A number of studies report that from the first years of life, preterm children have more difficulty self-regulating and communicating in their social group. If these children show signs of difficulty adjusting socially, the question then is whether or not these problems continue and persist over time. The objective is to observe the combined…

Children who exhibit persistently elevated levels of conduct problems (CP) from early childhood, so-called early-starters, are known to be at increased risk for continued CP throughout middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Theoretical and empirical work has focused on this subgroup of children characterized by similar risk factors, an…

Offering counselling to students is increasingly considered as a key academic service. However, the reduction of resources allocated to Italian universities emphasises the need to assess the quality of interventions. This paper presents data reporting the effectiveness of a university counselling service. A sample of 45 undergraduate students…

Theoretical and empirical models describe respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a peripheral biomarker of emotion regulation and social competence. Recent findings also link RSA to individual differences in social functioning within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, associations between RSA and symptoms of internalizing/externalizing…

This study examined the contribution of executive functioning (EF) to improvements in psychiatric symptomatology following I Can Succeed (ICS; Kopelman-Rubin, 2012) psychotherapy, a skill-enhancement intervention designed to target EF and socio-emotional aspects of specific learning disabilities (SLD). Forty adolescents with SLD underwent ICS in…

This study associates the subclinical dark triad (DT) of personality--narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, and their composite--with negative creativity. An instrument developed by the author assessed the likelihood of engaging in creativity, where negative creativity was defined as an act that is original and useful to the individual.…

Modern definitions of complete mental health include both positive and negative indicators of psychological functioning. We examined the associations between peer relationships (victimization and receipt of prosocial acts) and multiple indicators of mental health that represent subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive and negative…

This study examined children's attention biases to negative emotional stimuli as mediators of associations between interparental hostility and children's externalizing symptoms. Participants included 243 children (M[subscript age] = 4.60 years) and their parents and teachers across three annual measurement occasions. Cross-lagged latent change…

This paper reviews the literature exploring gender differences associated with the clinical presentation of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The potentially mediating effect of comorbid psychopathology, biological and neurodevelopmental implications on these gender differences is also discussed. A vastly heterogeneous condition, while females on…

R. Goodman's Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is widely used to measure emotional and behavioral difficulties in childhood and adolescence. In the present study, we examined whether the SDQ measures the same construct across time, when used for longitudinal research. A nationally representative sample of parents (N = 3,375) provided…

Background: Social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD) is a new diagnosis introduced by DSM-5, characterised by problems with verbal and nonverbal social communication. It is currently unclear whether SPCD is a valid diagnostic category, because little is known about the characteristics of those who meet its criteria. We sought to identify…

The exploratory study presented in this article looks into the possible differences in psychosocial aspects (self-esteem and locus of control) and aspects of psychopathology (depression, anxiety, melancholia, asthenia, and mania) amongst sighted adults and adults with visual impairments. Moreover, the study aims to examine the possible…

There is a long-standing controversy over the relationship between psychopathology and creativity. Yet there is a lack of evidence regarding the relationship between common psychopathologies and indicators of little-c, or every day, creativity among laypeople. To make sense of this connection, we conducted a meta-analysis using 89 studies to…

This paper examines the external contingencies that students with emotional disabilities (ED) experience throughout childhood and adolescence. It presents an in-depth assessment of the impact of external dynamics on the emotional development of students with ED, and considers the school, home, and community support systems. The paper assesses…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with comorbid psychopathology including problems with emotion regulation. The goal of the present research was to investigate the feasibility of a multicomponent manualized cognitive behavior therapy treatment program for improving emotion regulation in youth with ASD 8-12 years of age.…