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With the advent of Covid-19, health workers have been under constant physical and psychological pressure. Italy was among the first countries to face the health emergency in a period of great uncertainty about the virus and the ways to treat patients. The present study aims to analyse the levels of emotional distress (ED) and psychosomatic symptoms (PS) of Italian frontline health workers during the Covid-19 emergency, and their relationship with the evaluation of the institutional responses received. A survey was available online during the peak of health system overload. Health workers' ED, PS and perceived overall wellbeing were assessed, along with the perceived adequacy of the emotional support, hygiene and safety measures, and protection received from the national government, regional administration and local hospital. A total of 103 questionnaires were collected [Women: 51.5%; mean age, 41.8 years; SD: ±10,7; high-risk zone: 41.7%]. Correlation analyses were applied to investigate the relationship between the measures of emotional distress and psychosomatic symptoms; ANOVA was applied to compare these measures among groups from different risk zones and with different perceived emotional and safety protection. About half of the health workers showed medium or high scores on emotional exhaustion, exceeded the cut-off for medium, high or very high psychosomatic symptom burdens, felt they have never or rarely been protected by the institutional responses and judged the emotional support received as inadequate; 32% judged the safety and hygiene measures as insufficient. Significant associations were found between measures of ED, PS and perceived change in personal wellbeing. Differences in perceived institutional support and adequacy of hygiene and safety measures related to significant differences in PS and perceived change in personal wellbeing. ED and PS were widely experienced by frontline health workers. Physical and psychological symptoms were amplified by the perceived lack of institutional support. Ensuring PS and hygiene and safety measures is essential to prevent worsening of health and psychosomatic symptoms in frontline health workers.

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The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the crucial role of people's compliance for the success of measures designed to protect public health. Within the frame of Semiotic Cultural Psycho-social Theory, we discuss how the analysis of people's ways of making sense of the crisis scenario can help to identify the resources or constraints underlying the ways the citizens evaluate and comply with the anti-covid measures. This study aimed to examine how Italian adults interpreted what was happening in the first wave of the pandemic and how the interpretation varied in the period up to the beginning of the second wave.Diaries were collected for six months, from 11 April to 3 November 2020. Participants were periodically asked to talk about their life 'in the last few weeks'. A total number of 606 diaries were collected. The Automated Method for Content Analysis (ACASM) procedure was applied to the texts to detect the factorial dimensionsinterpreted as the markers of latent dimensions of meanings-underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents' discourses. ANOVA were applied to examine the dissimilarities in the association between factorial dimensions and production time.Findings show that significant transitions occurred over time in the main dimensions of meaning identified. Whereas the first phase was characterized by a focus on one's own daily life and the attempt to make sense of the changes occurring in the personal sphere, in the following phases the socio-economic impact of the crisis was brought to the fore, along with the hope to returning to the "normality" of the pre-rupture scenario. We argued that, despite the differences, a low sense of the interweaving between the personal and public sphere emerged in the accounts of the pandemic crisis throughout the sixth months considered; a split that, we speculate, can explain the "free for all" movement that occurred at the end of the first wave and the beginning of the second wave.

Gambling and gaming are not infrequent among adolescents and preventing low-risk youth from becoming at-risk appears to be a priority of public health strategies. Greater scrutiny of the risk and protective factors in the relationships and community of young people appears crucial in steering prevention initiatives adequately. This study aimed to explore the role of the qualities of relational networks (i.e. family functioning, perceived social and class support), family and peer approval and view of the social environment in predicting problem gambling, problem gaming and overall well-being among adolescents. High-school students aged 14–18 years (N: 595; female: 68,7%) completed a survey including the target variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the role of socio-demographic characteristics and psychosocial predictors on gaming, gambling, and well-being. Multivariate multiple regressions identify a common core underpinning problem gambling, gaming and poor well-being but also the distinct roles of psychosocial variables: being male, with low parental monitoring, and an anomic view of the social environment all predict problem gambling and gaming, which were also found to be associated. Low social support predicts problem gambling but not problem gaming; poor family functioning predicts problem gaming but not problem gambling. All the target psychosocial variables, except approval of gambling, predict poor well-being. On the whole the findings suggest the need to look more closely at the way adolescents, their system of activity and their culture participate in constructing the meaning of gambling and gaming activities and their impact on adolescents’ well-being, so that future studies and strategies can more effectively examine the relational dynamics in which problem gambling and gaming develop.

