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Even if the use of distance learning and E-learning has a long tradition all over the world and both have been used to keep in contact with students and to provide lessons, support and learning materials, there is an open debate on the balance between advantages and disadvantages in the use of distance learning. This debate is even more central in their use to support students with Learning Disabilities (LDs), an overarching group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect more than 5% of students. The current COVID-19 outbreak caused school closures and the massive use of E-learning all over the world and it put higher attention on the debate of the effects of E-learning. This paper aims to review papers that investigated the positive and negative effects of the use of Distance Learning and E-learning in students with LDs. We conducted a literature review on the relationship between Distance Learning, E-learning and Learning Disabilities, via Scopus, Eric and Google Scholar electronic database, according to Prisma Guidelines. The findings are summarized using a narrative, but systematic, approach. According to the data resulting from the papers, we also discuss issues to be analyzed in future research and in the use of E-learning during the current pandemic of COVID-19.

Job insecurity is attributable to the fear of being exploited by the organization and may have negative effects on employees. For example, it may lead employees to adopt non-compliant or deviant behaviors that harm individuals and their organization. However, knowledge about specific fears that have positive or negative effects on employees and organizations is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to detect the main fears related to job insecurity in an organization and the hidden meanings included in each of these fears that may cause negative and positive effects on important work-related outcomes. Further, we identified safety behaviors related to the previously identified fears. Notably, we investigated whether fears reduce well-being, the number of accidents and near misses, and behaviors related to safety and whether they increase the perceived probability of making mistakes. We conducted 65 focus groups with 37 managers/employees and 180 workers in separate groups. Furthermore, they completed a self-report questionnaire. We identified eleven fears and related meanings and ten safety behaviors. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that fears were significantly negatively associated with well-being and safety behaviors but not with the probability of making mistakes and causing accidents. Thus, fears play a key role in promoting behaviors, organizational strategies, and employees’ well-being. The analysis results show that fears are included in a main general factor and suggest a new way to consider fears at work. Given our findings, we propose a new definition of fear in the organization.

The estimated number of Substance Users (SU) globally has currently reached a very high number and is still increasing. This aspect necessitates appropriate interventions for prevention and specific treatments. The literature shows that digital treatments can be useful in the context of health services and substance abuse. This systematic review focuses mainly on research on the effectiveness of digital treatments for SU. Data sources included studies found on PsycINFO, PubMed, SCOPUS, and WebOfScience (WOS) database searches. The following keywords were used: TITLE (digital OR computer OR software OR tablet OR app OR videogame OR seriousgame OR virtualreality) AND ABSTRACT((mental AND health) AND (addiction OR dependence OR substance OR drug)). We focused on peer-reviewed articles published from 2010 through 2021 using PRISMA guidelines. A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria (i.e., type of intervention, efficacy in terms of misuse of substances and scored outcomes from questionnaire or toxicology tests, study methodology). The studies included investigations of specific digital treatments for SU of various kinds of drugs. The interventions were administered using personal computers, smartphones, or, in a few cases, tablets. Most of the interventions focused on the cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) model and/or on the use strategies, tips, or feedback. A minority provided information or training programs. The current review shows that digital treatments and interventions are effective in reducing the frequency of use, augmenting abstinence, or reducing the gravity of dependence for most of the studies at post-treatment. However, due to the heterogeneity of the variables (i.e., substance type, digital tool used, and treatment administered), there was a reduced generalizability of the results. This review highlights the need to continue the research in this field, and above all, to create effective digital protocols.

