Italian Family Business Cultures Involved in the Generational Change

The aim of this paper was to present an action-research intervention for the prevention of Internet addiction (IA) in schools. Applying a pre-experimental research design model, a total of 90 young subjects (45 males and 45 females) were treated using a peer education programme. The Internet Addiction Test was used as a screening tool pre- and post-treatment and analysed using a paired t-test. The results showed a significant positive difference in the post-treatment values for both males and females. This research highlights the link between IA and cultural and social aspects of the disease in addition to discussing the difficulties of IA prevention.

Several scientific studies have highlighted the negative impact of new technologies (NTs) on children’s psychological development, both in terms of emotional and cognitive development. NTs, such as smartphones, tablets, and video games, have a significant impact on children’s development, both in terms of social relationships and cognitive functions. This study aims to identify and explore the cultural models that shape children’s exposure to new technologies in early childhood. This study involved 48 subjects between parents and infant educators. Unstructured interviews were conducted. Emotional Text Analysis was applied. The findings reveal the existence of three cultural repertoires (clusters): Connected but isolated (45.2), Technology education (30%), and Mistrust (24.8%). Their placement in the factorial space explains how the negative effects on children’s psychological development are determined. Technology education seems to be a protective factor for the cognitive and affective development of children. These findings are discussed, comparing them with Musk’s recent experiment and the rapid loss of social ties due to the lack of an educational plan.

The following study aims to verify whether psychosocial risk conditions determine a variation in personality traits. The sample consisted of 301 teachers, comprising 84 men (27.1%) and 217 women (72.9%). The Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) was used to measure personality traits, while the Organizational and Psychosocial Risk Assessment (OPRA) questionnaire was used to measure psychosocial risk. The ANOVA results notice the change of BFQ traits. These are significant (Extraversion = 0.000; Agreeableness = 0.001; Neuroticism = 0.000; Openness = 0.017), with the exception of the Conscientiousness trait (Conscientiousness = 0.213). The research supports the approach of seeing personality as the result of the interaction between the individual and the environment; this position is also recognized by work-related stress literature. Stress conditions can lead to a change in the state of health and possibly determine the onset of work-related stress diseases. In the future, it would be useful to start a series of longitudinal studies to understand in greater detail the variability of personality traits due to changes in the Risk Index.

Usually, sentinel events and gender are useful variables to propose appropriate intervention strategies for promoting public health. The Italian legislation has incorporated aspects of the scientific literature of stress into law 81/08 and the ministerial circular of November 18, 2010, obliging the detection of work-related stress with specific reference to gender and working environment characteristics. Specifically, the Italian law requires the discovery of sentinel events in the working environment. This study evaluates the role of sentinel events in the detection of work-related stress in relation to gender. The sample includes 249 Italian subjects of a debt collection company divided into two groups (male and female) and distributed in two different categories: Inside Sentinel Events and Outside Sentinel Events. A multifactorial questionnaire, the Organizational and Psychosocial Risk Assessment (OPRA), was administered. The application of two-way ANOVA did not show any statistically significant differences due to gender between the subjects who belonged to the sentinel events group and those who did not belong, as assessed by the Risk Index, the Inventory of Source of Risk, and variables linked to work conditions (work function and seniority). Significant differences were found between men and women only on the index of physical and mental health. Subsequently, three performed linear regression confirm the same results.