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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the life of individuals in several realms such as work, education, and interpersonal interactions. No research has so far investigated the possible influence of the emergency on the quality of mother-child exchanges during feeding. The present study aimed to do so in a sample of mothers and children (N = 359) recruited in the general population. The SVIA was used to evaluate the quality of the dyadic feeding interactions; the SCL-90/R and the BSFC were employed to assess mothers' psychopathological risk and caregiving distress. The CBCL 1,5-5 was used to tap mothers' perception of offspring's emotional/behavioral functioning. All measures were administered at 18 (T1) and 36 months (T2) of the children (respectively pre-pandemic and during the pandemic periods). Results showed that the quality of the feeding interactions worsened from T1 to T2. Mothers' psychopathological risk, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsion scores and caregiving distress significantly increased. Children's emotional/behavioral functioning worsened during the pandemic, with significantly higher Internalizing and Externalizing scores. This is the first study to focus on the quality of mother-child feeding interactions during the pandemic. This exploratory study can expand the knowledge on the possible negative outcomes of COVID-19 on family life and caregiving.

The use of digital devices among very young children is quickly spreading, although the effects of screen time on emotional and cognitive functioning are still debated. In a sample of N = 422 children and their mothers, this 4-year longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that the use of digital devices as smartphones and tablets at 4 years of age is related to later dysregulation symptoms and to lower academic achievements both at 6 and 8 years of age. Children's mothers were asked whether or not their offspring had access to digital devices and what was their average screen time on a typical day. Mothers were also requested to specify whether they used to participate in their children's activities during screen time and to report their offspring emotional/behavioral functioning. Children's teachers were administered the Teachers Report Form including the competence part to evaluate academic achievements and possible dysregulation symptoms of their students. The Structural Equation Modeling showed that screen time at 4 years of age, the child was directly, positively and significantly associated with dysregulation and negatively associated with mathematics and literacy grades at 8 years of age of the child. These results could help orientate the guidelines for the use of digital devices by very young children.

While accumulating literature is demonstrating the role of the dopamine transporter (DAT) in predicting emotional-behavioural difficulties in adults of at risk populations, only few studies have focused on the possible association between the methylation status of the DAT promoter and the psychopathological risk of mothers, fathers and children in normative samples. The pattern of methylation of M1-M7 loci present in the 5'-untranslated promoter region (5'-UTR) of DAT1, and parental and offspring psychopathological risk were assessed in a sample of 152 families with 5-year-old-children, employing principal components (PCAs) and cluster analyses. Parents' psychopathological symptoms were assessed through SCL-90/R; children's emotional-behavioural functioning was evaluated through C-TRF. Cluster analysis allowed to form three clusters; cluster 1 is primarily composed by children with low-/middle-risk profiles; most of children with high-risk are in this cluster, and had parents with mild/high psychopathological risk; children in cluster 2 showed low-risk profiles and their parents had low/mild psychopathological risk; children in cluster 3 were predominantly at middle risk and had parents with low psychopathological risk. Analysis of results shows that DNA methylation occurs in different loci of DAT1 according to patterns of psychopathology and that psychopathological risk is specifically associated with hyper-methylation or hypo-methylation of these loci.

