The relation between cognition and life satisfaction is shaped by several factors. The present research investigated whether mindreading skills are linked to subjective well-being and anxiety during the transition into adolescence. Specifically, our aim was to investigate individual differences in those constructs and gendered relational patterns.…

The literature on school climate, albeit vast, is limited by a scarcity of longitudinal research. This two-wave longitudinal study aims to bridge this gap by (a) assessing, over two school years, the changes in students' perceptions of several dimensions of school climate and (b) exploring the reciprocal longitudinal effects of student perceptions…

The study investigated the longitudinal relations between students' roles in bullying (i.e., bullying, defending, and victimization) and social status within the class. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that students' perception of their own status may mediate these relations. A sample of 432 early adolescents completed peer nominations for…

Copying a text quickly and accurately is important both in school and in daily life. However, this skill has never been systematically studied, either in children with typical development (TD) or in children with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The aim of this research was to study the features of a copy task and its relationship with other…

Nowadays, an increasing number of children and adolescents living in Europe have an immigrant background. Because ethnicity is a recognizable characteristic that may become the driver of bullying, these youths are at high risk of victimization. School interventions based on peer-led approaches, assuming all the conditions postulated in contact…

In this article, we present the first results of the project OPEN-MATH. The research project aims at acknowledging the need for learning environments with differentiation strategies for all. We developed a model for inclusive mathematics learning, based on the Theory of Objectification and a broad idea of differentiation realized through Open…

School closure and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic have posed several challenges to children. Drawing upon the social--ecological framework, in this preliminary study, we tested what factors may help to explain students' difficulties with distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown, by analyzing family, school, and individual…

In this article, we describe the results of a research study investigating the effects of a programming model specifically designed to apply the pedagogy of gifted education to the overall process of schoolwide enrichment, "The Schoolwide Enrichment Model" ("SEM," Renzulli & Reis, 2014). The specific factors examined during…

We describe how young students situate themselves with respect to astronomy through an identity framework that features four dimensions: interest, utility value, confidence, and conceptual knowledge. Overall, about 900 Italian students, from 5th to 9th grade (9-14 years old), were involved in the study. We tested our model using confirmatory…

Background: Children with dyslexia often show second-language reading and writing difficulties, but the cognitive mechanisms connected to this impairment need to be clarified. Aims: The present study examined the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying learning English as a foreign language in 4th- to the 8th-grade Italian students showing…

The present study investigated the stability of friendship nominations over the course of a school year as a function of early adolescents' and their classroom best friends' internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and somatization). Sample consisted of 156 early adolescents (57.1% female; X-bar age = 12.62; SD = 0.62) involved in 78…

This study investigated early adolescents' psychophysiological response to a school-related stressor (SRS) as indexed by heart rate variability and examined the unique and interactive effects of heart rate variability and temperament on academic achievement. A total of 91 seventh graders watched an SRS video-clip while their heart rate variability…

This study investigated the links between students' behavioral problems, student--teacher conflict, and students' involvement in bully, victim, and bully/victim roles in adolescence. The role of student-teacher conflict as moderator of the association between students' behavioral problems and their involvement in each bullying role was examined.…

The relative contribution of motivational and cognitive factors to reading comprehension might depend on how reading comprehension is measured. The participants in this study were 146 students attending grade 7. Students' reading comprehension of a history text was assessed through three measures, literal comprehension, inferential comprehension,…

While homework is a frequent source of distress, positive attitudes of parents can help students develop positive emotions and self-efficacy regarding homework. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that parents' emotions, favored by autonomous motivation, directly and indirectly relate with students' emotions through their self-efficacy with…