1,721,028 research outputs found
Psychopathic traits and moral cognitions in understanding juvenile antisocial behaviors: empirical evidence and treatment implications
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Individual, familial, and socio-environmental risk factors of gang membership in a community sample of adolescents in southern italy
No full textDespite the growing social alarm generated by the recurrent news concerning violent episodes involving youth gangs, systematic research in Italy in this field, especially within a psychological framework, is still limited. Following a social-ecological approach, the present study aimed at investigating the role of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs), parental rejection, and community violence witnessing in youth gang membership (YGM). Furthermore, we examined the mediating and/or moderating role of YGM in the association between risk factors and involvement in antisocial behaviors (ASBs). A community sample of 817 adolescents attending middle and high schools in a high-risk urban area in Southern Italy (46.9% males; 53% middle school students; Mage = 14.67; SD = 1.65) were involved in the study. One hundred and fifty-seven participants (19.2%) were found to be gang members. Employing counterfactual-based mediation analysis, we found that CDs and community violence witnessing were directly associated with YGM and ASBs. The association between CDs and ASBs was mediated by YGM. Parental rejection was directly related to ASBs but not to YGM. A significant interaction effect between parental rejection and YGM was found, revealing that high levels of parental rejection, along with being a gang member, amplified the involvement in ASBs. These findings pointed out that distorted moral cognitions and the experience of violence witnessing within the community may represent a fertile ground for gang involvement. Both individual and contextual factors should be considered in order to implement interventions aimed to prevent adolescents’ risk of joining a gang
Sex determination by discriminant analysis of calcanei measurements
No full textEight measurements taken on the right calcaneus (maximum length, load arm width, minimum width, height of calcaneus, body height, breadth of the facies articularis talaris posterior, breadth and height of the facies articularis cuboidea) of a known contemporary Southern Italian skeletal population (40 males and 40 females) were used to determine sex by multivariate discriminant analysis. Three functions revealed a correct sex-determination of 85%. These functions were obtained by the association of the following parameters: maximum length, load arm width and breadth of the facies art. talaris post. (function no. 1); maximum length and breadth of the facies art. talaris post. (function no. 2); maximum length and height of the facies art. cuboidea and breadth of the facies art. cuboidea (function no. 3). These results may aid the forensic anthropologist when no other remains, useful for skeletal sex determination, are available
Equipping Youth to Think and Act Responsibly: The Effectiveness of the “EQUIP for Educators” Program on Youths’ Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions and School Bullying Perpetration
No full textSchool bullying is a serious public health concern in many countries worldwide. Over recent decades, several effective anti-bullying prevention programs have been developed. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted version of the “Equipping Youth to Help One Another (EQUIP) for Educators” (EfE) program in reducing adolescents’ engagement in school bullying perpetration by correcting their use of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs). Furthermore, guided by the vantage sensitivity framework, we investigated whether the intervention effects varied depending on the adolescents’ gender and environmental sensitivity. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test with a control group design involved 354 Italian middle and high school adolescents (51.7% males; Mage = 14.86, SD = 2.54). Both the control (n = 187) and experimental group (n = 167) completed self-report questionnaires, before and after the intervention. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant moderated mediation effect: highly sensitive males participating in the EfE program decreased their engagement in bullying by reducing CDs, compared to females and those with low- and medium- sensitivity. These findings support the effectiveness of the EfE program in equipping youth to think and act more responsible and shed light on “why” and “for whom” the intervention might work better to counteract school bullying during adolescence
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