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to evaluate the impact of school closures, as a measure to contain the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, on the psychological well-being of students of all levels starting from the 2020-2021 school year.a systematic literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 Guidelines. The literature search was conducted on 4 different databases: MedLine, Embase, PsycINFO, and L.OVE Platform. Quantitative observational studies published until 10.01.2022 were included. Studies conducted during the first pandemic wave, i.e., during the 2019-2020 school year and/or during the mandatory lockdown or confinement period, were excluded. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed with validated scales. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were carried out independently by two authors.children, adolescents, and young people attending all levels of education (including universities) and, for reasons related to COVID-19, having a suspension of "in presence" school or attending classes remotely.a. outcomes directly related to mental health: suicides, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for psychiatric problems; anxiety and depression, emotional difficulties, feelings of loneliness and isolation; b. well-being outcomes: sleep quality, perceived well-being (by child/adolescent/youth or referred by parents); c. health-related behaviours: tobacco smoking, alcohol, drug use. Outcomes related to school/academic performance, physical health, and those related to parents were not considered.after having removed duplicate articles, 2,830 records were retrieved with the bibliographic search. Twelve studies (2 uncontrolled before-after studies and 10 cross sectional surveys) were included, involving a total of 27,787 participants. Three studies involved university students, 2 involved high school students, and the remaining involved a mixed population of students attending primary and middle schools. The studies were conducted between September 2020 and April 2021. The methodological quality was rated as high in five studies and intermediate in the remaining studies. Due to the high heterogeneity of outcome measures and statistical analyses performed among the included studies, it was not possible to conduct a meta-analysis of the results of the considered publications. Nevertheless, the present review showed a clear signal of increase in mental health problems in relation to school closure or virtual instruction. In particular, results suggest evidence of association between school closure and risk of suicidal attempts or thoughts, mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, emotional disorders, psychological stress. Sleeping problems, drug and alcohol addiction were poorly studied.despite the limitations of the included studies and possible residual confounding and contamination due to restrictive measures and social isolation implemented during the pandemic, the available evidence confirms the negative impact on students' mental health associated with school closures and distance learning. Given the availability of vaccination also for young children, a long period of school closure should be avoided also in the case of the emergence of new pandemic waves.

In Italy, COVID-19 lockdown was imposed from 8 March until 3 May 2020 with negative consequences on the lifestyles and health of people. Within this context, the paper aims: (i) to analyse the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on perceived weight changes, (ii) to evaluate factors associated with the perception of weight changes (Body Mass Index (BMI), sleep quality, time spent in sedentary activities), in an Italian academic community of students and workers. A total of 3666 participants took part in this cross-sectional study (2838 students and 828 workers, of whom 73.0% were female). T-test, Chi-square test and the two-way ANOVA were used. Results showed that 43.3% of participants perceived a weight gain. Workers experienced a more substantial increase in body weight (0.7 kg) compared to students (0.3 kg, p = 0.013). A significant difference between preobese/obese workers (0.9 kg) and students (−0.3 kg, p &lt, 0.001) was found. Overall, 57.0% of the sample was characterized by high levels of sedentary activities. Sedentary people noticed a higher weight gain (0.4 kg) compared to less sedentary people (0.3 kg, p = 0.048). More than 45% of participants reported a worsening of sleep quality and showed a perceived increase in body weight (0.5 kg) in comparison to those who improved their sleep quality (no weight change, p = 0.001). Designing tailored interventions to promote health-related behaviours during lockdown periods is essential.

This study aims to assess the reliability, construct validity (convergent/divergent), and criterion validity of the Italian version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI). The TFI is a self-report questionnaire for screening frailty in older adults. Two hundred and sixty-seven community-dwelling older adults were involved. Psychometric properties were analyzed using validated instruments. Adverse outcomes such as disability, falls, and visits to a general practitioner were detected. Participants were mainly women (59.9%), with a mean age of 73.4 years ( SD = 6.0). Internal consistency reliability was acceptable. Construct validity was good, since each item of the TFI correlated as expected with corresponding frailty measures. Convergent and divergent validity were adequate for all the domains of the TFI. Criterion validity was excellent for disability and mediocre for the other two outcomes. This study supports the validity of the Italian TFI and offers to clinicians and scientists a multidimensional instrument for identifying frail individuals in the Italian context.

