Academic community in the face of emergency situations: Sense of responsible togetherness and sense of belonging as protective factors against academic stress during covid-19 outbreak

In the face of emergency situations, such as a global pandemic, individuals rely on their personal resources, but also on community dimensions, to deal with the unprecedented changes and risks and to safeguard their well-being. The present study specifically addresses the role of individual resources and community dimensions with reference to academic communities facing COVID-19-related lockdowns and the changes that these have implied. An online questionnaire was administered to 1124 Italian University students. It detected their sense of belonging and of responsible togetherness with reference to their academic community through community dimensions, their student self-efficacy as an individual resource, and their academic stress—potentially stemming from studying in the middle of a pandemic. A multiple mediation model was been run with structural equation modeling. The results show that both the community dimensions associate with higher student self-efficacy and the sense of responsible togetherness, while also associating with lower academic stress. Moreover, student self-efficacy, in turn, associates with lower academic stress and mediates the relationships between both community dimensions and students’ academic stress levels. From these findings, the protective role that community dimensions can exert on an individual’s life becomes apparent. Building on this, further strategies should be implemented to reinforce personal and community resources in order to strengthen individuals against potentially stressful circumstances

Validazione italiana della Fraboni Scale of Ageism e differenze di genere ed età

Introduzione. Il termine ageism, traducibile in italiano come ageismo (Salvioli, 2004) o anzianismo (Severgnini, 2006), sta ad indicare gli stereotipi, i pregiudizi e le discriminazioni basati sull’età. Si tratta di un fenomeno che può interessare molto l’Italia essendo seconda solo al Giappone per numero di over 65; ciò nonostante pochissima attenzione è stata rivolta all’ageism in rapporto all’invecchiamento della popolazione, con la conseguenza di una carenza di strumenti idonei alla sua rilevazione. Obiettivi e metodi. Scopo del presente lavoro è quello di pervenire alla validazione italiana della Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA; Fraboni, Saltstone e Hughes, 1990) e di esplorare le differenze in base al genere e all’età dei partecipanti. A tal fine saranno presentati i risultati di due studi, che hanno coinvolto rispettivamente 571 (età: M = 28.21 anni, DS = 9.90, range = 18 - 60 anni; sesso: maschi = 15.5%, femmine = 84.5%) e 256 soggetti (età: M = 39.94 anni, DS = 14.47, range = 18-65; sesso: maschi = 51.6%, femmine = 48.4%). Sono state condotte Analisi Fattoriali Esplorative e Confermative, analisi dell’affidabilità e della varianza. Risultati. Le procedure di validazione hanno confermato la struttura trifattoriale della scala, pur con delle differenze, rispetto alla versione originale, in termini di distribuzione e selezione degli item. Le tre dimensioni presentano inoltre adeguati livelli di coerenza interna in entrambi gli studi: Separazione ed evitamento (α = .78; .76), Stereotipi e luoghi comuni (α = .74; .73), Emozioni negative e discriminazione (α = .62; .60). Per quanto riguarda le analisi per gruppo, sono emerse differenze significative sia in base al genere che all’età sulla dimensione Emozioni negative e discriminazione: in particolare, gli uomini possiedono più alti livelli di pregiudizio rispetto alle donne e i giovani rispetto agli adulti. Conclusioni. Le procedure di validazione hanno condotto a risultati simili a quelli dei precedenti studi (Fraboni et al., 1990; Rupp et al., 2005; Bodner e Lazar, 2008) e offrono supporto alla generalizzabilità della struttura della scala. Anche le analisi per genere ed età hanno prodotto risultati in linea con la letteratura (Fraboni et al., 1990; Kalaver, 2001; Rupp et al., 2005). Concludendo la Fraboni Scale of Ageism costituisce un valido strumento per la rilevazione di stereotipi, pregiudizi e discriminazioni verso gli anziani e può contribuire a consolidare questo filone di studi in contesto italiano

COVID-19 and the Elderly’s Mental Illness: The Role of Risk Perception, Social Isolation, Loneliness and Ageism

For almost two years, populations around the globe faced precariousness and uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Older adults were highly affected by the virus, and the policies meant to protect them have often resulted in ageist stereotypes and discrimination. For example, the public discourse around older adults had a paternalistic tone framing all older adults as “vulnerable”. This study aimed to measure the extent to which perceived age discrimination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the sense of loneliness and social isolation, fear and perception of COVID-19 risks, had a negative effect on older adults’ mental illness. To do so, a self-report questionnaire was administered to 1301 participants (average age: 77.25 years old, SD = 5.46; 56.10% females, 43.90% males). Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed, along with structural equation modelling. Results showed that perceived age discrimination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic positively predicts loneliness and also indirectly predicts mental illness. In addition, loneliness is the strongest predictor of mental illness together with fear of COVID-19 and social isolation. Such results highlight the importance of implementing public policies and discourses that are non-discriminating, and that favour the inclusion of older people