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Different scholars have emphasised the psychological distress experienced by health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there are almost no qualitative studies and we know very little about the everyday experience of this group. The present study’s goal was to explore how health workers interpreted the meaning of the pandemic crisis in their life. An online survey was available during the Italian lockdown. Respondents were asked to write a passage about the meaning of living in the time of COVID-19. A total number of 130 questionnaires (M = 42.35; DS = 10.52; women: 56.2%) were collected. The Automated Method for Content Analysis (ACASM) procedure was applied to the collected texts to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents’ narratives. Such factors were interpreted as the markers of latent dimensions of meanings (DS). The two main DS that emerged were characterised by the pertinentisation of two extremely basic issues: what the pandemic represents (health emergency versus personal crisis) and its impact (powerlessness versus discovery of new meanings). On the whole, health workers’ narratives help to highlight the risk of normalising the feelings of fear and impotence experienced when facing the health emergency and the need to recognise that such feelings are strictly intertwined with the limited resources received to “face the battle”; the need to recognize the human vulnerability of the women and men “inside the lab coat” and the human effort to maintain or reconstruct a sense of self and purpose in the face of troubled circumstances.

Gambling participation among older people has grown over the years. Elders constitute a large and fast-growing population in Italy, but little empirical evidence describes gambling patterns among older Italian adults and the problem gambling (PG)’s psychosocial determinants, so a range of questions which are crucial to orient prevention strategies remain unanswered. The present study aims to investigate habits, representations, levels of engagement in gambling among Italian elders and the role of loneliness, social support and well-being in explaining their problem with gambling. A convenience sample of 165 participants (mean age: 66.93; SD = 5.73; women: 43.1%) was involved. Gambling activities, habits, representations and PG rates were examined. A group “at moderate risk/problem gambling” (scoring >7 on PGSI, n = 40) and a control group (scoring 0 on PGSI, n = 40) were selected from the whole sample, balanced on socio-demographic characteristics; a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the two groups on the target psychosocial variables. 11.5% of the sample was found to meet the PGSI criteria for PG; 26.7% for moderate risk; 11.5% for problem gambling; 50.3% were classified as no-problem gamblers. Scratch cards were the main form of gambling among all groups; the chance to make more money and to distract oneself from other problems were the main reasons to gamble. Finally, the group “at moderate risk/problem gambling,” compared to the control group, expressed higher loneliness, as well as lower perceived social support and well-being.RésuméLa pratique des jeux de hasard chez les personnes plus âgées augmente au fil des années. Les aînés représentent un segment important et à croissance rapide de la population en Italie, mais peu de données empiriques décrivent les habitudes de pratique de jeux de hasard des adultes italiens plus âgés et les déterminants psychosociaux du jeu compulsif. Tout un éventail de questions essentielles à l’orientation des stratégies de prévention reste sans réponse. La présente étude se penche sur les habitudes, les représentations et les niveaux de pratique de jeux de hasard chez les aînés italiens, ainsi que le rôle de la solitude, du soutien social et du bien-être pour expliquer leurs problèmes liés au jeu, à l’aide d’un échantillon de commodité de 165 participants (moyenne d’âge : 66,93; écart-type de la population = 5.73; femmes : 43,1 %). La pratique des jeux de hasard, les habitudes, les représentations et le jeu compulsif ont été examinés. Un groupe « à risque moyen/jeu compulsif » (pointage >7 sur l’indice de gravité de jeu compulsif (IGJC), n = 40) et un groupe témoin (pointage de 0 sur l’IGJC, n = 40) ont été choisis parmi l’ensemble de l’échantillon, équilibrés du point de vue des caractéristiques sociodémographiques; une analyse de variance à un critère de classification (ANOVA) a été utilisée pour comparer les deux groupes par rapport aux variables psychosociales cibles. On a constaté que 11,5 % de l’échantillon répondaient aux critères de jeu compulsif de l’IGJC; 26,7 % répondaient aux critères de risque modéré; 11,5 %, aux critères de jeu compulsif; et 50,3 % étaient classés comme des joueurs ne présentant pas de problème. Les cartes à gratter constituaient la forme principale de jeu de hasard dans tous les groupes; les principales raisons de jouer étaient la possibilité de faire plus d’argent et d’oublier d’autres problèmes. Enfin, par rapport au groupe témoin, le groupe « à risque moyen/jeu compulsif » a exprimé un plus grand sentiment de solitude et percevait un moins grand soutien social et un moins grand bien-être.