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Caress-like is a crucial component of caregiving and a key factor in mother-infant interactions. Mother's experience of touch during her own childhood (i.e., tactile biography) has been found to be related to maternal actual use of caress-like touch (i.e., stroking) during mother-infant exchanges. Evidence also suggests that maternal interoceptive sensibility (i.e., self-perceived sensitivity to inner-body sensations) might be related to sensitive caregiving abilities. However, further empirical investigation is needed to understand to what extent tactile biography and interoceptive sensibility have an impact on mothers' stroking when interacting with their infants. Using an online survey, this cross-sectional study explored the potential association between maternal tactile biography, interoceptive sensibility and use of touch for interaction with their own infants in a group of 377 Italian mothers (mean age = 33.29; SD = 4.79). We tested and compared a series of multivariate linear mediation models using maternal tactile biography as predictor, maternal use of affective touch as outcome variable and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) subscale scores as mediators. We found that, if a mother had positive touch experiences in her own childhood, she may be more likely to use touch in a positive and nurturing way with her own infant (i.e., stroking). Furthermore, mothers' interoceptive sensibility in the form of attention regulation, self-regulation and body listening mediates the association between their past experiences of positive touch and their use of caress-like touch in mother-infant exchanges. This study highlights that maternal tactile biography is directly associated with mothers' use of caress-like touch and indirectly linked to it through the mediating role of interoceptive sensibility.

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.

Parents’ attitudes and practices may support the children’s reactions to treatments for leukaemia and their general adjustment. This study has two aims: to explore parenting depending on the child’s age and to develop and test a model on how family processes influence the psycho-social development of children with leukaemia. Patients were 118 leukemic children and their parents recruited at the Haematology–Oncologic Clinic of the Department of Paediatrics, University of Padua. All parents were Caucasian with a mean age of 37.39 years (SD = 6.03). Children’s mean age was 5.89 years (SD = 4.21). After the signature of the informed consent, the parents were interviewed using the EFI-C from which we derived Parenting dimension and three parental perceptions on the child’s factors. One year later, the clinical psychologist interviewed again parents using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). The analyses revealed the presence of a significant difference in parenting by the child’s age: Infants required a higher and more intensive parenting. The child’s coping with medical procedures at the second week after the diagnosis, controlled for parenting effect, impacted upon the child’s adaptation one-year post diagnosis. Specific intervention programmes are proposed in order to help children more at risk just after the diagnosis of developmental delays.

The majority of the studies underlined how adolescent and young adult (AYA) Cancer Survivors had no significant differences in their well-being and quality of life compared with a control group of healthy counterparts, although French et al. (2013) found less years of education among cancer survivors. The present study aimed at comparing AYA cancer survivors and a control group of peers who had no history of serious illness, in terms of well-being, cognitive functioning, and perceptions of life. Participants in this study were 205 AYA cancer survivors, 126 males, off therapy from a mean of 10.87 years (SD = 4.91), with a mean age of 18.96 (SD = 3.08), recruited during follow-up visits and healthy counterparts (n = 205), matched for age and gender. They all completed self-report questionnaires: Ladder of Life, BSI-18 and Cognitive problems. Paired t test evidenced significant differences between survivors (Mean = 6.19; SD = 2.07) and controls (Mean = 6.88; SD = 2.02) in perceptions of quality of life regarding 5 years before the current time [t(204) = −3.39; p = 0.001], with a lower level for childhood cancer survivors. Specifically, Hierarchical regression (R2 = 0.05, p = 0.04) identified a shorter time since the completion of treatment (β = 0.18, p = 0.03) and a trend of stem cell transplantation experience (β = −0.11, p = 0.06) as factors associated with negative perception of precedent quality of life. The AYA cancer survivors reported lower cognitive difficulties (Mean = 1.46) than controls (Mean = 1.56) [t(204) = −3.41; p = 0.001]: in memory (Meanclinical = 1.32 vs Meancontrol = 1.50) [t(204) = −4.52; p = 0.001], in concentration (Meanclinical = 1.36 vs Meancontrol = 1.54) [t(204) = −4.66; p = 0.001] and in mental organization skills (Meanclinical = 1.47 vs Meancontrol = 1.56) [t(204) = −2.56; p = 0.01], even if they had a lower educational attainment [X(9)2 = 131.28; p = 0.001]. They showed similar satisfaction with their psychological well-being and their lives as healthy counterparts, except for past life perceptions associated with the cancer period. Important recommendations for future research and clinical suggestions could be given.

