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School sense of community has been associated with students’ well-being. However, this finding is based on cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies are required to confirm this association. We hypothesized that school sense of community is longitudinally associated with students’ well-being. We recruited 106 Italian students attending a public high school. We measured school sense of community and students’ well-being at the beginning of the school year (Time 1) and students’ well-being at the end of the school year (Time 2). Results from Bayesian linear regression analysis revealed that school sense of community at Time 1 significantly predicts students’ well-being at Time 2. In addition, school sense of community at Time 1 was a statistically significant predictor of students’ well-being at Time 2, even after controlling for students’ well-being at Time 1, age, and gender. Results of this study support the theory that school sense of community increases well-being.

Previous research on sense of community (SOC) has predominantly assumed that this construct plays a role in predicting well-being (WB). However, it is only recently that a bidirectional relationship between SOC and WB has been hypothesised and tested. Moreover, no study investigated the longitudinal relationships between psychological WB and SOC among early adolescents. The present research followed a sample of middle school students from six-grade through nine-grade to investigate the reciprocal relationships between SOC and WB. Participants were 576 Italian students. In the present article, we utilised latent change score modelling based on longitudinal data collected in three waves across 3 years. Using bivariate dual change score modelling, dynamic reciprocal relationships were observed between SOC and WB. The revealed bidirectional relationship between SOC and WB contribute to the extant literature by illuminating more nuanced interplays between these constructs among early adolescents.

Psychological sense of community among early adolescents has been investigated using instruments developed for adolescents/adults or ad hoc scales. The aim was to contribute to the validation of a scale of Sense of Community in Early Adolescents (SoC-EA) using a 3-year longitudinal study. Participants were 576 Italian students attending middle schools. Participants filled out a questionnaire 3 times, in the second term of their first, second, and third middle school years. Results provided support for a five-factor model and both bifactor and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) models had excellent fit. The SoC-EA can be scored according to each subscale or a total score. In addition, the SoC-EA demonstrated (a) longitudinal measurement invariance across the middle school years; (b) good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and test-retest correlation across the 3 years; and (c) adequate construct validity. Findings support the use of the SoC-EA to measure sense of community in early adolescence.

Cross-border mobility is one of the most important factors that are assumed to strengthen young people’s commitment as European citizens. However, the existing empirical evidence does not provide consistent support. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that cross-border mobility is associated with a stronger European identification, more positive attitudes toward the EU, and with specific visions of the EU, and that these factors, in turn, have a positive effect on engagement at EU level. Data were collected as part of the multinational research project CATCH-EyoU. Analyses were performed controlling for gender, income, country, and migrant status. Results mostly confirmed the hypotheses among both adolescents and young adults, and for both short-term and long-term mobility. EU level participation and EU voting intentions appeared to be influenced by partly different factors. The implications of the findings, both at theoretical level and for the development of international mobility programs, are discussed.

European Union countries are participatory and representative democracies. Therefore, active citizenship in the EU and trust in EU institutions are paramount for the continuation and the strengthening of the EU project. Young Europeans who hold the future in their hands need to be actively engaged not only in the social and political life within their national communities, but also in the wider European community. The papers in this special issue examine whether and how European youth identify with the EU, trust EU institutions and engage in EU issues, and which societal and proximal-level contexts and/or individual-level attributes promote or hinder young people’s active citizenship in European context. They are based on results from the Horizon 2020 CATCH-EyoU project, standing for Constructing AcTive CitizensHip with European Youth: Policies, Practices, Challenges and Solutions. Scientists represent different disciplines (Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, Media and Communications, Education) and from eight European countries (Sweden, Estonia, U.K., Germany, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Italy). Together, the papers contribute to the development of a new, cutting-edge conceptualization of youth active citizenship in the EU, and to a better understanding of the factors promoting or inhibiting young EU citizens’ engagement, participation and active citizenship at the European level.

The aim of the study was to develop and to assess the psychometric properties of the Problematic Support Scale, among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. An online questionnaire was filled in by 344 systemic lupus erythematosus patients with a mean age of 39.66 years. Explorative factor analysis, later validated by confirmative factor analysis, showed the emergence of a two-factor structure in types of support provided: denying/uninformed support and oppressive support. Denying/uninformed support includes offers of support that neglect the disease manifestations and consequences. Oppressive support describes social support offers which are perceived as excessive and oppressive. Results confirm previous qualitative evidence and demonstrate good reliability and concurrent validity of the Problematic Support Scale. Theoretical and methodological implications for the study of social support are discussed.

