Search

Prior studies revealed that low levels of youth political activity are not necessarily indicative of complete disengagement from societal affairs but could be accompanied by interest and latent involvement stemming from a standby or monitorial attitude. However, no prior study has investigated patterns of citizenship orientations including both manifest and latent engagement defined by one’s position towards institutional politics, according to different forms of participation. A questionnaire was filled out by 1,732 late adolescents and young adults in Italy (15–30 years old, M = 19.73, 60.7% female). Cluster analysis identified six profiles of citizenship orientations across different types of participatory activities (political, activist, political online and civic): active trustful, active distrustful, standby trustful, standby distrustful, unengaged trustful and unengaged distrustful. The results showed that each level of engagement—active, standby and unengaged—could be further differentiated between trustful and distrustful based on their attitude towards institutions and the electoral process.

Youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) is a theoretical–methodological approach that has been designed to promote positive development (e.g., well-being and health, social–emotional and cognitive development, academic or career advancement) and civic engagement among young people. Although YPAR holds particular promise, there has been little systematic assessment of its effects. Moreover, no study has investigated the role of YPAR in the promotion of active citizenship. We report on an effectiveness evaluation of a YPAR project designed to promote European active citizenship (i.e., identification and attitudes toward a political entity, institutional trust, participation, and political alienation) and social well-being among adolescents. Our sample included 69 Italian high school students (35 in the intervention group; 34 in the control group). We evaluated the impact of YPAR using a pretest–posttest control group design and fitting the generalized estimating equations procedure. The results showed that participants in the intervention group reported increased scores on social well-being, institutional trust, and participation and decreased scores on political alienation compared with the control group. We found no significant effects for identification as European and attitudes toward a political entity. Findings support the benefits of YPAR in terms of social well-being and active citizenship.

This qualitative study examines how young people of Moroccan descent in Italy construct their social identities and make sense of acculturation experiences. Twenty nine Moroccan young people, fourteen males and fifteen females (16–23 years old) took part in five focus groups. Thematic analyses of data indicated that participants have to navigate different identity categories in the host country, including Muslim, Moroccan, and migrant, which are often used to construct them as not belonging. They use different strategies to negotiate experiences of prejudice and exclusion including; “Italy is not my home… it is other people’s home”: Accommodating an outsider status, turning critically towards one’s community, claiming an insider status: Feeling Italian, Creating activist identities: Becoming bridge builders. In the absence of legal status, participants conceived citizenship as respecting Italian laws and norms, accommodating their status and position, but making claims based on being and feeling as belonging – cultural citizenship. By using a liberation orientation, our analysis shows the political nature of acculturative integration in a context that denies citizenship as a legal status. These political aspects include deconstructing exclusionary dominant group narratives and forming identities of resistance that are important to their claims for recognition and belonging. We discuss the findings with reference to ways in which researchers and activists can support the activities of young people of immigrant background.

Neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community have been associated with important outcomes for adolescents. However, the complex interplay between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community among adolescents is not clear. Moreover, the studies showing an association between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community have been cross-sectional. The present study investigated the directionality of the relationship between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community using a longitudinal cross-lagged design. Using structural equation modeling, a cross-lagged panel analysis revealed that school sense of community at Time 1 significantly predicts neighborhood sense of community at Time 2 even after controlling for neighborhood sense of community at Time 1. However, neighborhood sense of community at Time 1 did not predict school sense of community at Time 2. Results of this study support the theory that school sense of community can provide students with a bridge between school and community.

A substantial amount of literature has revealed gender gaps in political participation. However, little is known about such gaps when using more comprehensive measures of civic and political participation including online participation. In the present study, we recruited a sample (n = 1792) of young people living in Italy. Controlling for age, majority/minority status, socioeconomic status, respondents’ educational attainment, and parents’ educational attainment, we found that female participants reported higher scores on online and civic participation, while male participants were more likely to report political and activist participation. The effect size for these gender differences was small. In addition, we did not find any gender differences in voting behavior in the last European parliamentary elections, national parliamentary elections, and local elections. These findings highlight the need to move toward a more comprehensive and detailed picture of gender gaps in political engagement and participation including different types of participation.

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.

