Older adult entrepreneurs as mentors of young people neither in employment nor education and training (NEETs). Evidences from multi-country intergenerational learning program.

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs’ knowledge for enhancing youngsters’ entrepre-neurial attitudes, through mentoring. This paper reports the results of a study based on an intergenerational learning program, carried out in 2018 in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. The study was aimed at developing and testing one training on mentoring addressing 41 older adult entrepre-neurs (55 and over), and two intergenerational learning trainings aiming at boosting entrepreneurial competences of 33 NEETs (aged 18–29). The impact of the program on older adult entrepreneurs and NEETs was assessed through a pre and post-evaluation using qualitative and quantitative tools. Findings at country level were treated as national case-studies and then the latter were compared by considering them as a multiple embedded case-study. Results indicated that, to different extent in the study countries, mentors learned and enhanced mentoring competences, e.g. active listening and the capability of orienting, improved well-being and self-esteem, social inclusion and active aging attitude. Moreover, NEETs acquired entrepreneurial and socio-relational competences by benefiting from the full exploitation of mentors’ know-how and the trust relationship with them. Companies, trade unions, educational and voluntary organizations should cooperate to adopt intergenerational learning programs asgood practices for older adults and NEETs’ lifelong learning promotion

A correlational analysis of the relationships among intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, subjective sleep quality, and insomnia symptoms

In this study, we used structural equation modeling to investigate the interplay among Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), Anxiety Sensitivity (AS), and sleep problems. Three hundred undergraduate students completed the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Inventory, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index. 68% and 40% of the students reported poor sleep quality or sub-threshold insomnia problems, respectively. Depression and anxiety levels were above the cut-off for about one-fourth of the participants. Structural equation modeling revealed that IU was strongly associated with AS, in turn influencing both insomnia severity and sleep quality via depression and anxiety. Significant indirect effects revealed that an anxious pathway was more strongly associated with insomnia severity, while a depression pathway was more relevant for worsening the quality of sleep. We discussed the results in the frameworks of cognitive models of insomnia. Viewing AS and IU as antecedents of sleep problems and assigning to AS a pivotal role, our study suggested indications for clinical interventions on a population at risk for sleep disorders

Active Aging: Social Entrepreneuring in Local Communities of Five European Countries

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2020-04-01, pub-electronic 2020-04-03Publication status: PublishedFunder: Erasmus+; Grant(s): Erasmus+ Programme; KA2 Strategic Partnership Projects, Grant Agreement KA204-2016-001Building on the active aging framework, the aim of this study, carried out between 2016 and 2018, is to analyze concrete experiences of older individuals acting as key players of social change in six local communities of five European countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, England, France, Spain). The 19 seniors involved in the study, according to social contexts, individual past experiences, knowledge, and motivations, acted as senior social entrepreneurs, trying to build a pathway towards social solutions for unmet social problems they detected in local communities. Data were collected via templates and questionnaires and analyzed using the thematic analysis. The results highlighted that the 16 local initiatives created by seniors concerned social problems such as food waste, social isolation, multicultural integration, etc. The social solutions implemented by seniors seemed to have the potential to produce social value and, to different degrees, encouraging results and impact. Since this “social experiment” provided evidence that senior social entrepreneuring could be a driver to solve societal problems, policy makers should sustain the spread of both social entrepreneurial mindset and practices at the European level, for catalyzing the active potential of older people for the benefit of European local communities

Quando l’interdipendenza intergenerazionale crea nuovi scenari di inclusione per la Pedagogia Speciale. Il progetto Be the Change (Boosting Entrepreneurship Through Intergenerational Exchange)

It is becoming increasingly urgent to address the phenomenon of NEETs dueto its strong social, demographic, economic and educational implications.Special Education is tasked with responding to the challenges posed by theplurality of special educational needs, and this includes the NEETs category.The “Be the Change” project has tried to attend to these needs, through anintergenerational mentoring model designed to promote the developmentof the potential of young people and the contributive participation of olderadults coming from the entrepreneurial sector.The interdependence between mentors and mentees resulting from intergenerationallearning has shown to be effective in developing entrepreneurialskills in the young participants. It has also increased trust,courage, autonomy, self-esteem and self-empowerment, while enhancingtalent and diminishing instances of discomfort and disadvantages in the participatingyouths.Il fenomeno dei cosiddetti NEET si sta facendo sempre più urgente per lesue forti implicazioni di natura sociale, demografica, economica ed educativa.La Pedagogia speciale ha il compito di rispondere alle sfide poste dalla pluralitàdei bisogni educativi speciali, NEET compresi.Il progetto “Be the Change” ha tentato di rispondere a queste esigenze, tramiteun modello di mentoring intergenerazionale, in grado di promuovereil potenziale di sviluppo dei giovani e la partecipazione e la valorizzazionedell’esperienza di older adults provenienti dal mondo dell’impresa.L’interdipendenza sviluppata grazie all’apprendimento intergenerazionalesi conferma efficace, per sviluppare nei giovani competenze imprenditive;per incrementare la fiducia, il coraggio, l’autonomia, l’autostima e il self-empowerment;per alimentare i talenti e ridurre le situazioni di svantaggio e disagio

Assessing Social Anxiety Disorder : Psychometric Properties of the Italian Social Phobia Inventory (I-SPIN)

Social Phobia, one of the most common psychological disorders, can cause serious discomfort and impairment in a person’s life. The importance of assessing the specific features of this disorder is well-known. This paper assesses the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Social Phobia Inventory (I-SPIN)

Effects of total and partial sleep deprivation on reflection impulsivity and risk-taking in deliberative decision-making