School sense of community has been associated with lower levels of students' aggressive behaviors. The main aim of the study was to examine whether the magnitude of the influence of school sense of community on students' aggressive behavior is similar or different across schools with different levels of aggressive behaviors. Participants were 1,800 Italian students attending 44 middle and high schools. Using multilevel modeling (a random intercepts and slopes model), we found that the magnitude of the negative relationship between sense of community in the school and students' aggressive behaviors was stronger in schools with high levels of aggressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Patient engagement is recognized as a crucial component of high-quality healthcare services. Among rheumatic diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) appears particularly challenging for the engagement of patients in their own care. According to the patient health engagement (PHE) model, patient engagement is a dynamic phenomenon that proceeds through four experiential positions (blackout, arousal, adhesion and eudaimonic project). The aim of the present study was to describe the engagement process from the point of view and the experiences of SLE patients. Ten in-depth interviews and four focus groups were conducted with an international sample of SLE patients from different European countries. Transcripts were analysed through thematic content analysis. Findings showed that a fully engaged patient results from reframing emotional, cognitive and behavioural dimensions. The advances along the process depends on how the patient succeeds in each position. In conclusion, PHE represents an appropriate model by which to understand the engagement process of SLE patients. In order to meet patients' needs, healthcare providers and patient support groups should consider the specific position of SLE patients, providing adequate and tailored support.

The aim of this cross-national study was to assess the relationships among sense of community (SoC) vis-a-vis the residential community (i.e., one's home town), identity formation processes, and feelings of loneliness toward parents and peers. The sample included 431 Italian adolescents (59.4% females) and 221 Belgian (Flemish) adolescents (54.3% females) aged 14–23 years. Results indicate that the more adolescents developed firm and sustained commitments, the more they developed positive feelings toward the residential community. SoC toward the home town is lower among youth in less advanced identity statuses. Parent- and peer-related loneliness differentially predicted Italian and Belgian adolescents’ SoC. Results have significant theoretical and methodological implications for the study of SoC, identity, and loneliness.

Background and Objectives: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease. Previous studies showed that perceived social support has an important role in enhancing patient's quality of life (QOL). However, the precise mechanisms through which social support exerts such an effect are not completely understood. The aim of this paper is to test two alternative models explaining the relationship between social support (positive and problematic) and two dimensions of QOL: Health-Related (HR-QOL) and Non-Health-Related (NHR-QOL). Design: Model A (mediation) hypothesized that positive support would reduce stress while problematic support would increase stress), and that this in turn would reduce QOL. Model B (moderation) hypothesized that the effect of support on QOL would be moderated by the experience of stress in that more stressed individuals would show stronger effects. Methods: Three hundred and forty-four Italian patients with SLE completed an online questionnaire. Results: Stress partially mediated the relationship between support and QOL dimensions (either HR-QOL and NHR-QOL) thus supporting Model B. As hypothesized, positive support reduced stress, while problematic support increased stress. Conclusions: These findings help to explain the complex relationship between social support, stress and QOL in patients with SLE.

The role of conflict in parent–adolescent relationships is a topic of considerable theoretical debate and empirical investigation; however, limited attention has been devoted to the strategies used by family members to deal with disagreements and their outcomes and how they differ from early to late adolescence. This study explored conflict styles and outcomes in a sample of 302 families with adolescent children (total N = 906), of two age groups (13‐year‐olds and 15‐year‐olds). One hundred sixty‐four adolescents (45.7%) are female. Participants completed the ‘when we disagree’ scales. Results from both adolescents and parents confirmed the intensification of conflict from early to middle adolescence, in terms of conflict style (higher aggression, lower compromise) and outcome (lower intimacy). Age trends differ according to gender; in particular, there is evidence of a more difficult position of older girls, and of the worsening of mother–adolescent relationship from early to middle adolescence.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the parent version of “When We Disagree” scales (WWD), measuring the style of conflict (aggression and compromise) within parent–adolescent relationship. Differences according to adolescent gender and age, and according to perspective (description of self and description of the adolescent) were assessed. Concurrent validity was established by correlations with family communication and parenting self-efficacy. Participants include 302 mother–father dyads with adolescent children (13 and 15 years old; total n = 604). Results confirmed the usefulness of the WWD in assessing conflict styles as perceived by parents. Correlations with family communication and parenting self-efficacy were in the expected direction. There was evidence of a more conflicting relationship between female adolescents and mothers. Adolescents are described by parents as less compromising and more aggressive than self.

Sense of Community (SoC) is a key theoretical construct in community psychology. This study validated a SoC scale for adolescents (SoC-A) in Italy. The scale comprises 20 items and five components: satisfaction of needs and opportunities for involvement; support and emotional connection with peers; support and emotional connection in the community; sense of belonging; and opportunities for influence. The sample included 661 Italian high school students (47% male and 53% female) between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. Factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed five components corresponding to the original work of Cicognani, Albanesi, and Zani (2006). The boys scored higher on SoC than girls. There were no differences between age groups. Results showed differences in SoC between types of schools (lycee, vocational and technical institutes).

