Annalisa Levante

The classroom climate is a multidimensional construct that embraces didactic practices, relational quality, shared norms, discipline, and a sense of belonging. A positive classroom climate conveys to students and teachers a feeling of safety and promotes a learning environment characterized by engagement, mutual respect, warmth, and a shared school vision. The current study, embracing the Prosocial Classroom Theoretical Model, aims to understand whether teachers’ socio-emotional competencies in terms of mentalized affectivity would affect their perception of the classroom climate via subjective dimensions of well-being in terms of life and job satisfaction. A total of 338 female teachers [M (SD) = 47.11 (10.17) years]—50.9% primary and 49.1% lower secondary education [M (SD)_{years of experience} = 17.79 (11.62)]—completed an e-survey. We tested a parallel mediation model in which teachers’ mentalized affectivity served as the potential personal resource for improving the classroom climate through the mediating role of job and life satisfaction. School grade and teaching experience were used as covariates. Results highlighted significant total, direct, and indirect effects. Although the cross-sectional design of the study limits causal inference, the preliminary findings are encouraging and may contribute to a better understanding of the resources that support the development of a positive school climate, with potential cascading effects on students’ socio-emotional and academic outcomes.

Sensory reactivity has recently been introduced as a diagnostic criterion for autism, and growing attention is being paid to considering children’s behavioural responses to sensory stimuli. This study explored sensory reactivity in a sample of preschool- and school-aged autistic children. Parents of 68 participants [21 preschoolers (3–5 years) and 47 school-aged children (6–11 years)] completed an e-survey (Ethical Committee: 2024-412). Two research questions were addressed to explore: a. whether sensory reactivity dimensions differ according to autistic-like trait severity (medium vs. high) and b. whether sensory reactivity differs between preschool- and school-aged children. Controlling for age and sex, the results showed that children with higher autistic-like trait severity exhibited greater sensory reactivity across all dimensions. The interaction also supported higher sensory reactivity in each dimension for children with higher severity levels. In addition, no significant difference and interaction emerged between age group and sensory reactivity, supporting the potential stability of these features over time. However, group comparisons indicated that school-aged children showed higher parental-reported movement sensitivity, particularly during rough play or balance-related activities. These findings highlight the importance of considering sensory reactivity in autism diagnosis and in designing supportive and tailored intervention environments.

This Editorial aims to summarise the key themes addressed by the articles published in the Research 15 Topic entitled "Siblinghood through any Disability: The State of the Art and Future Directions", which 16 explores the experiences of siblings of individuals with disabilities. Over the past few years, scholars 17 have devoted increasing attention to the roles served and the experiences lived by siblings of children 18 with disabilities. Recent systematic reviews and empirical studies (e.g., 1-6) have highlighted that the 19 main topics explored include sibling relationships, the roles taken on in supporting their brother or 20 sister with a disability, and the siblings' social and personal functioning. The articles included in this 21Research Topic address many of the themes previously identified in the literature, while also 22 introducing new perspectives that contribute to shaping future research directions.This Research Topic includes a total of seven contributions from five countries: Italy (n = 2), 24Norway (n = 2), Poland (n = 1), Israel (n = 1), and the United Kingdom (n = 1). Altogether, the articles 25 involved 38 authors and 14 expert reviewers in the fields of family systems dynamics and siblinghood. 26Of the included papers, four adopted a quantitative design, two employed a qualitative approach, and 27 one utilised a mixed-methods design.

Background: The diagnosis of a disability in a child may significantly impact the entire family system. While existing literature has primarily focused on parental reaction to the diagnosis, little is known about how typically developing siblings process this event. Methods: This exploratory study presented the preliminary psychometric properties of the Reaction to Diagnosis Questionnaire—Sibling Version, adapted from an instrument originally designed to assess parental reaction to the child’s diagnosis. Following a back-translation and adaptation process, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 623 typically developing siblings (M = 24.6 years, SD = 5.76) of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders or physical disabilities. Results: Exploratory factor analyses supported a refined 32-item questionnaire with two factors—lack of resolution versus resolution, both showing excellent internal reliability. No significant differences were found based on typically developing sibling sex, age, or type of disability of the brother/sister, while correlational analyses indicated that greater disability severity was associated with lower resolution and higher lack of resolution. Conclusions: Results suggested that the Reaction to Diagnosis Questionnaire—Sibling Version is a promising tool for assessing the reaction to the brother/sister diagnosis on behalf of the typically developing siblings. Further research is needed to confirm these results and inform intervention programs promoting well-being and adaptive family functioning.

