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This study used a mixed methods approach to explore the experience of mentors involved in the Mentor-UP program during the COVID-19 pandemic in Padova, Italy. In Study 1, a total of 53 mentors completed an online questionnaire at the end of the program. Results of the path analysis showed that mentors' perceived support from the program staff was associated with lower levels of psycho-physical burnout, which in turn was negatively associated with online communication frequency, and the latter was positively associated with mentoring relationship quality. Study 2 analyzed in more detail the mentor-mentee relationships during the pandemic and specifically how COVID-19 may have affected the program. Two online focus groups were conducted and transcripts analyzed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that online mentoring interactions, although different from face-to-face, were valuable and allowed the establishment of supportive relationships for youth. Findings suggest program staff should provide constant support to mentors.

The current study examined the association between adolescent emotional competence, operationalized and measured at both the individual and the school levels, and gang membership. The study involved a sample of 12,040 students (51.4% females; mean = 16.9 years) participating in the biennial state department of education coordinated California Healthy Kids Survey, which assesses a range of adolescent health-related behaviors. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that higher levels of individual emotional competence were associated with a lower likelihood of identifying as a gang member. Moreover, a stronger negative association between emotional competence and identifying as a gang member was found when emotional competence was operationalized at the school level. Implications include the role of schools in promoting emotional regulation, empathy, and behavioral regulation of their entire student body as part of an overall strategy to reduce individual student's attraction to gangs.

Civic engagement, defined as involvement in community life, is influenced by reciprocal relationships between individuals and contexts and is a key factor that contributes to positive youth development. The present study evaluates a theoretical model linking perceived democratic school climate with adolescent civic engagement (operationalized as civic responsibility and intentions for future participation), taking into account the mediating role of civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Participants were 403 adolescents (47.9 % male) ranging in age from 11 to 15 years old (mean age = 13.6). Path analysis results partially validated the proposed theoretical model. Higher levels of democratic school climate were associated with higher levels of adolescent civic responsibility; the association was fully mediated by civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Adolescents' civic responsibility, then, was positively associated with a stronger intention to participate in the civic domain in the future.

Background: Given the severity of outcomes associated with involvement in bullying and the resources spent in an effort to reduce its prevalence, it is important to investigate trends in the bullying's occurrence. The main aim of this study was to identify trends from 2002 to 2010 in prevalence of bullying and victimization among Italian adolescents. Methods: The survey reported here is part of the larger population-based cross-sectional (2002, 2006, and 2010) "Health Behaviour in School Aged Children" (HBSC) transnational study. The sample was comprised of 13,174 Italian middle and secondary school students (11- to 15-year-olds; 50.3% girls). Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire. Measures included involvement in bullying as either a perpetrator or a victim. Trends were determined using Gamma statistics. Results: Consistent and robust decreases in the prevalence of bullying between 2002 and 2010 were detected in Italy. During this time frame both frequent and occasional bullying and victimization decreased by half. Conclusions: We measured a strong decrease in involvement in bullying behavior in Italy, in particular after 2006, when the Italian government invested more systematically in the prevention effort on bullying. This is encouraging news for policymakers and practitioners working in the field of bullying prevention.

Adopting a multi-informant methodology, the current study examines the relative influence of multiple parental characteristics (civic responsibility, encouragement of civic action, parent-youth closeness) on adolescents' civic responsibility (local and global). The participants were 384 early and middle adolescents (47.9% male), randomly selected from an Italian city (mean age = 13.6; SD = 1.63), and one parent for each adolescent. The results show a positive association between the parents' local civic responsibility and the adolescents' responsibility toward the local community, and between the parents' global civic responsibility and the adolescents' responsibility toward societal issues. Moreover, parental encouragement of civic action and parent-youth closeness were positively associated with the adolescents' civic responsibility. Finally, an interaction between the parents' local civic responsibility and parent-child closeness was found in which parents' civic responsibility had stronger influence on youth civic responsibility when the parent-child relationship was characterized by medium or high levels of closeness.