Cognitive frailty is the simultaneous clinical manifestation of both physical frailty and cognitive impairment. This paper aimed to propose and test an operational definition of cognitive frailty. The following specific aims were pursued: (i) to rate the prevalence of cognitive frailty; (ii) to evaluate differences in cognitive functioning among robust, pre-frail, and frail individuals; (iii) to examine the association of cognitive frailty with disability, in a sample of Italian community-dwelling older adults. Five hundred and ninety-four older adults (mean age 73.6 years, SD=5.8) were involved in this cross-sectional study. Cognitive frailty was operationalized using the Mini Mental State Examination (cut-off score equal or less than 25) for the evaluation of cognitive functions and the five criteria of the Cardiovascular Health Study (cut-off score equal or higher than 3) for the evaluation of physical frailty. Participants positive for both instruments were classified as cognitively frail. The outcome was disability measured with the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale. Descriptive statistics, one-way and two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were carried out. The prevalence rate of cognitive frailty was 4.4%. The one-way ANCOVA, controlling for age and gender, showed a significant difference (p< .001) among robust, pre-frail, and frail participants for the cognitive functioning. Moreover, cognitively frail individuals showed a difference (p

The main goal of this study was to compare Northern and Southern Italian emerging adult university students, regarding the importance attributed to criteria for adulthood and the levels of life and education satisfaction. Self-report questionnaires were filled by 475 Northern and Southern Italian University students (Age M = 22.91, 76% females, n = 359). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that Southern emerging adults were more likely to place importance on family capacities, norm compliance, interdependence and role transitions as criteria for achieving adulthood than Northern emerging adults. Regarding gender differences, females were more likely to believe in the importance of norm compliance than males, while males were more likely to espouse the importance of legal transitions. Finally, emerging adults from the North reported higher levels of life satisfaction than their Southern counterparts. We interpreted these findings in light of socio-economical and gender socialization differences among Northern and Southern Italian emerging adults.

Anna Mulasso,1 Mattia Roppolo,1,2 Fabrizia Giannotta,3 Emanuela Rabaglietti1 1Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; 2Department of Developmental Psychology, Rijksuniversiteit of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; 3Department of Psychology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden Abstract: Frailty has been recognized as a risk factor for geriatric adverse events. Little is known of the role of psychosocial factors associated with frailty in explaining negative outcomes of aging. This study was aimed at 1) evaluating the differences in psychosocial factors among robust, prefrail, and frail individuals and 2) investigating whether there was any interaction effect of frailty status with empirically identified clusters of psychosocial factors on autonomy in the activities of daily living (ADLs). Two-hundred and ten older adults (age 73±6years, 66% women) were involved in this study. Frailty was assessed using an adapted version of the frailty phenotype. The psychosocial factors investigated were depressive symptoms using the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, social isolation using the Friendship Scale, and loneliness feeling using the eight-item UCLA Loneliness Scale. The autonomy in ADLs was measured with the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale. Thirty-one percent of participants were robust, 55% prefrail, and 14% frail. We performed an analysis of covariance which showed differences between robust, prefrail, and frail individuals for all the psychosocial variables: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, F(2, 205)=18.48, P