The perceived quality of the learning environment may influence both motivation and concentration. Little is known about how perceived characteristics of the learning environment, and specifically sub-dimensions of Perceived Restorativeness (being away, fascination, compatibility, and extent), can promote these positive effects in an academic context. We addressed, through a correlational study, the possibility that the characteristics of learning environments may promote concentration and involvement in activity (i.e., flow) via intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for academic study within the job demands–resources model. A total of 165 Italian university psychology classes in a 3-year degree course from two different universities context completed an online questionnaire made up of the construct considered in this study. Results in the hierarchical multivariate regression analyses confirm that the restorative quality of learning environments (i.e., being away, compatibility, extent) is positively correlated with flow. However, there is a non-significant relationship between extent and flow. Regression analyses show a significant indirect effect of compatibility, both through intrinsic and extrinsic student motivation. Furthermore, the results confirm a significant indirect effect of extent through intrinsic motivation and being away, and fascination through Extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, intrinsic motivation is a full mediator between the extent and flow relationship. The results underline the importance of considering the restorative quality of the environment for improving place design, concentration, and student learning motivation.

Alongside the positive effects linked to the introduction of digital technologies into our lives, particular dysfunctional behaviors in the use of digital tools have appeared, through which the expression of conditions such as addiction, difficulties in affective and behavioral self-regulation and mental health problems have been channeled. The present study aims to investigate, in a sample of young students aged m = 12.91 (ds = 0.56) years, whether Coding Educational Programs (CEP), deployed to 44.9% of the sample, is effective in psychological dependence, emotional self-regulation and Digital Media Problematic Use (DMPU), as self-assessed through questionnaires (DERS, DSRS, IAT, MPIQ and MPPUS). CEP had no effect on emotional dysregulation or on DMPU. They were effective in the time management of mobile phone use, with students rescheduling from daytime use on working days to daytime use on the weekend. Moreover, people who attended CEP more frequently used smartphones for orienting themselves and for obtaining information. In conclusion, CEP are effective in achieving a more functional and important use of smartphones and better time management. It is possible that CEP effect on metacognition could reduce DMPU if alternative ways to regulate emotions are available.

The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers, particularly on their self-esteem and self-efficacy, their difficulty in the transition to distance learning, the difficulty of students, and specially of students with learning disabilities (LDs students), as perceived by teachers. 226 teachers were invited to complete an online questionnaire. Our results showed lower self-esteem and lower self-efficacy by the teachers compared with the normative sample. Self-esteem and self-efficacy also decrease in teachers with greater service seniority at work. Teachers perceived a greater difficulty in students than in their own difficulty. The concentration of the school system’s efforts on the massive and, for long periods, exclusive organisation of distance learning risks favouring only cognitive aspects to the detriment of affective dynamics. This aspect could make teaching more complex for teachers and learning poorer for students, impoverishing the complex relational process that forms the basis of the learning process.

Several recent studies have considered the relationships among quality of life, social adaption, anxiety, depression, and psychological distress in pandemics. A primary aim of the current study was to explore the relationships among the aforementioned psychological dimensions and worries about Covid-19. Furthermore, we aim to highlight the features of young people potentially at risk of psychological distress during the pandemic. The assessment was conducted by a web-based survey, useful in preserving individuals’ health against the virus circulation. 185 young individuals (under 30 years old), residing in Sardinia (an Italian island characterized by low indices of virus circulation) participated to the survey completing five questionnaires (RDI, STAS, STAI, WHOQOL, SASS) and a group of items inquiring the knowledge and the worries about pandemic. By the application of linear correlations, principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis, we highlighted the role played by each dimension on participants’ self-reported well-being; moreover, we identified four clusters of subjects with different psychological reactions in pandemic as well as the groups of people with higher risk of distress. The suggestions of these results regarding current research trends and clinical opportunities are debated.

Today, there is a considerable expansion in the number of new digital tools and systems for mental health assessment, intervention, support, prevention, and treatment [...]