Several studies demonstrated the importance of psychosocial factors, like social support, for understanding the experience of people with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Less information is available on "problematic support"; that is, instances of support that are perceived as non-supportive, even though the provider's actions may be well intended. Aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of problematic support from SLE patients' perspective. Nine women with SLE were interviewed and transcripts were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Three main types of problematic social support were indentified. Oppressive support describes social support offers characterized by excessive worries and unwanted advices. Support denying the illness is characterized by a neglect of the disease or of its consequences. Support based on divergent illness representations is perceived as not punctual and not in line with patients' actual clinical condition. This study confirms the complexity of providing useful support to SLE patients and suggest that also people living close to patients should represent a target of interventions. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The role of structural characteristics of the residential context in influencing adolescents’ Sense of community (SoC) has received limited consideration in the literature. Aim of this study was to assess SoC in male and female adolescents living in two Italian provinces characterized by different positions on indicators of quality of life. The moderating role of adolescent gender and age group on SoC was also considered. The sample includes 1,182 adolescents: 46.2 % male and 53.8 % female. Age ranged from 16 to 22 years (M = 17.5; SD = 1.23). Findings indicate that levels of Sense of community differ between the two provinces and are higher among adolescents living in the more “advantaged” context (Rimini) based on quality of life objective indicators. Males score higher than females except in the more “advantaged” context, whereas girls experience greater opportunities for influence. SoC tends to decrease with age, as the context becomes increasingly insufficient for satisfying adolescents’ needs. Findings indicate that the context significantly affects adolescents’ SoC and that such effect is partly moderated by gender and age.

The purpose of this research was to explore adolescents' feeling of unsafety associated with living in the urban context, their perceptions of the quality of social relations (social support from different persons) and sense of community, and the differences according to the size of the city and adolescent gender. A second aim was to analyse the antecedents of feeling of unsafety. In particular, we considered the influence of sense of community, perception of social support and personal involvement in negative experiences in the urban environment. A questionnaire was submitted to 823 adolescents aged 14 to 19 years (43.3% male and 56.7% female), living in cities of different sizes in north-central Italy. Results show the presence of differences in feeling of unsafety and sense of community according to the size of the urban context and adolescent gender. Personal involvement in negative situations is a strong predictor of feeling of unsafety, whereas sense of community plays a limited role in reducing it. The picture concerning the effect of social support is mixed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

HIV prevention with "at risk" adolescents: how to "reach" and "involve" young people in extra-school contexts? - The paper discusses the issue of the difficulty to reach and involve the targets of preventive interventions, by taking as example a HIV prevention intervention aimed at out-ofschool adolescents and young people. Keywords: prevention, HIV, adolescents, action research, evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to explore, by means of semi-structured interviews, how families of adolescents perceive and describe their educational styles and the development of adolescent autonomy. Specifically, the results of two different studies will be discussed: the first was conducted with a group of 83 parents (fathers and mothers) of 15- to 18-year-old adolescents, male and female, from different cultural backgrounds (medium-low and medium-high). The second study involved both adolescents and their parents of three age-groups (10 families with 13-, 15- and 17-year-old adolescents, for a total of 90 interviews), half male and half female.

Conflicts between parents and adolescents were explored from the viewpoint of 13- and 15-year-old children (N = 397). There was support for Steinberg's (1989) distancing hypothesis: older children reported more aggression, more frustration and lower intimacy outcomes. There was also support for the hypothesis that the more complex position of adolescent girls (valuing both closeness and autonomy) would result in higher levels of frustration, whereas boys would be more clearly confrontational-producing relatively more escalation. Overall, mothers were experienced as more compromising and as fostering greater intimacy in comparison to fathers. There were differences between family types: those mothers living with a partner were reported as more aggressive than mothers from non-divorcing families, and adolescents living with mother alone reported more frustration and escalation outcomes. In respect of fathers, non-residential fathers and daughters experienced less aggression, lower escalation outcomes and sustained higher levels of compromise in comparison to fathers in non-divorcing families. Boys without their father resident reported the lowest levels of compromise with both mothers and fathers-consistent with others' research suggesting that boys' accommodation to parental separation is more problematic. Finally, effects of parental age were explored.

Research on the consequences of motor vehicle accidents centres mainly on the assessment and treatment of post-traumatic psychological–behavioural reactions of the people involved. Few studies have explored the experience of surviving a serious accident and its impact on different dimensions of individuals' lives. This qualitative study aims at investigating adaptation strategies and quality of life of 20 severely injured accident survivors who spent several months in an intensive care unit of a hospital, and who still suffer permanent injuries of varying extent. Participants completed individual in-depth interviews which were subsequently analysed according to the grounded theory method. The findings indicate that the adaptation process follows a sequence of temporal phases (‘past–present’, ‘present’, ‘future’ and ‘being’), characterized by different emotional and behavioural reactions, perceived needs, and by the adoption of specific coping strategies. The duration of the adaptation process is influenced by the severity of the injury suffered, participants' age at the time of the trauma, the occurrence of coma and the availability of social support in participants' life environment.