Tolerance toward migrants currently represents a key issue in many Western democracies and studying the factors that can foster it has become increasingly more important for the social sciences. This chapter starts by providing a definition of ‘tolerance’, illustrating the ambivalent qualities that are attributed to this concept in the literature. Recognizing some limits of this concept, our reasoning develops from the assumption that, with specific reference to migration, tolerance represents a basic democratic principle. It can be defined as the belief, based on equalitarian principles and a political conviction, that migrants and non-migrants should be treated equally. We proceed to report the findings from two recent studies we conducted in Italy and illustrate some key paths through which tolerance can develop during different developmental stages. The results from our studies showed that younger participants had lower levels of tolerance toward refugees and migrants. Different forms of politically committed youth participation (online and offline, more and less conventional) were positively associated with tolerance; in particular, civic participation represents a ‘school for democracy’ in which young people learn a range of civic skills also enhanced tolerance toward migrants. Finally, we present an overview of some of the main approaches (global citizenship education, education to intercultural dialogue and community-based approaches) that professionals across the world have at their disposal to promote a tolerant attitude at different stages of the developmental process. The chapter closes by illustrating some implications for future research and interventions to promote tolerance toward migrants.

Community coalitions or intersectoral partnerships have long been advocated for the promotion of population health. In the present study, we assessed the quality of the functioning of health promotion partnerships created within a large community health promotion program implemented by the Emilia-Romagna region located in the north-east of Italy (2014-2016). In particular, we aimed to test the effectiveness of partnership working in strengthening participants' empowerment, sense of community and ultimately, the outcomes of a well-functioning partnership, conceptualized as including perceived effectiveness of health promotion interventions developed by the partnership, trust in their implementation and personal commitment in health promotion in the future. Participants were 238 stakeholders (e.g., health professionals, representatives of local administrations, teachers, representative of community and volunteer organizations, and citizens) formally included in six partnerships lead by six major local health services. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, we found that a higher perceived quality of collaboration within the partnership enhances the outcomes of a well-functioning partnership, by strengthening their sense of a health-promoting community and empowerment. Sense of community responsibility did not predict future commitment in health promotion. The study findings suggest that community members' ownership and feeling of responsibility, as well as empowerment constitute positive partnership processes.

Collective action is typically studied in social protest contexts and predicted by different motivations (i.e., ingroup identification and efficacy beliefs, and outgroup-directed anger). Assuming that voting to some extent reflects a form of collective action, we tested whether these three different motivations predicted voting in Dutch, Israeli, and Italian national election contexts. Based on previous meta-analyses on voting and collective action, we hypothesized that identification with and efficacy beliefs regarding this party would motivate voting across the different elections (i.e., context-independent effects). As for anger, we predicted more context-dependent effects, depending on whether the anger is targeting the previous government or at the political system at large. Results were largely in line with predictions, showing the relatively context-independent motivational power of party identification and efficacy beliefs, and clearly context-dependent effects for anger. Specifically, we found little support for a similar motivational power of anger targeting previous government policies, but anger targeting politics in general demotivated Dutch and Israeli participants to vote (interpreted as an expression of political cynicism), while curiously motivating Italian participants to vote (interpreted as a desire for system change from “old” to “new” politics). We discuss these findings in the context of voting in national elections, and recommend further integration of the voting and social protest literatures.

Previous studies have demonstrated the role of students' school sense of community (i.e., emotional connection and bonds with other students at school and sense of belonging to the school as a community) in predicting well-being (presence of positive feelings and positive functioning in life). Specifically, these studies have found that individual sense of community in the school is associated with well-being. However, individual sense of community in the school does not constitute a school-level characteristic, and the influence of sense of community at the school level on students' well-being was not investigated. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a study investigating the influence of sense of community at the school level on students' well-being, using multilevel analysis. Our sample comprised 1,800 students (age ranged from 11 to 20 years) from public lower and upper secondary schools in Italy. Results showed that higher sense of community scores at the school level were associated with higher well-being scores, while controlling for individual sense of community, gender, and age. These results provide support for a school-level theory of school sense of community (i.e., moving school sense of community theory from the individual to the school level).

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.

