Changing to Impress: Testing a Mediation Model from Instagram Self-presentation to Cosmetic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between false self-presentation on Instagram and consideration of cosmetic surgery through the mediating role of body image control in photos (BICP), photo manipulation, and body shame. We predicted that false self-presentation on Instagram was indirectly associated with cosmetic surgery intentions through the aforementioned constructs. METHODS: A total of 504 young Italian adults (28.2% males, 18-30 years) completed an online survey. They completed a questionnaire containing the Self-presentation on Instagram Questionnaire, the Body Image Control in Photos Questionnaire-revised, the Photo Manipulation Scale, the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, and the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale. The pattern of associations between the constructs was analyzed via path analysis. RESULTS: The results show that false self-presentation on Instagram was associated with photo manipulation, both directly and indirectly, through BICP. Furthermore, photo manipulation was linked to body shame, but neither of them was associated with cosmetic surgery intentions. Finally, false self-presentation on Instagram was associated with the consideration of cosmetic surgery only through the mediation of BICP. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that self-presentation styles might affect Instagram photo behaviors and individuals' cosmetic surgery intentions, suggesting that surgeons should fully examine patients' motivations before providing them with services. Furthermore, intervention programs encouraging users to present a more authentic version of themselves online might reduce the risk of self-objectification and reduce the consideration of procedures aimed at modifying one's body for purely aesthetic reasons. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Yes, I will do it! Factors promoting the intention to volunteer after COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

This cross-sectional study assessed the extent to which the intention to volunteer after the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with resilience, post-traumatic growth, and community service self-efficacy in a representative Italian sample (N = 295; Mage = 44.77; SD = 14.79; range = 18-83 years; 53.22% men). The model tested through a path analysis revealed a positive association between community service self-efficacy and intention to continue volunteering. Multi-group comparisons revealed that this relationship was maintained in participants who were active volunteers, while in the group of former volunteers, only a positive association between post-traumatic growth and intention to volunteer was found. This study contributed to highlight the importance of community service self-efficacy and post-traumatic growth in the volunteering experience and the intention to continue volunteering in the future.

Heterogeneity of smartphone impact on everyday life and its relationship with personality and psychopathology: A latent profile analysis.

BACKGROUND: The relationships between problematic smartphone use and psychological factors have been extensively investigated. However, previous studies generally used variable-centered approaches, which hinder an examination of the heterogeneity of smartphone impact on everyday life. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we capitalized on latent profile analysis to identify various classes of smartphone owners based on the impact associated with smartphone use (e.g., unregulated usage, preference for smartphone-mediated social relationships) and to compare these classes in terms of established psychological risk factors for problematic smartphone use. METHOD: We surveyed 934 young adults with validated psychometric questionnaires to assess the impact of smartphones, psychopathological symptoms, self-esteem and impulsivity traits. RESULTS: Smartphone users fall into four latent profiles: users with low smartphone impact, users with average smartphone impact, problematic smartphone users, and users favoring online interactions. Individuals distributed in the problematic smartphone user profile were characterized by heightened psychopathological symptoms (stress, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies) and impulsivity traits. Moreover, users who preferred online interactions exhibited the highest symptoms of social anxiety and the lowest levels of self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: These findings further demonstrate the multidimensionality and heterogeneity of the impact of smartphone use, calling for tailored prevention and intervention strategies.

Maintaining social support while social distancing: The longitudinal benefit of basic psychological needs for symptoms of anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Although social distancing measures could be potentially perceived as thwarting conditions for basic psychological needs and thus causing psychological distress, off(on)line social support could compensate for this frustration by providing psychological proximity. Using self-determination theory, in this study, we aimed (a) to evaluate the change of perception in need satisfaction over time (before and during home-confinement and after a month of lockdown) and (b) to test the short-term longitudinal association between off(on)line social support, basic needs, and anxiety during social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. During the lockdown period decreed by Italy in March 2019 to confront the COVID-19 emergency, 1344 participants completed an online questionnaire and 131 participants completed a follow-up after 1 month. Results showed a decrease in need satisfaction during home confinement and a further reduction after a month of lockdown. Cross-sectional path analysis showed that both online and offline social support were associated with higher need satisfaction, which, in turn, was related to a lower level of anxiety. Longitudinal paths also confirmed the association between need satisfaction and anxiety. Collectively, these results suggest that maintaining psychological proximity despite social distancing measures may provide important avenues for reducing negative outcomes during forced home confinement.

