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Introduction: Spatial construction is a complex ability involving attention, global/local visual processing, mental representation, visuo-motor coordination and, to varying extent, working memory and executive functions, and verbal abilities. In developmental neuropsychology, little attention has been paid to comprehend whether and to what extent the above cognitive processes are involved in two main spatial construction tasks, that is drawing and block building., Method: We used path analysis to test shared and specific effects of verbal and spatial working memory, spatial attention, inhibition, verbal abilities (vocabulary and naming), figure disembedding, mental rotation, and visual-motor coordination, as well as of demographics (sex, age and socio-economic status), on two classical drawing (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure; ROCF) and block building (Block design; BD) tasks in a sample of 195 typically developing children (age range: 7-11 years)., Results: Figure disembedding and visuo-motor coordination were the only shared predictors of both spatial construction tasks. Moreover, ROCF score was directly related with spatial attention and inhibition, while BD score was directly related with sex, vocabulary, mental rotation and backward spatial working memory., Discussion: These findings distinguish between abilities involved in spatial construction regardless of the type of task and those specifically related to ROCF or Block Design, thus providing clues relevant to neuropsychological assessment and intervention in children with spatial construction disorders., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Zappullo, Senese, Trojano, Cecere and Conson.)

This paper aimed at investigating the relationship between HEXACO personality traits and academic performance in two samples of Italian 10-14 years old middle-school adolescents (N = 714 and N = 1093) using Multilevel Mixed Models. The main results show that: 1) Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were the most important predictors of school performance, followed by Honesty-Humility; 2) a modest effect was present also for eXtraversion and Emotionality; 3) these influences occurred net of the influence of gender and class and could be generalized to male and female adolescents across 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade; 5) Perfectionism, Diligence and Prudence within Conscientiousness, Inquisitiveness within Openness, and Sincerity within Honesty-Humility were the facets more correlated with school performance; 6) results were replicated in two studies. Results are discussed and conclusions are drawn., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this cross-sectional study we aimed at: 1) validating the observer (Obs) version of HEXACO Medium School Inventory Extended (MSI-E); 2) establishing convergent and divergent construct validity of the HEXACO-MSI-E; 3) establishing criterion validity of HEXACO-MSI-E. We administered the HEXACO-MSI-E, the Big Five Questionnaire-Children (BFQ-C), the Internalizing and Externalizing scales of Youth Self Report (YSR), some items of the 2019 Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRB) and some items about adolescents' values, beliefs, behaviors, and desired features of a possible future job to 1175 adolescents (Mage = 12.03, SD = 0.89) and the observer version of these measures (except for BFQ-C) to 854 parents or legal guardians. The factorial structure and the reliability of the Observer Report of HEXACO-MSI-E were confirmed. Convergent and divergent validity were successfully established with a version of the inventory filled out by parents. Convergent and divergent validity were also established with BFQ-C notwithstanding some only apparent anomalies. Criterion validity was established with respect to four specific groups of criteria collected in both self-report and observer form. HEXACO-MSI-E traits were more predictive with respect to self-report than to observer criteria and the majority were common. Together with the positive results of this study, implications and issues for future studies are discussed., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Mottola et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The power behavioural system is a neurobehavioral system that motivates a person to acquire and control resources that are important for survival and reproductive success. When activated, its function is to protect or restore the sense of power, influence, or dominance. Repeated experiences of failure in achieving this goal may result in hyperactivation or deactivation of power-oriented behaviours (analogous to the secondary strategies observed with respect to the attachment behavioural system). Gaining a reliable and valid measure of hyperactivation and deactivation of the power system can be important for understanding an individual's responses to different social contexts and, in clinical settings, can help the therapist identify the client's difficulties that may undermine the therapeutic process. In the present study, we developed the Italian version of the Power Behavioural System Scale (PBSS), a self-report measure developed by Shaver et al. (2011) to assess individual differences in hyperactivation and deactivation of the power system. Results indicated an adequate fit to the expected two-factor model, and the measure proved to be reliable and had good convergent and structural validity, allowing the quantification of individual differences in power system hyperactivation and deactivation.