Research suggests that sense of community in the school is a promising construct in terms of its ability to promote students’ well-being. However, mechanisms behind and the potential benefits of school sense of community have not been studied in detail. This cross-sectional study tested a model which examined the role of sense of community in the school, social skills, exposure to aggression, and victimization in shaping students’ well-being. The sample consisted of 1076 students from 22 public middle schools and 724 students from 22 public high schools located in the Italian Region of Liguria. Using a Bayesian estimation for a structural equation model, results showed that sense of community in the school directly predicted students’ social skills, exposure to aggression, and well-being and, indirectly (through social skills and exposure to aggression), victimization. In addition, we found that social skills were related to victimization. Finally, results showed that victimization was predicted by exposure to aggression and predicted well-being. The current study suggests that sense of community in the school and social skills are key variables for interventions that aim to prevent aggressive behaviors at school and to increase students’ well-being.

We assume that emotions (anger, shame and hope) mediate the relationship between perceiving a discriminatory context and civic/political engagement. Results of a survey with 1242 participants (mean age 20.7 years; 53% men; 32.8% migrants) showed that such emotions play a different role according to the type of engagement and the population (native Italians versus migrants). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The 2012–13 Italian national campaign against HIV/AIDS was based on a video primarily targeted to women, youth, migrants, and gay men. Its conceptual basis was to encourage preventive behaviors by promoting people’s perceived similarity and identification with the video characters and communicating the message that AIDS is everyone’s concern. The aim of this study was to investigate how people belonging to the target groups reacted to the video and, more specifically, their comprehension of the message, their perceived similarity and identification with the characters, and the perceived efficacy of the video. Fourteen focus groups were conducted with 130 participants. Transcripts were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Results showed that the core message was adequately understood. Participants perceived themselves as partially similar to the video characters but they did not strongly identify with them. Most participants did not consider the video as effective. Peculiarities of the four target groups are discussed.

Sense of community in the school has been associated with a range of important outcomes for students. However, there are currently no standard definitions of sense of community in the school with corresponding measures with established psychometric properties. To fill this gap, the main aim of the present study was to propose a model of sense of community in the school, its operationalization and to examine its key psychometric properties (factorial structure, reliability, differential item functioning, differential test functioning of the scale and discriminant, convergent, and criterion validity). Participants were 1,076 students from 22 public middle schools and 724 students from 22 public high schools located in the Italian city of Genoa and its province. To test the dimensionality of the scale, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis under the Item Response Theory paradigm. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed three dimensions: Membership, Emotional connection, and Opportunities. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the bifactor model exhibited the largest improvement in fit. Cronbach’s alpha, omega total, and omega hierarchical indicated a good reliability for the measure. Internal consistency was satisfactory, considering Cronbach’s alpha and omega. Analysis of differential item/test functioning of the scale showed that girls and boys as well as students attending middle school and those attending high school responded in largely similar ways to the measure. Finally, the instrument demonstrated good discriminant, convergent, and criterion validity. Together, these findings indicate that our theory driven model of sense of community in the school is valid and that the instrument is a reliable measure for assessing sense of community in the school.

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.

Because individuals' fundamental right to water is often taken for granted, little is known about why individuals participate in water activism. We examine how individuals identify with and intend to participate in the Italian Water Movement to defend the “public management” of water supply. Building on the collective-action literature, we test an explanatory model in which the perceived violation of the right to water and group and participative-efficacy beliefs increase movement identification, which predicts subsequent activism. Study 1 (N = 153 activists) largely confirmed our hypotheses: right violation and participative efficacy uniquely influenced movement identification, which in turn predicted activism. Study 2 corroborated these findings by employing a broader sample of 132 Italian citizens, with right violation, participative and group-efficacy beliefs predicting movement identification, which in turn predicted activism. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

This research assesses the coverage and impact of “United Against AIDS,” the 2012–2013 Italian National HIV/AIDS prevention campaign to promote safer sex behavior and voluntary HIV counseling and testing. The campaign used gain-framed messages and aimed at creating a superordinate identity. We conducted two studies. The first study employed a quasi-experimental design involving three groups of participants: general population (n=858), men who have sex with men (MSM; n=109), and migrants (n=211). In the second study, we carried out a time-series design to analyze the archival data of the Italian National AIDS Help-Line. Exposure to the campaign was reported by 78.3%, 67.5%, and 57.8% of the general population, MSM, and migrant respondents, respectively. The probability of having unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple partners decreased significantly in the subsample of the general populations that was exposed to the campaign (compared to the nonexposed participants), but the same effect was not found among MSM and migrant participants. The probability of having unprotected sexual intercourse with someone of unknown HIV status decreased after the campaign in the exposed MSM subsample (compared to the nonexposed participants), but the same effect was not found among the general population and migrant participants. In addition, the probability of undertaking HIV testing increased significantly in the exposed participants belonging to the general population but not among MSM and migrant participants. Time-series analysis revealed that the number of calls at the Italian National AIDS Help-Line significantly increased during the campaign. This research provides evidence that the effect of the campaign was complex and varied across participants.

