The Relationships between Compulsive Internet Use, Alexithymia, and Dissociation: Gender Differences among Italian Adolescents.

Internet Gaming Disorder, Internet Addiction, Problematic Internet Use and Compulsive Internet Use cause distress and significant impairment in important areas of a person's functioning, in particular among young people. The literature has indicated that males show higher levels of problematic internet use than females. People can use the internet to avoid or alleviate negative affects; in fact, problematic internet use is associated with alexithymia and dissociation. Few studies have focused on the different stages of adolescence, gender differences, and the relationships between the aforementioned variables. This research aims to fill this gap. Five hundred and ninety-four adolescents aged between 13 and 19 filled in the Compulsive Internet Use Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Adolescents Dissociative Experiences Scale, and other ad hoc measures. Surprisingly, females reported higher compulsive internet use compared with males. Moreover, they referred more difficulties/symptoms and greater levels of alexithymia than males. No differences across the stages of adolescence were found. Different strengths in the relationships between variables were found according to gender. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that dissociation is an important mediator in the relation between alexithymia and Compulsive Internet Use only among females. This study shed new light on gender differences around problematic internet use and some related risk factors, in order to identify and develop prevention and treatment programs to face this topical and relevant issue.

Prevalence of engagement and frequency of non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in adolescence: an investigation of the longitudinal course and the role of temperamental effortful control.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is among the most frequent maladaptive behaviors reported in adolescence, with prevalence rates around 18-22% in community samples worldwide. The onset of NSSI typically occurs between early and middle adolescence, with a peak during middle adolescence (14-15 years) and a subsequent decline during late adolescence. This study investigated the growth curves of NSSI across four years during adolescence, analyzing simultaneously the probability of engagement in NSSI at least once (i.e., prevalence) and the frequency of engagement once initiated (i.e., severity). Furthermore, the study examined the predicting role of effortful control on NSSI over time (time-varying effects), net of other key risk factors for NSSI, such as anxiety-depression and bullying victimization. A sample of 430 Italian adolescents enrolled in Grade 9 at baseline was involved in the study. Based on the Latent Growth Curve Zero-inflated Poisson methodology, the results indicated a negative quadratic trend of both NSSI prevalence, with an increase between T1 and T3 followed by a decrease in the subsequent wave, and NSSI frequency once initiated, with a peak at T2 followed by a decline over time. The results also showed that adolescents who reported low effortful control abilities had a heightened probability of involvement in NSSI at each time point, whereas no significant association was found with NSSI frequency once initiated. Findings from this study offer important insights into the developmental course of NSSI and point out the need for future in-depth investigations of the mechanisms that might underlie NSSI prevalence and severity throughout adolescence.

Equipping Youth to Think and Act Responsibly: The Effectiveness of the "EQUIP for Educators" Program on Youths' Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions and School Bullying Perpetration.

School bullying is a serious public health concern in many countries worldwide. Over recent decades, several effective anti-bullying prevention programs have been developed. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted version of the "Equipping Youth to Help One Another (EQUIP) for Educators" (EfE) program in reducing adolescents' engagement in school bullying perpetration by correcting their use of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs). Furthermore, guided by the vantage sensitivity framework, we investigated whether the intervention effects varied depending on the adolescents' gender and environmental sensitivity. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test with a control group design involved 354 Italian middle and high school adolescents (51.7% males; Mage = 14.86, SD = 2.54). Both the control (n = 187) and experimental group (n = 167) completed self-report questionnaires, before and after the intervention. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant moderated mediation effect: highly sensitive males participating in the EfE program decreased their engagement in bullying by reducing CDs, compared to females and those with low- and medium- sensitivity. These findings support the effectiveness of the EfE program in equipping youth to think and act more responsible and shed light on "why" and "for whom" the intervention might work better to counteract school bullying during adolescence.

Individual and Environmental Correlates of Adolescents' Moral Decision-Making in Moral Dilemmas.

