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Depression is an independent risk factor of poor outcomes for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients. Perceived social support and alexithymia are psychosocial variables identified by previous studies as predictive of depression in normal controls and CKD patients. Repetitively thinking and socially sharing emotional experiences have been investigated in association with depression in normal populations. Our cross-sectional study aimed to assess the effects of perceived social support, alexithymia, mental rumination, and social sharing on depression in CKD patients and controls. 103 CKD patients (age = 61.9 ± 7.2, 54 men) and 101 controls (age = 64.51 ± 6.56; 47 men) completed a questionnaire of 5 sections: Pluridimensional Inventory for Haemodialysis Patients (IPPE), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Toronto Alexihymia Scale (TAS-20), Social Sharing and Mental Rumination. Multiple regression analysis models with dummy variables assessed the effects of IPPE, MSPSS, TAS-20, Social Sharing, and Mental Rumination on GDS across the subgroups of participants. SPSS software was used. Depression levels resulted higher for patients than controls, especially in patients dialyzed for less than 4 years. The effects of perceived social support and alexithymia differed with respect to the subsamples. Rumination was positively associated with depression in normal controls, but negatively related with depression in patients dialyzed for 4+ years. The study confirmed high levels of depression in CKD patients. Depression was influenced by perceived social support, alexithymia, and the cognitive elaboration of emotional troubles associated with the disease. Rumination appeared as a dysfunctional consequence of emotions for normal controls, but had an adaptive function for patients dialyzed for 4+ years.

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In light of the increasing propensity toward unsportsmanlike behaviours that have caused the failure of the notion of fair play, this research tested a causal model of theoretically-predicted antecedents of sportspersonship, in which the two trait-related personality factors, self-control and aggressiveness, mediated the relationship between motivational orientations and sportspersonship. After examining the five-factor structure of the Multidimensional Sportspersonship Orientation Scale in a first sample of Italian athletes (n = 371, Mage = 26.57), the resulting 20-item four-factor model proved to be satisfactory and reliable. In a second sample (n = 814, Mage = 25.96) the proposed empirically-based model confirmed the important role played by self-control in mediating the relationship between ego orientation, aggressiveness, and sportspersonship. In terms of practical implications, the findings provide a more comprehensive conceptualization of the factors that differentiate the inter-and intra-individual characteristics in sportspersonship, thus allowing practitioners to develop effective intervention programs addressed to athletes. of the MSOS and the proposed causal model. Besides this, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow for inferring causal relationships between the variables.Further studies could examine the conceptual meta-theory of the "I cube" model (Slotter and Finkel, 2011) by analysing the interaction between its three processes of instigation, inhibition, and impellance, in order to better understand the problem of unsportsmanlike behaviours at competitive levels.

This research tested a path model in which constructive beliefs, components of the technological acceptance model, and perceived enjoyment directly and indirectly predicted information and communication technology (ICT) integration into educational practices. We analyzed whether experience played a moderating role in this nomological network of associations. The sample comprised 374 Italian teachers (Mage = 38.69, SD = 5.30, F = 198) divided into two groups: the first with 20 or fewer years of teaching experience and the second with 21 or more years. They completed a questionnaire comprising a socioanagraphic section and the following scales: the Teacher's Beliefs, the Intrinsic Motivation, the Extrinsic Motivation, the Perceived Ease of Use, the Behavioral Intention to Use Computer and the ICT Class Use. Results showed positive correlations between ICT integration and the variables of interest and generally confirmed the mediated and moderated relationships. Suggestions were provided to enhance a successful ICT integration.

This research examined which teachers' cognitive and motivational factors, i.e., constructivist beliefs, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, perceived ease of use and behavioral intention, fostered an effective and satisfactory integration of technology into educational practices. 374 Italian teachers (M Age = 38.69, SD = 5.30; F = 198) attending a training course in ICT were divided into two groups: the first with less than 20 years of teaching experience, the second with more than 21 years. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires that comprised a socio-anagraphic section, the Teacher's Beliefs Scale-Constructivist Teaching, the Intrinsic Motivation-Computer Enjoyment Scale, the Extrinsic Motivation-Perceived Usefulness, the Perceived Ease of Use Scale, the Behavioural Intention to Use Computer Scale, the ICT Class Use Scale. Descriptive and causal analyses (correlation and stepwise regression) were applied to the data. Results showed differences between the groups in the scores of Perceived usefulness and Behavioral intention to use computer. Bivariate associations with Classroom use of technology were strong and positive. Moreover, teachers' Beliefs were strongly related to all motivational factors. Model 5 of regression analysis explained 46.9% of the variance in ICT Class use and indicated the highest value of Perceived enjoyment, thus highlighting the teachers' hedonic-oriented motivation.

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