The purpose of this study was to explore the verbal environment provided by nursery school teachers to the children. Teachers’ language was analysed in two different interactive contexts: when interacting with a different number of interlocutors (study 1) and when talking to children of different linguistic competence (study 2). In the first study, 10 children from two age groups (10/11 months old and 31/37 months old) were monitored interacting with two teachers during a play session. Teachers’ language produced in the two interactive situations (dyadic versus group) was then analysed for structural and thematic features. In the second study, two teachers were observed interacting with two groups of children aged 28/33 months, but with different linguistic competence (MLU 1, 6 versus 3, 1). The linguistic measurements collected included: structural features of teachers’ language, total amount and kind of communicative intentions produced by both teachers and children. The results show that in bo...

The present study aims at analyzing the skills involved in children's performance on communicative referential tasks and the developmental changes in the type and quality of the messages. The performance of 28 twins and the performance of 28 singleton children were compared at different age levels (younger group, mean age = 5.5; older group, mean age = 10.4). Four different interactive situations were considered: (a) twin‐twin; (b) single born‐single born; (c) twin‐single born; (d) single bom‐twin. We predicted (a) a lower competence in twins, especially in the younger group, as compared to the non‐twin of the same age; and (b) differences in the communicative behavior of twins according to the listener. Although a MANOVA did not reveal poorer performances of twins in the number and type of information elements, path analyses indicated that there are different interactive styles and strategies between twins and singletons. The twin pairs tend to intervene in the interaction to support and complete the co‐...

The study investigates the impact of residential context on stressful events and Subjective Well being (Emotional and Psychological) in young people living in a deprived geographical area, and the mediating role of personal (Self-Efficacy) and social (Social Support, Sense of Community) variables. A questionnaire was submitted to 297 subjects (48.5% males): 203 adolescents (14–19 years old) and 94 young adults (20–27 years old), from different socio-economic (SES) levels. Results confirm the significant impact of the residential context on youngsters' perceived residential quality, Stress and Subjective Well being outcomes; such effect partly differs according to participants' gender and age. Adolescents are less satisfied of their living context and enjoy lower well being than young adults. Social resources (Friend and Family Support) significantly buffer the effect of a deprived residential context of youngsters' Well being, whereas personal resources (Self-Efficacy) directly increase Well being levels. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The present study compares problem-specific coping strategies and coping styles of European adolescents from seven nations. The sample consisted of 3031 adolescent participants, aged 11 to 20, from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. The adolescents completed the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ) by indicating which coping strategies (from 20 alternatives) they usually employed in dealing with age-specific problems (covering 8 different domains). The strategies can be collapsed to three coping styles: active coping, internal coping, and withdrawal. Results show that adolescents from all seven nations predominantly employed functional forms of coping, i.e., active coping and internal coping. In addition, the pattern of frequently and rarely applied coping strategies was similar across cultures. Differences in coping style were revealed for some, but not all problem domains, suggesting that cross-cultural similarity in coping exists for specific stressors. Problem- specific analyses helped to clarify where cultural influence is most distinct. Whereas cultural diversity was highest for coping with job-related problems, coping with self- and future-related problems was highly similar among adolescents from all the nations. Despite the considerable traditional, educational, and economic differences among the cultures investigated, the similarities in coping behaviour were impressive. Explanations for cultural universals and differences in adolescent coping are discussed.

Current research on adult-child interaction has stressed the importance of some conversational tactics for the development of communicative competence in children. The conversational device used in the presence of ambiguity and incomprehension is the clarification request (CR), an interrogative utterance by which the speaker asks for explanation, confirmation or repetition of an utterance previously produced by the listener, but which has not been perfectly understood. In this research we analyzed several aspects of nursery school teachers use of the clarification request with children of three different age groups (10–17 months; 21–26 months and 28–37 months). Using audio-recordings of naturally occurring teacher-child interactions, the following features were analyzed: 1) the quantitative distribution of CRs in teacher’s language according to the children’s age; 2) the form of the CRs; 3) their function; 4) the conversational sequences containing CRs. The results suggest that the teacher’s use of CRs is guided by their knowledge and evaluation of the children’s developing communicative competence. The distribution of CRs in the various forms and function that we indentified seem to follow the same general path isolated in the previous studies, collected in a different language and culture, suggesting that the CRs may be a constant feature of adult-child interaction.