Infants' sex affects neural responses to affective touch in early infancy.

Social touch is closely related to the establishment and maintenance of social bonds in humans, and the sensory brain circuit for gentle brushing is already active soon after birth. Brain development is known to be sexually dimorphic, but the potential effect of sex on brain activation to gentle touch remains unknown. Here, we examined brain activation to gentle skin stroking, a tactile stimulation that resembles affective or social touch, in term-born neonates. Eighteen infants aged 11-36 days, recruited from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, were included in the study. During natural sleep, soft brush strokes were applied to the skin of the right leg during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 cm/s velocity. We examined potential differences in brain activation between males (n = 10) and females (n = 8) and found that females had larger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses (brushing vs. rest) in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), right ventral striatum and bilateral inferior striatum, pons, and cerebellum compared to males. Moreover, the psychophysiological interactions (PPI) analysis, setting the left and right OFC as seed regions, revealed significant differences between males and females. Females exhibited stronger PPI connectivity between the left OFC and posterior cingulate or cuneus. Our work suggests that social touch neural responses are different in male and female neonates, which may have major ramifications for later brain, cognitive, and social development. Finally, many of the sexually dimorphic brain responses were subcortical, not captured by surface-based neuroimaging, indicating that fMRI will be a relevant technique for future studies.

Pain coping strategies in paediatric patients newly diagnosed with leukaemia compared with healthy peers.

OBJECTIVE: Children with leukaemia experience special difficulties adapting to stressful medical procedures and to the adverse effects of chemotherapy, though they can implement their coping strategies. The aims of the study were to assess whether the coping-with-pain strategies could be influenced by a child's personal and illness factors and to render possible comparisons between children with leukaemia and healthy peers. Another aim was to compare parents' and children's reports on coping strategies. METHODS: A total of 125 patients (average age = 6.79 years; SD = 3.40) with acute leukaemia (lymphocytic leukaemia 90.4% and myeloid leukaemia 9.6%) and age-matched healthy children with their parents were enrolled in the study. A socio-demographic questionnaire and the Waldon-Varni Pediatric Pain Coping Inventory, parent and self-report versions, were administered 1 month after diagnosis. Data regarding the therapy's side effects were recorded. RESULTS: The comparison between proxy-reports of the two groups of parents found significant differences in terms of social support, self-cognitive instructions and catastrophising strategies. Children aged 6-10 years relied more heavily on distraction than children of other ages, using more problem-solving and self-cognitive instructions. The results indicated moderate parent-child agreement. CONCLUSION: Health professionals could help paediatric leukaemic patients in adopting more efficiently pain coping strategies applicable for different ages.

The role of maternal touch in the association between SLC6A4 methylation and stress response in very preterm infants.

Very preterm (VPT) infants requiring hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are exposed to several stressful procedural experiences. One consequence of NICU-related stress is a birth-to-discharge increased serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) methylation that has been associated with poorer stress regulation at 3 months of age. Maternal touch is thought to support infants' stress response, but its role in moderating the effects of SLC6A4 methylation changes is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the role of maternal touch in moderating the association between increased SLC6A4 methylation and stress response in 3-month-old VPT infants. Twenty-nine dyads were enrolled and at 3 months (age corrected for prematurity), participated in the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm to measure infants' stress response (i.e., negative emotionality) and the amount of maternal touch (i.e., dynamic and static). Results showed that low level of maternal touch is associated with high level of negative emotionality during social stress. Furthermore, during NICU stay SLC6A4 methylation in VPT exposed to low level of maternal touch at 3 months was associated with increased negative emotionality. Thus, low levels of maternal static touch can intensify the negative effects of SLC6A4 epigenetic changes on stress response in 3-month-old VPT infants.

Parents, Preschools, and the Developmental Niches of Young Children: A Study in Four Western Cultures.