How Communication Technology Fosters Individual and Social Wellbeing During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Support For a Digital Interaction Model.

The aim of the present study was to test an explanatory model for individual and social wellbeing which incorporates the advantages of using digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was carried out in Italy, one of the countries that has been most severely affected by the pandemic worldwide. The study was designed to include variables that might be specifically pertinent to the uniqueness of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Adults living in Italy (n = 1412) completed an online survey during the lockdown period in March 2020. Results showed two distinct digital interaction processes highlighted by the facilitating use of online emotions ("e-motions") and online social support ("e-support"). In short, e-motions were positively related to posttraumatic growth, which in turn was positively associated with positive mental health and higher engagement in prosocial behaviors. Moreover, individuals who perceived themselves as having greater e-support were characterized by higher levels of positive mental health, which it turn was positively associated with prosocial behaviors. Collectively, these two digital interaction processes suggest that digital technologies appear to be critical resources in helping individuals cope with difficulties raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct: Evidence from a large-scale network analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples.

AIMS: Negative and positive urgency are emotion-related impulsivity traits that are thought to be transdiagnostic factors in psychopathology. However, it has recently been claimed that these two traits are closely related to each other and that considering them separately might have limited conceptual and methodological value. The present study aimed to examine whether positive and negative urgency constructs constitute separate impulsivity traits. METHODS: In contrast to previous studies that have used latent variable approaches, this study employed an item-based network analysis conducted in two different samples: a large sample of non-clinical participants (N = 18,568) and a sample of clinical participants with psychiatric disorders (N = 385). RESULTS: The network analysis demonstrated that items denoting both positive and negative urgency cohere as a single cluster of items termed "general urgency" in both clinical and non-clinical samples, thereby suggesting that differentiating positive and negative urgency as separate constructs is not necessary. CONCLUSION: These findings have important implications for the conceptualization and assessment of urgency and, more broadly, for future research on impulsivity, personality, and psychopathology.

Goth Music and Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study.

Identification with Goth youth culture has been related to elevated levels of depression, self-harm and suicide ideation. However, this identification may be difficult to assess as Goth is stigmatized and adolescents may hesitate to self-identify. Conversely, adolescents readily respond to questions on their music preferences. This study addresses the potential link between liking Goth music and depressive symptoms in a four-year study among 10 to 15-year-olds (N = 940, M age = 12.4 at T1, 49% female). In this study, it was found that Goth music is only liked by a small minority of adolescents (4 to 11%). Both girls and boys who liked Goth music reported increased levels of depressive symptoms as they grew older. The findings of this study suggest that a preference for Goth music emerges as an early, sensitive marker of dormant or developing depressive symptoms in adolescents. The mechanisms through which music preferences can translate into or sustain depressive symptoms are discussed.

Changes in sleep pattern, sense of time and digital media use during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy.

Italy is one of the major COVID-19 hotspots. To reduce the spread of the infections and the pressure on Italian healthcare systems, since March 10, 2020, Italy has been under a total lockdown, forcing people into home confinement. Here we present data from 1,310 people living in the Italian territory (Mage  = 23.91 ± 3.60 years, 880 females, 501 workers, 809 university students), who completed an online survey from March 24 to March 28, 2020. In the survey, we asked participants to think about their use of digital media before going to bed, their sleep pattern and their subjective experience of time in the previous week (March 17-23, which was the second week of the lockdown) and up to the first week of February (February 3-10, before any restriction in any Italian area). During the lockdown, people increased the usage of digital media near bedtime, but this change did not affect sleep habits. Nevertheless, during home confinement, sleep timing markedly changed, with people going to bed and waking up later, and spending more time in bed, but, paradoxically, also reporting a lower sleep quality. The increase in sleep difficulties was stronger for people with a higher level of depression, anxiety and stress symptomatology, and associated with the feeling of elongation of time. Considering that the lockdown is likely to continue for weeks, research data are urgently needed to support decision making, to build public awareness and to provide timely and supportive psychosocial interventions.

Emotionally laden impulsivity interacts with affect in predicting addictive use of online sexual activity in men.

