Online and Offline Friendship Among Italian Adolescent Girls

Background: There is still a question of whether online friendship predicts changes in face-to-face friendship (Reduction Hypothesis) or face-to-face friendship predicts changes in online friendship (Compensation Hypothesis) during adolescence.Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare these two hypotheses to determine which comes first: online friendship or offline friendship.Method: Eighty adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 19 years (mean, 16.07 years; standard deviation, 1.28 years) on a non-traditional school track completed self-report questionnaires. Two wave longitudinal models were tested with the use of cross-lagged analysis to compare the hypotheses.Results: Analysis showed that negative face-to-face friendship quality predicted online friendship but that the opposite was not true.Conclusions: The study’s findings underlined the compensation role of online friendship for girls with poor or unsatisfactory offline social worlds. The implications of this information and suggestions for clinicians and professionals to use to enhance adolescent social skills and to promote appropriate use of the Internet will be discussed

Physical frailty, disability, and dynamics in health perceptions: A preliminary mediation model

Anna Mulasso, Mattia Roppolo, Emanuela Rabaglietti Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy Purpose: Frailty is a condition characterized by loss of functional reserve and altered homeostatic capacity. The aging process is related with complex indicators of physiological state. This study aims, with a preliminary mediation model, to reveal the possible role of mediator of health perceptions variability in the relationship between frailty and disability. Patients and methods: A longitudinal study (100 days) was performed. Data from 92 institutionalized older adults were used in the analysis. Frailty was assessed in baseline using the Italian version of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – Frailty Instrument; health perceptions were assessed on a daily basis by three visual analog scale questions; and disability was measured in baseline and post-test using the Katz Activities of Daily Living questionnaire. The product-of-coefficient mediation approach was used to test direct and indirect effects of frailty. Results: Results showed that daily variability of health perceptions plays the role of mediator between frailty and disability. In all the steps, statistically significant results were found. Conclusion: This preliminary result may indicate that physical frailty increases the variability in health perceptions contributing to disability. Keywords: functional decline, loss of autonomy, variability, health outcomes, dynamic system