Background and objective Surgery in a paediatric setting stresses children and their parents. Previous studies have focused on children and the preoperative period; however, the 24 h after child surgery are highly stressful for parents as their child is still physically recovering and physician–parent communication is vital. The aims of this study are to investigate the impact of three levels of severity of paediatric surgery on mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety and stress and to identify factors that contribute to parental anxiety and acute stress symptoms in the first 24 h after child surgery. Patients and methods A total of 154 parents (91 mothers, 63 fathers) of children who had just undergone elective surgery for a major intervention (n = 41), minor intervention (n = 64) or day surgery (n = 49) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing levels of state anxiety and acute stress symptoms. Social network, socio-economic status and parental health locus of control were evaluated as contributors. Results Parents reported high levels of state anxiety (26% had scores on the state scale 2 standard deviations above the norm) and acute stress symptoms (28% in at least one of the four acute stress disorder symptom categories). Child’s type of surgery is related to parental anxiety [F(2,134) = 38.12, P = 0.0001, η2 = 0.175] and acute stress symptoms [F(2,133) = 31.21, P = 0.0001, η2 = 0.133]. Parental state anxiety was predicted by parent’s gender, trait anxiety and health external locus of control. Parent’s number of acute stress symptoms was predicted by parental trait anxiety, health external locus of control, parent’s level of education and the number of social contacts. Conclusions There is a need to take into consideration parental anxiety and distress in the 24 h after child surgery. Parental well-being is related to several characteristics including the severity of child surgery; these aspects should be taken into consideration when interacting with parents in the aftermath of their child’s surgery.

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Objective. The COVID-19 outbreak in Italy caused a major health emergency and high uncertainty. We studied how media outlets, risk perception, state anxiety, and emotion regulation impacted peoples' reactions and undertaking of protective behaviours aimed at reducing the spread of the virus. Design. Data were collected in two cross-sectional waves (N = 992 at T1; N = 1031 at T2): at the beginning of the outbreak and once the national lockdown was imposed. Methods. Participants completed online surveys on their perception of the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, they were asked to self-report on their emotion regulation, state anxiety, and protective behaviours. Results. Media exposure and wave predicted risk perception. An interaction between wave, risk perception, and emotion regulation predicted the number of protective behaviours people undertook. Specifically, in the second wave, the number of protective behaviours was predicted by risk perception only among those who were ineffective at regulating emotions. Instead, effective regulators undertook the same number of behaviours regardless of their level of risk perception. In the second wave, we also found that the risk perception by emotion interaction predicting protective behaviours was mediated by state anxiety. Conclusions. The present study provides important insights on how people experienced the early stages of the outbreak. This information could prove valuable in the coming months to understand who might have been more impacted by the stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictive measures.

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Introduction: Previous research suggests that supportive parenting is positively related to adolescents' academic and psychological functioning. However, most extant research has focused on parenting styles observed in Western countries, whereas less is known about the role of culturally specific parenting dimensions in Eastern countries such as China. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental guan and school adjustment in Mainland Chinese early adolescents, postulating moderation by interdependent self-construal (ISC). Methods: Participants were 148 early adolescents (48.6% girls) aged between 10 and 13 years, who completed a questionnaire survey. Teachers rated their students' school-related social competence, while academic grades were obtained from school records. Results: Linear regression models controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status showed that maternal guan was positively associated with social competence. Furthermore, ISC moderated the link between maternal guan and school adjustment. Specifically, high levels of ISC were found to enhance the positive relation between perceived maternal guan and both social competence and academic performance. However, no significant associations were found for paternal guan. Conclusions: Our findings extend prior research by documenting the positive role of guan parenting style and ISC in early adolescents' school adjustment, and underscore the centrality of mothers in the childrearing process within Chinese families.

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New insights are given on the effects of normal mood variations and students' text processing and comprehension by the use of eye-tracking methodology. Important implications for the role of emotional states in educational settings are highlighted.

The present data indicate a perceptual bias for the detection of academic threats. Within the school practice, teachers should promote SWB and devote specific attention to students with high negative emotionality to reduce a biased allocation of attention in response to school-related stressors.