The interest in studying addictive use of online sexual activities (OSA) has grown sharply over the last decade. Despite the burgeoning number of studies conceptualizing the excessive use of OSA as an addictive disorder, few have tested its relations to impulsivity, which is known to constitute a hallmark of addictive behaviors. To address this missing gap in the literature, we tested the relationships between addictive OSA use, impulsivity traits, and affect among a convenience sample of men (N=182; age, M=29.17, SD = 9.34), building upon a theoretically driven model that distinguishes the various facets of impulsivity. Results showed that negative urgency (an impulsivity trait reflecting the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states) and negative affect interact in predicting addictive OSA use. These results highlight the pivotal role played by negative urgency and negative affect in addictive OSA use, supporting the relevance of psychological interventions that focus on improving emotional regulation (e.g., to reduce negative affect and learn healthier coping strategies) to mitigate excessive use of OSA.

Overweight and lower age at menarche: evidence from the Italian HBSC cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: A unique standardized national dataset on adolescent girls (21 regions) participating in the Italian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study (HBSC) was used to investigate the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and age at menarche. METHODS: Two independent nationally representative survey datasets: one on 15-year-olds (n = 6907, in 21 regions, year 2013/2014) and one on 11-year-olds (n = 10,128, in 20 regions, year 2009/2010) were analysed. The survey instrument was a self-report questionnaire. Median age at menarche and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by means of Kaplan-Meier analysis. Hierarchical models were used to assess the relationship between BMI and age at menarche (months). "Region-level obesity" was measured as the prevalence of overweight/obesity (%) in each region. RESULTS: Region-level median age at menarche ranged between 12 years/3 months and 13 years/4 months. Region-level prevalence of overweight among 15-year-old girls ranged between 4 and 19%. Age at menarche was inversely associated with individual BMI (unstandardized regression coefficient beta = - 0.70; 95% CI, - 0.84 to - 0.56). Individual- and class-level measures of BMI accounted for 50% of the region-level variance in age at menarche. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that overweight in childhood is in relation with the early puberty in girls. Future surveys may take into account this report to clarify if overweight is the cause or consequence of early menarche.

Is Medicine Use for Nervousness Associated with Adolescent At-Risk or Problem Gambling?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between adolescent at-risk or problem gambling (ARPG) and medicine used to treat nervousness in a large-scale nationally representative sample of Italian adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: Data from the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey was used for cross-sectional analyses (a sample of 20,791 15-year-old students). Self-administered questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of high-school students. Respondents' ARPG, use of medicine for nervousness and potential confounding factors were assessed. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were used to test the association between medicine use to treat nervousness and ARPG. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of adolescents reporting medicine use for nervousness in the last month was 6.3%. The odds of ARPG were 3 times higher among adolescents who used medicine for nervousness compared to that among adolescents who did not take such medicine (OR 2.96, 95% CI 2.07-4.25). Importantly, the association between medicine used to treat nervousness and ARPG did not vary significantly when viewed in light of psychological symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Medicine use to treat nervousness is associated with increased risk of gambling-related harm.

"I Am Becoming More and More Like My Eldest Brother!": The Relationship Between Older Siblings, Adolescent Gambling Severity, and the Attenuating Role of Parents in a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Survey Study.

The present study examined the association between having older siblings who gamble and adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and how parents (i.e., parental knowledge of their whereabouts) and peers might moderate such effects. Data were drawn from the ESPAD®Italia2012 survey (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) comprising a nationally representative Italian sample of adolescents. The analysis was carried out on a subsample of 10,063 Italian students aged 15-19 years (average age = 17.10; 55 % girls) who had at least one older sibling and who had gambled at some point in their lives. Respondents' problem gambling severity, older gambler sibling, gambler peers, parental knowledge, and socio-demographic characteristics were individually assessed. Multinomial logistic regression analyses including two- and three-way interactions were conducted. The odds of being an at-risk/problem gambler were higher among high school students with older siblings that gambled and those with peers who gambled. Higher parental knowledge (of who the adolescent was with and where they were in their leisure time) was associated with lower rates of at-risk/problem gambling. There was also an interaction between gamblers with older siblings and parental knowledge. The combination of having siblings who gambled and a greater level of parental knowledge was associated with lower levels of problem gambling. The present study confirmed the occurrence of social risk processes (older siblings and peers who gambled) and demonstrated that gambling among older siblings and peers represents an important contextual factor for increased at-risk/problem gambling. However, parental knowledge appears to be sufficient to counterbalance the influence of older siblings.

