Background and Objectives: Previous research on associations between Body Image Concerns (BIC) and technological addictions, such as Internet addiction (IA) and Social Media Addiction (SMA), has focused on female samples, neglecting the impact they may have on males and the risk factor associated with age. The present study analyzed the correlations between BIC, IA, and SMA and between internalizing and externalizing problems. Methods: A sample of 204 participants (118 females; mean age = 15.88 years) were divided into three age groups (early, middle, and late adolescence) and completed a battery of scales including (i) Body Image Concern Inventory, (ii) Bergen Instagram Addiction Scale, (iii) Internet Addiction Test, and (iv) Youth Self Report. Results: Significant associations between BIC and technology addictions (SMA and IA) appeared both in the total sample and in the subgroups related to gender and age; bivariate correlations between internalizing and externalizing problems and variables were significant for the total sample but only in some of the gender- and age-related subgroups. Discussion and Conclusions: This research has shown how associations between BIC and behavioral technology addictions, especially associations with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, may vary by the gender affiliation and developmental stage of the individual.

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Adolescents and young adults engage in sexting behaviors. Research has mainly emphasized the relationship between motivations and sexting behaviors, with little attention paid to sexting expectations and the potential role of coping strategies. This study aims to explore the measure of emotional–behavioral functioning with the Youth/Adult Self Report (based on the subject’s age), the use of defensive strategies measured with the Response Evaluation Measure (REM-71), social media addiction with the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and all dimensions of sexting: motivations, behavior and expectations measured with the Sexting Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ), Sexting Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) and Sexpectancies Questionnaire (SQ), respectively. N = 209 adolescents and young adults were recruited from high schools and universities in Rome to complete the self-report questionnaires. Results show that males tend to have higher expectations of sexting than females. We also found that expectations play a role in determining sexting behaviors and motivations. Our hypotheses on social media addiction and sexting were confirmed, while the relationship between the defensive strategies and sexting was not significant as expected. Further studies on this topic are desirable in the future.

Current research has confirmed that the quality of the caregiver-child relationship influences the child’s emotional and behavioral development. Play and feeding contexts, for example, are the best contexts to observe mother-child or father-child interaction. The observation of feeding interaction establishes involvement on the part of both parties and identifies relationship characteristics. The purpose of this study is to select and describe the most frequently used observational methods during feeding interactions in the first three years of a child’s life. Instruments that employ video recordings of mealtimes will be detailed to highlight the relevance that specific tools have nowadays. Finally, the SVIA (Scala di Valutazione delle Interazioni Alimentari), a technique for analyzing food interactions by observation that has also been utilized remotely, will be offered. This is intended to provide practitioners and researchers with an overview of tools while also taking into consideration the present scenario in which digital tools are increasingly being employed in health and clinical settings. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to review the various observational methods of the parent-child relationship to assist future practitioners and researchers in the field in making an accurate assessment of caregiver-child interaction and selecting a valid tool for the early recognition of problematic relationships and identifying the most appropriate treatment modalities.

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