Background: Using data from the 2006 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, the prevalence of 6 forms of bullying (physical, verbal, relational, sexual, cyber, and racist), and the role of smoking and drinking in bullying was examined among Italian adolescents for this study. Methods: The sample was composed of 2667 Italian middle and secondary school students (49.9% girls) randomly selected. The revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was used to measure physical, verbal, relational, sexual, cyber, and racist forms of bullying. For each form, 3 categories were created and compared with students "not involved in bullying": bully, victim, and bully-victim. Logistic regressions were applied to test the connections among the 3 forms of involvement in different types of bullying and smoking and drinking. Results: Prevalence of having been bullied or having bullied others at school at least once in the last 2 months was 11.6% for physical, 52% for verbal, 47.9% for relational, 18.5% for sexual, 19.4% for cyber, and 9.4% for racist bullying. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to be involved in physical bullying; moreover, boys were more involved as bullies in verbal, sexual, cyber, and racist bullying. In contrast, girls were more likely to be victims of verbal, relational, sexual, and cyber bullying than were boys. Logistic regressions showed the connection between the different forms of involvement in bullying and smoking and drinking. Conclusions: Our results indicate that all forms of bullying behavior are associated with legal substance use. Implication for prevention program was discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examines the role of school unfairness in predicting violent behavior among Italian early adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the relations between individual (demographics, psychosocial and relational characteristics, and perception of procedural and relational school unfairness), and class characteristics (mean school unfairness and socioeconomic status) and students' violent behavior. Data were analyzed using a two-level model based on 6,744 students (3,398 boys; M age=14.14) nested within 348 classes. After adjusting for age, gender, and psychosocial confounding factors, relational and procedural unfairness in the school showed a significant association with violent behavior. School unfairness predicted between-school variation in violent behavior, in that procedural unfairness at the school level increased the risk for violent behavior. However, relational unfairness at the school level decreased the risk for violent behavior. The present study suggests that the quality of relationships with teachers may be key in predicting students' violent behavior. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.)

The principal aim of the study is to examine the role of perceived teacher unfairness in predicting bullying behaviour. Data were taken from the "Health Behaviour in School Aged Children" project, a cross-sectional survey investigating health behaviours among early adolescents in selected European countries. Bullying behaviour (bully, victim, and bully/victim), perceived teacher unfairness and others confounding factors were measured through a self-administered questionnaire filled out by a representative sample of 4,386 (48.4% males) Italian students (11, 13, and 15 years old). Covariates included demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, school performance and other psychological factors. After adjusting for age and gender, teacher unfairness showed a significant association with being a bully (OR = 1.59; CI = 1.40-1.80) and a bully or victim (OR = 1.47; CI = 1.21-1.78). This relationship remained significant after additional adjustment for several potential confounding factors. Results show that characteristics of the school setting such as teacher unfairness can be significant predictors of involvement in bullying behaviour among early adolescents.

This study explores the relations between neighborhood social capital (neighbor support and social climate), safety concerns (fear of crime and concern for one's child), parenting (solicitation and support), and adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 952 parents (742 mothers) and 588 boys and 559 girls from five middle schools (sixth through eighth grades) in a midsize Italian city. In structural equation models, social capital is strongly and inversely related to safety concerns and positively related to parental support and solicitation. In turn, safety concerns are also positively related to parental support and solicitation. Social capital and safety concerns have indirect effects on children's antisocial behavior through their effects on parenting. Implications are discussed for parenting and community-based interventions to prevent or reduce youth antisocial behaviors. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

This study used data collected from a sample of 840 Italian adolescents (418 boys; M age = 12.58) and their parents (657 mothers; M age = 43.78) to explore the relations between parenting, adolescent self-disclosure, and antisocial behavior. In the hypothesized model, parenting practices (e.g., parental monitoring and control) have direct effects on parental knowledge and antisocial behavior. Parenting style (e.g., parent-child closeness), on the other hand, is directly related to adolescent self-disclosure, which in turn is positively related to parental knowledge and negatively related to adolescents' antisocial behavior. A structural equation model, which incorporated data from parents and adolescents, largely supported the hypothesized model. Gender-specific models also found some gender differences among adolescents and parents, as the hypothesized model adequately fit the subsample of mothers but not fathers. Mothers' closeness to girls predicted their knowledge of their daughters' behavior; mothers' control predicted boys' antisocial behavior. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The relations between antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms were examined both longitudinally and concurrently in a sample of Italian early-adolescents. Structural equation modelling was applied to 10-month longitudinal data from a sample of 107 youths (54 girls; mean age at baseline = M = 12.5). Early adolescents completed a questionnaire in which they reported antisocial behaviors and depressive symptoms. Results show temporal stability for both constructs. Moreover, results show a significant longitudinal relation between depression at t1 and antisocial behavior at t2. This relation dropped to not significant when controlling for concurrent relations between these two measures of psychosocial adjustment at t2. A multigroup comparison suggests that these findings are similar across gender. Implications of the results for theory and intervention are discussed.

This study assessed the links between civic participation and adolescent behavior problems (bullying, physical fighting, and alcohol and tobacco use), and whether civic engagement could be a moderator of the negative effects of parent/family detachment. Participants were 7,097 11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds (48.6% girls) in a region of Northern Italy. Twenty percent were involved in some level of civic participation, the majority of which was faith-based. Results showed that adolescents who are involved in civic associations reported slightly less fighting and alcohol and tobacco use, but this relationship varies by sex, age, detachment from parents and family, and the frequency of adolescent participation. For the sample as a whole, a U-shaped relationship was found between civic participation and behavior problems, with the fewest behavior problems associated with moderate frequency of participation (1 to 4 times per week). The expected hypothesis that civic participation moderates the relationship between parent/family detachment and problem behaviors was suggested only for 15-year-old girls but not for younger girls or for boys. Implications for preventive interventions are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)