Poor School Academic Performance and Benign Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes.

BACKGROUND: Poor academic performance of students with epilepsy seems to be a multifactorial problem related to difficulties in reading, writing, math, and logic skills. Poor school and academic performances refer to learning problems in a specific academic area due to learning disorders and learning difficulties not excluding the ability to learn in a different manner during school and academic life. Sometimes, school, academic difficulties, and Rolandic epilepsy can coexist together, and there may be comorbidities. Consequently, the risk of impaired academic performance in people with epilepsy is high. METHODS: This review analyzed the relationship between Benign Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (BECTS) and poor school and academic performance (PSAP) in children and adolescents (aged 6 to 19), and in adults (aged 20 to no age limit). The PRISMA guideline was used to guide our review strategy. RESULTS: This research shows that Benign Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (BECTS) and poor school and academic performances are strongly correlated. An early onset age, as well as a long persistence of seizures, correlate more closely with PSAP. On the other hand, it appears that good pharmacological control of seizures and remission from the acute phase of the pathology support better school performance. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights how neuropsychological aspects are also involved in patients with BECTS and PSAP, both in the greater predisposition to the establishment of other neuropsychiatric conditions and in the possibility that stigma conditions and poor academic results may have repercussions on the adaptation and functioning of these subjects. Global management of the subject with BECTS and PSAP is essential, which also pays attention to the aspects of social and scholastic inclusion, both to achieve age-appropriate educational and behavioral objectives, to give the necessary tools for the growth of the individual, and to allow a serene transition to adulthood, favoring autonomous learning and better outcomes.

Cyberbullying and Cyberhate as Two Interlinked Instances of Cyber-Aggression in Adolescence: A Systematic Review.

In this paper we present the results of a systematic review aimed at investigating what the literature reports on cyberbullying and cyberhate, whether and to what extent the connection between the two phenomena is made explicit, and whether it is possible to identify overlapping factors in the description of the phenomena. Specifically, for each of the 24 selected papers, we have identified the predictors of cyberbullying behaviors and the consequences of cyberbullying acts on the victims; the same analysis has been carried out with reference to cyberhate. Then, by comparing what emerged from the literature on cyberbullying with what emerged from the literature on cyberhate, we verify to what extent the two phenomena overlap in terms of predictors and consequences. Results show that the cyberhate issue related to adolescents is less investigated than cyberbullying, and most of the papers focusing on one of them do not refer to the other. Nevertheless, by comparing the predictors and outcomes of cyberbullying and cyberhate as reported in the literature, an overlap between the two concepts emerges, with reference to: the parent-child relationship to reduce the risk of cyber-aggression; the link between sexuality and cyber-attacks; the protective role of the families and of good quality friendship relationships; the impact of cyberbullying and cyberhate on adolescents' individuals' well-being and emotions; meaningful analogies between the coping strategies put in practice by victims of cyberbullying and cyberhate. We argue that the results of this review can stimulate a holistic approach for future studies on cyberbullying and cyberhate where the two phenomena are analyzed as two interlinked instances of cyber-aggression. Similarly, prevention and intervention programs on a responsible and safe use of social media should refer to both cyberbullying and cyberhate issues, as they share many predictors as well as consequences on adolescents' wellbeing, thus making it diminishing to afford them separately. Systematic Review Registration: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42021239461.

Challenging social media threats using collective well-being-aware recommendation algorithms and an educational virtual companion.

Social media have become an integral part of our lives, expanding our interlinking capabilities to new levels. There is plenty to be said about their positive effects. On the other hand, however, some serious negative implications of social media have been repeatedly highlighted in recent years, pointing at various threats to society and its more vulnerable members, such as teenagers, in particular, ranging from much-discussed problems such as digital addiction and polarization to manipulative influences of algorithms and further to more teenager-specific issues (e.g., body stereotyping). The impact of social media-both at an individual and societal level-is characterized by the complex interplay between the users' interactions and the intelligent components of the platform. Thus, users' understanding of social media mechanisms plays a determinant role. We thus propose a theoretical framework based on an adaptive "Social Media Virtual Companion" for educating and supporting an entire community, teenage students, to interact in social media environments in order to achieve desirable conditions, defined in terms of a community-specific and participatory designed measure of Collective Well-Being (CWB). This Companion combines automatic processing with expert intervention and guidance. The virtual Companion will be powered by a Recommender System (CWB-RS) that will optimize a CWB metric instead of engagement or platform profit, which currently largely drives recommender systems thereby disregarding any societal collateral effect. CWB-RS will optimize CWB both in the short term by balancing the level of social media threats the users are exposed to, and in the long term by adopting an Intelligent Tutor System role and enabling adaptive and personalized sequencing of playful learning activities. We put an emphasis on experts and educators in the educationally managed social media community of the Companion. They play five key roles: (a) use the Companion in classroom-based educational activities; (b) guide the definition of the CWB; (c) provide a hierarchical structure of learning strategies, objectives and activities that will support and contain the adaptive sequencing algorithms of the CWB-RS based on hierarchical reinforcement learning; (d) act as moderators of direct conflicts between the members of the community; and, finally, (e) monitor and address ethical and educational issues that are beyond the intelligent agent's competence and control. This framework offers a possible approach to understanding how to design social media systems and embedded educational interventions that favor a more healthy and positive society. Preliminary results on the performance of the Companion's components and studies of the educational and psychological underlying principles are presented.