Recent years have witnessed increasing attention to early childhood education and care as a foundation for children's successful development in school and beyond. The great majority of children in postindustrial societies now attend preschools or daycare, making this setting a major part of their culturally constructed developmental niches. Although an extensive literature demonstrates the importance of parental involvement or engagement in their children's schools, relationships between parents and their children's preschools have received scant attention in the research literature. This paper aims to address that gap through a mixed-methods cross-cultural study of parents and preschools in four Western countries: Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States. Following an introduction to national systems of preschool in each country, parents' involvement and ideas about the family-school relationship are presented, drawing from parental diaries and from semistructured interviews (n = 110). Results indicate areas of cross-cultural similarity but also some differences, especially between the U.S. sample and the three European samples. Discussion addresses the question of how preschools and parents can work together to create optimal developmental niches for their young children. The authors also suggest that parent-preschool relationships deserve greater attention by both researchers and program developers.

Parents' Concepts of the Successful School Child in Seven Western Cultures.

Although children's school success is a parental goal in most cultures, there is wide cultural variation in the qualities that parents most wish their children to develop for that purpose. A questionnaire contained forty-one child qualities was administered to 757 parents in seven cultural communities in Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted separately within each sample and results revealed both similarities and differences across the seven samples. The factor structures showed considerable similarity: four domains of characteristics (Cognitive Qualities, Social Qualities, Negative temperament, and Good Characters) were identified in each sample as strongly influencing children's success in school. However, parents differed across the seven cultural communities in the importance they attributed to these factors. The results also reveal some culturally unique patterns in parents' concepts of the successful schoolchild; the seven samples were differentiated by distinctive associations of individual qualities around the four common domains. These results offer new insights for incorporating perspectives from other cultures into our own concepts of what qualities are most important for children's success in school, and how educators can be cognizant of differing cultural perspectives represented by the families whose children are their students.

Developmental Continuity and Change in the Cultural Construction of the "Difficult Child": A Study in Six Western Cultures.

This study explores the cultural construction of "difficult" temperament in the first 2 years of life, as well as the logistical and thematic continuity across infancy and childhood in what mothers perceive as difficult. It extends earlier work regarding older children in six cultural sites: Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. In order to compare temperament profiles across sites, a "derived etic" version of standard temperament scales is constructed, and then examined in relation to mothers' global ratings of how "difficult" the child is to manage. Results are compared to the earlier report. Negative Mood and low Adaptability tend to be problematic in most sites in both age groups. High Activity and Intensity increase in their relevance to difficulty from the first 2 years to early childhood. In some sites, dispositions such as low Approach become less difficult to manage. Of particular note are culturally unique patterns of continuity that appear to be related to larger cultural themes. These results have implications for our theoretical understanding of parenting, as well as for educational and clinical practice.

Health-related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors who underwent HSCT compared with healthy peers.

This study was aimed at comparing adolescent and young adult (AYA) Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) paediatric cancer survivors and a control group of healthy peers in terms of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and frequency of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The participants were 32 AYA HSCT survivors and 28 matched healthy peers. The survivors were, on average, 19.4 years old (SD = 3.8), with an average age of 8.1 years (SD = 4.3) at diagnosis, and with a mean time, since treatment was completed, of 8.5 years (SD = 3.2). The majority of survivors (78.1%) did not show clinical PTSS, with intrusion symptoms most frequently reported in those who had undergone autologous HSCT (F = 3.3; df = 2; p = 0.05) and relapse presence in their treatment associated with more PTSS avoidance symptoms (r = 0.4; p = 0.002). Women reported more problems in the SF-36 pain scale (t = 2.1; df = 31; p = 0.04) than men. Additionally, 87.5% of survivors fell below the 25th percentile in the SF-36 general well-being scale, and 70.8% had the same trend for the SF-36 fatigue scale. Survivors reported better emotional well-being (t = 2.6, df = 27, p = 0.01) and fewer limitations than their healthy peers (t = 2.5, df = 27, p = 0.02), while they perceived a lower life satisfaction referring to the past (t = -2.8, df = 27, p = 0.009).

Perceived social support and health-related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors and controls.