Mattia Roppolo,1,2 Anna Mulasso,1 Robbert J Gobbens,3,4 Cristina O Mosso,1 Emanuela Rabaglietti1 1Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; 2Department of Developmental Psychology, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; 3Faculty of Health, Sports and Social Work, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 4Zonnehuisgroep Amstelland, Amstelveen, the Netherlands Background: Over the years, a plethora of frailty assessment tools has been developed. These instruments can be basically grouped into two types of conceptualizations – unidimensional, based on the physical–biological dimension – and multidimensional, based on the connections among the physical, psychological, and social domains. At present, studies on the comparison between uni- and multidimensional frailty measures are limited.Objective: The aims of this paper were: 1) to compare the prevalence of frailty obtained using a uni- and a multidimensional measure; 2) to analyze differences in the functional status among individuals captured as frail or robust by the two measures; and 3) to investigate relations between the two frailty measures and disability.Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven community-dwelling older adults (73.4±6 years old, 59.9% of women) participated in this cross-sectional study. The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) index and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) were used to measure frailty in a uni- and multidimensional way, respectively. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, and the Loneliness Scale were administered to evaluate the functional status. Disability was assessed using the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale. Data were treated with descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, correlations, and receiver operating characteristic analyses through the evaluation of the areas under the curve.Results: Results showed that frailty prevalence rate is strictly dependent on the index used (CHS =12.7%; TFI =44.6%). Furthermore, frail individuals presented differences in terms of functional status in all the domains. Frailty measures were significantly correlated with each other (r=0.483), and with disability (CHS: r=0.423; TFI: r=0.475). Finally, the area under the curve of the TFI (0.833) for disability was higher with respect to the one of CHS (0.770).Conclusion: Data reported here confirm that different instruments capture different frail individuals. Clinicians and researchers have to consider the different abilities of the two measures to detect frail individuals. Keywords: functional decline, older adults, health outcomes, active aging, indexes selection&nbsp

Functional aging processes are characterized by a loss of performance capabilities for most physiological systems, such as aerobic endurance and lower body strength, which are important for independent living and active aging. The present study examines the direction of influence between aerobic endurance and lower body strength over time in Italian sedentary older adults. A three-wave longitudinal model was tested using cross-lagged analysis for 202 individuals aged over 65 years (mean = 73.92, SD = 5.84; 140 females). Analysis revealed that aerobic endurance and lower body strength decline over time. In addition, greater aerobic endurance positively affected lower body strength over time; however, the converse was true only during the first period (first 6 months). These findings emphasize the importance of these relationships for the design and implementation of effective physical intervention for older adults.

Anna Mulasso,1,2 Laura Argiolu,1 Mattia Roppolo,1 Danny Azucar,1 Emanuela Rabaglietti1 1Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; 2NeuroMuscular Function Research Group, School of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Abstract: Frailty increases individual vulnerability to external stressors and involves high risk for adverse geriatric outcomes. To date, few studies have addressed the role of emotion perception and its association with frailty in aged populations. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore whether a significant association between frailty and emotional experience exists in a sample of Italian community-dwelling older adults. Our sample consisted of 104 older adults (age 76±8years; 59.6% women) living in Piedmont, Italy. Frailty was measured using the Italian version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), and emotion perception was measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The Mini–Mental State Examination was used as a screening tool for cognitive functions (people with a score ≤20 points were excluded). One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), adjusted for interesting variables, and post hoc tests were performed where appropriate. According to the TFI, 57.7% of participants resulted as frail. Analysis showed a significant greater severity of frailty in the low positive affect (PA) group compared to the high PA group. Similarly, those with high negative affect (NA) showed significantly higher levels of frailty than the low NA group. As expected, significant differences for frailty were also found among the groups composed of 1) people with high PA and low NA, 2) people with low PA or high NA, and 3) people with low PA and high NA. Post hoc tests showed a greater severity of frailty in the second and in the third groups compared to the first one. Lastly, robust participants aged >75 years showed higher levels of PA than the group aged between 60 and 75 years. These findings demonstrate that both PA and NA may influence frailty, giving new insights for the evaluation and prevention of frailty in older adults. Keywords: emotion perception functional decline, frail individuals, Tilburg Frailty Indicator, analysis of covariance&nbsp

The present study aimed, first, to compare the ability to predict falls over 12 months for three measures - mobility, balance and frailty. Second, among the three domains of frailty - physical, psychological and social - we investigated what is the strongest predictor of falls.A total of 192 community-dwelling older adults (age 73.0 ± 6.2 years; 62% women) were involved in this longitudinal study. The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, One Leg Standing (OLS) test and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) were respectively used to measure mobility, balance and frailty. The TFI is a questionnaire based on a multidimensional conceptualization of frailty consisting of 15 items in three domains (physical, psychological and social). Falls were self-reported during the 12-month follow up. Logistic regression models, adjusted for interesting variables, were carried out to predict the risk of falls.History of falls and chronic conditions were the indicators more strongly related with falls over 12 months. The TFI resulted as a stronger predictor of falls when compared with the TUG and OLS tests. The explained variance of the three models was 31.2%, 22.4% and 22.2%, respectively. The TFI was significantly associated with falls (P 0.001), whereas the TUG and the OLS were not (P 0.05). Among the three frailty domains, physical (P 0.001) and psychological (P = 0.041) domains were significant predictors of falls.The findings showed that the TFI might be an effective tool for predicting falls at 12 months in aged populations, probably because it is able to capture the multifactorial facets that can lead to falls. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1463-1469.

