Abstract
Based on the framework of Cognitive Remediation and Dynamic Assessment research, presented in a previous issue of this Journal, studies from our laboratory are described to illustrate the development and implementation of the specific research strategies. These studies come from different fields of investigation, mainly research on schizophrenia and brain injury, or from research on mental retardation and learning disabilities. Salient target variables are executive functions and aspects of working memory. Issues of applying these strategies in the study of mental retardation are discussed

Abstract
The development and acquisition of social, cognitive and relational abilities is influenced by psychobiological and environmental factors. The mother-child interaction has been considered one of the main ‘environmental’ factors that could influence the development of social, cognitive and relational skills. Many studies underlined the role of the mothers in the acquisition of the social, relational and communicative abilities of their own child. The mother-child interaction changes according to the cognitive development of the child, and it depends from the characteristic of both member of dyad. In this study the emotional status (particularly rage, depression and disability acceptance) has been investigated in Down children’s mothers. Twenty four subjects have been included in this study: 12 were Down children and their mothers, 12 were children (and their mother, too) without Central Nervous Systems on systemic disease. Results showed no significant differences between the two groups of mothers (Down children and children free form pathology) for rage and depression. In the Down children’s mothers, the severity of sons’ daughter’s cognitive impairment do not seem to have a main role in the acceptance of the disability nor in the presence of delusion.

Abstract
The study reports the result of an investigation on young diabetics about the influence of age, gender, socio-economic status and cultural environment on their attitudes towards diabetes and its treatment as well as on effects of these variables on the quality of their lives. The sample consists of 146 subjects, treated in the Endocrinological Center for children and adolescent at the S. Raffaele Hospital in Milan, ages from 11 to 14 years, 77 males, 69 females, 79 of low socioeconomic status, 67 of high socioeconomic status, 116 from Northern Italy, 25 from Southern Italy. The data were collected through a questionnaire filled out by parents. The result showing differences according to age indicate an evolutionary trend combining their progress in two areas, that of therapeutic control and treatment of diabetes and that of their experiences of emancipation from family. The results referring to the sex variable show that males are more involved in physical activities in respect to females, while the latter have more experiences away from the family and appear, therefore, to be more autonomous. Other findings show that subjects who have been diabetics for a longer time, more than 4 years, are more dependent on their parents in both therapeutic control and treatment of diabetes. Considering that the onset of diabetes of this group starter when they were younger than those who were diagnosed in the last four years, parents must have fostered more protective attitudes towards them because of the immaturity and fragility of their age. It is likely that for this same reason these children were made to share the bedroom with parents in a grater percentage as compared to the other group. We hypothesize that the lower level of autonomy of this group might derive from a combination of both parents’ and their children’s attitudes : parents might have over the years developed a certain resistance against changing habits ad loosing their control in the management of diabetes, children might have had a certain unwillingness to take on responsibility that up until now was the responsibility if their parents. No differences were found according the socio-economic variable. The investigation highlighted a datum of great psychological relevance: the young diabetics show a tendency, referring to a one fourth of the sample, and to a greater percentage in subjects from the South, to hide diabetes. This attitude of secretiveness about their illness must be taken into particular consideration since the underlying perception as something to be ashamed of or guilty for, has not only manifested negative consequences on the social adaptation of young diabetics in the present, as this study emphasizes, but can be expected to unfavorably influence the development of personal identity and self-esteem in the future.

Abstract
Old age is a phase of life characterized by the reduction of many physiologic, cognitive and social functions. The quality of life in the old people depends on biologic variables, such as health status, social factors, such as economic condition, level of instruction and relation with family and friends, and psychological status. The present research aims to evaluate quality of life and perception of stress in a sample of 110 men and women aged between 65-90 (average: males = 73.8; females = 72.2), who lived in two different cities near to Catania. The research has been realized through two different tests: the Italian adaptation of the Mesure du Stress Psychologique and a modified version of Heinrielis, Hanion e Carpenter’s Quality of Life Scales. The analysis of data has shown that perception of stress and quality of life depend on several subjective and objective variables and are influenced by cultural factors, such as instruction level and working occupation. Moreover, significant differences with regard to gender and place of residence have been found. Our data confirm that psychic discomfort and psychological well-being in old people depends on a large number of factors. Among these, capacity of coping and satisfaction for experiences of life appear to be very important.

