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Author(s): Sonia M. Bramanti [sup.1] , Valerio Manippa [sup.1] [sup.2] , Alessandra Babore [sup.1] , Anna Dilillo [sup.3] , Alessia Marcellino [sup.3] , Vanessa Martucci [sup.3] , Saverio Mallardo [sup.3] [...], The COVID-19 pandemic could be a threat for the health status of children with a chronic condition. The present study aimed to explore parents' and children's psychological adjustment during the current pandemic, pursuing a triple objective: to compare the psychological adjustment of parents of children with pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRDs) and parents of healthy children; to analyze children's psychological symptoms (emotional problems and hyperactivity) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with or without a PRDs diagnosis; to explore the associations of children's emotional problems and hyperactivity with parents' psychological adjustment, parent-child interactions and belonging or not to families with PRDs. This cross-sectional study involved 56 parents of children with PRDs and 53 parents of healthy children. Self-report questionnaires about parents' depression, anxiety, parenting stress, and children's emotional symptoms and hyperactivity-inattention were administered. No differences were detected on psychological adjustment between parents of children with PRDs and parents of healthy children. Parents of children with PRDs reported statistically significant higher levels of children's emotional problems and hyperactivity before the pandemic, compared to parents of healthy children; during COVID-19 pandemic, emotional symptoms increased for both groups, while hyperactivity-inattention symptoms increased only in the group of healthy children. Children's emotional difficulties were associated with higher levels of parental anxiety, worse parent-child interaction and having PRDs; children's hyperactivity symptoms were related to parent-child difficult interaction and higher levels of parental depression. Findings suggest the importance to target the children in relation to their parents, when approaching the psychological aspects of PRDs.

Background/Objectives: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent mental health issue affecting 14% of mothers worldwide, with long-term implications for both maternal and child well-being. Understanding the factors contributing to PPD is essential for developing effective interventions. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social support and postpartum depression symptoms, with a focus on the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties. Methods: A sample of 160 postpartum women (M age = 33.57, SD = 4.94) participated in the study. Participants were assessed on their levels of perceived social support, difficulties in emotion regulation, and symptoms of PPD. Results: The results indicated that lower levels of social support were significantly associated with greater difficulties in emotion regulation (effects ranging from −0.10 to 0.07). These difficulties in turn were linked to higher levels of postpartum depression symptoms (effects ranging from −0.29 to 0.78), suggesting a partial mediation effect from emotional awareness (95% CI −0.05, −0.00), non-acceptance of emotions (95% CI −0.04, −0.00), difficulty in goal-directed behavior (95% CI −0.04, −0.00), and limited access to strategies (95% CI −0.12, −0.04). Conclusions: These findings underscore the critical role of both social support and emotion regulation in the development of PPD symptoms. Enhancing emotion regulation skills, particularly for women with limited social support, could be a key target for interventions aimed at reducing the risk and severity of PPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore fathers' adjustment and father–child relationships during the first peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak (April 2020). More particularly, the study analysed paternal perceptions of changes concerning familial economic conditions and children's psychological difficulties (viz., emotional problems and hyperactivity) during the lockdown produced by the current pandemic. Furthermore, we investigated the following correlates of fathers' parenting stress: socio‐demographic condition, paternal individual stress, anxiety, depression and changes in the father–child relationship during the outbreak. Methods: A total of 102 fathers (mean age = 41.60 years; SD = 11.54) with minor children were recruited through an online survey and reported data about their socio‐economic condition, anxiety, and depressive levels, parenting stress, offspring's adjustment, and changes in their relationship with their children. Results: As for the economic conditions, participants were equally distributed between those who did not perceive changes and those who perceived a worsening. With regard to changes in the child's psychological difficulties, results showed that levels of children's emotional problems and inattention/hyperactivity had significantly increased during the lockdown period. A multiple linear regression analysis highlighted that the principal predictor of paternal parenting stress was living in the regions most affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, followed by high levels of paternal anxiety symptomatology and high levels of worsening of the relationship with the child during the pandemic. Conclusions: Overall, our study suggests to consider the effects of COVID‐19 on fathers as well, as they have been rather overlooked by previous research that has mainly focused on mothers, and to plan specific interventions able to also take them into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current cross‐sectional study aimed to analyse adolescents' adjustment during and before the lockdown caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, by evaluating levels of emotional problems and hyperactivity as referred by adolescents themselves. A further purpose was to compare adolescents' and mothers' perception about adolescents' adjustment. Participants comprised 206 adolescents (50.5% females; mean age = 12.2; SD = 3.3) and their mothers (mean age = 43.9; SD = 5.9). Findings showed that levels of emotional symptoms and hyperactivity in adolescents during the pandemic were significantly higher than before. This worsening was consistently detected by both mothers and adolescents themselves. Two main conclusions are highlighted by the current research: During the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic, adolescents participating to this study detected a worsening in their well‐being; mothers' perceptions of their adolescents' psychological problems may be considered reliable and consistent with the offspring's point of view. Practitioner points: Italian adolescents' adjustment during the COVID‐19 outbreak has been little investigated.The current study highlighted a worsening in adolescents' well‐being, in terms of higher emotional symptoms and hyperactivity, with respect to the pre‐pandemic period.This worsening was consistently highlighted by both adolescents themselves and their mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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