive Symptoms predicted both Internet Addiction (b = 0.304, p < 0.001) and Internalizing (b = 0.542, p <0.001) and Externalizing problems (b = 0.484, p < 0.001). Internet Addiction also significantly predicted both Internalizing (b = 0.162, p = 0.02) and Externalizing problems (b = 0.183, p = 0.02). Finally, Structural Equation Modeling showed that the indirect effect of Depressive Symptoms (via Internet Addiction) on Internalizing or Externalizing problems were significant. Conclusions: Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings and to identify the mechanisms linking Internet use, somatic symptoms and adaptive functioning

Clinical features, anger management and anxiety: a possible correlation in migraine children

Background: Psychological factors can increase severity and intensity of headaches. While great attention has been placed on the presence of anxiety and/or depression as a correlate to a high frequency of migraine attacks, very few studies have analyzed the management of frustration in children with headache. Aim of this study was to analyze the possible correlation between pediatric migraine severity (frequency and intensity of attacks) and the psychological profile, with particular attention to the anger management style. Methods: We studied 62 migraineurs (mean age 11.2 +/- 2.1 years; 29 M and 33 F). Patients were divided into four groups according to the attack frequency (low, intermediate, high frequency, and chronic migraine). Pain intensity was rated on a 3-levels graduate scale (mild, moderate and severe pain). Psychological profile was assessed by Picture Frustration Study test for anger management and SAFA-A scale for anxiety. Results: We found a relationship between IA/OD index (tendency to inhibit anger expression) and both attack frequency (r = 0.328, p = 0.041) and intensity (r = 0.413, p = 0.010). When we analyzed the relationship between anxiety and the headache features, a negative and significant correlation emerged between separation anxiety (SAFA-A Se) and the frequency of attacks (r = -0.409, p = 0.006). In our patients, the tendency to express and emphasize the presence of the frustrating obstacle (EA/OD index) showed a positive correlation with anxiety level ("Total anxiety" scale: r = 0.345; p = 0.033). Conclusions: Our results suggest that children suffering from severe migraine tend to inhibit their angry feelings. On the contrary, children with low migraine attack frequency express their anger and suffer from separation anxiety

Il fenomeno delle prepotenze a scuola:indicatori di rischio psicopatologico

Gli autori presentano uno studio condotto su un campione non selezionato di 137 adolescenti (età 14-17), frequentanti la scuola superiore nella provincia di Roma. A tutti i ragazzi appartenenti al campione sono stati somministrati i seguenti questionari: il "Questionario sulle Prepotenze a Scuola"- adattamento italiano (Menesini e Giannetti, 1997) delle versioni originali di Olweus (1991) e di Whitney e Smith (1993)- e lo "Youth Self-Report" (Achenbach,1991). I dati ottenuti hanno permesso di rilevare la presenza di bullismo in età adolescenziale evidenziando situazioni di rischio per cui i bulli tendono ad avere punteggi più elevati nell'ambito dei problemi esternalizzanti e le vittime nell'ambito dei problemi internalizzanti. Nello specifico sono state valutate le relazioni esistenti tra ritiro, ansia/depressione, somatizzazione, comportamento delinquenziale, aggressivo e il fare e subire prepotenze, consentendo di pervenire ad una migliore comprensione delle manifestazioni di disagio sottese al fenomeno del bullismo in adolescenza

Lessico psicologico nelle narrazioni dei bambini della scuola primaria

This study aims at examining the use of internal state words in children’s written narratives at school age and verifying whether the use of psychological lexicon is affected by school grade and gender. A sample of 314 children, homogeneous in terms of socio-economic status (medium-high), participated in the study. The subjects were almost equally distributed for each of the three primary school classes (3rd, 4th and 5th) and for gender (Boys : 158, Girls : 156). A task, named ‘Invent a story’, was used to elicit the production of written fictional narratives. The psychological lexicon used in the narratives was coded in terms of the following mental states : Perceptual, Emotional (Positive and Negative), Volitional, Cognitive and Moral. The children’s lexical competency was evaluated through a receptive vocabulary test (PPVT-R, Italian version by Stella et al. 2000). The results show that the global production of mental state words in children’s fictional narratives remains stable during the three school years in terms of word types of psychological states. A significant increase emerges in the amount of word tokens of psychological states and specifically, between the 4th and 5th class. In addition, a significant gender difference comes out : girls use more internal state words than boys do in the three classes, emotional terms in particular

Sex-specific relationships among attachment security, social values, and sensation seeking in early adolescence: Implications for adolescents’ externalizing problem behaviour

In early adolescence, attachment security reflects not only the quality of ongoing relationships with parents, but also how adolescents process social relationships with “others” – that is, their “social value orientation” – with possible implications for adolescents’ risktaking. In this study, a sample of Italian early adolescents were administered self-report measures in order to examine the relationships (a) between early adolescents’ perceived attachment security to mothers and fathers, social values (related to family and the sociocultural context), and sensation seeking (as a temperamental predisposition to risktaking), and (b) between these variables and adolescents’ externalizing problem behaviour. Adolescents were more securely attached to the same-sexed parent. Further, attachment security with the opposite-sexed parent predicted more conservative social value orientations, and lower levels of problem behaviour. In contrast, sensation seeking predicted self-enhancement and openness-to-change values to a greater extent, and, in girls, lower levels of attachment security to mothers and fathers