Anthropological Researches and Studies

3-10

Authors: Ilaria Buonomo, Isabella Cipriani, Simone Piperno, Ilaria Saddi, Caterina Fiorilli

Objectives. According to the literature, it is not yet clear whether the digital natives' use of Internet represents a risk or a resource. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between Internet use and the emotional and social offline dynamics. Specifically, we hypothesised that high versus low problematic use of internet was associated with students’ social adjustment. We expected to find that students with high problematic use of internet show more social, behavioural, and emotional problems than students with low problematic use of internet. Material and methods. Participants were 177 students from 4 middle schools in Central Italy, aged 11 to 15 (50% females). Five questionnaires were administered: the Child Behavior CheckList (CBCL) to measure social, emotional and behavioural problems, the Crozier Shyness Questionnaire to measure shyness and the UCLA Loneliness Scale to measure loneliness. For internet misuse we used the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale and 3 questions to assess activities and time spent on the internet. Results. The higher the preference for online interactions of the internet adopted by students to regulate mood, the higher the internalization problems recorded. Moreover, the higher preference for online social interactions adopted by students and the negative outcomes due to the Internet use, the higher the externalization problems displayed. Conclusions. Consistently with the literature our results seem to confirm the negative effect of the internet misuse on socio-emotional features. We discuss the relationship between internet use (related to mood regulation, negative social consequences and preference for online interactions) and social-emotional adjustment.

17-27

Authors: Cătălina Croitoru, Ala Overcenco, Nicolae Opopol, Valeriu Pantea, Gheorghe Ciobanu

Objectives. The present study aimed to estimate the number of emergency ambulance call-outs during the very cold winter of 2009/2010 (December–February) with respect to the reference period of 2007-2010. Material and methods. As study material there were considered about 335 000 requests for emergency care in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, and about 2 500 records of daily temperatures (mean, maximum and minimum) and wind speed from the Chisinau weather station. Quantitative estimation of the number of ambulance call-outs depending on the air temperature values was carried out using the statistical method of linear regression. Results and conclusions. Quantification of the health impact of the low temperatures recorded during the investigated period reveals that minimum diurnal temperatures have the greatest effect on the emergency ambulance call-outs increase: when air temperature drops by 1°C, the number of total requests increases with 8 cases per day. According to nosology, the respiratory diseases correlate best with low maximum diurnal temperatures: a decrease by 1°C leads to an increase by 9 requests. The highest vulnerability to cold was recorded in population aged 0-17 years. These findings could serve as a basis for elaboration and implementation of preventive targeting the vulnerable groups.

34-40

Authors: Aculina Zaporojan, Victor Zepca, Monica Tarcea

Objectives. Incorrect diet can cause disturbances in physical and mental development of pupils who are in the process of growing and developing. We wanted to evaluate the peculiarities of daily diets of pupils and their willingness to serve a breakfast in the school canteen and to develop some measures to improve the situation. Material and methods. A population-based cross-sectional was conducted, by applying an anonymous questionnaire on a sample of 1236 pupils from 7th to 12th class, from 10 high schools from rural localities (44.1% boys and 55.9% girls). Results. The data showed that 18.7% pupils (girls - 22%, boys - 14.4%) did not serve breakfast on the day preceding the questioning, also 26.7% pupils have eaten 1-2 times per day, with a higher frequency among girls (girls - 33.6%, boys - 18.2%; p <0.01). 71.1% of the surveyed pupils didn’t take breakfast at school canteen, even 47.4% considered necessary to take daily breakfast at the school canteen (girls – 48.9%, boys – 45.5%). 32,6% of them declared that they cannot afford from their own sources the daily payment for a breakfast at school canteen. Conclusions. We noticed that the quota of pupils who had a diet that did not meet physiological requirements was considerably high, especially among girls. Fortunately, the majority of pupils was aware of the need to take a breakfast in the school canteen, inclusive from their own sources.

47-60

Authors: Angel Iulian Popescu

Technology, cybernation compete with individuals and family – they are caught into a reductionist equation in which the wide social transformations brought by the accelerated economic globalization are essentially focused on a maximization of the ratio between production, costs and profit – in almost every life segments proving their reliability by low installation and maintenance costs comparatively to humans. The growth of the world population masks low levels of psychological maturation and personal development, an inefficient social integration and a high rate of social exclusion taking atypical forms. The technological progress brought a gradual behavioral alienation, the individual being separated from his current cosmo-geo-biological reality and existence. The survival of the couple social role is determined by the psycho-social maturation of the individual, his personal and professional development, as foundation and contribution, both being essential for supporting a profound partnership, reaching a high level of personal satisfaction, and for nourishing a parent-child relationship with descendants of high social value. A lowering of these values leads to an impoverished anthropological framework and an alienated society. An imbalance appears between the psychological maturation level (the self accomplishment remains low) and the professional one (the effective intellectual or technical ability goes up). The second one, coupled with an exacerbated individualism (the self-centered man and the over-esteemed woman complex) brings an inter-specific competition spirit (undermining not only the partner’s qualitative transformation but also his/her own). The chances of keeping a relationship and building a marital solidarity go down affecting thus the environment itself of the continuous personal development.