Introduction: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, proximity between mothers and their newborn infants was at the core of sanitary guidelines. With the aim of stopping the virus transmission from mothers to infants and possible physical dangers due to the infection, some hospitals discouraged or even prohibited skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. Method: This study recruited 180 dyads in private and public hospitals in Italy with the aim of verifying whether mother-infant separation after delivery is associated with higher maternal psychopathological distress (assessed through the SCL-90-R) and poorer quality of dyadic interactions during breastfeeding (evaluated through the SVIA). Results: Our results showed that mothers separated from their infants displayed more anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and a lower quality of feeding interactions on all the subscales of the SVIA (mother's affective state; interactive conflict; food refusal behavior; dyad's affective state). Conclusion: In light of these results, our study suggests that separating mothers from their newborns is associated with increased psychopathological symptoms in mothers and poorer feeding interactions. These issues have been posited as key predictors of maladaptive outcomes in infants' later lives; therefore, health services must fully consider the short- and long-term consequences of separating mothers and infants in their policies in the event of future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that Postnatal maternal depression (PND) is associated with children's emotional and behavioral problems during infancy, but the possible effect of father-child relationship quality on this association is yet to be thoroughly investigated. We recruited 401 families (802 parents; 401 children) via mental health clinics in Central Italy. We divided families into two groups: Group 1 included families with mothers with PND; Group 2 included families with mothers without PND (control group). The assessment took place at T1 (18 months of age of children) and T2 (36 months of age of children): postnatal maternal depression was measured through the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); parent-child relationship quality was assessed through the Scale for the Assessment of Feeding Interactions (SVIA); and the child emotional-behavioral functioning was evaluated with the Child-Behavior-Checklist (CBCL). Compared to the control group, the children of the groups where mothers had PND, showed overall higher scores (i.e., more maladaptive) on the CBCL. A direct effect of postnatal maternal depression on children's emotional-behavioral functioning was found, both at T1 and at T2. A mediation effect of father-child relationship quality between postnatal maternal depression and child outcomes was also found. These results could inform prevention and intervention programs in families with mothers with PND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Several studies have suggested that maternal eating disorders (EDs) represent a significant risk factor for children's affective and behavioral development. Yet, little emphasis has been placed on the paternal role. Objectives The present longitudinal study aimed to clarify the role of maternal EDs and the influence of paternal psychological profiles on children's emotional development. Method Our sample was composed of N = 64 families with firstborn children selected through preschools, primary schools, and outpatient clinics in central Italy. Parents and children participated in a 6-year longitudinal protocol that included a diagnostic interview conducted by clinicians (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders [SCID-I]), a self-report (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised [SCL-90-R]), and a parental report-form questionnaire (Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]). Results The influence of mothers' EDs on their children's emotional development was confirmed. Moreover, fathers' anxiety and obsessive-compulsive problems in association with mothers' EDs and depressive symptoms influenced the onset of both internalizing and externalizing difficulties in their children over time. Conclusion Our results suggest that fathers' psychopathological risk affects the development of emotional problems in children with mothers who have EDs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency situations have been associated with negative psychological adjustment outcomes in healthcare professionals, although studies on the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amongst Italian health workers are limited. The main aim of this study was to investigate the psychological adjustment of healthcare professionals during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating differences according to working or not with patients affected by COVID-19 and in areas with a more severe spread of this pandemic. Healthcare professionals' attitudes toward psychological support were analyzed. The levels of anxiety, depression, psychological stress, and professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue) and attitudes toward psychological support were measured among 627 Italian healthcare workers (mean age = 40.55 years; SD = 11.49; range: 27-72). Significantly higher levels of stress, burnout, secondary trauma, anxiety, and depression were observed among professionals working with COVID-19 patients. Higher levels of stress and burnout and lower levels of compassion satisfaction were detected in professionals working in areas with higher rates of contagion. No interaction effects were found between working (or not) with patients affected by COVID-19 and working (or not) in areas with a more severe diffusion of this pandemic. Finally, in the group of professionals who worked with COVID-19 patients, the percentage of professionals who thought to ask for psychological support was twice that of the group that did not work with COVID-19 patients. The overall findings indicate that the mental health of frontline healthcare workers requires further consideration and that targeted prevention and intervention programs are necessary.

The article aims to study mother-child and father-child interactions with 24-month-old children during feeding, considering the possible influence of time spent by the parent with the child, the infantile temperament, and the parental psychological profile. The families were recruited from 12 preschools in Italy (N = 77 families). Through an observation of the feeding [Scala di Valutazione dell'Interazione Alimentare (SVIA - Feeding Scale; I. Chatoor et al., ; L. Lucarelli et al., )], self-reporting [Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; L.R. Derogatis, ), and report-form questionnaires [Italian Questionnaires on Temperament (QUIT; G. Axia, )], and information provided by the parents about the amount of time spent with their children, results showed that the overall quality of father-child interactions during feeding is lower than that of mother-child interactions. Fathers showed higher psychological symptoms than did mothers. No associations were found between the fathers' psychopathological risk and the quality of interactions with their children during feeding. Mothers' psychopathological risks predicted less contingent exchanges interactions with their children during feeding. Children's temperaments significantly influence mother-child interactions, but no association exists between maternal involvement and the quality of interactions with their children. Paternal involvement predicts a better quality of father-infant interactions when associated with a child's higher scores on Social Orientation. The quality of parents' interactions with their children during feeding are impacted by different issues originating from the parent's psychological profile, the degree of involvement, and from the child's temperament., (© 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.)