Adolescent Gambling-Oriented Attitudes Mediate the Relationship Between Perceived Parental Knowledge and Adolescent Gambling: Implications for Prevention.

Although substantial research has provided support for the association between parental practices and adolescent gambling, less is known about the role of adolescent attitudes in this relationship. The primary purpose of this study was to test an integrative model linking perceived parental knowledge (children's perceptions of their parents' knowledge of their whereabouts and companions) with adolescent gambling while evaluating the mediating effects of adolescents' own gambling approval, risk perception of gambling, and descriptive norms on gambling shared with friends. The data were drawn from the ESPAD® Italia 2012 (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) study, which is based on a nationally representative sample of Italian adolescent students aged 15-19. The analysis was carried out on a subsample of 19,573 subjects (average age 17.11, 54 % girls). Self-completed questionnaires were administered in the classroom setting. The results revealed that adolescents who perceived higher levels of parental knowledge were more likely to disapprove of gambling and show higher awareness of its harmfulness, which were in turn negatively related to gambling frequency. They were also less likely to perceive their friends as gamblers, which was also negatively related to gambling frequency. These findings suggest that gambling prevention efforts should consider perceived parental knowledge and gambling-oriented attitudes (self-approval, risk perception, and descriptive norms) as factors that may buffer adolescent gambling behavior in various situations.

Cybervictimization and somatic and psychological symptoms among Italian middle school students.

BACKGROUND: Existing literature clearly documents the association between cybervictimization and psychological symptoms; less clear is the association between cybervictimization and somatic symptoms. This study aims to verify the association between cybervictimization and both psychological and somatic symptoms on a representative sample of Italian early adolescents. METHODS: This study used data from 24 099 students aged 13 years participating in the 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey. Self-completed questionnaires, devised by the HBSC international group, were administered in classrooms. Multilevel models of logistic regression (controlling for traditional bullying victimization, computer use and demographics) were used to investigate the association between cybervictimization and psychological and somatic symptoms. RESULTS: Overall, 3.1% of the students reported having been bullied frequently electronically and 8.7% occasionally (compared, respectively, to 4.0 and 9.2% victims of traditional forms of bullying). Overall, prevalence of students reporting psychological and somatic symptoms was 32.5 and 12.0%, respectively. Being victims of cyberbullying was positively associated to students' psychological and somatic symptoms, after controlling for traditional bullying victimization and computer use. CONCLUSION: Cybervictimization has similar psychological and somatic consequences for boys and girls, thus suggesting that intervention and prevention efforts should focus on both gender groups.

The efficacy of computerized alcohol intervention tailored to drinking motives among college students: a quasi-experimental pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Although motivational processes may influence the intervention effects and help prevention programmes identify students at great risk for alcohol-related problems, no computerized alcohol intervention has yet to be tailored to drinking motives. OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and initial pilot testing of a computer-delivered intervention tailored to drinking motives, to prevent alcohol abuse and its adverse consequences among university students in general and among baseline hazardous drinkers specifically. METHODS: 124 college students attending a public university in northeastern Italy participated in this study in October of 2012 (89.2% female- mean age = 21.64-34% baseline hazardous drinkers). Two classes (one undergraduate, one graduate) were assigned to one of two conditions: intervention and control group. Both groups received profile-specific feedback and then the intervention group received profile-specific online training for 4 weeks. This profile was based on their risk type (high-low) and drinking motives (enhancement-social-conformity-coping). RESULTS: Controlling for corresponding baseline alcohol measures, analyses showed a significant interaction between intervention condition and hazardous drinkers at baseline. For hazardous drinkers at baseline, the alcohol intervention results showed a significant decrease in frequency and quantity of alcohol use at follow-up, while no difference was observed between intervention conditions for non-hazardous drinkers at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that hazardous drinkers (college students) who completed the specific training and received personalized feedback seemed to do better on frequency and quantity of alcohol use than hazardous drinkers (college students) who received only personalized feedback. These results seem to provide support for a larger trial of the intervention and for more appropriate evaluations.

The effect of the sense of Community on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: the mediation role of a balanced time perspective.