In this paper, we aimed at developing and validating a novel instrument to evaluate personality in 10-14 years old adolescents with six basic traits, with two dedicated studies. In Study 1, we generated a large pool of items (384 items) from three basic items sources, which we administered to 714 Italian adolescents. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and extension factor analysis, we selected the best eight items for each facet, and so the best 32 items for each factor, except for the Unconventionality facet of Openness to Experience (O) for which we selected the best six items. This resulted in a total of 190 items. The 190-item HEXACO-MSI had very good levels of dimensional validity and reliability, but it fell short in containing 8 items for each facet (i.e., for Unconventionality) and in balancing normal and reversed items within each facet. Therefore, in a second study we added items to the scale and verified again the dimensionality and reliability with the goal of developing a final version of the scale. In Study 2, we administered a version of the HEXACO-MSI consisting of 219 items to 1175 Italian adolescents. Using principal component analysis (PCA), we selected the best eight items for each facet equally balanced between normal and reversed items within each facet and factor. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the six-factor structure and its invariance. The results showed that the HEXACO-MSI-E had a clear six-factor structure in adolescents, that was invariant across gender and across the three middle school classes, and was reliable. Finally, we established temporal stability of each factor in two measurements after one year. Together with the positive results of this contribution, we discussed some aspects for future studies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Gnisci et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Parental rejection has been consistently empirically implicated in a wide array of developmental, behavioural and psychological problems worldwide. However, the interaction effect between parental rejection in childhood and the oxytocin receptor genotype on psychological adjustment has yet to be investigated. The present study aimed to investigate gene-environment interaction effects between parental rejection (maternal and paternal) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298) on depressive symptoms in adults in different cultural contexts. Adults from Italy and Japan ( N = 133, age = 18-27 years, females = 68) were preliminarily genotyped and then completed the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for mothers and fathers and the Beck Depression Inventory. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that paternal rejection was related to self-reported depression and that the effect of parental rejection was moderated by OXTR gene polymorphisms and nationality. Among Italians, OXTR rs2254298 A-carriers showed resilience to negative early parental care, whereas among Japanese, OXTR rs53576 non-A-carriers showed resistance to negative early paternal care. These findings align with expected relations between perceived acceptance-rejection and an individual's psychological adjustment, as proposed by interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, and indicate the need for future studies adopting a multicultural and multilevel approach to better understand how the effects of parental rejection extend into adulthood.

Recent data has revealed dissociations between social and non-social skills in both autistic and neurotypical populations. In the present study, we investigated whether specific visuospatial abilities, such as figure disembedding and mental rotation, are differently related to social and non-social autistic traits, in neurotypical women and men. University students (N = 426) completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures tasks. AQ social skills (AQ-social) and attention-to-details (AQ-attention) subscales were used as measures of social and non-social autistic traits, respectively. Mental rotation was affected by a significant interaction between sex, social and non-social traits. When non-social traits were above the mean (+ 1 SD), no sex differences in mental rotation were found. Instead, below this value, sex differences depended on the social traits, with men on average outperforming women at middle-to-high social traits, and with a comparable performance, and with women on average outperforming men, at lower social traits. A small positive correlation between figure disembedding and social traits was observed in the overall sample. These results are interpreted in terms of the hyper-systemizing theory of autism and contribute to the evidence of individual differences in the cognitive style of autistic people and neurotypical people with autistic traits., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In youths, callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems (CP) are independently associated with bullying perpetration and these effects are also observed when controlling for sex. Moreover, research indicates that the co-existence of high levels of both CU and CP further increase the risk. Although several studies have examined the relationship between CU traits and traditional bullying, few have also included a measure of cyberbullying and very few of them have focused the early adolescence. The aim of this study was to replicate and extend these findings in a large sample of Italian early adolescents considering both traditional and cyberbullying behaviors. Data were extracted from the Bullying and Youth Mental Health Naples study (BYMHNS) which included 2959 students of 10-15 years of age. CP, CU traits, traditional bullying behaviors, and cyberbullying behaviors were assessed by multi-item self-report scales. As expected, we replicated the significant and specific association between CU traits and traditional bullying, extending the findings to cyberbullying. In addition, in the latter case the effect was moderated by CP. The theoretical and clinical implications of these results were discussed.