BACKGROUND: This study compared education levels, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and perceived social support of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors with those of a control group of peers with no history of serious illness. The links between socio-demographic and medical factors and AYA cancer survivor outcomes were investigated. METHODS: The participants included AYA cancer survivors (n = 205) recruited during follow-up visits, and AYA peers (n = 205) recruited from the secondary schools, youth groups and universities. All of the participants filled in self-report questionnaires regarding HRQoL and perceived social support. In addition, medical and socio-demographic information was collected. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between survivors and controls in terms of education level, HRQoL and perceived social support. Cancer survivors attended school for fewer years had a more positive perception of their health and a lower level of perceived social support provided by family, friends and significant others than controls. The results showed that female gender, the diagnosis of haematological disorder, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and a shorter off-treatment period are risk variables for poorer HRQoL and social functioning in AYA cancer survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors perceived a better quality of life than controls, especially those treated for haematological disorders or with a shorter off-treatment period. Future studies should aim to understand better this positive self-reported phenomenon, as well as investigating post-traumatic growth using qualitative narratives. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stroking in early mother-infant exchanges: The role of maternal tactile biography and interoceptive sensibility.

Caress-like is a crucial component of caregiving and a key factor in mother-infant interactions. Mother's experience of touch during her own childhood (i.e., tactile biography) has been found to be related to maternal actual use of caress-like touch (i.e., stroking) during mother-infant exchanges. Evidence also suggests that maternal interoceptive sensibility (i.e., self-perceived sensitivity to inner-body sensations) might be related to sensitive caregiving abilities. However, further empirical investigation is needed to understand to what extent tactile biography and interoceptive sensibility have an impact on mothers' stroking when interacting with their infants. Using an online survey, this cross-sectional study explored the potential association between maternal tactile biography, interoceptive sensibility and use of touch for interaction with their own infants in a group of 377 Italian mothers (mean age = 33.29; SD = 4.79). We tested and compared a series of multivariate linear mediation models using maternal tactile biography as predictor, maternal use of affective touch as outcome variable and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) subscale scores as mediators. We found that, if a mother had positive touch experiences in her own childhood, she may be more likely to use touch in a positive and nurturing way with her own infant (i.e., stroking). Furthermore, mothers' interoceptive sensibility in the form of attention regulation, self-regulation and body listening mediates the association between their past experiences of positive touch and their use of caress-like touch in mother-infant exchanges. This study highlights that maternal tactile biography is directly associated with mothers' use of caress-like touch and indirectly linked to it through the mediating role of interoceptive sensibility.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms among mothers of children with leukemia undergoing treatment: a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in mothers of children over 2 years of leukemia treatment, to identify possible early family and child predictors of this symptomatology and to indicate the temporal trajectory of PTSS. METHODS: Participants were 76 Italian mothers (mean age = 37.30 years; SD = 6.07) of children receiving treatment for acute lymphoblastic (n = 69) or myeloid (n = 7) leukemia. Mothers had 12.05 years of education (SD = 3.87), and their incomes were average (52.1%), high (26%) and low (21.9%) for Italian norms, never in poverty. The pediatric patients with leukemia were equally distributed by gender with their mean age of 7.10 years (SD = 4.18). Post-traumatic stress symptoms were measured by a 17-item checklist. Scales assessing anxiety, depression, physical (Brief Symptom Inventory 18) and cognitive functioning (Problem Scale), and life evaluation were also used. There were five assessment points: 1 week (T1), 1 month (T2), 6 months (T3), 12 months (T4) and 24 months post-diagnosis (T5). RESULTS: The main results indicated moderate presence of clinical PTSS (≥9 symptoms: 24% at T2, 18% at T3, 16% at T4 and 19% at T5) that remained stable across time points, whereas Brief Symptom Inventory 18 Global score decreased and life evaluation improved. A series of hierarchical regression models identified cognitive functioning early after the diagnosis as the best predictive factor of PTSS across time points. CONCLUSION: Specific psychological interventions could be devised for mothers at risk for short and long-term PTSS just after the diagnosis.

Exploring maternal touch in the infant's first 18 months of Life: A study on an Italian sample.