Contribución a la validación de la escala de autopercepción del riesgo en adolescentes mexicanos

Resumen. Respecto a otras etapas de la vida, la adolescencia se caracteriza por la tendencia a poner en acto con mayor probabilidad conductas que pueden ser nocivas para la salud. La puesta en acto de tales comportamientos nace de un complejo sistema de evaluación, en la cual la percepción del riesgo reviste una un rol importante aunque no exclusivo (Petrillo, 2008). El objetivo del presente trabajo fue contribuir a la validación de la Escala de Autopercepción del Riesgo (Self Risk Perception Scale – SRPS: Donizzetti, 2008) en una población de adolescentes mexicanos, que permita contar con un instrumento válido y objetivo que mida el riesgo autoreferido en el ámbito de la salud, en cinco áreas (alimentación, ejercicio físico, alcohol, tabaco y comportamiento sexual). Participaron 120 estudiantes una secundaria situada en la zona conurbana de la ciudad de México, con una media de edad de 13.2 años (D.S=.80). A partir del análisis factorial explorativo y confirmativo, se obtuvo una estructura monodimensional y propiedades psicométricas satisfactorias. Se concluye que este instrumento puede representar una herramienta de gran utilidad para elaborar programas holísticos de atención a este grupo etáreo. Abstract. If compared to other periods of life, adolescence is characterized by a tendency to implement more likely behaviors that can be harmful to health. The implementation of such behaviors stems from a complex system of assessments, in which the perception of risk is an important, though not exclusive (Petrillo, 2008), factor. The objective of the present work was contribute to the validation of the Self Risk Perception Scale-SRPS (Donizzetti, 2008) in a population of Mexican adolescents to have a valid and objective instrument that measures the self risk in the area of the health, in five spheres of behavior (diet, exercise, consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, sexuality). 120 students of high school located in Mexico suburban area participated, with an average age of 13.2 years. (D.S = .80). The exploratory and confirmative factor analysis, conducted on each scale of perceived self risk, showed monodimensional structures, with satisfactory psychometric properties. We concluded that this instrument can represent a tool of great utility to elaborate holistic programs of attention to this group

Validation and Psychometric Evaluation of the COVID-19 Risk Perception Scale (CoRP): a New Brief Scale to Measure Individuals’ Risk Perception

The aim of the work was to develop and validate the COVID-19 Risk Perception Scale (CoRP), a brief self-report questionnaire for individuals’ perceptions of risk in the COVID-19 pandemic. Two studies were conducted in order to evaluate the new scale’s psychometric properties. Study 1 included 269 Italian participants (77.3% female) to initially test the scale’s structure and construct validity. Study 2 involved 1061 (76.2% female) Italians aged 18 to 80 years old and examined the structure of the scale, construct validity, and age invariance. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the one-factor solution, and the structure of the scale was found to be invariant across age groups. The scale also demonstrated a high internal reliability. The CoRP correlated positively with the fear of COVID-19 scale, and low with the Impact of Event and distressing phenomena as measured by GHQ. The present work thus affirms that the CoRP is a valid instrument for measuring individuals’ risk perception of COVID-19

University student mentalwell-being during COVID-19 outbreak: What are the relationships between information seeking, perceived risk and personal resources related to the academic context?

In light of rising concern about the coronavirus pandemic crisis, a growing number of universities across the world have either postponed or canceled all campus and other activities. This posed new challenges for university students. Based on the classification proposed in the Mental Health Continuum model by Keyes, the aims were to estimate university students' prevalence of mental health during lookdown outbreak, and to examine the associations between mental health and, respectively, academic stress, self-efficacy, satisfaction for degree course, locus of control, COVID-19 risk perception, taking into account the level of information seeking about pandemic. Overall, 1124 Italian university students completed a self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational analyses. Results showed that 22.3% of participants were flourishing, and levels of mental well-being appeared in line with normative values in young Italian adults; levels of academic stress were not significantly higher than those found in other student samples before the COVID-19 outbreak. Students with high levels of information seeking presented higher levels of well-being and risk perception. Results could be considered useful to realize training pathways, to help the university students to improve their well-being, post-pandemic