Relazione gestante-feto, modalità del parto e sviluppo fisico del bambino

Extensive literature outlined that the quality of the mother-foetus relationship is considered the main feature with regard to the quality of postnatal mother-infant interaction and also to the child’s psychical development. Nowadays the relationship between the pregnant woman and her foetus is viewed as the central factor of the somatic dialogue between the functioning of the maternal and the foetal organisms. This dialogue is responsible for the physic development of the child, as well as of its psychosomatic structure. Therefore the research area has necessarily had to extend to the analysis of psychological processes concerning: the pregnancy, the couple that is bound by parenthood, the influence of intergenerational dynamics. In fact, the formation of maternal identity, as well as that of the relationship between the woman and the foetus, refers to the pregnant woman’s relationship with her parents, especially with her mother. The same pregnancy, considered as a psychosomatic event, is directly influenced by relational, affective and social factors, particularly by the quality of the interiorized parental relations and the quality of the current relationships (such as that with her partner and with her family of origin). Some studies have begun to investigate the relationship between the pregnant woman and the foetus in term of “prenatal attachment” and its relationship with socio-demographic, psychological e psychopathological aspects (such as pre and post partum depression), but the research area is still largely unexplored. The present longitudinal research aimed to investigate the quality of the pregnant womanfoetus relationship by the prenatal attachment index, the quality of the interiorized relationship with woman’s parents, the level of alexithymic features and maternity social support, in relation with the modulation of the physiology of delivery and of postpartum, as well as of the physical development of the child. A consecutive sample of 62 Italian primipara women without any kind of pathologies, participated in the longitudinal study. In the first phase of this study (third trimester of the pregnancy), it has investigated the psychological processes connected to the affective investment of the pregnant women towards the unborn baby (by Prenatal Attachment Inventory), the mothers’ interiorized relationship with their own parents (by Parental Bonding Instrument), the social and affective support from their partner and their family of origin are able to supply (by Maternity Social Support Scale), and the level of alexithymia (by 20-Toronto Alexithymia Scale). In the second phase of this study, some data concerning the childbirth course carried out from a “deliverygram” (such as labour, induction durations and modalities of delivery) and data relative to the newborns state of well-being (such as Apgar and pH indexes). Finally, in the third phase of the study women have been telephoned a month after the childbirth. The semistructured interview investigated the following areas: the memory concerning the delivery, the return to home, the first interactions between the mother and the newborn, the breastfeeding, the biological rhythms achieved from newborns. From the data analysis a sample with a good level of prenatal attachment and of support social and a good capability to mental functioning emerged. An interesting result is that the most of the women have a great percentage of “affectionless control style” with both parents, but data is not sufficient to interpret this result. Moreover, considering the data relative to the delivery, medical and welfare procedures, that have been necessary, are coherent with the Italian mean, while the percentage of the caesarean section (12.9%) is inferior to the national percentage (30%). The 29% of vaginal partum has got epidural analgesia, which explains the high number (37%) of obstetrician operations (such as Kristeller). The data relative to the newborn (22 male, 40 female) indicates a good state of well-being because Apgar and pH indexes are superior to 7 at first and fifth minutes. Concerning the prenatal phase, correlation analysis showed that: the prenatal attachment scores positively correlated with the expected social support and negatively correlated with the “externally oriented thinking” dimension of alexithymia; the maternity social support negatively correlated with total alexithymia score, particularly with the “externally oriented thinking” dimension, and negatively correlated with maternal control of parental bonding. Concerning the delivery data, there are many correlations (after all obvious) among themselves. The most important are that the labour duration negatively correlated with the newborn’s index state of well-being. Finally, concerning the data from the postpartum phase the women’ assessments relative to the partum negatively correlated with the duration of the delivery and positively correlated with the assessment relative to the return to home and the interaction with the newborn. Moreover the length of permanence in the hospital negatively correlated with women’s assessments relative to the return to home that, in turn, positively correlated with the quality of breastfeeding, the interaction between the mother and the newborn and the biological regulation of the child. Finally, the women’ assessments relative to breastfeeding positively correlated with the mother-child interactions and the biological rhythms of children. From the correlation analysis between the variables of the prenatal phase and the data relative to the delivery, emerged that the prenatal attachment scores positively correlated with the dilatation stage scores and with the newborn’s Apgar index at first minute, the paternal care dimension of parental bonding positively correlated with the lengths of the various periods of childbirth like so the paternal control dimension with placental stage. Moreover, emerged that the expected social support positively correlated with the lengths of the various periods of childbirth and that the global alexithymia scores, particularly “difficulty to describe emotions” dimension, negatively correlated with total childbirth scores. From the correlation analysis between the variables of the prenatal phase and variable of the postpartum phase emerged that the total alexithymia scores positively correlated with the time elapsed from the childbirth to the breastfeeding of the child, the difficulty to describe emotions dimension of the alexithymia negatively correlated with the quality of the breastfeeding, the “externally oriented thinking” dimension of the alexithymia negatively correlated with mother-child interactions, and finally the paternal control dimension of the parental bonding negatively correlated with the time elapsed from the child to the breastfeeding of the child. Finally, from the analysis of the correlation between the data of the partum and the women’s assessments of the postpartum phase, emerged the negative correlation between the woman’s assessment relative to the delivery and the quantitative of obstetrician operations and the lengths of the various periods of childbirth, the positive correlation between the women’s assessment about the length of delivery periods and the real lengths of the same ones, the positive relation between woman’s assessment relative to the delivery and the Apgar index of children. In conclusion, there is a remarkable relation between the quality of the relationship the woman establishes with the foetus that influences the course of the pregnancy and the delivery that, in turn, influences the postpartum outcome, particularly relative to the mother-children relationship. Such data should be confirmed by heterogeneous populations in order to identify vulnerable women and to project focused intervention.