What are the main learning difficulties or advantages encountered by students with learning disabilities (LDs) within e-environments? As a result of the Covid-19 emergency, e-learning is being increasingly used to support students’ learning processes. A number of countries closed their schools altogether, so face-to-face lessons were and have been replaced by distance lessons. A search of current literature via Scopus, Eric and Google Scholar electronic databases was conducted according to Prisma Guidelines. Other sources of literature were also considered, starting from the references in the full text of the articles consulted. We used the following search keywords: “LDs” combined with the “AND/OR” Boolean operator and “e-learning platforms,” “well-being,” “psychological factors,” “emotional distress,” and “self-regulation.” One body of literature highlights the lack of inclusive accessibility standards and a lack of attention to specific tools for addressing LDs, which causes students to develop high levels of stress/anxiety and emotional distress, in addition to low levels of well-being, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Another area of literature looks at how students can develop high levels of self-regulation and emotional awareness, as well as high levels of inclusion. Results are discussed in terms of the promotion of e-learning that focuses on the psychological well-being of students and teachers use of technological tools.

Cognitive flexibility (CF) is a fundamental human ability to adjust cognitive processing strategies to deal with new and unpredicted situations. In this sense, using valid and theoretically grounded measures of cognitive flexibility is critical. A new measure of CF, the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, has recently been validated. This measure comprises two subscales: (1) Alternatives, which assesses ability in identifying alternative solutions and generating several explanations; and (2) Control, which assesses ability in perceiving difficult conditions as controllable. The main purpose of our study was to investigate the factorial structure, reliability, and measurement invariance of the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory in an Italian sample of university students. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 543 Italian university students. Results showed acceptable construct validity for the Italian version of the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory. Specifically, both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model, Alternatives and Control, with19 items. Moreover, multigroup analyses showed structural invariance across sex. In sum, our results suggested that the Italian version of the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory is a valid instrument for assessing cognitive flexibility.

This paper reports some experiments on probabilistic reasoning designed to investigate the impact of the probabilistic problem presentation format (verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial) on subjects' confidence in the correctness of their performance, other than the calibration between confidence and accuracy. To understand the potential effect of the format, these dimensions were assessed by monitoring contextual and individual variables: time pressure, numerical and visuospatial abilities, statistical anxiety and attitudes towards statistics. The participants included 257 Psychology students without statistical knowledge, recruited from Italian and Spanish universities, who fulfilled self-report validated measures. The students expressed their retrospective judgments of confidence item-by-item in relation to each probabilistic problem. This approach enabled the computation of two measures of calibration (the Bias Index - the Confidence-Judgment Accuracy Quotient). The results indicated that the problem presentation format did not exert a significant main effect on confidence, with the exception of when the interaction between the format and one subscale of the attitudes towards the statistics test was considered. The Bias Index, however, was significantly related to the interaction between format and time pressure. The study offers a point of reflection in relation to the potential effect exerted by the problem format and time constraint in calibration.

In the literature there are more and more works dealing with cyberbullying and adolescents’ perception of this phenomenon. In particular, we are interested in cyberbullying and the effects of cyberbullying on adolescent life. What is more, in 2020 the impact of COVID-19 has increased the digital presence of cyberbullying behaviours. This phenomenon is extremely complex, since it is multicomponential and multifactorial, and many components act on it. Starting with an analysis of the literature, this work offers preliminary data towards the validation of a self-reporting questionnaire;it was administered to 650 adolescents, to evaluate their perceptions of the victims of cyberbullying. The questionnaire consisted of 33 items;Principal Component Analysis was applied, which identified the dimensions resuming the items’ variability. The findings confirmed the multidimensional nature of the issue covered by the questionnaire and highlighted three psychological dimensions: Internalisation, Counterbalance and Marginalisation. The results support the structure of the questionnaire, useful to quickly collect information about adolescents’ perception of cybervictimisation. The assessment of this information might help teachers, educators, and tutors to formulate targeted interventions to combat the spread of cyberbullying aimed for example at improving emotional intelligence, starting from the construction of emotional contagion. © 2021 by the authors;licensee CEDTECH by Bastas.

