Study Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze differences between preadolescents and adolescents on the use of technology and to test the contribution of using Internet and mobile phone, and circadian preference on sleep quality. Methods: We recruited a sample of 850 (364 males) preadolescents and adolescents. Self-report questionnaires about sleep schedule, sleep wake behavior problems, circadian preferences, and the use of technology (e.g., Internet and mobile phone) were administered. Students were asked to fi ll out the School Sleep Habits Survey, a self-report questionnaire on the use of technology, the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), and the Shorter Promis Questionnaire (SPQ). Results: Adolescents reported more sleep problems, a tendency toward eveningness, and an increase of Internet and phone activities, as well as social network activities, while preadolescents were more involved in gaming console and television viewing. The regression analysis performed separately in the two age groups showed that sleep quality was affected by the circadian preference (eveningness) in both groups. Adolescents' bad sleep quality was consistently associated with the mobile phone use and number of devices in the bedroom, while in preadolescents, with Internet use and turning-off time. Conclusions

Study Objectives: To longitudinally examine sleep patterns, habits, and parent-reported sleep problems during the fi rst year of life. Methods: Seven hundred four parent/child pairs participated in a longitudinal cohort study. Structured interview recording general demographic data, feeding habits, intercurrent diseases, family history, sleep habits, and parental evaluation of the infant's sleep carried out at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months Results: Nocturnal, daytime, and total sleep duration showed a high inter-individual variability in the fi rst year of life associated with changes in the fi rst 6 months and stability from 6 to 12 months. Bedtime was at around 22:00 and remained stable at 6, 9, and 12 months of age. Approximately 20% of the infants had more than 2 awakenings and slept more often in the parent bed. Nearly 10% of the infants were considered as having a problematic sleep by parents and this signifi cantly correlated with nocturnal awakenings and diffi culties falling asleep. Conclusions: Sleep patterns change during the fi rst year of life but most sleep variables (i.e., sleep latency and duration) show little variation from 6 to 12 months. Our data provide a context for clinicians to discuss sleep issues with parents and suggest that prevention efforts should focus to the fi rst 3-6 months, since sleep patterns show stability from that time point to 12 months. S C I E N T I F I C I N V E S T I G A T I O N SS leep patterns and sleep structure show signifi cant changes during the fi rst year of life; the circadian rhythm is not established in the fi rst months, and sleep is distributed throughout the day and night with a basic rest/activity cycle, similar to that of fetal life. At 1-2 weeks of age the fetal circadian rhythms starts to fade away and, at 1-2 months, the circadian activity rhythm develops with colic as the fi rst sign of circadian rhythmicity; at 3-4 months of age, infants are entrained to the 24-h cycle and melatonin production is stable. At 6-9 months, wakefulness increases, daytime naps are established, and fi nally, at 12 months 70% to 80% of infants sleep mostly at night. 2 demonstrated that daytime sleep is mostly determined by maturation (age), whereas nocturnal sleep is better predicted by ecological factors. More specifi cally, studies of infant sleep correlates showed that intense parental involvement and reduced self-soothing skills may interfere with nighttime sleep consolidation.2,3 Not only major developmental steps are determined by the interaction between maturational processes and ecological factors; sleep-wake patterns are also heavily infl uenced by biological and cultural factors, and therefore the concept of "normal sleep" varies according to cultural BRIEF SUMMARYCurrent Knowledge/Study Rationale: To our knowledge, most of the data on the sleep pattern development in the previous reports were derived from longitudinal studies designed to collect different information but not exclusively intended to assess sleep structure and ecology. Our study represents the fi r...

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations of teacher-child relationship quality (close, conflictive, and dependent), children’s social behavior, and peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool-aged children (46 boys; 42 girls). Preschool teachers evaluated the quality of the teacher-child relationship and children’s social behaviors (i.e., social competence, anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal). Peer-rated likability was measured using a sociometric procedure. Results indicated that conflictual teacher-child relationships were related to high aggressive behavior, and dependent teacher-child relationships were positively associated with children’s anxiety-withdrawal. Moreover, we found an indirect association between close teacher-child relationship quality and peer likability through children’s social competence. The findings provide evidence that the teacher-child relationship is critical for children’s social behaviors, and that social competence was uniquely related to peer likability.

In present study, we examined the protective role of peer acceptance in the links between two subtypes of social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability) and indices of young children’s socio-emotional functioning. Participants were N = 112 Italian preschool children (n = 54 boys) aged 36–74 months (M = 56.85 months, SD = 10.14). Multi-source assessments included: (1) parental ratings of children’s shyness and unsociability; (2) teacher ratings of children’s internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and social competence; (3) child interview assessments of preference for solitary play; and (4) peer (sociometric) ratings of peer acceptance. Among the results, shyness was associated with internalizing problems at preschool, whereas unsociability was related to a preference for solitary play. In addition, results from multiple regression analyses indicated significant interactions between peer acceptance and both shyness and unsociability in the association with indices of socio-emotional functioning. For example, at lower levels of peer acceptance, shyness was positively related to children’s preference for solitary play, whereas children’s unsociability was associated with externalizing problems. In contrast, these relations were attenuated at higher levels of peer acceptance. Findings are discussed in term of the potential protective role of young children’s peer acceptance for different subtypes of social withdrawal during early childhood

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderating role of child-teacher relationship quality (i.e., closeness, conflict, and dependence) in the association between children's shyness and indices of socio-emotional adjustment and maladjustment. The participants were Italian preschool children (63 boys; 66 girls) and two lead teachers per classroom (N = 7 classrooms). In each classroom, one teacher, randomly selected, evaluated the quality of the child-teacher relationship; the other evaluated children's social competence and maladjustment. Peer liking was measured using a sociometric procedure. Parents provided an assessment of their children's shyness. Shyness was positively related to teacher-reported rejection and internalizing problems whereas shyness was negatively associated with closeness and conflict with teachers. Moreover, closeness, conflict, and dependence in the child-teacher relationship moderated the links between children shyness and indices of preschool social competence and maladjustment. For example, among children with low levels of closeness, shyness was negatively associated with teacher-reported social competence and positively related to teacher-reported peer rejection. At very high levels of dependence, there was a negative relation between shyness and social competence. The findings suggest that a positive child-teacher relationship may be a protective factor in avoiding social maladjustment in Italian scuole d'infanzia, where most pupils remain with the same teacher for 3 years.

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Preterm children showed sleep pattern problems and disturbance, predominance of attention problems, and negative emotionality related to sleep disruption.