While extensive research has been conducted on adults' judgments in moral sacrificial dilemmas, there is little research on adolescents. The present study aimed at: (1) adding further empirical evidence about adolescents' moral decisions (deontological vs. utilitarian) in sacrificial moral dilemmas and (2) investigating how these moral decisions relate with gender, school grade, emotional traits (callous-unemotional traits), context-related experiences (perceived parental rejection and community violence exposure), and moral-related factors (moral disengagement and universalism value). A sample of 755 Italian adolescents (54.7% females; Mean age=16.45, SD=1.61) attending the second and the fifth year of secondary school took part in the study. Two sacrificial trolley-type dilemmas (where harmful actions promote the greater good) were presented. In the "switch" scenario (impersonal sacrificial dilemma), the choice is whether to hit a switch to save five people killing only one person. In the "footbridge" scenario (personal sacrificial dilemma), the choice is whether to push a large man off a footbridge saving five persons. For each scenario, participants had to indicate whether the proposed action was "morally acceptable" or not. Data were analyzed performing generalized linear mixed models. Our results showed that: (1) Adolescents were more likely to indicate as admissible to hit the switch rather than to push the large man; (2) male adolescents, compared to females, were more likely to say it was morally acceptable to intervene in the footbridge dilemma, whereas younger adolescents said it was morally acceptable both in the switch and the footbridge situations; and (3) higher levels of callous-unemotional traits, perceived parental rejection, and moral disengagement, on the one hand, and lower levels of universalism, on the other hand, were associated to higher admissibility to intervene in the footbridge scenario. Higher community violence exposure was associated with a lower propensity to intervene in the switch scenario. Overall, the present study expands the research on sacrificial dilemmas involving a sample of adolescents. The findings support previous studies concerning the role of emotions in making moral decisions but, at the same, open new perspectives regarding the role of contextual experiences and moral-related factors.

Individual, Familial, and Socio-Environmental Risk Factors of Gang Membership in a Community Sample of Adolescents in Southern Italy.

Despite the growing social alarm generated by the recurrent news concerning violent episodes involving youth gangs, systematic research in Italy in this field, especially within a psychological framework, is still limited. Following a social-ecological approach, the present study aimed at investigating the role of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs), parental rejection, and community violence witnessing in youth gang membership (YGM). Furthermore, we examined the mediating and/or moderating role of YGM in the association between risk factors and involvement in antisocial behaviors (ASBs). A community sample of 817 adolescents attending middle and high schools in a high-risk urban area in Southern Italy (46.9% males; 53% middle school students; Mage = 14.67; SD = 1.65) were involved in the study. One hundred and fifty-seven participants (19.2%) were found to be gang members. Employing counterfactual-based mediation analysis, we found that CDs and community violence witnessing were directly associated with YGM and ASBs. The association between CDs and ASBs was mediated by YGM. Parental rejection was directly related to ASBs but not to YGM. A significant interaction effect between parental rejection and YGM was found, revealing that high levels of parental rejection, along with being a gang member, amplified the involvement in ASBs. These findings pointed out that distorted moral cognitions and the experience of violence witnessing within the community may represent a fertile ground for gang involvement. Both individual and contextual factors should be considered in order to implement interventions aimed to prevent adolescents' risk of joining a gang.

Effortful Control and Community Violence Exposure as Predictors of Developmental Trajectories of Self-serving Cognitive Distortions in Adolescence: A Growth Mixture Modeling Approach.

Self-serving cognitive distortions are biased or rationalizing beliefs and thoughts that originate from the individual persistence into immature moral judgment stages during adolescence and adulthood, increasing the individual's engagement in antisocial or immoral conducts. To date, the literature examining trajectories of cognitive distortions over time and their precursors is limited. This study sought to fill this gap, by examining effortful control and community violence exposure as individual and environmental precursors to developmental trajectories of cognitive distortions in adolescence. The sample consisted of 803 Italian high school students (349 males; Mage = 14.19, SD = 0.57). Three trajectories of cognitive distortions were identified: (1) moderately high and stable cognitive distortions (N = 311), (2) moderate and decreasing cognitive distortions (N = 363), and (3) low and decreasing cognitive distortions (N = 129). Both low effortful control and high exposure to community violence were significant predictors for moderately high and stable trajectory of cognitive distortions. These results point to the importance of considering moral development as a process involving multiple levels of individual ecology, highlighting the need to further explore how dispositional and environmental factors might undermine developmental processes of morality.

Pathways Linking Exposure to Community Violence, Self-serving Cognitive Distortions and School Bullying Perpetration: A Three-Wave Study.

School bullying is a social phenomenon stemming from a complex interrelationship between the individuals and their environments. Underpinned by the social-ecological models, this study investigated the mediation of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs) in the relationship between community violence exposure, as a victim and as a witness, and bullying perpetration. Bidirectional associations between violence exposure and bullying perpetration, and between CDs and bullying perpetration over time were also hypothesized. The study used a three-waves cross-lagged panel modeling in a sample of 829 Italian high school adolescents (46% males; Mage [Time 1; T1] = 12.71; Standard deviation [SD] = 1.68). The results showed that being exposed to community violence as a witness at T1 increased the development of CDs at Time 2 (T2), which in turn promoted the bullying perpetration at Time 3 (T3). Being exposed to community violence as a victim was not a significant predictor of CDs and bullying perpetration over time. Bidirectional associations were found between witnessing violence and bullying perpetration, and between CDs and bullying perpetration. The association between community violence exposure and individual moral cognitions over time plays a crucial role in predicting bullying perpetration. These findings highlight the need to consider both contextual and individual factors in understanding and preventing bullying perpetration.