This study analyzes if motivation, academic self-concept, perception of the time perspective, self-regulation, and the attendance of specific online laboratory activities influence academic retention and achievement of two group of freshmen attending the first year of their Bachelor’s Degree. The freshmen were monitored along their first academic year. In particular, we try to understand which factors can help student to overcome the transition gap created by the passage from high school to university. The choice of the implementation of an online lab is due to evidence that online platforms are tools that can help to reduce the academic dropout. These platforms allowed students to use a supporting network, but, at the same time, students can autonomously take advantage of suitable materials to achieve their learning goals and to bridge an orientation gap. In Italy, this gap is often present in the transition between high school and university. In general, we can say that the experience of the online laboratory was positive and combined with the enhancement of motivation, academic self-concept, vision of the time perspective, and self-regulation can represent an important support above all for the Italian freshmen.

The aim of this study was to verify the efficacy of two pencil-and-paper trainings empowering numerical and visuo-spatial abilities in Italian five-year-old kindergarteners. Specifically, the trainings were respectively carried out by the curricular teacher or by an external trainer. The former received a specific training in order to use the psychoeducational programmes with her pupils, whereas the latter received a specific education about the role of numerical and visuo-spatial abilities for school achievement and she was also trained to use psychoeducational trainings in kindergarten schools. At pre-test and post-test nonverbal functions and numeracy knowledge were assessed through a battery of standardized tests. The results show that both the numerical psychoeducational programme and the visuo-spatial one are useful tools to enhance mathematical achievements in kindergarteners. However, when the trainings were proposed by the external trainer, the efficacy of the psychoeducational programmes was more significant. These outcomes seem to be related both to the expertise and the novelty effect of the external trainer on the classroom.

A body of literature evidences the importance of enhancement in the development of mathematical abilities. The most recent researches showed that infants are capable of discriminating different sets of numbers, so it is important to understand the role of the environment and educational system in the promotion and development of this potential. The main role in the enhancement in mathematical abilities is played by the interventions which support the development of these abilities in concomitance with their emergence. The present study has taken into consideration a number of variables in order to promote the best development of emerging skills and to prevent some difficulties related to the development of mathematical abilities. In this regard, the enhancement is the result of the combination of cognitive and metacognitive factors. Among the cognitive factors, as the literature shows, the visuo-spatial component has a very important role in the development of mathematical abilities. Also, the introduction of technological tools is useful to create a systemic approach in the development and enhancement of mathematical abilities. The main goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of a systemic intervention on the improvement of mathematical skills in 144 third graders of several schools located in Italy. Participants were subjected to the training (paper and/or multimedia) for enhancing numerical abilities and/or visuo-spatial abilities. Our findings evidence the positive effect of the different types of training for the empowerment of numerical abilities. In particular, the combination of computerized and pencil-and-paper versions of visuo-spatial and mathematical training are more effective than the single execution of the software or of the pencil-and-paper treatment. Our results show that, when properly stimulated, the subject’s cognitive and metacognitive processes can support the improvement of individual skills. The enhancement tools are essential for school and families (they can use the same trainings). The design and the implementation of educational interventions with a systemic vision aimed at producing a cognitive enhancement that can be effective in the course of time.

A body of literature shows the significant role of visual-spatial skills played in the improvement of mathematical skills in the primary school. The main goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of a combined visuo-spatial and mathematical training on the improvement of mathematical skills in 146 second graders of several schools located in Italy. Participants were presented single pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial or mathematical trainings, computerised version of the above mentioned treatments, as well as a combined version of computer-assisted and pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings, respectively. Experimental groups were presented with training for 3 months, once a week. All children were treated collectively both in computer-assisted or pencil-and-paper modalities. At pre and post-test all our participants were presented with a battery of objective tests assessing numerical and visuo-spatial abilities. Our results suggest the positive effect of different types of training for the empowerment of visuo-spatial and numerical abilities. Specifically, the combination of computerised and pencil-and-paper versions of visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings are more effective than the single execution of the software or of the pencil-and-paper treatment.