Midwifery Education Institutions in Italy Creation and Validation of Clinical Preceptors' Assessment Tool: Students' and Expert Midwives' Views.

Background: The aim of the study is to create and validate a midwifery preceptor's evaluation form to be used by midwifery students. The International Confederation of Midwives recommends that clinical placements need to be supervised by a preceptor in order to be efficient for students who, in this way, gain competence and proper practice within the midwifery practical area. Methods: This is an observational multi-center transversal study and leads to the validation of an evaluation questionnaire. Methodically, the following steps were followed: literature review, focus group with midwifery students, meeting between expert midwives, creation of the preceptor's assessment form, filling in of the forms by midwifery students and expert midwives, and validation of the form. The study was carried out in eight Italian universities and included eighty-eight midwifery students and eight midwives. Results and Conclusion: A midwifery preceptor's assessment questionnaire was created made up of four attribute areas which, as a total, included 33 items. Cronbach's alpha score was calculated after examining the forms filled in by students and expert midwives. An alpha score of 0.97-0.85 was obtained. The result was Pearson Correlation Coefficient r = 0.78.

La maduración visomotora en niños y adolescentes. Una investigación para actualizar normas / Visomotor maturation in children and adolescents an investigation to update norms

La maduración visomotora es una función universal, todos los niños a medida que aumenta su edad cronológica adquieren mayor maduración viso motora y, a su vez, se caracteriza por la diversidad, influida por el contexto. Objetivos: a) describir el nivel de madurez visomotora de niños y adolescentes escolarizados del Gran San Miguel de Tucumán, según edad y nivel socioeconómico (NSE), b) generar normas actualizadas del Test guestáltico visomotor de Bender y c) comparar los baremos obtenidos en la actualidad con los de 1995 para población de Tucumán. Participantes: 945 sujetos del Gran San Miguel de Tucumán, entre 5 y 12 años. Se trata de un estudio cuantitativo, comparativo, transversal, con muestreo no probabilístico intencional. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos del puntaje error y análisis univariados considerando edad y NSE. Se halló que la cantidad de errores tendían a disminuir a medida que aumentaba la edad y se encontraron diferencias estadísticas significativas en la combinación NSE y edad. Se establecieron percentiles para toda la muestra. Se efectuaron prueba t de Student para muestras independientes para comparar puntajes error del baremo Tucumán 1995 y los del presente estudio. Este trabajo aporta información valiosa al diagnóstico de la evaluación psicológica infantojuvenil.

Visuomotor maturation is a universal function. As children's chronological age advances so does their visuomotor maturation. Such maturation is characterized by diversity, which is, in turn, influenced by context. Objectives: a) to describe the level of visuomotor maturity of children schooled at San Miguel de Tucuman, taking into consideration age and socioeconomic status (NSE), b) to set updated norms on Bender Gestalt Test and c) to compare the recently obtained scale with that of the year 1995 for the population in Tucumán. Participants: 945 subjects from San Miguel de Tucuman, aged 5 ­ 12. This is a quantitative, comparative, cross-sectional, non-probability sampling based study. A descriptive analysis of the error score and a univariate analysis considering the informants' age and socioeconomic status were carried out. Findings showed that the older the children were, the less mistakes they tended to make. Additionally, meaningful statistical differences were found when both factors namely, age and socioeconomic status, were considered. Percentiles weree stablish ed for the whole sample. Student's t-tests for independent samples were performed so as to compare error scores from the scale Tucuman 1995 with those of the current study. This piece of research offers valuable information for the diagnosis of child and adolescent psychological assessment.

Acoso escolar en niños de Tucumán / School bullying in children of Tucumán

El acoso escolar o Bullying es considerado un importante factor de riesgo para la salud mental de los niños debido a su asociación con numerosos problemas de ajuste psicosocial a nivel personal, interpersonal, familiar, académico y escolar. Por ello el interés en este proyecto fue estudiar en profundidad las características propias de víctimas y victimarios, y su vinculación con estilos de crianza desde la percepción del niño. Se administró el cuestionario BULL-S1, el cuestionario estrategias de afrontamiento en niños2 y la escala de estilo de crianza parental para niños3. Por último se realizó un grupo focal con los niños víctimas y victimarios de acoso escolar. Se utilizó una metodología descriptiva y exploratoria. Los resultados obtenidos dan cuenta de que el 8,8% de los alumnos encuestados son agresores, mientras que el 2,9% es víctima de acoso escolar. En relación a las estrategias de afrontamiento las víctimas presentaron mayor análisis lógico de la situación, mayor reestructuración cognitiva y búsqueda de apoyo y mayor control emocional en comparación con sus compañeros agresores. Por su parte los agresores tienden a emplear estrategias de búsqueda de gratificaciones, evitación cognitiva, paralización y descontrol emocional en comparación con las víctimas de Bullying. Siendo esta diferencia estadísticamente no significativa. Por último, se estableció las diferencias en la percepción de los estilos de crianza parental según víctima o victimario. Las victimas perciben un mayor control parental que sus pares victimarios. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas. A partir de los resultados obtenidos se pudo identificar a víctimas y victimarios de acoso escolar. Esto permitirá la intervención temprana con padres y niños, a fin de fortalecer las habilidades sociales y desarrollar estrategias de afrontamiento saludables en los niños, considerándolas centrales en las prácticas psicológicas en infancia

Italian midwives' experiences of late termination of pregnancy. A phenomenological-hermeneutic study.