As the interest in the beneficial effects of positive touch experiences is rapidly growing, having reliable and valid tools to its assessment is essential. The Tactile Biography Questionnaire (TBQ) allows to quantify individual differences in affective touch experiences throughout life. The aim of this article is to present a contribution to its validation in the Italian population. Data analysis were run on a sample of 2040 Italian individuals (Females = 1342, 64%) participating in an on-line survey. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and invariance analyses for gender were applied. Concurrent validity was checked using two specific subscales of the Touch Avoidance Questionnaire (TAQ—i.e., Family and Stranger). The four-dimensional structure of the TBQ was confirmed in the overall sample and by gender. Also, the TBQ showed an excellent internal consistency and a good concurrent validity with TAQ. The present study suggests that the TBQ can be used to support healthcare professionals and researchers to assess experiences of affective touch in different settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to lockdown in many countries and Italy was the first one interested in Europe. The lockdown strategy is an essential step to curb the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases, but it is very demanding for the population involved and especially for children and their families. The aims of the present study are: (a) to explore the psychometric properties of the COPEWithME questionnaire, a new tool to evaluate parents' ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors, (b) to investigate the relation between parents' resilience and their ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors with child resilience and child stress-related behaviors assessed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants (N = 158 mothers, with 6- to 11-years-old children, 53% female), who were volunteers and anonymous, filled out an online questionnaire composed by CD-RISC 25, PMK-CYRM-R, and COPEWithME. With regard to the COPEWithME, validation exploratory factor analyses revealed a one-factor solution of 18 items. The COPEWithME positively correlates both with mothers' resilience and with children's resilience. Mediation analysis showed that the association between mothers' resilience and children's stress-related behaviors was mediated by the mothers' ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors. The COPEWithME, to our knowledge, is the first measure of parents' ability to support and promote resilient behaviors in school-age children, a key parenting skill that may help children in dealing with stressful situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak. These findings represent useful insights to advance mental health interventions in the post-pandemic phases suggesting focusing on a family's resources and resilience processes.

Few studies so far have analysed the potential role of mentoring in decreasing hyperactivity and inattention problems. The aim of the current study is to investigate the impact of the Italian Mentor-UP mentoring program on hyperactivity and inattention problems in a non-clinical sample of mentees. “Mentor-UP” is a weekly school- and community-based mentoring program implemented in northern Italy over a period of 8 months. The sample included 468 students, 65 from the experimental group (mentees) and 403 as comparison group. Participants’ age ranged between 8 and 14 years (M = 11.31, SD = 1.40), 46% were females and 20% were non-Italian youths. Students reported their levels of hyperactivity and inattention problems at the beginning and at the end of the program. A significant interaction between time and group revealed a significant effect of the program on hyperactivity and inattention problems (B = −0.10, t (450) = −2.00, p = 0.04), which decreased in mentees (Cohen’s d = −0.21) but not in the comparison group. Results supported the effectiveness of Mentor-UP in decreasing youths’ hyperactivity and inattention. This might be due to the structural characteristics of the mentoring relationships established in the context of Mentor-UP.

DNA methylation plays a key role in neural cell fate and provides a molecular link between early life stress and later-life behavioral phenotypes. Here, studies that combine neuroimaging methods and DNA methylation analysis in pediatric population with a history of adverse experiences were systematically reviewed focusing on: targeted genes and neural correlates; statistical models used to examine the link between DNA methylation and neuroimaging data also considering early life stress and behavioral outcomes. We identified 8 studies that report associations between DNA methylation and brain structure/functions in infants, school age children and adolescents faced with early life stress condition (e.g., preterm birth, childhood maltreatment, low socioeconomic status, and less-than optimal caregiving). Results showed that several genes were investigated (e.g., OXTR, SLC6A4, FKBP5, and BDNF) and different neuroimaging techniques were performed (MRI and f-NIRS). Statistical model used ranged from correlational to more complex moderated mediation models. Most of the studies (n = 5) considered DNA methylation and neural correlates as mediators in the relationship between early life stress and behavioral phenotypes. Understanding what role DNA methylation and neural correlates play in interaction with early life stress and behavioral outcomes is crucial to promote theory-driven studies as the future direction of this research fields.

Good management of diabetes requires at the same time self-regulation behaviour and a balanced involvement of family components. This cross-sectional study’s aims were: understanding fear of injections and perceptions of family conflicts in preadolescents and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their mothers, comparing their perceptions, and identifying the risk factors impacting patients’ quality of life. Eligibility criteria were: treatment for diabetes mellitus type I, currently aged 10–18 years, attending the hospital for annual hospital follow-ups. Exclusion criteria were: intellectual disabilities, inability to complete questionnaires alone and neuropsychiatric illness with active pharmacotherapy. The study design was cross-sectional. Participants were one hundred and two patients (Mean age = 14.6, SD = 2.4; age range = 10–19 years; Females = 52 and Males = 50) and their mothers (Mean age = 46.9, SD = 6.2, age range = 27–63 years), who filled in self and proxy-report questionnaires (N total= 204). The results showed that 20% of patients and 14.7% of their mothers reported clinical scores for fear of self-injection and blood testing. The mothers reported lower fear of injecting and higher family conflicts compared with the patients. Age, fear of injecting and family conflicts were significantly associated with patients’ quality of life perceptions. Clinical considerations and recommendations are given based on the empirical results.

