The authors examined the extent to which outness, connectedness to the LGBT community, and relationship satisfaction could be used to predict internalized sexual stigma scores. A total of 279 Italian lesbians (47%) and gay men (53%) in a same-sex relationship for at least six months completed the web-based survey. Significant correlations were found between outness, connectedness, relationship satisfaction, and internalized stigma. Analyses of variance were conducted on demographic variables to explore group differences. Multivariate regression analysis suggests that demographic variables, outness, connectedness, and relationship satisfaction combined accounted for 32.8% of the variance in overall internalized sexual stigma. Clinical implications are discussed.

This article presents the results of a detailed interview study with 113 family members (FMs) of people with serious alcohol or drug problems, drawn from three different areas of Italy: Ravenna, a medium-sized town in the North (n = 37), and two large cities, in the Centre (Rome, n = 26), and the South (Naples, n = 50). Interviewers used a semi-structured grid covering a range of areas, including the history of the relative's substance misuse, family member's health and well-being, coping, social support, and hopes and expectations for the future. Interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory. This qualitative analysis of the data defined core categories, which allowed a multidimensional model of coping to be developed, taking into account participants' motivations, thoughts, plans, and behavior. This model highlights the multiple reciprocal interconnections underlying coping. The results demonstrate that family members of people with alcohol or drug problems in Italy suffer in similar ways to family members elsewhere. However, although there are great similarities between these results and results from other countries (Orford 2005a), the importance of the family, both as a central theme in the interviews and occupying a key role within Italy, stands out, as does the role played by interpersonal and relational bonds within the Italian social environment. A range of areas are discussed further

The present study examines the relationships between depression, self-esteem, fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction in a sample of 311 Italian young adults (66.2% women and 33.8% men), ages 18–35 yrs. (M = 23.5; SD = 3.5). The following hypotheses were tested: that depression is positively correlated with fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction, while being significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem; that depression, self-esteem, fear of missing out, and online fear of missing out explain social media addiction scores; that self-esteem mediates the relationship between depression and social media addiction; and that, among Italian participants between the ages of 18 and 35, younger women report higher scores on fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction. Results strongly supported the hypotheses. Taken together, our findings not only contribute to the growing body of research on online addictive behaviors and individuals’ well-being, but also provide support for prevention programs in the field.

Purpose: To examine the overall impact of alcohol and drug problems on a sample of Italian family members. Sample: 113 family members affected by and concerned about the problem drinking or drug-taking of close relatives recruited from the North (N = 37), the Centre (N = 26) and the South (N = 50) of Italy. Measurements: Family Member Impact scale (FMI), Symptom Rating Test (SRT), Coping Questionnaire (CQ) and Hopefulness–Hopelessness scale (HOPE). Findings: There is a high level of impact on family members; the greater the impact, the higher the symptom levels; and the greater both the impact and symptoms are, the more types of coping behaviour are used. Multiple regression showed that the most important variables relating to overall symptom levels reported by family members were total coping, gender and impact. These data lend further support to the Stress-Strain-Coping-Support model (Orford et al., 2005a, b).