Background: We tested whether the tendency to worry could affect psychological responses to quarantine by capitalizing on the opportunity of having collected data before the COVID-19 outbreak on measures of worry, anxiety, and trait mindfulness in a group of university students. Methods: Twenty-five participants completed self-report measures assessing worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire, PSWQ), anxiety (Anxiety Sensitivity Index, ASI-3), and trait mindfulness (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, MAAS) at T0 (pre-lockdown, 4 November 2019–17 February 2020) and T1 (at the end of lockdown, 26 April–30 April 2020). We compared assessments at the two time points in the whole sample and in high and low worriers (defined at T0 by scores on PSWQ respectively above and below 1.5 SD from mean of the Italian normative sample). Outcomes: High worriers showed at T1 a significant increase of anxiety sensitivity and fear of mental health in comparison to low worriers. Moreover, in the whole sample, at T1 trait mindfulness was inversely related to worry and fear of mental health. Interpretation: A valuable approach to support individuals experiencing anxiety related to the COVID-19 outbreak could be represented by mindfulness-based interventions improving the ability to focus attention and awareness on the present moment.

Growing evidence suggests that empathy is a relevant psychological trait to face the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but at the present very little is known on whether this multi-dimensional construct has been affected by the pandemic outbreak differently in its separate components. Here, we aimed at filling this gap by capitalizing on the opportunity of having collected data from different self-report measures and cognitive tasks assessing the main dimensions of empathy immediately before the beginning of the global pandemic and about one year later. The results showed a detrimental impact of the pandemic outbreak on empathic social skills but not on both cognitive (perspective-taking) and emotional empathy that instead significantly improved. Thus, reduced empathic social skills could be a weakness to be targeted in psychological interventions to help people cope with the mental health challenges related to COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the ability of understanding another’s mental states and emotions could represent a strength in dealing with the current long-lasting crisis.

Much evidence indicates that drawing is related to different neuropsychological abilities in children. However, a comprehensive cognitive model of drawing in children is still lacking. Here, we conducted a study on the neuropsychological predictors of drawing in a sample of 142 typically developing elementary school children (M age = 8.8 years; SD = 1.1). Based on a path analysis, we examined the contribution of visual perception (matching geometrical figures), complex spatial abilities (e.g., complex figures identification and mental rotation), visual attention, working memory, verbal and visual-motor skills, as well as of gender, age and socio-economic status, to copying the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). Results showed that ROCF copying was influenced in a specific and additive way by visual perception, visual-motor coordination, and verbal abilities as well as age, while it was indirectly related to visual attention, working memory, and to complex spatial abilities. These findings provide the grounds for identifying the neuropsychological bases of drawing in elementary school children.

Background: We developed the Italian version of the adult developmental co-ordination disorders/dyspraxia checklist (ADC), providing reliability and concurrent validity data for the scale (Aim 1). In addition, we investigated the relationships between motor coordination difficulties and different autistic traits (Aim 2). Methods: 498 participants (341 females; age range = 18–34) underwent the Italian version of the ADC, as well as a handwriting speed test, the autism spectrum quotient, the empathy quotient, and the systemizing quotient. Results: The distinction between three main factors (A, B, and C) identified in the original version of the ADC was confirmed here. Internal consistency of the ADC subscales was adequate, as well as the correlation with the handwriting speed test used to assess concurrent validity. No substantial sex differences on the ADC scores were found. Furthermore, data revealed that poor autistic-related communication skills and lower levels of systemizing tendencies were, among all the investigated autistic traits, those more strongly associated with higher motor coordination difficulties. Conclusions: The Italian ADC seems a valuable tool for assessing motor coordination difficulties in adults and can reveal the nuanced impact exerted by different autistic traits on self-reported motor functioning.

Introduction: Spatial construction is a complex ability involving attention, global/local visual processing, mental representation, visuo-motor coordination and, to varying extent, working memory and executive functions, and verbal abilities. In developmental neuropsychology, little attention has been paid to comprehend whether and to what extent the above cognitive processes are involved in two main spatial construction tasks, that is drawing and block building.Method: We used path analysis to test shared and specific effects of verbal and spatial working memory, spatial attention, inhibition, verbal abilities (vocabulary and naming), figure disembedding, mental rotation, and visual-motor coordination, as well as of demographics (sex, age and socio-economic status), on two classical drawing (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure; ROCF) and block building (Block design; BD) tasks in a sample of 195 typically developing children (age range: 7–11 years).Results: Figure disembedding and visuo-motor coordination were the only shared predictors of both spatial construction tasks. Moreover, ROCF score was directly related with spatial attention and inhibition, while BD score was directly related with sex, vocabulary, mental rotation and backward spatial working memory.Discussion: These findings distinguish between abilities involved in spatial construction regardless of the type of task and those specifically related to ROCF or Block Design, thus providing clues relevant to neuropsychological assessment and intervention in children with spatial construction disorders.

Background: Spatial analysis encompasses the ability to perceive the visual world by arranging the local elements (“the trees”) into a coherent global configuration (“the forest”). During childhood, this ability gradually switches from a local to a global precedence, which contributes to changes in children’s spatial construction abilities, such as drawing or building blocks. At present, it is not clear whether enhanced global or local processing or, alternatively, whether switching between these two levels best accounts for children’s spatial constructional abilities. Methods: We assessed typically developing children 7 to 8 years old on a global/local switching task and on two widely used spatial construction tasks (the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure and the Block Design test). Results: The ability to switch from global to local level, rather than a global or a local advantage, best accounted for children’s performance on both spatial construction tasks. Conclusions: The present findings contribute to elucidate the relationship between visual perception and spatial construction in children showing that the ease with which children switch perception from global to local processing is an important factor in their performance on tasks requiring complex drawing and block assembling.