In this phenomenological-hermeneutic study, we explored how midwives perceive the burden of care, while assisting termination of pregnancy after 16 weeks' gestation. Between February and April 2013, 17 Italian midwives from three different units were interviewed. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Four themes emerged from the interviews: influences, supports, empathy, and emotions. At the end of the study, researchers observed that midwives assert conscientious objection to the termination of pregnancy, which does not influence their experiences and memories. The midwives felt that it was important to share experiences with colleagues, discussing cases together and with the rest of the team. The midwives also suggested some strategies to improve this type of care: organize shifts in a way that could lead to improved and personalized care for women, continuous development, involvement of relatives, and special measures for these women's rooms. Moreover, they considered help from other professionals as fundamental in order to manage the clinical and emotional complexities related to these terminations.

Intrapartum epidural analgesia and onset of lactation: a prospective study in an Italian birth centre.

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between epidural analgesia (EDA) in labor and the onset of lactation in healthy women after birth. In a Regional Perinatal Center in northern Italy, women who had had a vaginal delivery were recruited by convenience sampling. Analyses were carried out on the data of 366 women. 209 women received EDA and 157 women did not receive EDA or any other pharmacological analgesia. A structured follow-up was carried out interviewing women by telephone after 5 days and, a second time, 20 days after delivery. The primary outcome was the time (in hours) of the onset of lactation. Timing of the onset of lactation in the EDA and non-EDA groups did not statistically differ (p = 0.15), although the non-EDA group was more likely to initiate breastfeeding. On the basis of the results of this study, we concluded that intrapartum EDA does not have an effect on delays in the onset of lactation.

Test development and use in five Iberian Latin American countries.

The abundance of scholarship on test development and use generally is higher in English-speaking than in Iberian Latin American countries. The purpose of this article is to help overcome this imbalance by describing and identifying similarities and differences in test development and use in two Iberian (Portugal and Spain) and three of the largest Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela) countries. The stages of test development in each country, roles of professional associations, presence of standards for test use, professionals' educational training, commonly used tests, together with prominent challenges to continued progress are discussed. Test development and use in these five countries are transitioning from a dependence on the use of translated tests to greater reliance on adapted and finally nationally constructed tests. Continued growth requires adherence to international standards guiding test development and use. Stronger alliance among professional associations in the Iberian Latin American countries could serve as a catalyst to promote test development in these regions.

Las estrategias de afrontamiento y su relación con el nivel de bienestar psicológico. Un estudio con adolescentes de nivel socioeconómico bajo de Tucumán (Argentina) / The coping strategies and its relation with the level of psychological well-being. A research with adolescents of low socioeconomic level of Tucuman (Argentina)

La adolescencia es un período de importantes cambios físicos y psicológicos. Se investigaron las estrategias de afrontamiento es adolescentes de contexto socioeconómico bajo, en relación con el nivel de Bienestar Psicológico. Desde un modelo de la salud se analizó cómo los jóvenes afrontan de un modo más eficiente y adaptativo las demandas que se les presentan. Se fundamenta la importancia atribuida al tema por considerar las estrategias de afrontamiento como posibles factores protectores de la salud. Objetivos: 1) Identificar y analizar las estrategias de afrontamiento que utilizan los adolescentes. 2) Indagar el nivel de Bienestar Psicológico del grupo estudiado. 3) Determinar las estrategias que emplean los adolescentes con alto nivel de bienestar y si son diferentes a las utilizadas por los que presentan bajo nivel de bienestar. Metodología: a) Diseño: estudio cuantitativo de tipo descriptivo; b) Muestra: Incidental; c) Participantes: 150 adolescentes escolarizados de 13 a 18 años de edad, de San Miguel de Tucumán (Argentina), nivel socioeconómico bajo; d) Instrumentos: Escala de afrontamiento para adolescentes (ACS), versión castellana editada por TEA y Escala de Bienestar Psicológico para adolescentes adaptación Casullo (BIEPS-J). Resultados: Se hallaron diferencias significativas en el empleo de estrategias de afrontamiento en adolescentes con alto y bajo nivel de bienestar psicológico, así como también entre estrategias de afrontamiento y sexo

Adolescence is a period in which happen physical and psychological changes. Coping strategies of adolescents in a low socioeconomic context were researched, related to psychological well-being level. How young people confront in an efficient and adaptive way the demands introduce to them was analyzed from a health model. The importance given to this subject is based on fact that coping strategies can be considered as possible factors of health protection. Objectives: 1) to identify and analyze coping strategies used by adolescents; 2) to search deeply the psychological well-being level of the studied group; 3) to resolve the strategies used by adolescents with hi psychological well-being level, and if this strategies are different of the ones used by adolescents with low psychological well-being level. Methodology: 1) Design: comparative - descriptive study; 2) Sample: incidental; 3) Subjects: 150 adolescents between 13 and 18 years old of San Miguel de Tucumán (Argentina) and low socioeconomic level; 4) Techniques: Adolescent Coping Strategies (ACS) and Adolescent Well Being Scale (BIEPS-J) under Casullo adaptation. Results: Significative differences were found between coping strategies of adolescents with hi and low psychological well-being level, so as between coping strategies and gender