In recent literature, many researchers have highlighted that the feeling of loneliness can be considered a sign of relevant distress with short- and long-term consequences on the health of people who needs to be appropriately monitored and treated. In this view, the Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Loneliness Scale (IPARLS) has been developed to evaluate the subjective feelings and distress related to interpersonal loneliness and to overcome the limits of the previous scales; however, its psychometric characteristics have not yet been fully investigated. Starting from these considerations, two studies have been conducted. The first study, involving 688 adults (19-69 years; 51% females), assessed dimensionality, reliability, and validity of and tested the measurement invariance (MI) of the Italian version of the IPARLS. The second study, involving 205 adults (20-69 years; 51% females), investigated the relationship between loneliness and psychological adjustment. Results confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale and showed that it is reliable, valid, and fully invariant as a function of age and gender. Moreover, data showed a strong association between perceived loneliness and psychological adjustment. The IPARLS is confirmed to be a valid and reliable measure to investigate loneliness in the life cycle from clinical and research perspectives., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Senese, Nasti, Mottola, Sergi, Massaro and Gnisci.)

Background: Several studies have shown that during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, emotional symptoms increased in the general population. Less is known about youths., Methods: We surveyed a sample of Italian adolescents during the strictest quarantine period and assessed the effects of socio-demographic and psychological factors on current emotional symptoms. A convenient sample of 326 adolescents (age range 14-19 years) participated in a web-based survey. We collected data on several socio-demographic and psychological variables (summarized into three indexes: environmental context, changes in lifestyle, and worries about infection) and psychopathological symptoms (previous psychopathological status, current anxiety and depressive symptoms)., Results: Descriptive analysis showed that adolescents have experienced quarantine under very different conditions; they reported 47.5 and 14.1% of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Regression analyses indicated that previous psychopathological status and worries about infection are linked to anxiety and that female gender, previous psychopathological status (moderated by change in lifestyle), worse environmental context are linked to depression., Conclusion: This study indicates that, facing the COVID-19 pandemic and its related safety measures, adolescents show relevant emotional symptoms and therefore should be monitored, assessed and supported.

Background: Knowledge of the Adult Baby-Diaper Lovers (ABDL) phenomena is quite recent and there are, of yet, few studies on this phenomenon., Aim: This study was conceived to investigate the functions of ABDL behaviours and the characteristics of ABDL in an online Italian community sample. We hypothesized that ABDL phenomena were associated with general psychological maladjustment and with an experience of parental rejection during childhood. It was also assumed that there would be differences in ABDL profiles based on the age of appearance of their first Adult Baby-Diaper Lover (ABDL) fantasies., Method: An internet-based study was conducted and it involved 38 adults aged between 18 and 74 years (M = 34.95; SD = 12.25). Participants were first given an ad hoc questionnaire, which was devised to obtain information about the anamnestic variables related to ABDL. Then, the participants filled out the Cognitive Behaviour Assessment 2.0 battery to obtain anamnestic information regarding their psychological, medical, and personal history and to evaluate primary psychological dimensions in clinical practice. Finally, they filled out the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, to evaluate their recollections of parental perceived rejection, and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire, to evaluate the primary psychological aspects related to parental rejection., Results: The data indicated that adults with ABDL showed the presence of anxious traits and recollections of parental rejection during childhood. Moreover, associations were observed between current or previous ABDL phenomena enuresis and negative mood states., Conclusion: Specific kinds of parental modes, anxiety traits, and enuresis seem to be the source of ABDL interests. Moreover, ADBL behaviours seem to assume different functions and meanings., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The term Phantom Phone Signals (PPS) refers to the perception of a mobile phone ringing, vibrating and blinking when in fact it did not. Data in youth are lacking, and controversies exist on whether PPS is related to psychopathology. In the present study, we showed data on the prevalence of PPS in a population (N = 2959) of students aged 10 to 14 years. We also explored the possible association between PPS and emotional or behavioural problems. Our results showed that PPS is a relatively common phenomenon with a prevalence rate of 58.9%, being more frequent in females. In univariate and multivariate analyses, we also found an association between the presence of PPS and emotional problems and temper tantrums, after accounting for relevant covariates. PPS is a relevant phenomenon to be considered in youth. It is common and may be a signal for emotional problems., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Adults' adaptive interactions with intimate partners enhance well-being. Here we hypothesized that adult males' physiological responses to opposite-sex conspecifics' distress result from an interaction between an environmental factor (early social interaction with caregivers) and a genetic factor (a polymorphism within the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene, 5-HTTLPR). We assessed heart rate changes in 42 non-married male adults to distress vocalizations (female, infant, and bonobo cries). Males' early interaction with parents was assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Buccal mucosa cell samples were collected to assess their 5-HTTLPR genotype. A significant interaction emerged between early experience and genetic predisposition. Males with a genetic predisposition for higher sensitivity to environmental factors showed atypical physiological responses to adult female cries according to their experienced early maternal parenting. Environmental experiences and genetic characteristics are associated with adult males' physiological responses to socially meaningfully stimuli. Understanding the mechanisms that modulate responses to opposite-sex conspecifics may improve personal well-being and social adaptiveness.

