How is anxiety related to math performance in young students? A longitudinal study of Grade 2 to Grade 3 children

Both general and math-specific anxiety are related to proficiency in mathematics. However, it is not clear when math anxiety arises in young children, nor how it relates to early math performance. This study therefore investigated the early association between math anxiety and math performance in Grades 2 and 3, by accounting for general anxiety and by further inspecting the prevalent directionality of the anxiety–performance link. Results revealed that this link was significant in Grade 3, with a prevalent direction from math anxiety to performance, rather than the reverse. Longitudinal analyses also showed an indirect effect of math anxiety in Grade 2 on subsequent math performance in Grade 3. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of monitoring anxiety from the early stages of schooling in order to promote proficient academic performance.     

Zika virus and pregnant women: A psychological approach

Zika virus presents risk of physical harm to pregnant women, but the fear of infection is also affecting women around the world. There is a gap in the research on Zika virus in the areas involving the impact on the psychosocial well-being of pregnant women. Therefore, this study is aimed at the investigation of the psychosocial adjustment of pregnant women to the risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy. We investigated 14 pregnant women who were classified in three different groups: six in the first trimester, five in the second trimester and three in the third trimester, aged from 28 to 40 years (33.43 ± 3.76 years). Content analysis was used to interpret data. Our results show that the psychosocial adjustment of participants was significantly negative and included five aspects: (1) negative feelings, (2) changes in family planning, (3) adopting new customs (avoiding places of risk, use of specific clothes and use of repellent), (4) changed attitudes regarding body image and (5) feeling of external demand regarding prevention. The fear of Zika virus infection and all its associated risks have a negative biopsychosocial impact on the pregnant women in this study.     

The Polish Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale: Preliminary Evidence on Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparison

Anxiety disorders are one of the most widespread psychological diseases in adolescence, which may lead to impairment in several areas of life and has been demonstrated a risk factor of other psychiatric disorders. One of the most widely used self-report measures to assess multiple symptoms of anxiety in youth is the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Literature suggests that anxiety symptoms vary across cultures to some extent. It has been found that individuals from collectivistic culture report higher levels of anxiety disorders than those from individualistic culture. Poland is a country whose culture was traditionally collectivistic; but now Poland is undergoing social and economic system transformation, which is taking it closer to individualistic culture. However, SCAS has never been validated in Polish samples, and thus the current study aimed (1) to assess the psychometric properties (structural validity and reliability) of SCAS in a sample of 303 Polish adolescents, (2) to examine gender differences, (3) to test the divergent validity of SCAS by relating it to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and (4) to compare the mean levels with Chinese (collectivistic) and Italian (individualistic) samples. The results confirmed that the Polish version of SCAS showed good reliability and validity. Polish girls showed higher physical injury and generalized anxiety/overanxious symptoms than boys. Furthermore, Polish adolescents reported higher levels of anxiety than Italian youth but lower levels of anxiety than their Chinese counterparts. Implications for professionals and researchers are discussed.     

Reward-priming impacts visual working memory maintenance: Evidence from human electrophysiology

Reward can benefit visual processing of reward-associated objects in a non-strategic way. Recent studies have suggested that such influence extends also to visual working memory (VWM) representations of reward-associated stimuli. However, it is not clear yet which mechanisms underlie the behavioural effects in VWM tasks: reward could directly impact on our ability to maintain representations in VWM or it could influence memory indirectly via priming of attentional selection. To distinguish between these alternatives we measured event-related potential indices of selective attention – the N2pc – and VWM maintenance – the CDA (contralateral delay activity) – while participants completed a VWM task. Results show that reward outcome in one trial caused similarly coloured targets to be strongly represented in VWM in subsequent trials, as expressed in a larger-amplitude CDA This was not preceded by a corresponding effect on attentional selection, in so far as our key manipulation had no impact on the N2pc. In a second experiment, we found that reward priming produced a behavioural benefit that emerged over time, suggesting that the representations of reward-associated items stored in VWM are more resistant to interference and decay. We conclude that when the task stresses VWM maintenance, it is at this representational level that reward will have impact.     

