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Family characteristics and expenditure on public health may play a key role in explaining probable problem gambling among adolescents in Europe.

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.

The aim of the study was to compare health status between native and immigrant early adolescents in Italy and to analyze related psychosocial factors. Data were taken from "Health Behavior in School Aged Children", a cross-sectional survey investigating health behaviors among early adolescents in selected European countries. A representative sample of 6,744 (50.4% males) Italian students (11, 13 and 15-years-old) completed a questionnaire. Students were assessed for demographics characteristics, socio-economic conditions, social support and bullying victimization, and, as dependent variables, for health complaints, self-reported health, life satisfaction and happiness. It turned out that immigrant adolescents, as compared to natives, are more often affected by psychosomatic symptoms, less satisfied about their health and about life, and less happy. A multiple regression model showed that migration itself is related to life satisfaction and happiness. Socio-economic inequalities, lack of social integration and victimization determine the differences between immigrants and natives in terms of health symptoms and self-reported health. Immigrant adolescents demonstrated worse health status then their native classmates. However, the differences in terms of subjective well-being are not explained by socio-economic differences, lack of social integration and discrimination.

Background and objectives.-Being bullied at school is a risk factor for a variety of negative consequences, including somatic problems. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to determine the association between peer victimization and headache in the school-age population.Methods.-A systematic literature search was conducted in September 2013 to identify observational studies that examined the association between being bullied and headache in children and adolescents. Odds ratios (OR) were pooled by using a random-effects model. Moderator and sensitivity analyses were conducted.Results.-Twenty studies, including a total of 173,775 participants, satisfied the pre-stated inclusion criteria. Fourteen studies reported data on the prevalence of headache, which was on average 32.7% (range: 9.1-71.7%) in the bullied group and 19.1% (range: 5.3-46.1%) in the control group. Two separate meta-analyses of the association between being bullied and headache were performed on 3 longitudinal studies (OR = 2.10, 95% confidence interval = 1.19-3.71) and 17 cross-sectional studies (OR = 2.00, 95% confidence interval = 1.70-2.35), respectively. Results showed that bullied children and adolescents have a significantly higher risk for headache compared with non-bullied peers. In the cross-sectional studies, the magnitude of effect size significantly decreased with the increase of the proportion of female participants in the study sample. No further moderators were statistically significant.Conclusions.-The positive association between bullying victimization and headache was confirmed. Further research on the environmental factors that may influence this symptom is needed.