Background: In the literature, several studies have proposed that children and adolescents with social anxiety had experienced previously victimization from peers and siblings. The aim of this review was to contribute to the updating of recent findings about the relationship between peer victimization and onset of social anxiety in children and adolescents. Methods: A selective review of literature published between 2011 and 2018 on Social Anxiety Disorder in children and adolescents that experienced peer victimization during childhood and adolescence. Results: Seventeen studies are included. All studies showed that peer victimization is positively correlated to the presence of social anxiety. Moreover, the perpetration of peer victimization may contribute to the maintenance and the exacerbation of social anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: In children and adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder, it is necessary to evaluate firstly the presence of peer victimization experiences. Subsequently, therapeutics programs targeted to elaborate these experiences and to reduce the anticipatory anxiety and the avoidance that characterized these children and adolescents can be proposed.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is defined as an exaggerated, obsessive, pathological fixation on healthy food, healthy eating, or health-conscious eating behaviors. In the literature, there is an ongoing debate over whether ON should be considered simply a lifestyle phenomenon or a psychiatric disorder. In this vein, ON seems to share psychopathological characteristics with both eating disorders (EDs) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there are insufficient data to reconcile the debate. The present study aimed at consolidating evidence on the clinical significance of ON and its relationship with EDs and OCD. A selective review of the literature published between January 2015 and March 2022 was conducted, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Ten studies were included. Some of these studies suggested that ON might follow a full-syndrome DSM-5 ED. Other studies proposed that ON and DSM-5 EDs may co-occur. Finally, only two studies suggested a relationship between ON and OCD. To date, the clinical significance of ON and its relationship with EDs and other DSM-5 psychiatric disorders (e.g., OCD) appears complicated and unclear. Future longitudinal research on the possible clinical course of ON is needed.

The aim of the study was to explore the clinical significance of school refusal behavior, its negative impact on psychological well-being of children and adolescents and its relationship with the most common psychopathological conditions during childhood and adolescence (e.g. neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric disorders). School refusal behavior refers to a distressing condition experienced by children and adolescents that compromise regular school attendance and determine negative consequences on mental health and adaptive functioning. A narrative review of the literature published between January 2019 and March 2023 was conducted. Ten studies (n = 10) were included from a literature search of the electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, MedLine, and Cochrane Library. The results indicate that school refusal is highly present in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder due to the presence of behavioral problems and deficits in communication skills. As for psychiatric disorders, school refusal appears to be highly common in anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and somatic symptoms. We also found that school refusal behavior may be associated with various emotional and behavioral conditions that act as risk factors. Especially, but are not limited to, it may be associated with a diminished self-concept, exposure to cyberbullying, specific affective profiles and excessive technology usage. Our results indicate that school refusal is a condition with many clinical facets. It can be attributed to both vulnerability factors, both temperamental and relational, and to various psychopathological conditions that differ significantly from each other, such as neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric disorders. Recognizing these aspects can improve the implementation of patient-tailored therapeutic interventions that are consequently more likely to produce effective outcomes. The therapeutic intervention should facilitate the recognition of cognitive biases regarding school as a threatening environment, while regulating negative emotions associated with school attendance. Additionally, therapeutic intervention programs linked to social skill training and problem-solving training, conducted directly within the school setting, can enhance children’s abilities to cope with academic performance and social relationships, ultimately preventing school refusal.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a worldwide questionnaire used for the early identification of behavioural/emotional symptoms in children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorders. Although its prognostic power has been studied, it has not yet been tested whether SDQ: (i) can identify pathognomonic symptoms across a variety of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, (ii) can capture emotional and behavioural problems associated with the main diagnosis, as well as shared transdiagnostic dimensions, and (iii) can detect changes in symptomatology with age. The present study evaluated nearly 1000 children and adolescents overall with Global Developmental Delay (GDD), Intellectual Disability (ID), Language Disorder (LD), Specific Learning Disorder (SLD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Mood Disorder (MD), Anxiety Disorder (AD), and Eating Disorders (ED). We found that SDQ: (i) can identify the core symptoms in children with ASD, ADHD, MD, and AD via specific subscales; (ii) can capture the associated emotional and behavioural symptoms in children with LD, GDD, ID, SLD, and ED; and (iii) can detect changes in the symptomatology, especially for GDD, LD, ASD, ADHD, and AD. SDQ is also able to recognise the transdiagnostic dimensions across disorders. Our results underscore the potential of SDQ to specifically differentiate and identify behavioural/emotional profiles associated with clinical diagnosis.

The physical, psychological and social changes that occur during adolescence constitute a physiological crisis that is necessary for development and growth. The establishment of a suitable “self-image” is important for facilitating harmonious psychophysical development during this time. In the current era, digital technology (DT) serves as an extraordinary means of communication for young people, who make significant use of images as a mode of expression. Accordingly, there is growing interest in the relationship between physical development, self-image and use of DT. A review of the published literature on the topic was carried out in April 2024. Fourteen studies (n = 14) were inclused from search of electronic databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, MedLine, and Cochrane Library. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of (DT) on cultural models of adolescent body image, and how this “social” culture can affect wellbeing and development. It was considered that the rise of DT and social media (SM) emphasized in young people the culture of appearance, adherence to ideal models (thinness ideal) and social comparison at an unprecedented level. It was estimated that the digital mechanism works on the adolescent’s vulnerability and stimulates the desire for experimentation and amplifies cultural beliefs that expose the young to deviant or pathological behaviors on the body. The use of digital images emphasizes the perception of self by making it more real and alive but empty of content. Our framework highlights that the adolescent can defend himself if he leaves the homologation that the SM condition, regains his own experiences, fill with emotional content and real life the images and the representation of the body.

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, national governments have imposed urgent sanitary and social measures to control the spread of the virus. One such measure is quarantine, which involves restricting people’s movement through the isolation of infected or suspected infected individuals in order to reduce the risk of new infections. Research has shown that quarantine is a psychologically stressful experience. With respect to children, lack of school and interruptions to daily routines could have a negative impact on their physical and mental health. Parents may also pass their psychological distress to children and practice inappropriate parenting behaviors, which could contribute to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms in children.In order to prevent these negative outcomes, governments must carefully consider any their decision to impose quarantine and family social care services must work together with children’s mental health services to ensure that the experience is as tolerable and safe as possible.