Effects of school-based interventions on motivation towards physical activity in children and adolescents: protocol for a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have observed low levels of physical activity in children and adolescents worldwide. Physical activity interventions are increasingly carried out to counteract this development. The school environment is an ideal setting for such interventions to take place as large numbers of children and adolescents can be addressed. With the assumption that motivation is the key to initiate and sustain beneficial health behaviors, theory-based intervention studies apply motivational strategies to increase students' participation in physical activity. The main objective of this systematic review will be to analyze the effects of school-based physical activity interventions on a variety of motivational outcomes towards physical activity in school-aged children and adolescents. METHODS: Comprehensive literature searches will be conducted in multiple electronic databases, including MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, PSYNDEX, Physical Education Index, and SPORTDiscus. We will include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies examining the effects of school-based physical activity interventions (e.g., physical activity components during school lessons including physical education, or during morning, lunch and afternoon breaks). Primarily extracurricular physical activity interventions will not be considered. The primary outcomes will be students' motivation, basic psychological needs, goal orientation, enjoyment, and motivational teaching climate in physical education. Secondary outcomes will be the students' physical activity behaviors in-class, during school, and in leisure time. Only peer-reviewed articles published in English will be considered. Three reviewers will independently screen all citations and full-text articles, and two reviewers will abstract data. The quality of the included studies will be assessed with the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias for RCTs and the GRADE methodology will be used to assess the certainty of the body of retreived evidence. DISCUSSION: In order to increase and maintain physical activity levels in children and adolescents, motivation towards physical activity should be sustained. It is anticipated that the results of this systematic review will provide information as to which strategies implemented in the school setting are effective in increasing students' motivation towards physical activity, and hence increase their physical activity during school and after-school hours. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42018110306.

Sport Intervention Programs (SIPs) to Improve Health and Social Inclusion in People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review.

Inactivity is a major issue that causes physical and psychological health problems, especially in people with intellectual disability (ID). This review discusses the beneficial effects of sport intervention programs (SIPs) in people with ID, and aims to provide an overview of the scientific literature in order to identify the main factors influencing the participation of people with ID in SIPs. Twelve papers were analyzed and compared. The results show a large variety in examined SIPs, concerning participants' age and disability, intervention characteristics and context, as well as measures and findings. The main factors essential for people with ID partaking in SIPs appeared to be suitable places for the SIP development, adequate implementation of physical activity (PA) programs in school and extra-school contexts, education, and the training of teachers and instructors. The literature review highlights the relevance of using SIPs in order to improve physical and psychological health, as well as increase social inclusion in populations with ID. SIPs should be included in multifactor intervention programs. Nevertheless, the need is recognized for stakeholders to adopt specific practice and policy in promoting social inclusion in order to organize intervention strategies which are able to provide quality experiences in sport and physical activity for people with ID.

Sleep phenotypes of intellectual disability: a polysomnographic evaluation in subjects with Down syndrome and Fragile-X syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze sleep architecture and NREM sleep alterations by means of the Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP) in children with Down syndrome (DS) and Fragile-X syndrome (fraX), the two most common causes of inherited mental retardation, in order to find out eventual alterations of their sleep microstructure related to their mental retardation phenotypes. METHODS: Fourteen patients affected by fraX (mean age 13.1 years) and 9 affected by Down syndrome (mean age 13.8 years) and 26 age-matched normal controls were included. All subjects underwent overnight polysomnography in the sleep laboratory, after one adaptation night and their sleep architecture and CAP were visually scored. RESULTS: FraX subjects showed a reduced time in bed compared to DS subjects, whereas DS subjects showed a lower sleep efficiency, a higher percentage of wakefulness after sleep onset, and a reduced percentage of stage 2 NREM compared to the other groups. Furthermore, DS and fraX subjects, compared to normal controls, showed a higher percentage of stage 1 NREM and a lower percentage of REM sleep. FraX subjects showed the most disrupted sleep microstructure with low total CAP rate and CAP rate in S2 NREM. Both patient groups showed a lower percentage of A1 and higher percentage of A2 and A3 compared to normal controls. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of CAP might be able to disclose new important findings in the sleep architecture of children with mental retardation and might characterize sleep microstructural patterns of the different phenotypes of intellectual disability. SIGNIFICANCE: The NREM sleep microstructure alterations found in our subjects, associated with the reduction in REM sleep percentage, seem to be distinctive features of intellectual disability.