Paola Corsano

Parents' Child-Directed Communication and Child Language Development: A Longitudinal Study with Italian Toddlers.

The present study focuses on the characteristics of parental child-directed communication and its relationship with child language development. For this purpose, thirty-six toddlers (18 males and 18 females) and their parents were observed in a laboratory during triadic free play at ages 1 ; 3 and 1 ; 9. The characteristics of the maternal and paternal child-directed language (characteristics of communicative functions and lexicon as reported in psycholinguistic norms for Italian language) were coded during free play. Child language development was assessed during free play and at ages 2 ; 6 and 3 ; 0 using the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (2 ; 6) and the revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) (3 ; 0). Data analysis indicated differences between mothers and fathers in the quantitative characteristics of communicative functions and language, such as the mean length of utterances (MLU), and the number of tokens and types. Mothers also produced the more frequent nouns in the child lexicon. There emerged a relation between the characteristics of parental child-directed language and child language development.

Hospitalized children’s representations of their relationship with nurses and doctors:

This article reports an explorative study which aims to investigate hospitalized children’s views of their relationships with nurses and doctors. Twenty-seven school-aged children and adolescents from 6 to 15 years old in the paediatric haematology and oncology ward of an Italian hospital participated in the study. Each participant was asked to draw him or herself with a doctor or nurse from the ward while they were doing something. The drawings were analysed using Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships (PAIR) and a qualitative analysis. The results showed that the participants viewed their relationships with health professionals positively, in particular with the nurses. This relationship was perceived as close, intimate, cohesive and without conflict. In some cases it became an emotional bond. Finally, this relationship helped the patients to cope with painful and uncomfortable medical procedures, which gradually became familiar and accepted. The clinical implications of this study are discussed.

Speaking about emotional events in hospital The role of health-care professionals in children emotional experiences

This paper presents a qualitative study aimed at exploring the role of health-care professionals in hospitalized children’s emotional experiences. A total of 27 children and adolescents from ages 6 to 15 years admitted to the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology ward of an Italian hospital participated in the study. Each participant was asked to talk about an emotional experience of happiness, anger, sadness and fear, felt in the presence of a doctor or nurse on the ward. The emotional tales were coded and analyzed qualitatively. The results showed that all the emotions considered were experienced when the staff was present, nurses in particular. Doctors and nurses played a role of active participants, encouraging children’s emotions, especially for happy events. More research is needed to clarify the role of the staff in supporting children to cope with negative emotions.

Typically developing adolescents’ experience of growing up with a brother with an autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT Background Researchers studying siblings of people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggest that growing up with an individual with disability has positive and negative effects. Method Qualitative content analysis of semistructured interviews with 14 typically developing (TD) adolescents with a brother with an ASD and their mothers was used to explore the experience of growing up with a sibling with an ASD and identify differences in the relationship with, and attitude toward, the brother. Results TD siblings expressed mixed feelings about their brother, a precocious sense of responsibility, concern about the future, friendship difficulties, and troubles and the desire to talk about their experience. Most adolescents integrated their positive and negative feelings; however, 3 adolescents displayed rejection, denial, or a sense of persecution. Conclusions Qualitative research into the experiences of adolescent siblings of people with an ASD should be used to develop support programs to help adolescents manage their relationship with a sibling with a disability.

Exploring the Link among State of Mind Concerning Childhood Attachment, Attachment in Close Relationships, Parental Bonding, and Psychopathological Symptoms in Substance Users

Background: In the present study, we have explored the link among styles of attachment and psychopathology in drug users. We know that insecure attachment predisposes the individuals the development of drug-addiction and psychopathological symptoms. However, we do not know which attachment is more frequent in drug users and which is related to particular psychopathological symptoms. The aim of the present work is to explore the relationship between childhood attachment state of mind, attachment in close relationships, parental bonding and psychopathology in sample of Italian substance users. Methods: We explored, in a sample of 70 drug users and drug-addicted patients, the childhood attachment state of mind measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, the attachment in close relationships by the Relationship Questionnaire and parental bonding measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument. The Symptom Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R) measured psychopathological symptoms. Results: We found that parental bonding, rather than state of mind concerning childhood attachment or attachment in close relationships, is related to the psychopathological manifestation of anxiety, hostility, depression, and paranoid ideation in the sample. The latter occurs frequently in our sample, independent of state of mind concerning child attachment, attachment in close relationships, and parental bonding, suggesting its role either as a factor that favors a bad image of the participants’ own relationships or as a direct effect of consuming drugs. Conclusion: These results have clinical implications on suggesting ways of interventions that prevent drug-addiction, which should include the evaluation of attachment in the prodromic phases of substance use onset or rehabilitation programs to prevent and manage psychotic-like symptoms.

