One of the many drastic changes caused by Covid-19 was the quick implementation of distance learning which represented a great technological challenge to many teachers and students. In fact, Italy ranks 24th amongst the 27-EU member countries in digital competitiveness which testifies to the significant delays and gaps in basic digital skills amongst the population. Based on the difficulties encountered in organizing distance learning, we assumed that teachers' perceived stress increased. Given that transversal skills can be associated with this relationship, we hypothesized that among these skills, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between the difficulties in organizing distance learning and perceived stress. Since we targeted teachers from Italy and other European countries, we also hypothesized that this mediator effect would be different for both samples. Our sample was composed of a total of 366 primary/middle school teachers of which 86% female. After doing a mediation analyses with Process, Hayes' Model 4, we confirmed H1 but not H2: resulting in a partial mediation effect of self-efficacy for each individual group of teachers. Since difficulties of distance learning can affect the perception of stress, we believe that the promotion of transversal skills, such as self-efficacy, can better equip teachers when facing stressful situations.

We face an unprecedented period of history during which COVID-19 is clustered with other global conditions, such as obesity, undernutrition, an infodemic, and climate change. This syndemic (synergy of epidemics) calls for the development of children’s and youth’s health literacy and socioemotional skills, support for behavioural hygiene (e.g. washing hands, wearing masks), and adults’ responsibility and caring. Moreover, it calls for creating conditions for healthy living and learning for all and paying extra attention to inequalities that have increased during the pandemic. Today, more than ever, there is an essential demand for schools to create environments that maintain and promote health for all. Within this commentary, we argue that whole-school approaches, such as the health promoting school, are essential to fight against the pandemic and to prepare schools for future challenges.

Covid-19 restrictions in Italy have significantly reduced the ‘in-presence’ time spent with classmates and teachers. As a result, this new way of relating to one another has challenged many students by increasing anxiety and depression. In such reality, protective factors such as sense of belonging (SB) and Grit (GR) can reduce anxiety (ANX).  Considering the pandemic context,  the scope of this study is to explore the relationship between SB/GR and ANX, as a risk factor and to understand whether the relationship between these variables changes based on students’ grade level (GL): middle school (MS) versus high school (HS). For this purpose, a total of 451 students from North/Central Italy, 71% F (M=15.07, ±2.46), of which 266 from HS, answered an online questionnaire in Spring 2021. Data was analyzed by doing a correlation analysis, difference between groups based on GL and hierarchical regression with SPSS 27. Results for the correlation analysis confirm that SB and GR are positively related; when controlling for differences in GL via t-test analysis, SB and GR are higher for MS. When measuring the SB/GR (Panorama Education, 2016) and its impact on the state of ANX (Spielberger et al., 1983) via the hierarchical regression, SB/GR decrease while ANX increases in particular for HS students.  These results highlight that anxiety has had a greater impact specially on HS students. For these reasons we encourage schools to create environments in which they find  strategies, as a community, to assist students in developing a sense of belonging and grit.

BackgroundTwo years after the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies look at the consequences for the well-being and mental health of young people. In particular, creativity and resilience are cited in the scientific literature as resources that promote this well-being in adolescents and young adults.PurposeThis mini-literature review was created with the aim of examining how many articles have explored the relationship between creativity and resilience in adolescents and young adults since the onset of the pandemic.MethodsParticular attention was paid to how many of the articles actually related to the consequences of the pandemic, in which country they were published, their target population, and the models, instruments and variables used to analyze them.ResultsOnly 4 articles emerged from the screening, of which only one was actually related to pandemic consequences. All articles were published in Asian countries with a target group of university students. Three of the articles used mediation models to examine the relationship between resilience as an independent variable and creativity as a dependent variable. All articles used self-assessment instruments for creativity and resilience, both at the individual and group level.SignificanceThis mini-review offers us the opportunity to reflect on the lack of studies that have addressed the issue of youth resources in the form of creativity and resilience since the beginning of the pandemic. The results show us a still underdeveloped interest in creativity in the scientific literature, in contrast to what the media reports on the promotion of creativity in daily life.