Study Objectives: To evaluate the effects of total and partial sleep deprivation on reflection impulsivity and risk-taking in tasks requiring deliberative decision-making processes. Participants and Methods: Seventy-four healthy young adults were selected to participate in two independent experiments, each consisting of a crossover design. In Experiment 1, 32 participants were tested after one night of regular sleep (RS), and after one night of total sleep deprivation (TSD). In Experiment 2, 42 participants were tested following five nights of RS and after five nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD), implying five hours of sleep per night. In both the experiments, two deliberative decision-making tasks were administered, involving different decision-making constructs. The Mosaic Task (MT) assessed reflection impulsivity, the tendency to gather information before making a decision. The Columbia Card Task cold version (CCTc) evaluated risk-taking propensity in a dynamic environment. Results: Unlike TSD, PSD led to an increment of reflection impulsivity and risk-taking. Nevertheless, analyses taking into account the individuals’ baseline (RS) performance showed consistent results between the two experimental sleep manipulations. Participants who gathered more information to make decisions in the MT when well-rested, then relied on less evidence under sleep loss, and more cautious participants in the CCTc tended to make riskier decisions. Conclusion: Results pointed to differential consequences of sleep deprivation depending on the habitual way to respond during decision-making involving deliberative reasoning processes. Results were interpreted according to a putative interaction between sleep loss effect and individual difference factors

Definition of physical-dynamic parameters in circular kick in Muay Thai through latest generation inertial sensors with a critical review of the literature

In recent years, the study of movement analysis with the application of dedicated advanced technologies, such as inertial technologies, has also become essential in scientific research of sports disciplines such as martial arts and combat sports, to better define the real dynamics of technical components in order to adapt the training design. A great number of studies in the literature have focused on the kinematics of circular kick in combat sport and martial arts but a relatively small number have focused on the kinetic and kinematic analysis of Muay Thai and especially its circular kick technique. This study aims to highlight instrumentally the quality of circular kick gesture and through which segmental motor dynamics it achieves its greatest effectiveness, evaluating the accelerations and execution times of the different body segments involved in technical execution itself obviously in a performative sense. It is important to note that the inertial data shows that both knee and ankle have an increasing linear velocity greater than the hip in the preparation and execution phase, while for the angular velocity in the execution phase it is the hip that has higher acceleration than the knee and ankle. These results, therefore, highlight the basic importance of intra-articular and intramuscular coordination processes that allow or not linearity and fluidity of movements that are the basis to obtain maximum intersegmental performance in order to deliver maximum acceleration in the apical point of the shot and thus have the maximum effectiveness of hit and therefore the optimal performance

Active Ageing: The Need to Address Sub-National Diversity. An Evidence-Based Approach for Italy

Artículo 13319[Abstract] While active ageing has emerged as a main strategy to address the challenges of population ageing in Europe, recent research has stressed the need to increase knowledge on within-country differences to promote active ageing through appropriate policy responses. This article draws on the Active Ageing Index (AAI) to capture recent trends in active ageing in Italy with a focus on sub-national diversity. To this end, we compute AAI breakdowns by region separately for men and women for four different years: 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2018. Then, we use linear regression to describe the geographical and sex-specific patterns of change in the AAI over the considered period. The results demonstrate the diversity of regional outcomes and trends in the active ageing of Italian men and women, indicating that the widening geographic gap deserves further consideration by national and regional authorities in designing and implementing active ageing policies. By showing the persistence of disparities in the value of the indicator to the disadvantage of women, results also suggest the need to further integrate both the gender dimension and the life-cycle perspective into active ageing strategies. This article provides an example of how the AAI can be used as a practical tool by policy makers to monitor active ageing trends and outcomes at the sub-national level, and to identify target areas that require further action

Participation in formal learning activities of older Europeans in poor and good health

Little attention has been given to the involvement in formal learning activities (FLA) in the older population when considering different health statuses. The aim of this study is to explore the extent to which possible predictors (derived from previous research as well as a conceptual model) of FLA differ for older people in poor and good health. Data are used from SHARE 2010/2011 for the 50+ populations in 16 European countries. Poor health is defined as self-report of having two or more chronic diseases assessed by a medical doctor, i.e. multimorbidity. Possible predictors of learning activities represent individual characteristics: functional limitations, demography (age, gender, marital status and household size), human capital (achieved level of education), employment, income and participation in other social activities. To assess the predictors of FLA, logistic regression models are used and average marginal estimates are compared across groups. In addition to multimorbidity, labour market activity is used as a grouping variable. The average participation of individuals in the group with multimorbidity was nearly 50 % lower than that in the group in good health (6.5 vs. 13.3 %). Regardless of multimorbidity, human capital proved to be significant predictors of FLA, especially in those active on the labour market. However, the associations were weaker in the multimorbidity group. Also, significant associations were observed of other types of social activities, in particular cultural and leisure activity and volunteering, with FLA. This study suggests that similar factors are predictors of FLA in older people with and without multimorbidity

Positive and negative impacts of caring among adolescents caring for grandparents. Results from an online survey in six European countries and implications for future research, policy and practice

Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15–17 years old. AYCs of grandparents (GrPs) were compared to AYCs of other care recipients (OCRs), in order to identify any difference in positive and negative caregiving outcomes and exposure factors between the two groups. Linear or logistic regression models were built, and multivariate analyses were repeated, including a fixed effect on the country variable. AYCs of GrPs experienced more positive caregiving outcomes than AYCs of OCRs across all six countries. Being female or non-binary, and having a migration background, were associated with more negative outcomes, regardless of the relationship with the care recipient. Further research on intergenerational caregiving outcomes is recommended for shaping measures and policies, which preserve the intergenerational emotional bonds, whilst protecting AYCs from inappropriate responsibilities, undermining their mental health and well-being