Gli effetti del training sulle conversazioni madre- bambino in età prescolare su eventi del passato: implicazioni evolutive e cliniche

Il presente articolo si propone di illustrare e discutere, a partire da dati di ricerca, la possibilita di mettere a punto dei training rivolti al caregiver, per incrementare quelle competenze che, nella conversazione col bambino su eventi del passato (reminiscing), sembrano favorire nel piccolo l’emergere di diverse abilita. Molti studi riportano infatti come il reminiscing, se condotto con uno stile conversazionale di tipo elaborativo e centrato sulle emozioni, svolga importanti funzioni rispetto allo sviluppo della competenza narrativa, emotiva e della comprensione di se. Su questa base, altre ricerche condotte con diadi madre-bambino di eta prescolare a sviluppo tipico e atipico hanno evidenziato che interventi specifici di incremento della qualita del reminiscing del caregiver comportano dei benefici rispetto alle competenze narrative e socio-emotive dei bambini, con evidenti implicazioni sul piano clinico. Dopo una breve rassegna delle ricerche sugli effetti del reminiscing sullo sviluppo e sull’efficacia degli interventi realizzati con i genitori, vengono presentati gli schemi di codifica atti a individuare stili piu o meno funzionali di conversazione e due esempi di conversazioni qualitativamente diverse. Infine vengono proposte e commentate alcune modalita operative di conduzione di un training di reminiscing elaborativo ed emotivo.

Solitudine e autodeterminazione in adolescenza

Il presente studio indaga la relazione tra il grado di autodeterminazione al comportamento solitario, il sentimento di solitudine e l’attitudine nei confronti di tale esperienza. A 1143 adolescenti di eta compresa tra i 14 e i 20 anni (M=16.71; DS= 1.52) sono stati somministrati il Frequency of and Autonomy for Solitary and Interpersonal Behavior (FASIB; Beiswenger, 2008) e il Louvain Loneliness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LLCA; Marcoen, Goossens, e Caes, 1987). Un’indagine sulle proprieta psicometriche del FASIB ne ha mostrato l’applicabilita nel contesto italiano (Studio 1). L’analisi delle correlazioni di Pearson ha evidenziato una relazione positiva tra motivazione autonoma al comportamento solitario e l’affinita per la solitudine. Il sentimento di solitudine nei confronti dei pari e correlato con la motivazione esterna al comportamento solitario e con l’assenza di motivazione (Studio 2). I dati supportano la teoria dell’autodeterminazione, sottolineando il ruolo dell’autonomia nella messa in atto dei comportamenti solitari.

Parents’ reminiscing training in typically developing and ‘at-risk’ children: a review

ABSTRACT Reminiscing is a conversation between a child and caregiver about past events they have experienced together. In recent years, researchers have been interested in implementing training to improve the quality of parents’ reminiscing styles, both in typically developing and ‘at-risk’ children and disadvantaged families. The review analysed studies on reminiscing training in order to provide support for their effectiveness, to identify gaps in the literature and to propose directions for future research. The review showed the effectiveness of reminiscing training for parents but highlighted the paucity of these studies, their focus on the mothers and the variability of the length of the training. Finally, the review emphasized the potential areas of reminiscing training in clinical and educational settings.

La scuola che accoglie le famiglie per il benessere dei bambini

In anni recenti sempre maggiore interesse e stato rivolto ai contesti educativi, in particolare il nido e le scuole dell’infanzia, nella promozione del benessere dei bambini. Un profondo cambiamento socio-culturale sulle abitudini di vita delle famiglie nel nostro paese e in altri paesi occidentali — si pensi non solo a un sempre maggiore impegno fuori casa da parte delle madri, ma anche a un ritorno di quasi dipendenza da parte della famiglia “nucleare” dalla famiglia di origine e conseguente primario ruolo dei nonni — ha modificato sia l’aspetto simbolico (significati e rappresentazioni da parte delle famiglie dei servizi educativi) che le pratiche dell’educare (cambiamenti propri delle abitudini e delle caratteristiche dei servizi stessi). Se infatti fino a qualche decennio fa, il contesto educativo era spesso vissuto e rappresentato come “luogo altro” dalla famiglia, attualmente si sottolinea la necessita di interazione tra famiglia, scuola e contesto allargato in un sistema di rete di relazioni: si sta progressivamente costruendo un sapere condiviso per cui il bambino non “si lascia” a scuola, ma “si accompagna”. Tale cambiamento culturale trova riscontro anche sul piano legislativo e istituzionale, nella costituzione del Coordinamento Pedagogico, come luogo “centrale” delle pratiche educative, che facilita il funzionamento della rete, promuovendo l’accoglienza delle famiglie (Silvani, 2007). In particolare, si indica la necessita di costruire terreni comuni di significati e relazioni che permettano alla famiglia, agli educatori e alla scuola di sviluppare il benessere del bambino, inteso come valorizzazione e promozione delle competenze proprie del singolo e dell’originalita di ciascuno all’interno del contesto.