The lockdown period in Italy, due to Covid-19 government restrictions, caused sedentary behavior and a reduction in physical activity, with an increase in body weight and a change in body perception. Body image includes beliefs about one’s appearance. Women tend to exhibit poor body image compared to men; if we consider adolescence, this difference tends to be greater. In addition, only a small percentage of adolescents believe their body image to be adequate. Given that adolescence represents one of the periods with the highest level of physical change, including changes in weight, height, and body shape, we wanted to study how self-efficacy can be affected by body image. Studies have shown that self-efficacious students tend to be more persistent in the face of unexpected difficulties, particularly important in the current pandemic conditions. In our study, we analyze the relationship between the variation of perceived weight after two months of lockdown, and Self-efficacy, mediated by body image perception in a sample of Italian adolescents. Simple mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS 3.5 for SPSS 27. Two-hundred and fifty high school students from northern Italy took part in the study (82% female,  with a mean age of 16 years ±1,43). The data confirmed a partial mediation effect of body image perception. These results highlight how body image assumes significance for one of the most relevant developmental tasks for adolescents related to evaluation and self-perception affecting their self-efficacy, which is also a predictor of their academic achievement. We hope that studies like these can support the importance of interventions aimed at promoting well-being among adolescents, specifically regarding aspects of physical and motivational self-evaluation.

This study investigates changes in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior in an Italian university community during Phase 1 of SARS-CoV-2 lockdown (“stay at home” government decree, from March 8th to May 4th, 2020) compared to their habits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examine differences according to gender, university position, BMI categories, and sport participation. A total of 2596 people (median age 24, IQR 11 years; 70.8% women) filled out a survey after eight weeks of statutory confinement at home. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire measured PA and sedentary behavior in a typical week before and during lockdown. Physically inactive people passed from 10.9% to 35.0% before–during the lockdown. The total amount of PA decreased (median 2307 vs. 1367 MET-min/week; p < 0.001), while sedentary behavior increased (median 349 vs. 440 min/day; p < 0.001) between before and during the lockdown. The following categories showed a higher reduction in the total amount of PA: men when compared to women; people with normal weight when compared to pre-obese/obese people; and people who played sports when compared to those who did not play sports. There is a need to propose PA/exercise programs to counteract physical inactivity and sedentarism during a social emergency, with special attention to people who showed higher PA reduction.

Implementing a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) approach in school requires monitoring certain skills. As awareness of SEL increases in Italy, it is necessary to provide instruments to monitor these skills within a systemic approach. This study presents the cultural adaptation/validation of 5 scales from Panorama Education, which are widely used in school districts in the United States, to the Italian middle/high school context: Grit, Sense of Belonging, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Self-Efficacy. After cultural adaptation, 709 middle/high school students answered an online questionnaire (2021). Psychometric properties showed good internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit index. The differences in gender and grade level support the validity of the instrument.

Northern Italy was one of the first European regions to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions which led to school closures and the compulsion to learn from home. This article examines middle school students’ experiences with distance learning to determine what they found most difficult, what they liked most and what they liked least during the 2020 lockdown. A total of 285 students (56% female; 44% male) with mean age of 13 years (±1 year; min = 11; max = 15) completed the online questionnaire. Responses to three open-ended questions were analyzed and coded using content analysis and an inductive approach. SPSS 26 was then used for descriptive analysis based on the frequencies of the categories that emerged: Learning, Device, Relationship, Other, Environment, Nothing, and Time. The results suggest that important aspects of students’ lives during the lockdown had dual meanings. For example, technological devices were experienced as a means of communication, learning, and maintaining relationships, but were also associated with inequities, technical difficulties, and misunderstandings. Student responses support schools’ role as a place to foster technological skills, especially social and emotional skills, in order to develop concrete strategies to assist students and teachers improve their relationship skills and be better prepared for future pandemics.