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Authors: Emina Mehanović (Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Piemonte Orientale, Vercelli, Italy), Mariaelisa Renna (Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy), Marco Martorana (Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy), Erica Viola (Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy), Alberto Sciutto (Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy), Serena Vadrucci (Department of Prevention, Hygiene and Public Health Unit, ASL Città di Torino, Torino, Italy), Maria Ginechesi (Department of Mental Health, Addiction Unit, ASL Roma1, Roma, Italy), Claudia Vullo (Department of Mental Health, Addiction Unit, ASL Roma1, Roma, Italy), Adalgisa Ceccano (Department of Mental Health, Addiction Unit, ASL Roma1, Roma, Italy), Pietro Casella (Department of Mental Health, Addiction Unit, ASL Roma1, Roma, Italy), Fabrizio Faggiano (Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy), Federica Vigna-Taglianti (Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy), the GAPUnplugged Coordination Group
Background: Antisocial behaviour is a result of a multifactorial process involving social-level and individual-level factors. Only few studies explored the mediating effects of social-level factors through proximal influences of individual-level factors. To extend previous findings, this study aims to investigate the association of social-level factors with the probability of engaging in antisocial behaviours, and to identify individual-level factors mediating the relationship between social-level factors and antisocial behaviour among 12-14 years old Italian adolescents.
Methods: The analytical sample of this study included 1847 school students from 9 NHS districts in Piedmont Region and city of Rome who participated in the baseline survey of the experimental controlled trial “GAPUnplugged”. The data was collected between November 2022 and January 2023. The associations of sociodemographic characteristics, distal factors and proximal factors with the probability of adolescent’s antisocial behaviour were estimated through multilevel mixed-effect models. Mediation analysis was conducted to test the mediating effect of proximal factors on the relationship between distal factors and adolescent’s antisocial behaviour.
Results: The prevalence of lifetime antisocial behaviour was 61.2%. Among distal factors, parental permissiveness to use substances, low parental support, low class climate, perceptions of peer’s cigarette, alcohol and illicit drug use were associated with higher probability of antisocial behaviour. Low school performance, low pupil’s respect for teacher, impulsiveness and sensation-seeking were significant mediators of the trajectories of most distal factors on antisocial behaviours.
Conclusions: Both distal and proximal factors help to understand trajectories of antisocial behaviours in adolescence. All these factors should be considered in prevention interventions aimed at reducing or preventing antisocial behaviour among early adolescents.
| Conflict of interest | The authors declare they have no conflicts of interests. |
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