Considering the wide growth of the wind turbine market over the last decade as well as their increasing power size, more and more potential conflicts have arisen in society due to the noise radiated by these plants. Our goal was to determine whether the annoyance caused by wind farms is related to aspects other than noise. To accomplish this, an auditory experiment on the recognition of wind turbine noise was conducted to people with long experience of wind turbine noise exposure and to people with no previous experience to this type of noise source. Our findings demonstrated that the trend of the auditory recognition is the same for the two examined groups, as far as the increase of the distance and the decrease of the values of sound equivalent levels and loudness are concerned. Significant differences between the two groups were observed as the distance increases. People with wind turbine noise experience showed a higher tendency to report false alarms than people without experience.

Human infants' complete dependence on adult caregiving suggests that mechanisms associated with adult responsiveness to infant cues might be deeply embedded in the brain. Behavioural and neuroimaging research has produced converging evidence for adults' positive disposition to infant cues, but these studies have not investigated directly the valence of adults' reactions, how they are moderated by biological and social factors, and if they relate to child caregiving. This study examines implicit affective responses of 90 adults toward faces of human and non-human (cats and dogs) infants and adults. Implicit reactions were assessed with Single Category Implicit Association Tests, and reports of childrearing behaviours were assessed by the Parental Style Questionnaire. The results showed that human infant faces represent highly biologically relevant stimuli that capture attention and are implicitly associated with positive emotions. This reaction holds independent of gender and parenthood status and is associated with ideal parenting behaviors.

Preserving the soundscape and geographic extension of quiet areas is a great challenge against the wide-spreading of environmental noise. The E.U. Environmental Noise Directive underlines the need to preserve quiet areas as a new aim for the management of noise in European countries. At the same time, due to their low population density, rural areas characterized by suitable wind are considered appropriate locations for installing wind farms. However, despite the fact that wind farms are represented as environmentally friendly projects, these plants are often viewed as visual and audible intruders, that spoil the landscape and generate noise. Even though the correlations are still unclear, it is obvious that visual impacts of wind farms could increase due to their size and coherence with respect to the rural/quiet environment. In this paper, by using the Immersive Virtual Reality technique, some visual and acoustical aspects of the impact of a wind farm on a sample of subjects were assessed and analyzed. The subjects were immersed in a virtual scenario that represented a situation of a typical rural outdoor scenario that they experienced at different distances from the wind turbines. The influence of the number and the colour of wind turbines on global, visual and auditory judgment were investigated. The main results showed that, regarding the number of wind turbines, the visual component has a weak effect on individual reactions, while the colour influences both visual and auditory individual reactions, although in a different way.