Affective touch is a crucial component of caregiving in early life and constitutes a key factor with a significant impact on infant later-life outcomes. The Parent-Infant Caregiving Touch Scale (PICTS) allows to quantify and qualify the caregiver's self-perception of touch in the first months of an infant's life. In the current study, we contributed to validation of the PICTS in the Italian language in order to explore whether early maternal touch would be associated with maternal emotional state, maternal history of affective touch experiences throughout the lifespan, and infants' sex and age. Data analyses were run on a sample of 377 Italian mothers (mean age = 33.29; SD = 4.79) participating in an online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied. A three-dimensional structure of PICTS (i.e., stroking, affective communication, and holding) after removing one item out resulted in the best model in our sample. Maternal emotional state did not affect PICTS factor scores while maternal comfort and amount of affective touch experienced during adulthood was significantly associated with the stroking, affective communication, and holding factors. Regarding infants' dimensions, infants' sex and age were not associated with PICTS factor scores. Findings suggest that the PICTS Italian version is a good measurement of caregiver's self-perception of touch in early infancy and that maternal history of touch is associated with a mother's current use of touch.

Adolescents and young adults with oncohematological disease: use of social networks, impact of SARS-COV-2, and psychosocial well-being.

Objective: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with oncohematological diseases could have important psychosocial difficulties that could be worsened by the effects of the COVID19 pandemic. At this developmental stage, it is also important to assess the use of social networks (SNs). This study aims to investigate the type of social network use and the consequences of the COVID19 period. These patients are compared with matched healthy peers. Methods: After the informant consent signature, the adolescents completed a series of self-report questionnaires on the use of SNs, on communication preferences, on social anxiety and on Covid19 impact through the online platform of LimeSurvey. Most of the adolescents belonged to the 18-20 age group (42.5%), were female (62%) and mainly off therapy (72%). Results: Adolescents spent more than 2 h/day on Instagram and 1 h and half on Whatsapp, while Tik Tok use was on average 1 h/day, especially used by younger patients (r = -0.33, p = 0.023). Males used Twitch (t45 = -2.06, p = 0.05) and Youtube (t45 = -2.18, p = 0.03) for longer than females. AYA in therapy used more Tik Tok (U = 137.50; p = 0.03), Ask/Tellonym (U = 172.50; p = 0.05) and Twitch (U = 144; p = 0.017) than those off therapy. Healthy AYA showed lower levels of exposure (Z = -4.17; p = 0.00001) and impact (Z = -5.12; p = 0.00001) to Covid19, while the level of social anxiety is comparable and is in the normal range in both groups. Discussion: Some clinical considerations and suggestions could be given based on these empirical results to health professionals in the care of AYA cancer patients.

Psychological Well-Being, Cognitive Functioning, and Quality of Life in 205 Adolescent and Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors Compared to Healthy Peers.

The majority of the studies underlined how adolescent and young adult (AYA) Cancer Survivors had no significant differences in their well-being and quality of life compared with a control group of healthy counterparts, although French et al. (2013) found less years of education among cancer survivors. The present study aimed at comparing AYA cancer survivors and a control group of peers who had no history of serious illness, in terms of well-being, cognitive functioning, and perceptions of life. Participants in this study were 205 AYA cancer survivors, 126 males, off therapy from a mean of 10.87 years (SD = 4.91), with a mean age of 18.96 (SD = 3.08), recruited during follow-up visits and healthy counterparts (n = 205), matched for age and gender. They all completed self-report questionnaires: Ladder of Life, BSI-18 and Cognitive problems. Paired t test evidenced significant differences between survivors (Mean = 6.19; SD = 2.07) and controls (Mean = 6.88; SD = 2.02) in perceptions of quality of life regarding 5 years before the current time [t (204) = -3.39; p = 0.001], with a lower level for childhood cancer survivors. Specifically, Hierarchical regression (R 2 = 0.05, p = 0.04) identified a shorter time since the completion of treatment (ß = 0.18, p = 0.03) and a trend of stem cell transplantation experience (ß = -0.11, p = 0.06) as factors associated with negative perception of precedent quality of life. The AYA cancer survivors reported lower cognitive difficulties (Mean = 1.46) than controls (Mean = 1.56) [t (204) = -3.41; p = 0.001]: in memory (Meanclinical = 1.32 vs Meancontrol = 1.50) [t (204) = -4.52; p = 0.001], in concentration (Mean clinical = 1.36 vs Meancontrol = 1.54) [t (204) = -4.66; p = 0.001] and in mental organization skills (Mean clinical = 1.47 vs Meancontrol = 1.56) [t (204) = -2.56; p = 0.01], even if they had a lower educational attainment [X ( 9 ) 2 = 131.28; p = 0.001]. They showed similar satisfaction with their psychological well-being and their lives as healthy counterparts, except for past life perceptions associated with the cancer period. Important recommendations for future research and clinical suggestions could be given.