Tobacco and marijuana smoking are very popular in adolescence and there is a high rate of comorbidity between them, even in young adulthood. Parental support and control may hinder involvement in the use of these substances by promoting conventional values among adolescents.The present study investigates the relations between family functioning (parental support and control) and psychoactive substance use (tobacco and marijuana smoking) and determines whether these relationships are mediated by personal values (in terms of disapproval of deviance and beliefs about the importance of school, health and religion).175 Italian late adolescents (17 to 20 years old) participated in this two-wave longitudinal study. Data were collected at school through an anonymous questionnaire.Greater parental control and support were directly associated with lower adolescent tobacco and marijuana use; adolescent acceptance of conventional values mediated the association between parenting and adolescent marijuana use.Findings emphasize the influence of family relationships throughout adolescence. The transmission of conventional values to adolescents may be a critical mechanism through which parenting protects adolescents from substance use, especially marijuana use.

Anna Mulasso, Mattia Roppolo, Emanuela Rabaglietti Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy Purpose: Frailty is a condition characterized by loss of functional reserve and altered homeostatic capacity. The aging process is related with complex indicators of physiological state. This study aims, with a preliminary mediation model, to reveal the possible role of mediator of health perceptions variability in the relationship between frailty and disability. Patients and methods: A longitudinal study (100 days) was performed. Data from 92institutionalized older adults were used in the analysis. Frailty was assessed in baseline using the Italian version of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – Frailty Instrument; health perceptions were assessed on a daily basis by three visual analog scale questions; and disability was measured in baseline and post-test using the Katz Activities of Daily Living questionnaire. The product-of-coefficient mediation approach was used to test direct and indirect effects of frailty. Results: Results showed that daily variability of health perceptions plays the role of mediator between frailty and disability. In all the steps, statistically significant results were found. Conclusion: This preliminary result may indicate that physical frailty increases the variability in health perceptions contributing to disability. Keywords: functional decline, loss of autonomy, variability, health outcomes, dynamic systems

Contains fulltext : 102553.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Driven by existing socialization theories, this study describes specific friendship contexts in which peer influence of alcohol misuse and depressive symptoms occurs. In the fall and spring of the school year, surveys were administered to 704 Italian adolescents (53 % male, M (age) = 15.53) enrolled in Grades 9, 10 and 11. Different friendship contexts were distinguished based on two dimensions referring to the level (i.e., best friendships and friendship networks) and reciprocity (i.e., unilateral and reciprocal) of the relationships. Social network and dyadic analyses were applied in a complementary manner to estimate peer socialization effects across the different friendship contexts. Results showed that within friendship networks both male and female adolescents' alcohol misuse was affected by friends' alcohol misuse, regardless of whether the relationship was reciprocated or not. Conversely, peer socialization of depressive symptoms only emerged within very best friendship dyads of female adolescents. Findings suggest that the effects of peer socialization depend on the friendship context and specific types of behaviors. The theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed. 17 p.

This chapter discusses specifics of identity formation in Italian adolescents and emerging adults. We review consistent evidence illustrating that, in Italy, a progressive deferral of transition to adulthood strongly impacts youth identity development by stimulating identity exploration and postponement of identity commitments. We also consider the influence of ecological contexts and specific Italian groups (i.e., immigrant adolescents and those who drop out of school, youth living in disadvantaged areas in the south of Italy, and emerging adults who are unemployed or hold precarious jobs) for which the identity formation process is particularly challenging.

