1,721,079 research outputs found

    Babbling and first words in children with slow expressive development

    Full text link
    This study examined early vocal production to assess whether it is possible to identify predictors of vocabulary development prior to the age point at which lexical delay is usually identified. Characteristics of babbling and first words in 12 Italian children with slow expressive development (late talkers; LT) were compared with those of 12 typically developing (TD) peers. Syllable structure and phonetic characteristics of babbling and first words produced by both groups of children at 20 months were analysed during mother-child play sessions. Results indicated that phonetic complexity and number of consonantal types were lower in the LT group. The two groups also differed in their use of sound classes and their syllable structure. Overall, it can be said that LTs development is similar to (but slower than) TDs, as opposed to having an atypical pattern of phonological development

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Parents' Stress and Children's Psychological Problems in Families Facing the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy

    Full text link
    Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the effect of risk factors associated with the COVID-19 outbreak experience on parents' and children's well-being. Methods: Parents of children aged between 2- and 14-years-old completed an online survey reporting their home environment conditions, any relation they had to the pandemic consequences, their difficulties experienced due to the quarantine, their perception of individual and parent-child dyadic stress, and their children's emotional and behavioral problems. Results: Results showed that the perception of the difficulty of quarantine is a crucial factor that undermines both parents' and children's well-being. Quarantine's impact on children's behavioral and emotional problems is mediated by parent's individual and dyadic stress, with a stronger effect from the latter. Parents who reported more difficulties in dealing with quarantine show more stress. This, in turn, increases the children's problems. Living in a more at-risk area, the quality of the home environment, or the relation they have with the pandemic consequences, do not have an effect on families' well-being. Conclusions: Dealing with quarantine is a particularly stressful experience for parents who must balance personal life, work, and raising children, being left alone without other resources. This situation puts parents at a higher risk of experiencing distress, potentially impairing their ability to be supportive caregivers. The lack of support these children receive in such a difficult moment may be the reason for their more pronounced psychological symptoms. Policies should take into consideration the implications of the lockdown for families' mental health, and supportive interventions for the immediate and for the future should be promoted

    The effect of the inclusive culture on workers’ well-being: The mediating role of the organizational identification on worker’s objectification

    No full text
    Inclusiveness nowadays is one of the main goals of many organizations. Literature showed its link with positive individuals’ workplace experiences. In the same vein, the social identity approach has been fruitfully applied to explain organizational dynamics. In the present paper, we try to connect these two strands of research by considering the perception of inclusive culture within the organization as a potential antecedent of organizational identification and, as a consequence, of reducing the negative experience of the workplace and increasing the workers’ well-being. In a cross-sectional study, 296 workers from different sectors reported their perceptions of organizational inclusive culture, organizational identification, perceived objectification, job satisfaction, and burnout. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a serial mediational analysis where inclusive culture was modeled as the antecedent, organizational identification and objectification as two sequential mediators, and well-being (in terms of job satisfaction and burnout) as the outcome. In line with our rationale, perceived inclusive culture impacted positively on workers’ well-being via organizational identification, which as a consequence reduced the negative effect of perceived objectification. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to examine the possible role of perceived inclusiveness as an antecedent of organizational identification and the subsequent spillover of this latter factor on employees’ well-being. This shows the potentially positive effect that inclusive culture and organizational identification might have on employees’ workplace experiences

    Parenting Stress During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Socioeconomic and Environmental Risk Factors and Implications for Children Emotion Regulation

    No full text
    The COVID-19 outbreak imposed to Italian families many changes in their daily life increasing the risk of developing psychological problems. The present study explored risk factors associated with parenting stress and implications for children’s emotion regulation in families with different socioeconomic risks. Parents of 2–14 years old children completed a survey reporting difficulties experienced due to the lockdown, level of household chaos, parenting stress, parent involvement in the child’s daily life, and children emotion regulation competences. The general mean levels of parenting stress and children emotion regulation abilities were not at clinical level compared with Italian norms. Household chaos predicted higher levels of parenting stress, which, in turn, was associated with less effective emotion regulation in children through the mediating role of parental involvement. More stressed parents were less involved in their children’s activities, decreasing children’s effective emotion regulation. Only for SES no-risk families, the lockdown constraints increased parenting stress. For SES at-risk families, the impact of parenting stress and involvement on children regulation strategies was stronger, with a protective role played by parental involvement on children’s negativity not evident for SES no-risk families. Dealing with the lockdown is a stressful experience for parents who have to balance personal life, work, and children upbringing, without other help. This situation potentially impairs their ability to be supportive caregivers and is consequently detrimental for children well-being. Policies should take into consideration the implications of the lockdown for families’ mental health and tailor supportive interventions according to family’s risk factors

    Social and Emotional Competences of Sexual Offenders against Adolescents: A Case Study

    No full text
    The sexual harassment of adolescents is a heterogeneous phenomenon; however, some aspects of the perpetrators of these crimes appear obscure or little-known. This study aims to investigate the emotional and relational skills of a sex offender through the critical analysis of his psychological path. The sex offender is a middle-aged man accused of sexual acts with minors. The patient has socio-relational deficits as well as immaturity in the sexual–affective sphere, which make him vulnerable. During the clinical path, he was very tired and felt the weight of what he was caring for. The patient should carry out training aimed at restructuring his cognitive distortions, working on the aspects concerning relationships. This case study highlights how necessary investments are in policies that allow sex offenders to try to improve their conditions as well as allowing social inclusion free from prejudices and stigmatizations. It will ultimately reduce the risk of recidivism
    corecore