The aim of the study was to assess the role of some psychosocial factors in explaining offline and online civic engagement intentions in a sample of Italian and second generation migrant (Albanian and Moroccan) adolescents and young adults living in Italy. The theoretical model was an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour including past experience. The sample included 598 adolescents and young adults (M = 19.32, SD = 3.17). Two hundred were Italian (88 males, 44.0%), 197 migrants of Albanian origin (130 males, 66%) and 201 migrants of Moroccan origin (116 males, 57.7%). Moroccan youth reported higher levels of both past civic engagement and future intentions than Albanian and Italian peers. Perceived effectiveness of civic engagement and past experience are consistently associated with stronger intentions to engage in the future (offline and online) in all groups. Internal efficacy plays a limited role, whereas the role of subjective norms differs according to the group and the source of normative influence (parents, peers).

In many communities, supplying water and sanitation is a huge task, and the fact that these essential services can be carried out by the private sector is a debated issue. This article presents an exploratory study aimed to identify the range of motives for collective action shared by activists of the Italian Movement for ‘Public Water’. In-depth interviews were conducted with 28 activists and were qualitatively analysed. Five main motivational categories emerged: defending the right to water, preserving community ties, opposing to the Government and ‘water sellers’, preserving the environment and money interests. Each motive is based on a specific representation of the issue of water and privatization process. Findings provide further support for the importance of moral convictions and sense of community in collective action development and suggest a critical reconsideration of the role played by collective efficacy. The results are discussed in the framework of the psychosocial literature on collective action and community psychology perspectives on participatory processes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this study was to investigate, among members of a large cooperative company, the role of worker status (partner vs. employee), length of service, and cooperative values in influencing organizational identification (OI) and organizational sense of community (OSC). The study involved the totality of members of the cooperative (N = 805; 67.7% partners, 32.3% employees), who completed a self-administered questionnaire, measuring perceived cooperative values, OI, OSC, and, among partners, identification as a partner. The results indicate that partners, more than employees, perceived the cooperative as living up to its core values and scored higher on OI and OSC. The impact of worker status on OI and OSC was mediated by perceived cooperative values.

Research examining youths' political development mostly focused on young people as a general group; comparatively less attention has been devoted to the examination of gender pathways toward citizenship. Two studies were conducted addressing (a) the role of parents' participation and the moderating role of adolescent gender and age group (n = 1419) and (b) the role of adolescent social and civic participation and the moderating role of adolescent gender and type of school (n = 1871). Results confirmed the gender gap in political interest and in the use of the Internet for political participation, while no differences emerged for political activity and voting intentions. Adolescents' political engagement and participation are influenced by parents' participation (especially among girls) and by adolescents' social and civic participation (especially among boys). The impact of adolescents' social and civic participation on conventional participation (voting intentions) is partially mediated by sense of community and institutional trust.

This reprinted article originally appeared in International Journal of Stress Management, 2011, Vol. 18, No. 2, 181–195. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-02944-001.) Fire-fighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians routinely confront potentially traumatic events in the course of their jobs. The mediation role of coping strategies and collective efficacy in the relationship between stress appraisal and quality of life was examined (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout) in a correlational study. Participants were 463 Italian rescue workers (fire fighters and different categories of emergency health care professionals). Participants filled out measures of stress appraisal, collective efficacy, coping strategies, and quality of life. The results showed that emotion and support coping, self-blame coping, and self-distraction mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and compassion fatigue. Moreover, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and religious coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and burnout. Finally, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and problem-focused coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and compassion satisfaction. Cognitive restructuring and denial did not mediate the relation between stress appraisal and any of the quality of life dimensions.

