Introduction: The effectiveness of internet video in the promotion of healthy sexual behaviours is still not proved despite the large diffusion of this tool on the web. It is useful to rely on the theories of behaviour change when tailoring and evaluating a health promoting video. The HAPA model is a well-known theory of behaviour change still not tested in the field of promotion of healthy sexual behaviour. This study tested the usefulness of the motivational phase of the HAPA model to the promotion of healthy sexual behaviour and the effectiveness of a video delivered via web in increasing the intention to use condoms. Methods: The data were collected among 352 Italian participants recruited through Facebook. Participants were randomly assigned to the vision of the video or to the control group. Assessments were pre and post the intervention. SEMs were used to test the hypothesis. Results: The HAPA model explains 33% of the variance of Intention to use condoms and fit the data well. Outcome expectancies and self-efficacy are significant predictors of intention and the role of risk perception is discussed. The video increases the intention to use condoms (b = .11 p<.05). The video was more effective among non-intenders than intenders. The moderating effect of the initial level of intention had a p value of .07. Conclusion: Web videos are potentially effective and efficient tools to use in broader campaigns promoting the use of condom. Theories of behaviour change have to be used to design effective and tailored web videos. The HAPA model demonstrated its validity for the behaviour of condom use.

The administration of the three supplementary subtests Letter and Number Sequencing, Figure Weights and Cancellation in WAIS-IV to people over 69 years of age is not included in the scaling of any other countries around the world. Since it was not possible to find a justification for this decision, the curators decided to administer all 15 subtests to people aged 70 to 90 during WAIS-IV scaling. This work presents the table converting raw scores into weighted points for four age groups between the ages of 70 and 90. It also provides the reliability and the standard measurement errors of the three subtests for the four age groups. The usefulness to clinicians of using these subtests among the elderly is discussed.

Developmental reading and spelling disorders are the most common learning disabilities and they have severe scholastic consequences. The present study aimed to test the efficacy of reading treatment in Italian third-grade children with dyslexia and its possible generalization to writing performance. A group of 10 third-grade children with dyslexia participated in the study. The main procedure of the treatment was a computerized program that included a tachistoscopic presentation of single words. Each child underwent 35 treatment sessions. Pre- and post-training reading performance was measured by two standard reading tests and vocal reaction time recordings. Pre- and post-training spelling ability was also measured using a standard spelling test. The percentage of improvement in accuracy and speed in reading texts and lists of words (not included among the trained items) was greater than the developmental increase characteristic of non-disabled children. Reading comprehension was only moderately affected and did not change appreciably after therapy. Results indicate the effectiveness of a reading treatment in the early stages of reading acquisition and the strict relationship between reading and spelling systems at this age

Introduction: Entrepreneurial Passion (EP) is considered a multidimensional construct relevant for entrepreneurial intention and performance. The EP Scale proposed by Cardon, Gregoire, Stevens & Patel (2013) distinguishes passion for founding, for inventing and for developing. The study presents the adaptation of the Italian 10-item version of the scale. Methods: A group of 535 entrepreneurs and 638 aspiring entrepreneurs completed a self-report questionnaire. The factorial validity of the Italian EP Scale has been tested through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup CFA using MPlus 7. Correlations were performed to test the concurrent validity of the scale. Results: CFA confirmed the three-factor structure of the scale. The measures of EP in the three domains showed a good internal consistency and significantly correlated with constructs related to EP in literature. Conclusions: This study contributes to validate the Italian version of the instrument. It could be a useful support for researchers and practitioners in the field of entrepreneurship.

Introduction: Since serial ordering has an important role in both language development and learning abilities, the present study aims to describe a new instrument, the Sequential Reasoning Task (SRT), specifically designed to assess children’s ability to place events in temporal order. Methods: Participants were 200 typically developing children, ranging from 3 to 8 years of age. Each child was individually administered a battery of cognitive and linguistic tasks. Results: The scores obtained in the SRT by children at different age levels appeared to be significantly different (except for 6- and 7-year-old children). Moreover, the scores obtained in the task were significantly related to the children’s non-verbal and linguistic competence. Conclusions: The SRT appeared to be a valid instrument to assess children’s sequential reasoning skills. It is engaging for children and easy to be administered also by teachers and therapists.

A large number of studies have identified factors that foster or inhibit well-being and academic achievement of college students from the perspective of prevention and quality of life promotion. The aim of the present study was to create and validate a new questionnaire to assess domain-specific satisfaction at University: the College Satisfaction Scale (CSS). It is composed of 20 items to measure 5 dimensions: appropriateness of the student’s choice, quality of the University services, relationships with his/her colleagues, quality of his/her study habits and usefulness for his/her future career. Participants were Italian college students: 88 in the pilot study and 425 in the actual one. Both reliability, assessed with Omega index, and construct validity, estimated through confirmatory factor analysis, were good for all the subscales. The results showed that both average grade scores and academic efficiency were strongly related to satisfaction with the efficiency of studying and slightly related with some of the other subscales.