Tactile Biography Questionnaire: A contribution to its validation in an Italian sample.

As the interest in the beneficial effects of positive touch experiences is rapidly growing, having reliable and valid tools to its assessment is essential. The Tactile Biography Questionnaire (TBQ) allows to quantify individual differences in affective touch experiences throughout life. The aim of this article is to present a contribution to its validation in the Italian population. Data analysis were run on a sample of 2040 Italian individuals (Females = 1342, 64%) participating in an on-line survey. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and invariance analyses for gender were applied. Concurrent validity was checked using two specific subscales of the Touch Avoidance Questionnaire (TAQ-i.e., Family and Stranger). The four-dimensional structure of the TBQ was confirmed in the overall sample and by gender. Also, the TBQ showed an excellent internal consistency and a good concurrent validity with TAQ. The present study suggests that the TBQ can be used to support healthcare professionals and researchers to assess experiences of affective touch in different settings.

Parental perceptions of health-related quality of life in children with leukemia in the second week after the diagnosis: a quantitative model.

PURPOSE: The focus is on describing the child's health-related quality of life (HRQL) at the time of diagnosis as perceived by parents, by using an empirical model of their psychosocial context. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were 128 leukemic children and their families recruited at the Haematology-Oncology Clinic of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova. The families were interviewed by a clinical psychologist during the first hospitalization of their children using the Ecocultural Family Interview-Cancer (EFI-C). This interview aimed at understanding the family daily routines as it relates to the child with cancer and the meaning and experience of the situation. Demographic data about children and their families also were collected. RESULTS: The EFI-C interviews were read for content and then coded; these items were grouped into 11 major dimensions, three dealing with the child in the hospital and eight concerning the family. An empirical model of path analysis was estimated to evaluate perceived child's HRQL at the second week from the diagnosis inside the psychosocial context. This model shows that perceived child's HRQL is predicted by parental trust in the medical staff, perceived child coping, and perceived child adaptability. These last two predictors are in turn moderated by the fixed factor child age and mediated by parenting. CONCLUSION: A better knowledge of parents' views and expectations regarding their children's HRQL during the first treatments for pediatric leukemia may facilitate the communication processes in the hospital and may help to provide improved psychosocial care for the child during the first treatments for leukemia.

Eliciting adaptive emotion in conversations with parents of children receiving therapy for leukemia.

Clinician-parent communication may often be difficult, especially soon after the diagnosis. The aims of this article are to identify the communication strategies associated with expressions of adaptive emotions in parents and to explore the effect of the type of leukemia and of parent's gender on parents' expressions of emotions. The data are obtained from 4.622 conversational turns of 20 videotaped interviews with 10 mothers and 10 fathers of children at their first hospitalization for leukemia. A coding scheme for parent emotional expressions was reliably applied by two independent judges. An original self-report questionnaire on parents' emotional states was used before and after the interview. Positive politeness of interviewer elicits adaptive emotional expressions in parents. Mothers of children with acute myeloid leukemia and fathers of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia appear more distressed during the interview. This interview can be identified as an innovative technique of communication with parents of children with cancer.

Quality of Life and Symptoms of PTSD during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a complete lockdown in many countries and Italy was the first country interested in Europe, as the cases spread very quickly with a high rate of mortality. While the lockdown strategy is an essential step to curb the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases, it can have a significative impact on mental health on the population involved, that is still not well known and must be explored. The objective of the present research is to investigate the Quality of Life (QoL) and Symptoms of PTSD (PTSS) encountered during the quarantine period (April 2020) due to the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. Participants (N = 1839; 1430 females and 409 males), who were volunteers and anonymous, adults (18-73 years), were drawn from a convenience sample of the general population and asked to fill out an online questionnaire, after giving an informed written consent. The General Health Questionnaire (GH12), used to assess health related QoL, identified 24.5% of respondents as problematic, and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), used to assess PTSS, identified the 23.5% with clinical scores. Results showed that married people/cohabitants, non-workers, and those with a lower level of education perceived a better QoL and less PTSS. The most frequent emotions felt during the first month of quarantine and referred to by participants were sadness (72%), boredom (54.5%), impotence (52%), and anxiety (50%). The COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the most stressful events in recent times worldwide and poses a major challenge for social, economic, and, above all, psychological resources of the population that must be assessed and supported if insufficient.