Eudaimonic Well-Being in Transsexual People,Before and After Gender Confirming Surgery

Gender confirming surgery (GCS) and cross-sex hormones (CSH) are crucial steps in the self-realization of a transsexual individual. However, no study has analyzed the outcome of GCS in a eudaimonic perspective, nor explored eudaimonic well-being before GCS. The study compares the eudaimonic well-being of trans men (N = 56) and women (N = 89) before and after GCS; in the MtF sample, a further comparison was carried out between those who never started any medical intervention and those who were already taking CSH. Finally, the impact of experiences of harassment, discrimination and violence on eudaimonic well-being in the post-surgery sample was explored. All participants completed the Psychological Well-being Scales (Ryff in J Pers Soc Psychol 57:1069–1081, 1989) and, only the post-surgery sample, a questionnaire to assess previous experiences of harassment, discrimination and violence. Both in MtF and FtM participants, those who already received GCS showed higher scores on self-acceptance; in the MtF sample, higher scores were also found on environmental mastery and lower scores on personal growth. The association between experiences of discrimination on well-being was limited and positive, with higher scores in personal growth only in FtM participants who reported being victims of such experiences. Our results suggest that both MtF and FtM transsexuals show higher levels of eudaimonic well-being after GCS.     

Protective factors for depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood

Emerging adulthood is characterized by pervasive changes in identity and relationships. These challenges can entail problems for subjective well-being, leading to depressive symptoms. The development of an autonomous-related self is considered crucial for emerging adults’ personal growth and psychological well-being. Autonomous-related self is linked to self-esteem and secure attachment style, which are also protective factors for depression. The current research sought to investigate the relation between autonomous-related self and depressive symptoms, as well as the role of secure attachment style and self-esteem, in a sample of 356 Italian emerging adults. Gender differences were taken into account in preliminary analyses. Gender differences emerged for autonomous-related self and self-esteem, while secure attachment and depression levels were similar across gender. Our results suggest that autonomous-related self, mediated by self-esteem and secure attachment style, is a protective factor for emotional states of depression, controlling for social desirability. These findings emphasize the importance of taking autonomy and relatedness into account in emerging adulthood and represent a starting point for future studies.     

Perceptual salience of derivational suffixes in visual word recognition

This study analyzes the role of derivational suffixes in visual word recognition, tracking the eye movements of 31 participants in a sentence-reading task in Spanish. Perceptual salience of suffixes was operationalized as the proportion of letters represented by the suffixes with respect to the full words, that is, we relate the number of letters comprising the suffixes to the number of letters in the words in which they appear. The results reveal a significant role in first fixation duration of both word frequency – the more frequent the word, the shorter the fixations, and perceptual salience – the more salient the suffix, the longer the fixations. Moreover, in gaze duration, our results show a main effect of word length – the longer the word, the longer the fixations; word frequency; and significant interactions between word frequency and perceptual salience of suffixes on the one hand – the effect of word frequency is only significant when perceptual salience of suffixes is high, and between word frequency and word length on the other hand – the frequency effect decreases as word length increases. Overall results are interpreted in the light of the dual route models by which full-form and morphological processing interactively cooperate in visual word recognition.     

Transformative Spirituality and Mission as Healing and Reconciliation

The memory of the therapeutic praxis of Jesus Christ, narrated and celebrated in the heart of communities of believers, configures the personal and collective identity and recreates it in each social‐historical situation. This memory has the power of questioning discourses and practices that move away from the message of life in fullness that they involve; it invites change and encourages ways of life in harmony with the path of a great community of memory which, in its diversity, has sought to walk in the steps of the Resurrected. The healing encounters are therefore a manifestation of the love and mercy of God and they aim to make men and women open themselves up to this reality and allow themselves to be transformed by it, putting it at the centre of their lives and with the possibility of transforming all dimensions of life. Then, communities and every person become mediators of healing and salvation. In this article I aim to reflect the most significant dimensions of the therapeutic praxis of Christ in order to illuminate mission and transformative spirituality as healing and reconciliation (mercy, proximity, living touch, compassionate gaze, listening, dialogue and liberating word, forgiveness). The summons to heal and reconcile gradually intertwines with a way and style of life and a way of committing to history by welcoming the Spirit of God that acts and reveals itself therein.