La sorpresa come fattore critico indicatore di sintonizzazione emotiva in bambini normali e con disturbi pervasivi dello sviluppo

The topic of this study is surprise, re gard as an evolutionary complex process, with manifold implication in different fields, from neurological, since aspecific correlate of surprise exist more or less at every level of neuronal processes (e.g. Rao e Ballard, 1999.), to behavioral , inasmuch a s our ability to quickly valuate(assess), recognize and learn from surprising events, are be regarded as pivotal for survival (e.g. Ranganath e Rainer, 2003). In particular this work, going from belief that surprise is really a psychoevolutive mechanism of primary relevance, has the objective to investigate if there may be a substantial connection between development of surprise' emotion and specific developmental problems, or, if in subjects with pervasive developmental disorders surprise may embody (represent) a essential mechanism of emotional tuning, and consequently if abnormalities in such process may be at the base of at least a part of cognitive and behavioural problems that determine (describe) this pathology. Theoretical reasons lead us to conside r this particular pathologic condition, recall to a broad area of research concern the comprehension of belief as marker of ability to reasons about mental states of others (i.e. Theory of Mind), and in addition, at the detection of specific subjects' diff iculty in this field. On the experimental side, as well as limited of this work, we have to compare comprehension and expression of surprise in a sample of 21 children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), with a sample of 35 children without deve lopmental problems, in a range of age 3-12. Method After the customary approach to become friendly with the child, an experimenter and an accomplice showed three boxes of nuts, easily to distinguish one from the other because of their different colours an d , working together with the child, the contents of one of the boxes were replaced and a different material (macaroni, pebbles) was put in the box. for the purpose of preparing a surprise for someone. At this stage, the accomplice excused himself/herself and left and the experimenter suggested to the child that he prepare another surprise, replacing the contents in the second box. When the accomplice came back, the child was asked to prepare a surprise for him by picking out the box that he thought was the right one for the purpose. After, and the child doesn't know it, the accomplice change the content of one of the boxes with candies and asked out to the children to open the box, in order to see if he show surprise. Result Date have obtain a significant difference between autistic and normal group, in all four tests. The expression of surprise too, is present in significantly lower degree in autistic group than in control group. Moreover, autistic children do not provide appropriate metarappresentative explanations. Conclusion Our outcome, with knowledge of the limit of our investigation at an experimental level (low number of the champions, no possibility of video registration to firm the expressions ) orient to consider eventuality that surprise, may be seen as relevant component, or indicative, in autistic spectrum disorders.

Turismo religioso: percorsi culturali-religiosi come leva di sviluppo territoriale

Il lavoro di tesi di dottorato, dal titolo “Turismo religioso: percorsi culturali-religiosi come leva di sviluppo territoriale”, ha preso in esame in particolare il tema dei percorsi culturali/religiosi, considerati “strategici” in una prospettiva di ricomposizione territoriale e di sviluppo locale, e considerati importanti per la promozione di nuovi flussi turistici e valorizzazione delle risorse storiche, artistiche e culturali del Salento leccese. Il lavoro di tesi affronta il tema del turismo culturale legato all’offerta del bene religioso inteso come potenziale fattore di attrazione turistica ed importante risorsa per lo sviluppo sostenibile del territorio. L’attenzione a santuari e luoghi di culto costituisce, infatti, una valida occasione di interesse per le opere d'arte in essi presenti, e rappresenta anche una possibilità di conoscenza del territorio in cui essi insistono, diventando la destinazione di un turismo colto e di qualità. Il lavoro di tesi, si propone di dimostrare come l’attenzione al motivo religioso creando mobilità, flussi di popolazione, di turisti possa diventare occasione di promozione del prodotto locale, mettendo a sistema tutte le risorse economiche presenti nel territorio. Più in dettaglio, dopo un iniziale approccio teorico al concetto di turismo culturale, turismo religioso e marketing territoriale, esso analizza lo stato dell’arte nel territorio provinciale leccese, individuando possibili itinerari turistico-religiosi nel Salento leccese rapportati ai “Cammini d’Europa”. Si propone l’itinerario turistico - e, in particolare, a quello Leucadense, noto come la “via della Perdonanza di Leuca”, che segue la via dei pellegrinaggi medioevali che si suffragavano di luoghi di sosta in chiese e cappelle dedicate alla Vergine Maria - come strumento verso cui si orientano le recenti strategie di competitività territoriale, definibile come uno strumento d’offerta turistica che mira a valorizzare elementi-risorse del territorio. Si tratta di percorsi utili a promuovere un prodotto competitivo, che presuppone l’enucleazione dell’offerta turistica locale integrata e la costruzione intorno ad essi di un territorio dotato di infrastrutture, ricettività, politiche dell’accoglienza, valorizzazione e fruizione del patrimonio culturale materiale, immateriale ed ambientale. Non mancano nel lavoro preoccupazioni legate alla sostenibilità di un tipo di turismo, che, se di massa (come è il caso delle visite al santuario di San Pio a San Giovanni Rotondo), produce gravi pressioni sull’ambiente e perciò necessita un forte impegno in termini di pubblicità, pianificazione investimenti e presume un’opportuna programmazione da parte degli enti locali in termini di offerta ricettiva, ristorativa e dotazione di infrastrutture. La coerenza degli interventi che promuovono il prodotto religioso non può prescindere da un’integrazione orizzontale tra il sistema territoriale (ambiente, paesaggio, sistemi socio-produttivi) e gli attori locali coinvolti, ai fini di un processo di valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale che produce sviluppo locale.