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This research explored both social context and personal characteristics in relation to being saddened by sad music when in a sad mood. Overall, 1686 respondents (aged 12–16 years; 44% female; 68% vocational training) answered questions about their background, social context (family climate, bullying issues), personal characteristics (depressive mood, self-esteem, social comparison style), and the degree to which they were saddened by listening to sad music. About 17% of the participants reported saddened mood as a consequence of listening to sad music when sad. Multivariate linear regression results revealed that female respondents and those who reported elevated levels of depressive mood and negative social comparison to peers were more likely to feel saddened. These young people further showed strained peer relations, as indicated by being bullied on social network sites and the Internet. Harsh family climate and low self-esteem correlated with the saddened mood-inducing effect of sad music, although they were not significant in multivariate analysis. This pattern of person and context relations with saddened mood was identical for girls and boys. Adolescents generally seek music that is mood-congruent; however, this research questioned whether adolescents with problems should dwell on music that reflects their unhappy state, as this may worsen their mood.

Research in the United States has shown that youth mentoring is a promising strategy for increasing self-esteem and school connectedness in at-risk youth. There has been little confirmation of those findings internationally. The current study evaluates the impact of mentoring by trained university students on children's self-esteem and school connectedness compared to schoolmates not involved in the program. Mentor-UP is a school- and community-based weekly mentoring program implemented in northern Italy over a period of seven months. Participants (209 students – 34 in the experimental group and 175 in the comparison group – aged between 11 and 13, 56% male, 27% immigrants) reported their levels of self-esteem and school connectedness at the beginning and at the end of the program. Results showed a significant increase in mentees' self-esteem compared to the control group, while the difference in school-connectedness was nonsignificant. The findings support the effectiveness of Mentor-UP in nurturing youth's self-esteem. RESUMEN La investigación en EE.UU. ha demostrado que la mentoría juvenil es una estrategia prometedora para aumentar la autoestima y la conexión escolar en jóvenes en situación de riesgo. Sin embargo, ha habido escasa confirmación de estos hallazgos a nivel internacional. El estudio actual evalúa el impacto de la mentoría por parte de estudiantes universitarios capacitados en autoestima y conexión escolar de los niños en comparación con los compañeros de escuela que no participaron en el programa. Mentor-UP es un programa de mentoría semanal llevado a cabo en la escuela y la comunidad que se implementó en el norte de Italia durante un período de siete meses. Los participantes (209 estudiantes, 34 en el grupo experimental y 175 en el grupo de comparación de edades comprendidas entre 11 y 13 años, 56% hombres, 27% inmigrantes) informaron de su nivel de autoestima y conexión escolar al principio y al final del programa. Los resultados mostraron un aumento significativo en la autoestima de los niños mentorizados en comparación con el grupo de control, mientras que la diferencia en la conexión escolar no fue significativa. Los hallazgos respaldan la efectividad de Mentor-UP para fomentar la autoestima de los jóvenes.

