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Civic engagement, defined as involvement in community life, is influenced by reciprocal relationships between individuals and contexts and is a key factor that contributes to positive youth development. The present study evaluates a theoretical model linking perceived democratic school climate with adolescent civic engagement (operationalized as civic responsibility and intentions for future participation), taking into account the mediating role of civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Participants were 403 adolescents (47.9 % male) ranging in age from 11 to 15 years old (mean age = 13.6). Path analysis results partially validated the proposed theoretical model. Higher levels of democratic school climate were associated with higher levels of adolescent civic responsibility; the association was fully mediated by civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Adolescents' civic responsibility, then, was positively associated with a stronger intention to participate in the civic domain in the future.

Purpose: Adolescents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) report better mental health. The strength of the association - the "social gradient in adolescent mental health" - varies across countries, with stronger associations in countries with greater income inequality. Country-level meritocratic beliefs (beliefs that people get what they deserve) may also strengthen the social gradient in adolescent mental health; higher SES may be more strongly linked to adolescent's perceptions of capability and respectful treatment. Methods: Using data from 11-15 year olds across 30 European countries participating in the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n = 131,101), multilevel regression models with cross-level interactions examined whether country-level meritocratic beliefs moderated the association between two individual-level indicators of SES, family affluence and perceived family wealth, and three indicators of adolescent mental health (life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, and aggressive behavior). Results: For family affluence, in some countries, there was a social gradient in adolescent mental health, but in others the social gradient was absent or reversed. For perceived family wealth, there was a social gradient in adolescent life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints in all countries. Country-level meritocratic beliefs moderated associations between SES and both life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints: in countries with stronger meritocratic beliefs associations with family affluence strengthened, while associations with perceived family wealth weakened. Conclusions: Country-level meritocratic beliefs moderate the associations between SES and adolescent mental health, with contrasting results for two different SES measures. Further understanding of the mechanisms connecting meritocratic beliefs, SES, and adolescent mental health is warranted.

Background: The aim of this research is to update the trend in overweight (including obesity) prevalence among Italian adolescents, evaluating possible differences by age and gender, and analyzing their relationships with socioeconomic status, between 2002 and 2014. Methods: The present study is based on data from the Italian HBSC study at four time points (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014), which involved 15035 adolescents, aged 11-13-15 (7540 boys and 7495 girls)Results: Gender and age were associated with the occurrence of overweight. In all surveys, boys had a higher prevalence of excess weight compared to girls (p<0.001), but only among girls there was a significant increasing trend (from 11.2% in 2002 to 13.3% in 2014). From 2002 to 2014, the risk of being overweight was inversely associated with the economic level of the family, for both genders and all age groups. Conclusions: Data collected between 2002 and 2014 in Italy showed a low overall increase in prevalence of obesity and overweight and an inverse association between SES and obesity in all age groups and in both genders. These findings suggest that concerted, multi-sectorial, efforts are needed in Italy, in combination with a sound political will, focused on reducing social inequality associate.