This study examined age and gender differences in coping strategies used by adolescents (N = 342; age = 14–19 years) in dealing with everyday minor stressors. Relationships with coping resources (self-efficacy, social support) and the impact of coping on psychological well-being were assessed. Coping strategies were measured using the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ; Seiffge-Krenke, 1995). Results showed that adolescents’ coping strategies differed according to problem domain. The most frequently used strategies were active and internally focused. Females used a wider range of coping strategies than did males. Significant correlations were found among coping strategies and coping resources. Moreover, the adoption of some strategies significantly affected adolescents’ psychological well-being. jasp_726 559..578

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).

This article presents and discusses the evaluation of the participatory process involved in the Local Plans for Health (LPH) of the Region Emilia-Romagna (North Italy). LPH are three-year plans of action that actively engage community members in collaborative decision making over health promotion interventions. The evaluation study conducted on the LPH 2001-2003 of Cesena, using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, involved 34 community stakeholders, who took part in three focus groups. Themes discussed centered on the difficulties encountered in engaging all relevant community members, how to overcome such difficulties, and how to best communicate the results of the evaluation process to the population. Process evaluation was a central component of the planning of future plans.

Aim of the study was to assess the relationship between social participation and Sense of Community in a sample of University students and the impact of such variables on Social well being. A further aim was to assess the generality of the relationships between these constructs across different countries, and specifically, the USA, Italy and Iran. The sample includes 200 Italian, 125 American and 214 Iranian University students, male and female. Results show higher levels of social participation, Sense of Community and Social well being among American students. Sense of Community is positively correlated with social participation in all three samples; however, only among Italian students social participation positively predicts Social well being. Implications of results will be discussed.

This study investigates the relationship between sense of community, civic engagement and social well-being in a sample of Italian adolescents. Participants were 14–19 year-old high school students (N = 566) from two demographically distinct cities. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing sense of community, social well-being (Keyes, 1998), involvement in structured group activities (group membership) and civic engagement. Results showed that involvement in formal groups is associated with increased civic involvement and increased sense of community. Sense of community predicts social well-being and explains some of the association between civic engagement and social well-being. Findings suggest that, to increase social well-being, it is important to provide adolescents with more opportunities to experience a sense of belonging to the peers' group and promote prosocial behaviours in the community context. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this research was to assess which criteria laypeople use to evaluate the importance of treatments the Italian National Health Service (NHS) should or should not guarantee and the relationship with their degree of importance. A convenience sample of 100 individuals (22–65 years old) were asked to evaluate 52 treatments partly included and partly not included in the Essential Assistance Levels. Results showed that laypeople employ a wide range of criteria, only part of which corresponds to those traditionally investigated in the psychosocial literature. Two main dimensions emerge as organizing principles underlying their judgments, referring to NHS function (prevention vs. treatment) and to the opportunity to focus on the specific health needs of particular categories of citizens (selectivity). Advances in medical research have increased the number and types of effective forms of treatment for conditions that were once considered untreatable, significantly improving patients’ quality of life. The greater knowledge of the progresses of medicine, the awareness of the possible treatments, and the widespread optimistic belief that actual diagnostic-therapeutical possibilities of medicine are almost unlimited resulted in a growing health demand from the general population. However, several treatments are still inaccessible for a large number of people, owing to their cost, lack of accessibility, or complexity. All health systems in Western industrialized countries are facing the need to guarantee

Civic participation in community life and within community organizations is generally considered as associated with positive outcomes for Youth development and well-being. However, supportive empirical evidence on such benefits is still limited, as well as on the processes that may explain such positive outcomes. In this paper, we examined the impact of young people’s participation in different community and youth organizations on Social well-being, and the mediating role of Sense of community (SoC) and Empowerment. The sample comprised 835 adolescents and young adults, aged 16–26 years old (M = 20.8). 414 participants were males (49.6 %) and 421 participants were females (50.4 %). Results confirm that organizational membership of volunteer, youth, and religious associations significantly enhances Social well-being, both directly and through the mediation of SoC and Empowerment. Membership of leisure and recreational associations only marginally and indirectly affects Social well-being through the mediation of Empowerment.

