Training in Mindful Caregiving Transfers to Parent–Child Interactions

In an earlier study, we provided mindfulness training to three caregivers of individuals with profound multiple disabilities. We measured levels of happiness displayed by the individuals during the 8 weeks of mindfulness training of the caregivers, as well as during the 16 weeks following the termination of training. We found that happiness increased markedly when an individual interacted with a caregiver who had received training in mindfulness as opposed to a control caregiver who did not receive such training. In this study, we investigated whether the increased mindfulness of the three caregivers would transfer to interactions with their own children. The children’s non-compliance with their mother’s requests was used as an indirect index of the effects of training their mothers received in mindfulness. Although the ages of the children and their baseline levels of non-compliance were variable, the data showed a decrease in non-compliance during mindfulness training of the caregivers and further decreases following the completion of training. Our data provide preliminary evidence of transfer of mindfulness training from caregiving to parent–child interactions. We speculate as to why this may occur in mindfulness training.     

Ethnic Prejudice,Resilience, and Perception of Inclusion of Immigrant Pupils among Italian and Catalan Teachers

Journal of Child and Family Studies - In the current study we investigated the relationship between ethnic prejudice and resilience and the perception of inclusion of immigrant students among...     

Bullies,victims, and meanies: the role of child and classmate social and emotional competencies

Social Psychology of Education - This study used a personal oriented approach to identify distinct combinations of children’s experiences of bullying and victimisation in the Irish primary...     

Adolescent Effortful Control as Moderator of Father's Psychological Control in Externalizing Problems: A Longitudinal Study

This longitudinal study investigates the moderating role of a temperamental trait, the effortful control, in the relation between father's psychological control and externalizing problems. In Wave 1, the participants included 507 adolescents attending the second classes of two public schools situated in two Italian cities; in Wave 2, 482 adolescents attending the fifth classes of high school participated again in the study. The results demonstrated a positive contribution of paternal achievement-oriented psychological control to externalizing problems and a moderator effect of effortful control in the relationship between the father's psychological control and externalizing problems. These findings extend current knowledge on the role of the father in the difficult task of balancing the promotion of individuality without falling into psychological control that can trigger externalizing problems among adolescents, especially when the temperament of the latter does not foresee the availability of self-regulating abilities that mediate disadvantageous reactivity.     

Do We Need Integrity in a Theory of Justice? A Critique of the ‘Argument from Integrity’ in Favour of Accommodations

A number of authors in recent liberal political theory have advanced an ‘argument from integrity’ in favour of legal accommodations. This holds that people are entitled to forms of legal accommodations every time they can plausibly claim that complying with a certain norm compromises their ability to act in accordance with some fundamental personal values. I advance two points against this argument. Valuing integrity unconditionally is implausible because a life devoid of integrity is one that does not prevent anyone from developing crucial liberal virtues. If integrity is valued conditionally, on the other hand, its normative role becomes redundant. In fact, I argue, the key liberal values of fairness and toleration can give a more plausible guidance with regard to the problem of how to treat (and sometimes accommodate) moral commitments that are incompatible with public norms. I conclude that the notion of personal integrity is, by itself, unnecessary and possibly detrimental in a theory of justice.     

Using paired-choice assessment to identify variables maintaining sleep problems in a child with severe disabilities

In this study, we used a paired-choice assessment protocol to identify the relative reinforcing value of stimuli and activities for a child with severe disabilities when she failed to settle to sleep at night. The results of this assessment indicated that the child preferred the mother's attention relative to other activities presented. Assessment results were incorporated into an intervention, that produced a reduction in sleep disturbance that was maintained at a 12-month follow up.     

Camera-Based Microswitch Technology to Monitor Mouth,Eyebrow, and Eyelid Responses of Children with Profound Multiple Disabilities

A camera-based microswitch technology was recently used to successfully monitor small eyelid and mouth responses of two adults with profound multiple disabilities (Lancioni et al., Res Dev Disab 31:1509–1514, 2010a). This technology, in contrast with the traditional optic microswitches used for those responses, did not require support frames on the participants’ face but only small color marks. The present study was aimed at extending the research evidence available on the aforementioned technology with the involvement of new participants and responses. The participants were three children with profound multiple disabilities. The responses selected for them consisted of mouth closing, eyebrow lifting, and repeated eyelid closures. The results showed that the new technology could be satisfactorily applied with all three children, across the three different responses. All children had large increases in responding during the intervention periods (i.e., when their responses were followed by preferred stimulation). The findings are discussed in relation to the possible impact of the new technology on programs for persons with multiple disabilities and minimal motor behavior.     

Effects of a motivating operation manipulation on the maintenance of mands

We assessed the maintenance of newly acquired mands under presession reinforcer access (reinforcer efficacy abolished) and no presession reinforcer access (reinforcer efficacy established) conditions with 3 children with autism spectrum disorder. Results suggested that the no presession access condition established the value of the reinforcer and evoked responding relative to the presession access condition. Results are discussed in the context of implications for assessing maintenance of previously acquired skills.