In the last few years, more children and adolescents healed from leukemia go back to their daily life, even if they can show some psycho-social difficulties. The study adopted semi-structured interviews and a mixed-method approach to examine the narratives of 75 children and adolescents about their return to school post 2-years treatment for leukemia. The aims are to collect their illness experiences, to understand how they feel about school and daily routines and to identify the best socio-demographic and illness predictors of a good re-adaptation to school and daily life. The results show that by increasing age and when the pediatric patient have received a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, at the stop-therapy time, her/his perception about relationships at school and academic performance decrease, especially if his/her feelings about the disease and follow-up visits are negative.

In childhood cancer, parents have an important role in the promotion of their children’s wellbeing and in their adoption of a locus of control style towards their children’s health. The current study aimed at identifying types of locus of control in parents of children with leukemia and the possible association with depressive symptomatology and current life perception. One hundred and four parents were recruited at the Hematology–Oncology Clinic of the Department of Woman’s and Child’s Health, University of Padua, one month after a leukemia diagnosis. Participants were Caucasian with a mean age of 37.28 years (SD = 5.89), mostly mothers (87.5%) and with a mean of 12.16 years of education (SD = 3.82). After signing the informed consent, they filled in the Ladder of Life, the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and the Parental Health Locus of Control (PHLOC) questionnaires. Paired-samples t-test (t = −14.42; df = 103; p = 0.0001) showed that parents of children with leukemia were more inclined to have an external locus of control than an internal one. The hierarchical regression analysis model (R2 = 0.34; F = 4.32; p = 0.0001) identified health professional influence (ß = −0.28; p = 0.004), current life perception (ß = −0.3; p = 0.013) and future life perception (ß = −0.26; p = 0.012) as significant predictors of parental depression. Current life perception was best predicted (R2 = 0.25; F = 3.96; p = 0.01) by the parental influence locus of control style (ß = 0.25; p = 0.03). Improving trust in the medical staff care and strengthening the internal locus of control in parents could be a preventive program to cope with parental depression symptomatology.

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's motor skills and filled in the Italian Temperament Questionnaire (QUIT). VABS's 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's 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' 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.

Early childhood is considered to be a period of rapid development, with the acquisition of abilities predicting future positive school competences. Motor, cognitive, and social difficulties related to cancer therapies heavily impact the development of children with cancer. This study focused on two main aims: To assess the developmental pathways of preschool children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia one year post-treatment and to compare these abilities both with those of a control group of healthy peers and with Italian norms. Forty-four children and their families, recruited through the Hematology-Oncologic Clinic of the Department of Child and Woman Health (University of Padua), agreed to participate in this study. The children’s mean age was 4.52 years (SD = 0.94, range = 2.5−6 years), equally distributed by gender, all diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Matched healthy peers were recruited through pediatricians’ ambulatories. Each family was interviewed adopting the Vineland adaptive behavior scales. Paired sample Wilcoxon tests revealed that children were reported to have significantly more developmental difficulties than their healthy peers. When compared with Italian norms, they scored particularly low in verbal competence, social, and coping skills. No significant association was found between treatment variables and developmental abilities. These findings suggest that the creation of specialized interventions, both for parents and children, may fill the possible delays in children’s development probably due to stress, lack of adequate stimulation, or difficult adaptation.

This research revealed the children with difficulties in attentional functions among healthy children attending primary school and aimed to identify the possible sociodemographic factors, such as the child’s age, gender, and school grade, that could influence attentive performance. The participants were 105 children aged 6–10 years (M age = 8.6; SD = 1.04), attending primary schools. Family economic condition was mostly at a medium level (63.5%), and parents most frequently had 13 years of schooling. The computerized test KiTAP was administered to children to assess their attentional functions. Results showed a higher frequency of omissions and false alarms and a reduced speed in alertness, go/no-go, and sustained attention tasks compared to Italian norms. Hierarchical regression analyses were run with school grade, gender, and current age as independent variables and mean reaction times (and standard deviation), number of omissions, and false alarms as dependent ones. The results showed that male gender and attending a lower grade impacted on lower attentional performance in several subtests. Girls showed the best performances in tests of distractibility and impulsive reaction tendencies, while higher school grade positively influenced divided and sustained attention. These results could be useful to identify children with major attentional difficulties, and some recommendations for future studies and the implementation of attention empowerment programmes are proposed.