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Social networks have become an ubiquitous aspect of adolescents' life, providing new ways to connect and communicate with peers. However, little is known about the impact of social net-works on adolescents' emotional intelligence (EI), a crucial skill for social and identity development. The aim of the present study is to explore the time spent and reasons for using social net-works and their relationship with emotional intelligence in adolescents and young adults (15-19 years). After signing informed consent, participants completed a battery of questionnaires offered via secure online form. The results showed that teenagers spend more than 3 h/day on Whatsapp, more than 2 h/day on Instagram and less on Facebook (26m per day); girls prefer to use Whatsapp and Instagram, boys opt for Facebook. Most participants use social media when bored and/or to communicate with friends. Moreover, time spent on social media has a relationship with stress management with some aspects of EI (assertiveness, self-actualization, optimism, etc.). EI and social desirability have a significant relationship, especially in the sphere of adaptability. Based on the results obtained, future perspectives and training are suggested with the aim of adapting to the constant changes in the new technological reality.

Caregiving touch is a crucial component of natural caregiving and constitutes a protective factor with significant impact on infant neurodevelopment. Recent studies highlighted that maternal touch in early life is associated with epigenetic variation between infants. In the current paper, studies that address early caregiving touch in association with DNA methylation will be discussed, positing that mother-infant touch acts as an epigenetic protection mechanism. Understanding how maternal touch and body-to-body contact can shape the epigenome holds the potential to shed light on the mechanisms through which these early tactile experiences advance mental and physical health over the lifetime.

Social touch is closely related to the establishment and maintenance of social bonds in humans and the sensory brain circuit for gentle brushing is already active soon after birth. Brain development is known to be sexually dimorphic, but the potential effect of sex on brain activation to gentle touch remains unknown. Here, we examined brain activation to gentle skin stroking, a tactile stimulation that resembles affective/social touch, in term-born neonates. Eighteen infants aged 11-36 days, recruited from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, were included in the study. During natural sleep, soft brush strokes were applied to the skin of the right leg during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3cm/s velocity. We examined potential differences in brain activation between males (n = 10) and females (n = 8) and found that females had larger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses (brushing vs. rest) in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), right ventral striatum and bilateral inferior striatum, pons and cerebellum compared to males. Moreover, the psychophysiological interactions (PPI) analysis, setting left and right OFC as seed regions, revealed significant differences between males and females. Females exhibited stronger PPI connectivity between the left OFC and posterior cingulate/cuneus. Our work suggests that social touch neural responses are different in male and female neonates, which may have major ramifications for later brain, cognitive and social development. Finally, many of the sexually dimorphic brain responses were subcortical, not captured by surface-based neuroimaging, indicating that fMRI will be a relevant technique for future studies.

Affective touch is a crucial component of caregiving in the early life and constitutes a key factor with significant impact on infant later-life outcomes. The Parent-Infant Caregiving Touch Scale (PICTS) allows to quantify and qualify maternal touch behaviors in the first months of infant’ life. In the current study, we contributed to PICTS Italian validation and explored weather early maternal touch could be associated with maternal emotional state, maternal history of affective touch experiences throughout the lifespan, infants’ sex and age. We also explored possible associations between PICTS factor scores and COVID-19 related variables. Data analyses were run on a sample of 377 Italian mothers (Mean age = 33.29; SD = 4.79) participating in an on-line survey. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was applied. The three-dimensional structure of PICTS (i.e., Stroking, Affective Communication, Holding) dropping one item out, resulted in the best model in our sample. Maternal emotional state and COVID-19 related variables did not affect PICTS factor scores while maternal comfort and amount of affective touch experienced during adulthood resulted significantly associated with Stroking, Affective Communication, Holding factors. Regarding infants’ dimensions, infants’ sex and age did not affect PICTS factor scores. Findings suggest that PICTS Italian version is a good measurement of maternal affective touch behaviors in the early infancy and that maternal history of touch is associated with her current use of touch. This suggests that maternal history of touch may represent a key factor in the establishment of infants’ life-long socio-emotional wellbeing.

Children with leukaemia experience special difficulties adapting to stressful medical procedures and to the adverse effects of chemotherapy, though they can implement their coping strategies. The aims of the study were to assess whether the coping-with-pain strategies could be influenced by a child's personal and illness factors and to render possible comparisons between children with leukaemia and healthy peers. Another aim was to compare parents' and children's reports on coping strategies.A total of 125 patients (average age = 6.79 years; SD = 3.40) with acute leukaemia (lymphocytic leukaemia 90.4% and myeloid leukaemia 9.6%) and age-matched healthy children with their parents were enrolled in the study. A socio-demographic questionnaire and the Waldon-Varni Pediatric Pain Coping Inventory, parent and self-report versions, were administered 1 month after diagnosis. Data regarding the therapy's side effects were recorded.The comparison between proxy-reports of the two groups of parents found significant differences in terms of social support, self-cognitive instructions and catastrophising strategies. Children aged 6-10 years relied more heavily on distraction than children of other ages, using more problem-solving and self-cognitive instructions. The results indicated moderate parent-child agreement.Health professionals could help paediatric leukaemic patients in adopting more efficiently pain coping strategies applicable for different ages.