Michela Lenzi

Health Status in Immigrants and Native Early Adolescents in Italy

The aim of the study was to compare health status between native and immigrant early adolescents in Italy and to analyze related psychosocial factors. Data were taken from “Health Behavior in School Aged Children”, a cross-sectional survey investigating health behaviors among early adolescents in selected European countries. A representative sample of 6,744 (50.4% males) Italian students (11, 13 and 15-years-old) completed a questionnaire. Students were assessed for demographics characteristics, socio-economic conditions, social support and bullying victimization, and, as dependent variables, for health complaints, self-reported health, life satisfaction and happiness. It turned out that immigrant adolescents, as compared to natives, are more often affected by psychosomatic symptoms, less satisfied about their health and about life, and less happy. A multiple regression model showed that migration itself is related to life satisfaction and happiness. Socio-economic inequalities, lack of social integration and victimization determine the differences between immigrants and natives in terms of health symptoms and self-reported health. Immigrant adolescents demonstrated worse health status then their native classmates. However, the differences in terms of subjective well-being are not explained by socio-economic differences, lack of social integration and discrimination.

Electronic media communication with friends from 2002 to 2006 and links to face-to-face contacts in adolescence: an HBSC study in 31 European and North American countries and regions

Objective:Because the potential for electronic media communication (EMC) has increased greatly, it is of interest to describe trends in EMC between adolescents and their friends and to investigate whether EMC facilitate or supersede face-to-face contacts among peers.Methods:Answers of 275,571 adolescents concerning contacting friends by means of the phone, text messages, and the internet (i. e. EMC), the number of close friends, and the number of afternoons and evenings per week spent out with friends were analysed by means of

Perceived Neighborhood Social Resources as Determinants of Prosocial Behavior in Early Adolescence

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Mortality due to mental and behavioral disorders associated with the Great Recession (2008–10) in Italy: a time trend analysis

-tests and multiple regression.Results:In 2006, between more than one third (11-year olds) and nearly two thirds (15-year olds) communicated electronically with their friends daily or nearly daily. From 2002 to 2006, EMC increased in almost all participating countries. Particularly high increases were found in Eastern Europe. Across countries, the higher the frequency of EMC the higher the number of afternoons and evenings spent with friends.Conclusion:The results are surprisingly consistent across the 31 countries and suggest that EMC among adolescents facilitate rather than supersede face-to-face peer contacts.

Income inequality and adolescent gambling severity: Findings from a large-scale italian representative survey

Being bullied at school is a risk factor for a variety of negative consequences, including somatic problems. The purpose of this meta‐analysis is to determine the association between peer victimization and headache in the school‐age population.

Cannabis Liberalization and Adolescent Cannabis Use: A Cross-National Study in 38 Countries

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.

The Role Played by the Family in Shaping Early and Middle Adolescent Civic Responsibility

Research on youth civic engagement focuses on individual-level predictors. We examined individual- and school-level characteristics, including family affluence, democratic school social climate and perceived neighborhood social capital, in their relation to civic engagement of 15-year-old students. Data were taken from the 2006 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. A sample of 8,077 adolescents in 10th grade from five countries (Belgium, Canada, Italy, Romania, England) were assessed. Multilevel models were analyzed for each country and across the entire sample. Results showed that family affluence, democratic school climate and perceived neighborhood social capital positively related to participation in community organizations. These links were stronger at the aggregate contextual than individual level and varied by country. Canadian youth participated most and Romanian youth least of the five countries. Gender predicted engagement in two countries (girls participate more in Canada, boys in Italy). Findings showed significant contributions of the social environment to adolescents’ engagement in their communities.

Does the association between different dimension of social capital and adolescent smoking vary by socioeconomic status? a pooled cross-national analysis

We estimated the proportion of deaths due to mental and behavioral disorders attributable to the Great Recession (2008-10) in Italy. Data on standardized death rates due to mental and behavioral disorders per 100,000 from 2000 to 2010 were provided by the Italian Health for All database. There were an additional 0.303 per 100,000 deaths per year (95% CI: 0.192, 0.478; P = 0.001) because of the crisis. Each annual decrease of €1000 in gross domestic product per capita was associated with an increase of 0.126 per 100,000 (95% CI: 0.046, 0.205; P = 0.004) deaths; every annual 1% increase in unemployment corresponded to an increase of 0.074 per 100,000 (95% CI: 0.032, 0.117; P = 0.002) deaths.