Miretta Prezza

Sense of community referred to the whole town: Its relations with neighboring, loneliness, life satisfaction, and area of residence

The aim was to explore the relationships between sense of community and various factors with respect to a fairly broad area (town, city, or large quarter of a metropolis). Degree of neighboring, life satisfaction, loneliness, and area of residence were also considered. Subjects included 630 men and women, aged 20-65 years, with different educational levels. They were individually administered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Italian Sense of Community Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the University of California Loneliness Scale, and a Neighborhood Relations Scale. The subjects all live in Central Italy. They were divided into six groups as follows: one group living in a quarter of Rome, three groups living in three different areas of Grottaferrata (a hill town near Rome) and two groups living in two areas of Spoleto (the historical center and a working class suburb), a town in the Umbria region. Multiple regression analysis revealed the following: Neighborhood relations are stronger for women, for members of large families, for those with less education, for those living in the community for many years and for members of groups or associations. The strongest predictor of sense of community is neighborhood relations, although years of residence, being married, group participation, and area of residence are also significant factors. Sense of community is related to life satisfaction and loneliness in both the large and small town and in the city. Moreover, although sense of community is strongly associated with area of residence in Spoleto, this is not true for Grottaferrata. Overall, the results confirm the usefulness of conceptualizing the sense of community construct separately }}}{{{� Journal of Community Psychology, January 2001 }}}{{{from degree of neighboring.

Sense of community and life satisfaction: investigation in three different territorial contexts

The aim of this study was to investigate relations between sense of community, life satisfaction, self-esteem, perceived social support and satisfaction with community services in three territorial communities of different sizes. Further, the relations between sense of community and socio-demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, education, children, working in ones own community, owning ones home and group participation) were also studied. The Italian version of the Sense of Community Scale, Rosenbergs Self-esteem Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, a scale on Satisfaction with Community Services and a questionnaire were administered to 336 subjects; selection was made in the three communities from 20–60 year-old individuals. Results confirm that sense of community and life satisfaction are higher in the town than in the larger communities; also, sense of community relates to life satisfaction only in the town and the small city.

Loneliness and new technologies in a group of Roman adolescents

Abstract This study was carried out on 331 Italian secondary school students (64 females and 267 males; their mean age was 17.25, S.D.=0.87). The first aim of this study was to explore the relationships among type of class (computer science or not), gender and socio-economic status and frequency and modality of using the computer, Internet and the mobile phone. The second aim was to explore the relationship between the use of Internet and feelings of loneliness. Two instruments were administered: a questionnaire to explore some of the social habits of adolescents and their use of the three technologies considered, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The results confirmed that those with a higher socio-economic status use Internet more; the computer is used more by those who frequent a computer science section and by those with a higher socio-economic status. Loneliness emerged in relation to gender (higher in females), but not in relation to socio-economic status. Moreover it emerged at both the univariate and multivariate level in relation to the use of Internet and in negative relation to frequenting an informal peer group. A positive relationship between feelings of loneliness and number of friends who go on-line emerged only at the univariate level. The use of the mobile phone was almost completely independent of the variables examined here.

Children and the public realm: antecedents and consequences of independent mobility in a group of 11–13-year-old Italian children

Access to several play environments, as well as exploration of public spaces and socialization with peers, is crucial for childrens development. Western children are often deprived of these opportunities and independent mobility is constantly decreasing. In the present study, we aimed to test an integrative model of the antecedents and consequences of independent mobility and to preliminarily explore the relationship between parenting styles and independent mobility in a group of 589 Italian children. We expected and found that being female and being younger predicted less independent mobility. In turn, we found that lower independent mobility predicted greater feelings of loneliness through the mediation of a weaker sense of community, a lower sense of safety and less frequent social activities with friends. Moreover, we found that independent mobility changed according to different configurations of parenting styles.

Social Participation and Independent Mobility in Children: The Effects of Two Implementations of “We Go to School Alone”

The aim of this research was to determine the outcomes of the “We go to school alone” program in two Districts of Rome through a longitudinal study involving 392 children (mean age = 8.37 years) and 270 parents. The outcomes of the program in the two Districts were very different. Only one resulted in an increase in childrens autonomous mobility on the home–school journey, a reduction in the number of times a child was taken to school by car, and, even more important, in an increase in the general level of childrens independent mobility in their neighborhood. The findings are discussed in terms of a process evaluation that enabled us to understand the differing results.

La mobilità autonoma dei bambini nel contesto urbano e il cortile, il parco, la strada privata come spazi di gioco

A 251 madri, che abitano in quartieri nuovi e vecchi, 80 in una casa con cortile condominiale, 91 in una casa vicino ad un parco e 80 in una strada privata, e stata sottoposta un’intervista semi-strutturata su alcuni aspetti della loro percezione del quartiere, sulla mobilita urbana e le abitudini di gioco del loro figlio (o di un loro figlio) di eta compresa tra i 7 e i 12 anni. Il cortile e decisamente piu utilizzato dai bambini come spazio di gioco sia rispetto al parco ed ancora di piu rispetto alla strada privata. Nel cortile, inoltre, i bambini sono molto meno controllati dagli adulti. Il numero dei bambini che va a scuola da solo o con coetanei, che fa commissioni e che raggiunge autonomamente i luoghi di gioco e molto basso; sono comunque piu autonomi i bambini/e piu grandi, i maschi, quelli/e che vivono in una casa con cortile, quelli/e che abitano in un quartiere piu nuovo e quelli/e i cui genitori percepiscono piu sicuro il quartiere sia rispetto al traffico sia rispetto all’ambiente sociale.