Background. Parents of autistic children face challenges that can negatively affect the quality of the parent–child relationship. This study aimed to explore the potential protective role of parental resolution about positive (closeness) and negative (conflict and dependence) aspects of the parent–child relationship, with parenting stress and caregiving burden as mediators. Methods. A cross-sectional study (ethical approval: CE n. 92949) was conducted with 51 Italian parents of autistic children. A multiple mediation model was tested. Results. Parental resolution had a significant total effect (β = 0.012; BootLLCI = 0.002; BootULCI = 0.024) and a significant direct effect on the parent–child relationship (β = 0.223; BootLLCI = 0.058; BootULCI = 0.389), indicating that resolving the child’s diagnosis could potentially influence parents’ perceptions of their relationship with their child, possibly leading to views of it being somewhat closer, experiencing fewer conflicts, and involving a lower degree of dependence. An indirect effect via parenting stress was also significant (β = −0.130; BootLLCI = −0.009; BootULCI = −0.291), while caregiving burden did not show a mediating effect. Conclusion: Despite the exploratory and cross-sectional nature of this study, the findings highlight the importance of promoting family well-being in the context of autism. The findings may inform future research on parental resources and guide clinicians in developing intervention programmes to mitigate the emotional impact of receiving a child’s autism diagnosis.

Objective: We tested whether each dimension of the child‐focused Reflective Functioning (i.e., prementalizing, certainty about, and interest/curiosity about the child's mental states) impacts the ability to recognize the child's emotions through the sense of competence.Background: Child‐focused reflective functioning is the parental ability to keep in mind their child's mental state. This parental ability is associated with recognizing the child's emotional states and sense of competence.Method: One hundred forty‐four Italian fathers, M_yo(SD) = 38.62(6.6), solely of 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children, M_yo(SD) = 3.34(1.91), filled out an e‐survey.Results: Results revealed a total and an indirect effect considering the potential predictive role of the certainty, interest, and curiosity dimensions, respectively.Conclusion: Findings highlighted that fathers of older and full‐term children showed a high sense of competence and emotional recognition ability.Implications: Results encourage parent coaching programs to improve fathers' awareness of the opacity of their child's mental state, providing new directions for interventions to improve overall family well‐being.

Background: Griffiths III is a child-friendly and play-oriented direct gold-standard measure of a 0–6-year-old child’s developmental profile. It is a measure that helps practitioners in detecting the weaknesses in children who have an increased likelihood or a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders, e.g., autism. Objectives: Following the PICO protocol, two research questions addressed the current systematic search and review (Prospero registration: CRD42024554286): What is(are) the main developmental domain(s) evaluated by Griffiths III impaired in autism? (RQ1); Using Griffiths III, what is(are) the main developmental domain(s) improved after an autism-specific early intervention? (RQ2). Methods: Six studies have been reviewed: three case–control studies, a case report study, and two studies examining the effectiveness of early autism-specific interventions. According to the study design, the methodological quality was evaluated using three standardised protocols: STROBE; JBI; CEC. Results: The results highlighted that the Language and Communication and Personal–Social–Emotional domains are the most impaired in autistic children and in those with an increased likelihood (RQ1). The results outlined that early target intervention enhanced the same domains (RQ2). Conclusions: In conclusion, the findings highlight the importance of screening not only for autism traits but also for impairments in language, communication, and socio-emotional skills. The future direction of the results is discussed.

Many studies have been conducted on sibling relationships to explore the well-being of siblings of persons with mental disorders. In this research project, two mediation models were tested. Model 1 examined whether a sibling’s distress and the quality of the parent-typically developing sibling relationship would mediate the path between sibling-focused parentification and sibling relationships. Model 2 tested the same paths by comparing siblings of persons with mental disorders (n = 262) and siblings of typically developing persons (n = 303). From March to May 2021, 565 siblings of persons with and without mental disorders were asked to fill in an online survey. Aged 19 to 26 years, most of the siblings who participated in the study were older females. Cross-sectional results showed that the lower sibling-focused parentification was, the higher quality sibling relationships were, through the mediating role of lower distress and higher-quality parent-typically developing sibling relationships (Model 1). Siblings of persons with mental disorders reported low-quality sibling relationships (Model 2). Females and young siblings showed high distress. The findings of this study could become instrumental in promoting high-quality sibling relationships and best practices.