Abstract
The concept of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is used to describe a state of cognition where the deficiency is greater than expected for a subject’s age and social-cultural background, but not sufficiently severe to satisfy the criteria of nosographic classification of dementia. At the present numerous non-converging classification exist and some subtypes have been suggested, as the amnesic MCI, the Non-Amnesic MCI and a different MCI group in which more than one cognitive function is compromised. In medicine literature the data related to the development of aMCI is hugely miscellaneous. The aim of our study is to verify the evolution of aMCI and MCI/ multiple cognitive impairment, for a period of two-three years. A retrospective study has been done on 107 aMCI and 19 MCI/ multiple cognitive impairment patients. Results show no statistically differences on the two groups.

Abstract
Eating disorder problem concerns a growing number of girls. Thus an early diagnosis of the stage that might precede the expression of a fully developed Anorectic Readiness Syndrome is a major prophylactic issue. In order to establish the factors that favour the formation of a detrimental attitude to eating and one’s own body, a relevant questionnaire has been constructed (A questionnaire for studying individual attitude to eating). The study covered 408 girls between the age of 17 and 24 from Poznań and the vicinity. The results of the study indicate that over a quarter of the girls surveyed manifest the ARS. In their case this is demonstrated by an increased interest in their own bodies, advanced submission to the pressure of popular culture, tendency for comparison with the propagated standards of beauty, and attributing the external appearance with an excessive importance for achieving satisfaction and success in life. Furthermore – in the opinion of the surveyed girls – their parents manifested increased criticism and lack of acceptance of their daughters. The aim of the present paper is an explanation of the key terms (here: Anorectic Readiness Syndrome, anorectic behaviour), presentation of the results of the study and a description of features and ways of functioning of the girls with the ARS.

Abstract
The present study examined the recognition of facial emotions and the empathetic abilities in children (mean age = 8,5 years; range = 6 – 11) suffering from chronic (leukaemia) and acute pathology. We make use of the Ekman’s test for the recognition of facial expression of emotions and the test for the answers of the empathetic abilities devised by Lo Coco and Albiero ( 1998). The group of children was compared with two groups of children matched by chronological age, one group without pathology and one group suffering from leukaemia out of therapy. The hospital children suffering from acute pathology showed poor recognition of facial emotions and poor empathetic abilities, on the contrary, the performance of children suffering from leukemia was similar to children without pathology and children suffering from leukemia out of therapy. These results are related with recent hypotheses of psychoneuroendocrinology, which outline evidence the influence of the psychology and emotional aspects in disease and in the collateral effects of therapy. The implications of these results for the support interventions are discussed.

Abstract
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a quite common developmental disorder whose aetiology is still unknown. Recent researches suggest a significant influence of genes in causing SLI but it is yet unknown how such genetic influence could operate. MRI studies on brain morphology in children with SLI found that they have a reduced left-right asymmetry of the cerebral language areas, which could be genetically determined. A reduced left hemisphere specialization for processing language could be the functional consequence of such morphological abnormalities; however, it is not clear whether the reduced hemispheric specialization is the neurofunctional basis of SLI. The present review analyses the studies investigating the hemispheric specialization for language in SLI, interpreting the various results in the light of the clinical knowledge and the epidemiological studies, particularly taking into account the relationship between reduced left-hemisphere specialisation, positive family history of language impairment and clinical types of SLI (Receptive-Expressive, Expressive and Phonological, on the basis of the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV).