Marco Rizzo

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of relationships connecting sense of community (SOC) and community resilience with psychological wellbeing, via the mediation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impacts on life domains. Survey data were collected from an international sample of adults (n = 824) during the COVID-19 outbreak (June-September 2020). Using a structural equation model, we tested a mediation model to identify the associations between SOC and community resilience with the perceived impacts of the emergency situation and with psychological wellbeing. Results revealed that SOC mitigated the impacts of COVID-19 on multiple life domains, and it was also positively associated with wellbeing. Community resilience was correlated with SOC and wellbeing but showed no significant relationship with COVID-19 impacts. The findings support that SOC has a protective function and can contribute to mitigating the impacts of difficult life situations. SOC can also be leveraged as an intervention aimed at protecting the wellbeing of people and communities, particularly in times of crisiss.

The literature suggests that religion may play an important role in the acculturation process of immigrants by contributing to the maintenance of the heritage culture and preventing identification with the mainstream. With few exceptions, studies on this topic have focused on religion as a whole by assessing specific aspects or dimensions (such as religious identification, beliefs, and practices) and creating a composite measure without analyzing the contribution of each dimension to the acculturation process. In this study, the relationships between specific religious dimensions and acculturation were assessed with a sample of 282 Muslim immigrants who were recruited in the northern part of Italy. Two regression models show that religious identification drives the maintenance of Muslim culture but is unrelated to the acculturation to Italian culture, whereas beliefs and practices do not contribute to heritage acculturation but are negatively associated to acculturation to the host culture.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have become overexposed to social media and online gaming, making them more vulnerable to online violence such as cyberbullying. The aim of this study was to determine whether social media and online gaming pose a risk for cyberbullying through time spent online and whether there is a sex that is more vulnerable to this phenomenon. The survey included a sample of 4338 students (52.4% girls; age range, 11–19 years, M 14.1 SD 1.6) attending lower and upper secondary schools. Multiple moderated mediation regression models by sex were conducted, showing a relationship between social media and online gaming, time spent online outside of school, and cyberbullying. The results show that young girls are at higher risk of cyberbullying via social media, and boys are at higher risk of cybervictimization through online gaming. The findings may encourage other researchers to study the phenomenon, taking into account the role of parents and other educators.