The potential effects of depleted uranium (DU) on the health of military personnel, civilians and on the environment have been the focus of considerable debate in the last two decades. In Italy, the issue came to the attention of the public when some soldiers developed cancer after participating in peace missions in the Balkans in the second half of the nineties. In this case study, we draw on theoretical perspectives on risk and crisis communication to examine how communication strategies on DU risk lead to the creation of a 'DU case' in Italy, through the amplification of public perception of risk. In-depth interviews were conducted with experts, policy-makers, journalists and members of associations of soldiers and families of victims (n = 30) and were qualitatively analysed. The findings indicate the presence of three temporal phases through which the 'DU case' unfolded, characterized by different forms of communication, which influenced risk responses by amplification effects. A chain of communication errors could be identified, which explains the ineffectiveness of the initial responses of public authorities to the risk event, leading to a crisis that persisted for some years. The media played a central role in communication in all phases of the crisis. The findings have several implications for the improvement of the public responses to this type of risk

(da Definition) Social well-being has been identified by the World Health Organization [WHO] (1948) as a central component of individuals’ overall health. The concept has been conceptualized and operationalized in many different ways. Within economic disciplines, studies have initially operationalized social well-being using objective criteria such as gross domestic product (GDP) that reflects the relative prosperity of communities and societies; more recently, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2011) proposed additional criteria, besides macroeconomic statistics, to better measure individuals’ perceptions of well-being and progress. Research within social sciences has operationalized social well-being in terms of behaviors that reflect community and organizational participation, community or group membership, or social capital and social cohesion (Andrews & Withey, 1976; Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000).

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.

Internet forums represent a useful but understudied resource to understand psychosocial aspects of living with systemic lupus erythematosus. This study was aimed to describe the demand/supply of social support through the Internet in relation with the description of personal illness experiences. All the posts (118) from an Italian forum for systemic lupus erythematosus patients were collected and analyzed combining qualitative content analysis with statistical textual analysis. The results showed different purposes for posts: starting new relationships, seeking information, receiving emotional support, and giving a contribution. Lexical analysis identified three ways of describing patients’ experiences. Discussion focuses on the relationship between the requested/offered support and systemic lupus erythematosus experiences.

This paper intends to explore whether and how the quality of participation experiences is associated with political efficacy and the disposition of migrant and non-migrant young people to becoming involved. The sample includes 1010 young people of Portuguese, Angolan and Brazilian origin, aged between 15 and 29 years old. The results reveal that the quality of participation experiences is related to political efficacy and dispositions to becoming involved, but different groups seem to react differently to different forms of political action.

In the study of young people’s relationships with residential contexts, it is important to consider the role of developmental tasks (e.g. identity construction, academic and professional choices, etc.) in influencing Place Identity and Sense of Community. Residential mobility may represent an adaptive strategy for modifying some aspects of one’s identity and a contributing factor to the development of autonomy from the family. Limited attention has been devoted to the study of the ways young people deal with their attachments to old and new places within this process. This study involved 203 university students, attending a large university in the North of Portugal. The aim was to investigate Place Identity (PI) and Sense of Community (SoC) related to the home town, and differences according to residential condition (native vs. temporary resident) and year of attendance (I vs. IV). Among students who moved, the role of motives (forced vs. voluntary) and of residential choices after graduation on PI and SoC were assessed. Results indicated that, among students who moved for academic reasons, SoC and PI related to the home town were lower and decreased from the first to the fourth year. SoC was higher among students who experienced the relocation as a forced choice. Students who anticipated to return to their home town after graduation had higher SoC and PI. Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-14T18:09:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1840 bytes, checksum: b2dacd412294e9019fc9af3b4267d4ec (MD5) Cicognani.abstract.pdf: 12594 bytes, checksum: cc3db26f1d363b6b5ff3e456dc9a2d7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011

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.

Civic and political participation (CPP) is often routinely operationalized through the same questions, as can be found in many related studies. While questions can be adapted in accordance with the research purposes, their psychometric properties are rarely addressed. This study examines the potential methodological problems in the measurement of CPP, such as the conflict between construct validity and measurement invariance, as well as unequal item functioning between some groups of people. We use the Rasch model to test 18 CPP questions for their relevance for the European youth population and to study differential item functioning between groups based on (1) age, (2) gender, (3) economic satisfaction, and (4) country of living. We discovered that CPP questions are strongly connected with the cultural and social context and can discriminate against some groups of people. The results demonstrate the need to develop more culturally responsive methods to study CPP and the paper offers suggestions on how to do so.