Across Europe, as governments turn to housing-led strategies in attempts to reverse rising rates of homelessness, increasing numbers of Housing First (HF) programs are being implemented. As HF programs become more widespread, it is important to understand how service users experience them compared to the more prevalent traditional treatment-first approach to addressing long-term homelessness. Although there is a large body of research on service users' experiences of Housing First compared to treatment-first in North American contexts, comparatively less is known about how these two categories of homeless services are experienced in the European context. In a correlational and cross-sectional study, part of a larger examination of homelessness in Europe, participants (n = 520) engaged with either HF (n = 245) or traditional services (TS; n = 275) programs in seven countries completed measures of their experiences of services (consumer choice, housing quality, and service satisfaction) and recovery (time in independent housing, psychiatric symptoms, and community integration). Across the seven countries, participants engaged with HF programs reported experiencing more consumer choice, better perceived housing quality, and more satisfaction with services than participants engaged in TS programs. Participants in HF programs also reported a greater proportion of time in independent accommodation, fewer psychiatric symptoms, and more community integration. Varying patterns of association between experiences of services and recovery outcomes were observed. Findings indicate HF consistently predicts greater recovery than TS across diverse sociopolitical and economic contexts. Implications of findings for configurations of homeless services and homeless services policy are discussed. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This work is part of the Project ‘Sistema di indagini sui rischi comportamentali in eta` 6-17 anni’ promoted and financed by the Ministry of Health (cap. 4393/2005-CCM). Backgrounds and aim. Unhealthy eating behaviours increase with age and have been associated with adverse health consequences in adulthood. We examined the influence of screen-based sedentary behaviours (SBs) on unhealthy food consumption, such as energy-dense foods and sweetened drinks, among a representative sample of nearly 60 000 adolescents and assessed the role of possible modifiers. Methods. Data come from the Italian 2009–10 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. Data on Eating patterns, SBs, physical activity, peers network, BMI and socio-economic status (SES) were collected following the HBSC study protocol. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used. Results. Unhealthy food consumption was significantly associated with a lower intake of fruit and vegetables and with the increase of SBs in both sexes and in all ages. The risk was interestingly higher in normal weight adolescents, in those with wider relationships with peers and in low SES children. Conclusions. This study adds evidence to support the importance of investing more resources in educational initiatives both to increase parents’ awareness to support adolescents on dietary choices and on time spent in screen-based behaviours, independently of their adiposity status; and to develop youth’s ability to access and appropriately use media and technologies. Policy makers should also increase their attention on introducing regulatory policies on television food advertising to which youth are exposed. Postprint Other Other

The aim of this research is to update the trend in overweight (including obesity) prevalence among Italian adolescents, evaluating possible differences by age and gender, and analyzing their relationships with socioeconomic status, between 2002 and 2014.The present study is based on data from the Italian HBSC study at four time points (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014), which involved 15 035 adolescents, aged 11-13-15 (7540 boys and 7495 girls).Gender and age were associated with the occurrence of overweight. In all surveys, boys had a higher prevalence of excess weight compared to girls (p0.001), but only among girls there was a significant increasing trend (from 11.2% in 2002 to 13.3% in 2014). From 2002 to 2014, the risk of being overweight was inversely associated with the economic level of the family, for both genders and all age groups.Data collected between 2002 and 2014 in Italy showed a low overall increase in prevalence of obesity and overweight and an inverse association between SES and obesity in all age groups and in both genders. These findings suggest that concerted, multi-sectorial, efforts are needed in Italy, in combination with a sound political will, focused on reducing social inequality associate.

Contains fulltext : 200223.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Background: Most European countries report rising numbers of people experiencing homelessness. For those with mental disorders, interventions are centered on achieving mental health and drug rehabilitation alongside housing readiness, often to the detriment of access to housing. Notwithstanding, more European countries are investing in a new model, Housing First (HF), which postulates immediate access to permanent housing with no initial requirements for treatment. While results of the European HF programs are published on individual-level data, little is known about the opinions of the general population about homelessness and the societal value of the HF model, which can represent barriers to the model's dissemination. Therefore, we present the protocol of a study designed for the following objectives: 1) to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about homelessness within the general population of 8 European countries, 2) to assess the valuation of the HF model by European citizens, and 3) to estimate the lifetime prevalence of homelessness in the targeted countries. Methods: A telephone survey was conducted from March to December 2017 among adults selected from opt-in panels from France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Poland, and Sweden. A total sample of 5600 interviews was expected, with 700 per country. The interviews included three sections: first, the KAP about homelessness; second, the valuation of the HF model by measuring a respondent's willingness-to-pay (WTP) through the contingent valuation method; and third, an assessment of the lifetime prevalence of homelessness among the general population. Descriptive analyses and comparisons between countries will be conducted. KAP indicators will be created and their psychometric properties assessed. Determinants of WTP will be assessed through regression models. Discussion: This survey will highlight Europeans' views of homelessness, especially their level of tolerance towards homelessness, potential misconceptions and the most important barriers for the implementation of the HF model. Additionally, the results on the valuation of the HF model by citizens could be instrumental for key stakeholders in understanding the level of support from the general population. Ethics approval has been obtained from the Aix-Marseille University Ethics Committee (n degrees 2016-01-02-01) for this study, which is part of HOME_EU: Reversing Homelessness in Europe H2O20-SC6-REVINEQUAL-2016/GA726997.