Attachment--and loss.

Social Network Analysis

This paper examines the literature on computer games and serious games in regard to the potential positive impacts of gaming on users aged 14 years or above, especially with respect to learning, skill enhancement and engagement. Search terms identified 129 papers reporting empirical evidence about the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games with respect to learning and engagement and a multidimensional approach to categorizing games was developed. The findings revealed that playing computer games is linked to a range of perceptual, cognitive, behavioural, affective and motivational impacts and outcomes. The most frequently occurring outcomes and impacts were knowledge acquisition/content understanding and affective and motivational outcomes. The range of indicators and measures used in the included papers are discussed, together with methodological limitations and recommendations for further work in this area.

A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games

This report discusses some issues concerning serious games, that is, (digital) games used for purposes other than mere entertainment. The starting point is the serious games concept itself, and wha ...

/pdf/serious-games-an-overview-2slvtml8sj.pdf

Serious Games : An Overview

Review: Engagement in digital entertainment games: A systematic review

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 t...

The quality of mother-child feeding interactions during COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory study on an Italian sample

International research has evidenced the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families, and the key role played by parenting stress levels. Although significant associations with parents’ past trauma and resilience have been shown, this study aimed to explore their complex interplay on the relationship between parents’ peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children’s psychopathological difficulties. We recruited 353 parents with children aged two to 16 years via an online survey during the Italian second wave of COVID-19. Parents’ peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, past trauma and resilience, and children’s psychological difficulties were assessed through self-report and report-form questionnaires. Parents’ past traumas significantly predicted peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 and children’s psychological difficulties. The relationship between past traumas and children’s psychological difficulties was serial mediated by parents’ peritraumatic distress and parenting stress. Direct and total effects of parent’s resilience on parent’s peritraumatic distress were not significant, but there were significant indirect effects via parenting stress and via parents’ peritraumatic distress and parenting stress, indicating inconsistent mediation. This study evidenced the key risk and protective role played by, respectively, parents’ past traumas exposure and resilience on the relationship between parents’ psychological difficulties due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children’s psychological difficulties, with important clinical implications.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Families' Mental Health: The Role Played by Parenting Stress, Parents' Past Trauma, and Resilience.

Introduction: Although preterm birth represents a risk factor for early mother-infant interactions, few studies have focused on toddlerhood, an important time for the development of symbolic play, autonomous skills, and child’s socialization competences. Moreover, no study has looked at the effect of birth weight on mother-child interactions during this period. Expanding on the available literature on prematurity, the main objective of this study was to explore the quality of mother-toddler interactions during play, using a longitudinal research design, as well as taking into account the effect of birth weight. Method: 16 Extremely Low Birth Weight (ELBW), 24 Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW), 25 full-term children, and their mothers were recruited for the present study. Mother-child dyads were evaluated at 18, 24, and 30 months of child age. Ten minutes of mother-child play interaction were recorded and later coded according to the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS). Furthermore, the child’s level of development was assessed through the Griffiths Scale, and its contribution controlled for. Results: ELBW dyads showed an overall lower level of emotional availability, compared to VLBW and full-term dyads, but no main effect of birth weight was found on specific EA dimensions. Moreover, a significant effect of child age emerged. Overall scores, and Child Responsiveness and Involvement scores improved over time, independently of birth weight. Lastly, a significant effect of the interaction between birth weight and child age was found. Between 18 and 30 months, the overall quality of the interaction significantly increased in ELBW and VLBW dyads. Additionally, between 18 and 30 months, VLBW children significantly improved their responsiveness, while their mothers’ sensitivity, structuring, and non-intrusive behaviors improved. In contrast, no change emerged in full-term dyads, although scores were consistently higher than those of the other groups. Discussion: Birth weight affects the quality of mother-toddler interactions. Monitoring the relational patterns of preterm dyads during toddlerhood is important, especially in the case of ELBW children.

/pdf/mother-toddler-play-interaction-in-extremely-very-low-birth-9t1bl9747y.pdf

Mother-Toddler Play Interaction in Extremely, Very Low Birth Weight, and Full-Term Children: A Longitudinal Study.

Clinical practice and research on preschool children with eating and evacuation disorders showed the appearance and maintenance of psychosomatic protest behaviors when the family coercively imposes its system for eating and evacuation (CANESTRARI & TROMBINI 1975; BALDARO & TROMBINI 1989; BALDARO, TROMBINI & TROMBINI 1994; BALDARO 2002; E. TROMBINI 2002). The child’s basic need, the motivation to do by oneself (which appears around the second year of life) is frustrated (KEMMLER 1957; G. TROMBINI 1969, 1970; ARFELLI GALLI 1995). The pride in his performances and aspiration to grow up replace the past desire for help. He wants to be independent in all those activities which are at the limit of his capacities, therefore the freedom consciousness becomes the focus of self consciousness (METZGER 1959). The request to do by himself simply focuses on the “I do” which the family can either obstruct or encourage not only by stimulating the child but by also previously allowing him to develop satisfactory attachment relationships (BATTACCHI & GIOVANELLI 1988).

Focal Play-Therapy in the extended child-parents context. A clinical case

The attachment styles and parental bonding of 72 patients (M age = 45.3 yr., SD = 13.5) suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease were compared with those of 105 healthy subjects (M age = 44.9 yr., SD = 5.8). A clinical interview and two questionnaires, the Attachment Style Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Instrument, showed that the scores on the ASQ Confidence subscale were significantly lower in the clinical group. Similar results were obtained for the Discomfort with Closeness subscale in the subsample with Pure Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. The results indicate Insecure Attachment in the clinical sample. The results obtained from the Parental Bonding Instrument indicate that scores on the Protection Mother scale were significantly higher in the clinical subjects, suggesting a Low Care–High Protection combination (Affectiveless Control), at least for patients with pure Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. These characteristics can be considered important factors in the tendency to somatizati...

Elena Trombini

Papers

The quality of mother-child feeding interactions during COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory study on an Italian sample

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Families' Mental Health: The Role Played by Parenting Stress, Parents' Past Trauma, and Resilience.

Mother-Toddler Play Interaction in Extremely, Very Low Birth Weight, and Full-Term Children: A Longitudinal Study.

Focal Play-Therapy in the extended child-parents context. A clinical case

Gastroesophageal reflux disease: attachment style and parental bonding.