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Background We aimed to determine the extent to which three core variables (school environment, peer group and family affluence) were associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes among Tuscan adolescents. The unhealthy behaviours considered were smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle and irregular breakfast consumption; health outcomes were classified as self-reported health, multiple health complaints and life satisfaction. School environment was measured in terms of liking school, school pressure, academic achievement and classmate support; peer groups were evaluated in terms of the number of peers and frequency of peer contact. Family affluence was measured on a socioeconomic scale. Methods Data were taken from the Tuscan 2009/10 survey of "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children", a WHO cross-national survey. A binary logistic multiple regression (95% confidence intervals) was implemented. Results The total sample comprised 3291 school students: 1135 11-year-olds, 1255 13-year-olds and 901 15-year-olds. Peer group and school environment were associated with unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyle. Family affluence proved to have less impact on unhealthy behaviours, except in the case of adolescents living in low-income families. Poor health outcomes were directly related to a negative school environment. Regarding the influence of family affluence, the results showed higher odds of life dissatisfaction and poor self-reported health status in medium-income families, while low-income families had higher odds only with regard to life dissatisfaction. A consistent pattern of gender differences was found in terms of both unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes. Conclusions Unhealthy behaviours are strongly related to the school environment and peer group. A negative school environment proved to have the strongest relation with poor health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental and peer support seems to be a favourable determining factor in the acculturation process among young immigrants. We aimed to assess the level of perceived support among first- and second-generation adolescent immigrants and compare it to that perceived by the adolescents from the host population. Using Italian HBSC survey data collected in 2013-2014, first- and second-generation immigrants aged 11, 13 and 15 years were classified according to their ethnic background as being from Western countries, Eastern European countries, or from non-Western/non-European countries. The domains of teacher, classmate, family, and peer support was measured through multidimensional, standardised, validated scales. Analyses were run on a 47,399 valid responses (2195 from Western countries, 2424 from Eastern European countries, and 2556 from non-Western/non-European countries). Adolescent immigrants from Eastern European countries and non-Western/non-European countries reported significantly lower support than their peers from the host population in all explored domains. Girls perceived a lower level of classmate and family support compared to boys across all ethnic backgrounds. We observed two different immigration patterns: the Western pattern, from more affluent countries, and the Eastern pattern. Among the latter, second-generation immigrants showed the lowest level of support in all domains. Increasing family connections and developing peer networks should favour the acculturation process among adolescent immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The primary aim of the present study was to examine the association between immigrant generation, family sociodemographic characteristics, and problem gambling severity in a large-scale nationally representative sample of Italian youth.Method: Data from the 2013-2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey were used for cross-sectional analyses of adolescent problem gambling. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of 20,791 15-year-old students. Respondents' problem gambling severity, immigrant status, family characteristics (family structure, family affluence, perceived family support) and socio-demographic characteristics were individually assessed.Findings: Rates of adolescent at-risk/problem gambling were twice as high among first generation immigrants than non-immigrant students; the odds of being at-risk/problem gamblers were higher among first-generation immigrants than adolescents of other immigrant generations or non-immigrant. Not living with two biological or adoptive parents appears to be a factor that increases the risk of becoming a problem gambler in first generation immigrants.Conclusions: Immigrant status and family characteristics may play a key role in contributing to adolescent problem gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]