We explored the phenomenon of the transition to adulthood, focusing on how young people cope with various developmental tasks in relation to their expectations, future projects, fears and indecision in two Italian regional areas characterized by different trends in youth employability, higher educational attainment and family formation process. We measured self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support regarding personal relationships and practical and economical issues, personal projections and future life’s choices. We also explored the perception of self-fulfillment for the future concerning personal goals in life, such as in the spheres of work, studies and economic autonomy together with expectations for the quality of personal relationships. One hundred and sixty nonworking university students (M age = 22.6; SD = 2.77; range = 19–35) from the Universities of Turin and Palermo took part in this study. Sub-groups differed on self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support and self-fulfillment. Psychological and economic independence from the family of origin was most perceived by the participants from Turin who reported a higher degree of satisfaction regarding their choice of studies and their future perspective of self-fulfillment at work. Young people from Palermo highlighted personal relationships as an important source of perceived support.

The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between individual characteristics and HRQOL, and to identify which components of physical frailty measured according to Fried's criteria provided a better explanation of HRQOL. Two hundred and fifty-nine older adults (age 74±6 years; 69% were women) living in Piemonte Region were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic and medical characteristics were captured by self-reported questionnaires. Physical frailty was assessed using the five criteria of Fried: shrinking, weakness, poor endurance and energy, slowness, and low physical activity level. HRQOL was measured with the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), using both the mental (MCS) and the Physical Component Summary (PCS). Among individual characteristics, gender was the best predictor for SF-36, the MCS, and the PCS, with values of R(2) of 12.7%, 12.1%, and 8.8%, respectively. Among the five Fried's criteria, poor endurance and energy had the largest effect on HRQOL with values of ΔR(2) of 13.9% for SF-36, 13.4% for the MCS, and 9.4% for the PCS. Results highlighted the role of the individual characteristics and the single weight of the five components of physical frailty on HRQOL. This knowledge may give new insights about the relations between individual functioning and self-rated health, allowing the development of individualized and more effective preventive interventions for a healthy aging.

The purpose of this study was (a) to identify the criteria Italian and Dutch emerging adults consider important to achieve adulthood; (b) to compare Italian emerging adults' criteria with the criteria espoused by Dutch emerging adults; and (c) to examine how these criteria might differ on the basis of the working status (temporary job contract vs. permanent job contract) of the participants. Participants included 111 Italian (M = 25 years) and 151 Dutch (M = 22 years) university working students. Results revealed that (a) on average, Italian and Dutch emerging adults agreed upon the same order of importance for the criteria of adulthood presented to them; (b) Italian participants, more than Dutch participants, considered particularly important for defining the adult status the criteria related to family capacities; and (c) taking into account the working status of the participants, the answers differed only approaching significance. These findings have important implications for future research as they evidence that emerging adults experience their path to adulthood differently depending on their nationality. Specifically, the main contribution of this study is to have tested such hypotheses in a cross-national manner where contextual and individual differences are both taken into account.

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the contributions of family functioning (in terms of support and control) to the development of civic engagement in term of personal values (i.e., values related to health, school, religion, and disapproval of deviance) as well as participation in groups that pursue cultural, religious-volunteer, and sport goals. The study controlled for sociodemographic factors, such as parental level of education and integrity of the family. Two waves of data were collected among 175 Italian late adolescents at a one-year interval. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the average level of parental support positively related to both health value and religion value; increased parental control positively related to health value and disapproval of deviance; and average levels of both parental support and control positively related to religious-volunteer group. However, increased parental support negatively related to participation in a cultural group. The discussion focused on the important role of the family in current Italian society for youth socialization in regard to civic engagement. Language: en

Intra-individual variability is a central topic in Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (NDS) studies of human development, because the theory predicts that particular forms or properties of intra-individual variability will serve as indicators or predictors of transitions, bifurcations, and stable states in individual development. Currently, there are almost no studies that address intra-individual changes and variability of Health Related Quality of Life in old age. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the role of day-to-day HRQOL variability and long term HRQOL and disability development in a sample of institutionalized older adults. 22 older adults took part in this longitudinal study. Daily diary-based assessments were made for a period of 100 days. Furthermore, monthly assessments of HRQOL and disability with validated questionnaires were performed. The intra individual variability on a day-to-day basis was found to be related to HRQOL and disability development. Furthermore, life events as operationalized by extreme values in HRQOL were related to the level of day-to-day HRQOL variability. As predicted by NDS theory, day-to-day variability emerges as an important indicator of levels of and changes in HRQOL and disability and as such, it may be an important indicator of developmental processes in old age.