All in the Game. The Wire: un campo di ricerca sociologica

Analyzing with an ethnographic approach The Wire, one of the most important TV series on American ghettos, to understand and question the sociological perspective that emerges from the series, positioning it into the broader scientific debate. This is, in a nutshell, the work presented in the book It's all in the Game, the outcome of a laboratorial research activity carried out in 2020 by students and teachers of the Sociology of Communities and Urban Neighborhoods class, at the University of Bologna. The text is structured into four chapters, resulting from the four topics used to analysis the TV series: forms of social capital, the relationship between structural forces- culture of poverty and individual agency, neighborhood effects mechanism and the relationship between statistics and political action. Four subjects that are the core of many neighborhood- studies related researches and on which the TV series makes a clear stand. We analyzed those topics through a critical perspective, not considering them as a truth about ghettos, but as a very precise way of thinking about life in the American suburbs

A school-based peer-led smoking prevention intervention with extracurricular activities: the LILT-LdP cluster randomized controlled trial design and study population.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Few school programs are effective in preventing adolescents' tobacco smoking initiation. The "Lega contro i Tumori - Luoghi di Prevenzione" is a cluster randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate a school-based peer-led smoking prevention intervention with extracurricular activities for students aged 14-15 years. This paper presents the study design and the baseline characteristics of the study population. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Twenty secondary schools located in the Reggio Emilia province took part in the study. Five schools were excluded because they already participated in smoking prevention interventions. The schools were randomized to control or intervention arms. The study population consisted of students attending the first grade. Components of the intervention included 1) the out-of-school "Smoking Prevention Tour" (SPT) at the "Luoghi di Prevenzione" Center, a 4-hour (4 sessions) extracurricular activity; 2) the "Smoke-free Schools" intervention, combining a life-skills-based peer-led intervention at school, an in-depth lesson on one of the SPT sessions, and enforcement surveillance of the school antismoking policy. Tobacco use was studied through a questionnaire administered before and 6 months after the intervention. RESULTS: Eleven high schools and 9 vocational secondary schools took part in the study for a total of 2,476 out of 3,050 eligible students (81.2%). The proportions of respondents in high schools and vocational secondary schools were 90.9% and 64.5%, respectively (P <0.001). Intervention and control arms showed a different distribution of gender and school type, whereas no difference was observed in any tobacco-use characteristic. CONCLUSIONS: This study is one of the few Italian trials to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based program for preventing smoking initiatio

Effectiveness of a school-based multi-component smoking prevention intervention: the LdP cluster randomized controlled trial.

We assessed the effectiveness of the Luoghi di Prevenzione-Prevention Grounds school-based smoking prevention programme.We undertook a cluster randomized controlled trial of 989 students aged 14-15 years in 13 secondary schools located in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The intervention consisted of the "Smoking Prevention Tour" (SPT) out-of-school workshop, one in-depth lesson on one Smoking Prevention Tour topic, a life-skills peer-led intervention, and enforcement surveillance of school antismoking policy. Self-reported past 30-day smoking of 65 20 or 1-19 days of cigarette smoking (daily or frequent smoking, respectively) was recorded in 2 surveys administered immediately before and 18 months after the beginning of the programme. Analysis was by intention to treat. The effect of the intervention was evaluated using random effects logistic regression and propensity score-matching analyses.Past 30-day smoking and daily cigarette use at eighteen months follow-up were 31\% and 46\% lower, respectively, for intervention students compared to control students. Taking into account non-smokers at baseline only, daily smoking at eighteen months follow-up was 59\% lower in intervention students than in controls. Past 30-day smoking in school areas was 62\% lower in intervention students compared to controls.The Luoghi di Prevenzione-Prevention Grounds programme was effective in reducing daily smokers and in reducing smoking in school areas

Effects of a prevention program on multiple health-compromising behaviours in adolescence: A cluster randomized controlled trial

We aimed to assess the effectiveness of \u2018Paesaggi di Prevenzione\u2019, a school-based prevention program delivered by trained teachers and designed to tackle smoking, alcohol misuse, dietary risks, and physical inactivity in adolescence. We evaluated the program between 2010 and 2013 with a two-arm, parallel-group, multicentre cluster randomized controlled trial in which schools were the units of randomization. We collected data on health-compromising behaviours using self-reported measurements of behaviour frequency administered before and after program implementation. We used multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression models to estimate program effects on health-compromising behaviours. The analysis sample included 3410 middle school students and 1651 high school students. Among middle school students, mean age at baseline was 12 years (standard deviation [SD] 0.5 years), 51% were boys, and 41% had high socioeconomic status [SES] (defined as having at least one parent/guardian with university level education). In high school students, mean age at baseline was 14 years (SD 0.7 years), 56% were boys, and 31% had high SES. The program did not have effects on smoking, alcohol misuse, and physical activity. The program had iatrogenic effects in regard to some eating behaviours, resulting in (i) lower odds of fruit consumption among middle-school students (odds ratio [OR] 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68\u20130.99) and (ii) lower odds of having breakfast every day in high-school students at the post-intervention measurement (OR 0.76; 95%CI 0.58\u20130.99) but not at one-year follow-up (OR 0.94; 95%CI 0.69\u20131.28). Due to the possibility of unintended effects, we advise against disseminating \u2018Paesaggi di Prevenzione\u2019 in its present form. Trial registration: ISRCTN0095370

A prevention program for multiple health-compromising behaviors in adolescence: Baseline results from a cluster randomized controlled trial.

To describe the design and present the baseline findings of the evaluation study of 'Paesaggi di Prevenzione', a school-based prevention program tackling smoking, alcohol misuse, dietary risks, and physical inactivity in 12- to 14-year-olds.The program was implemented from January 2011 to April 2012 in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and comprised classroom activities and school-wide policies. A two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was designed. Schools were the units of randomization and were matched by socioeconomic status, size, and type.Data from 4700 middle school students and 2952 high school students were collected anonymously from October to December 2010. Past-30-day smoking prevalence was 1.9\% among middle school students and 20.8\% among high school students. Past-30-day prevalence of alcohol intoxication was 2.2\% among middle school students and 11.4\% among high school students. A total of 39.7\% of middle school students and 48.0\% of high school students drank sugar-sweetened beverages four or more times per week; 7.5\% of middle school students and 7.1\% of high school students had intense physical activity every day.This study seems adequately powered and baseline variables appear evenly distributed between study groups. Findings are in line with those of the WHO Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study