PURPOSE: Social context and time are two dimensions within which our entire existence is embedded. Therefore, prompting a positive set of attitudes and beliefs towards these elements is fundamental for individuals' psychological well-being. Currently, there is limited understanding regarding the interplay between the sense of community and time perspective in relation to psychological distress. The present study aims, at investigating the effects that the sense of community and time perspective have on the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. Particular attention has been dedicated to testing whether the effect of sense of community on anxiety, depression, and stress is mediated by the deviation from a balanced time perspective. METHODS: To accomplish our purposes, we asked 352 participants to complete an online survey and respond to the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), and the Multi-Dimensional Sense of Community Scale (MTSOCS). From these scales, we obtained the scores for anxiety, depression, and stress as well as a general score for the sense of community and the deviation from a balanced time perspective. We computed three General Linear Mediation Models, one for each scale of the DASS-21. RESULTS: The results showed that the relationship between sense of community and psychological distress was mediated by the deviation from a balanced time perspective extending previous findings and enriching the existing literature on time perspective. CONCLUSION: The results described so far could be applied to build a series of interventions aimed at promoting psychological well-being in the general population. Considering our findings, we suggest that individuals' health could be promoted by both improving their sense of community, which in turn would decrease their levels of stress, and by restructuring their time perspective when it became dysfunctional and unbalanced.

Can we predict adolescent cannabis use? A Bayesian semi-parametric approach to project future trends.

Despite its decrease in many Western countries, cannabis remains the most used illicit substance among adolescents. This study aims to summarize cannabis consumption during the last two decades and project trends among 15-year-olds in the 2021-22 HBSC survey. A Bayesian semi-parametric hierarchical model was adopted to estimate the trend of cannabis consumption using data of about 287,000 adolescents from the 2001/2002 to the 2017/2018 HBSC wave and the 38 countries that met the inclusion criteria. Data show an overall decline in most countries for both boys and girls. However, in 22 countries of 38 cannabis use is expected to increase again in our projection. The discussion of these findings should take into account cultural, policy, social factors and unpredictable events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, that can significantly impact future trends leading to discrepancies between the projected and observed values. However, these discrepancies can provide insight into understanding the potential impact of preventive strategies and the underlying processes responsible for changes in cannabis use over time.

Different Categories of Social Media Use and Their Association With Body Image Among Adolescents in 42 Countries.

Objectives: Social media has become integrated into adolescents' lives and influences body image perceptions. Our study examined four patterns of social media use (SMU): non-active, active, intensive, and problematic. We hypothesised that intensive SMU and problematic SMU would be associated with negative body image (negative subjective body weight) and over/underestimated body weight congruence, compared to non-active and active SMU. In addition, we expect these associations to be stronger for girls. Methods: Data from 190,892 respondents aged 11, 13, and 15 from 42 countries involved in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were analysed. Results: Findings revealed higher rates of intensive or problematic SMU among adolescents who perceived themselves as too fat or too thin. Two-level regression analyses showed intensive and problematic SMU as more likely to perceive themselves as too fat or too thin than active users. The association was significant among intensive and problematic girl social media users, whereas, among boys, the relationship was only significant for problematic users. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of assessing SMU patterns to evaluate associations with body image.

Are anxiety, depression, and stress distinguishable in Italian adolescents? an examination through the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21.

The adolescents' ability to discriminate between different negative emotional states is still under debate. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) serves as a useful tool to unravel this issue, yet the literature on its structural validity in young people is ambiguous. Therefore, this study aimed to expand knowledge on the emotional experience of youth by investigating the factor structure and psychometric properties of the DASS-21 in Italian adolescents. Six hundred fifty-five students (60.6% girls) aged 14-18 (M = 16.3 ± 1.29) completed an online survey containing the DASS-21 and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). To evaluate the factor structure of the DASS-21, several alternative models were tested, also adopting an Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) procedure. Measurement invariance, reliability, validity, and latent means differences were addressed. The ESEM model with three correlated factors of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress yielded the best fit to the data, supporting a hierarchical structure of the DASS-21. In addition, this model was invariant across sex and age groups. The Anxiety scale predicted both positive and negative affect, while Depression predicted positive affect only. Finally, girls scored higher than boys on Anxiety and Depression, but no age differences emerged. Overall, our results indicate that anxiety, depression, and stress are distinguishable in Italian adolescents but, simultaneously, share an underlying condition of general distress, which may explain the comorbidity between internalizing problems. Such findings are discussed in terms of clinical and preventive implications for the adolescent population.