COPEWithME: The Role of Parental Ability to Support and Promote Child Resilient Behaviors During the COVID-19 Emergency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to lockdown in many countries and Italy was the first one interested in Europe. The lockdown strategy is an essential step to curb the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases, but it is very demanding for the population involved and especially for children and their families. The aims of the present study are: (a) to explore the psychometric properties of the COPEWithME questionnaire, a new tool to evaluate parents' ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors, (b) to investigate the relation between parents' resilience and their ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors with child resilience and child stress-related behaviors assessed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants (N = 158 mothers, with 6- to 11-years-old children, 53% female), who were volunteers and anonymous, filled out an online questionnaire composed by CD-RISC 25, PMK-CYRM-R, and COPEWithME. With regard to the COPEWithME, validation exploratory factor analyses revealed a one-factor solution of 18 items. The COPEWithME positively correlates both with mothers' resilience and with children's resilience. Mediation analysis showed that the association between mothers' resilience and children's stress-related behaviors was mediated by the mothers' ability to support and promote child resilient behaviors. The COPEWithME, to our knowledge, is the first measure of parents' ability to support and promote resilient behaviors in school-age children, a key parenting skill that may help children in dealing with stressful situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak. These findings represent useful insights to advance mental health interventions in the post-pandemic phases suggesting focusing on a family's resources and resilience processes.

Health-Related Quality of Life, Family Conflicts and Fear of Injecting: Perception Differences between Preadolescents and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes and Their Mothers.

Good management of diabetes requires at the same time self-regulation behaviour and a balanced involvement of family components. This cross-sectional study's aims were: understanding fear of injections and perceptions of family conflicts in preadolescents and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their mothers, comparing their perceptions, and identifying the risk factors impacting patients' quality of life. Eligibility criteria were: treatment for diabetes mellitus type I, currently aged 10-18 years, attending the hospital for annual hospital follow-ups. Exclusion criteria were: intellectual disabilities, inability to complete questionnaires alone and neuropsychiatric illness with active pharmacotherapy. The study design was cross-sectional. Participants were one hundred and two patients (Mean age = 14.6, SD = 2.4; age range = 10-19 years; Females = 52 and Males = 50) and their mothers (Mean age = 46.9, SD = 6.2, age range = 27-63 years), who filled in self and proxy-report questionnaires (N total= 204). The results showed that 20% of patients and 14.7% of their mothers reported clinical scores for fear of self-injection and blood testing. The mothers reported lower fear of injecting and higher family conflicts compared with the patients. Age, fear of injecting and family conflicts were significantly associated with patients' quality of life perceptions. Clinical considerations and recommendations are given based on the empirical results.

Neuroimaging and DNA Methylation: An Innovative Approach to Study the Effects of Early Life Stress on Developmental Plasticity.

DNA methylation plays a key role in neural cell fate and provides a molecular link between early life stress and later-life behavioral phenotypes. Here, studies that combine neuroimaging methods and DNA methylation analysis in pediatric population with a history of adverse experiences were systematically reviewed focusing on: targeted genes and neural correlates; statistical models used to examine the link between DNA methylation and neuroimaging data also considering early life stress and behavioral outcomes. We identified 8 studies that report associations between DNA methylation and brain structure/functions in infants, school age children and adolescents faced with early life stress condition (e.g., preterm birth, childhood maltreatment, low socioeconomic status, and less-than optimal caregiving). Results showed that several genes were investigated (e.g., OXTR, SLC6A4, FKBP5, and BDNF) and different neuroimaging techniques were performed (MRI and f-NIRS). Statistical model used ranged from correlational to more complex moderated mediation models. Most of the studies (n = 5) considered DNA methylation and neural correlates as mediators in the relationship between early life stress and behavioral phenotypes. Understanding what role DNA methylation and neural correlates play in interaction with early life stress and behavioral outcomes is crucial to promote theory-driven studies as the future direction of this research fields.