Risky riding behavior on two wheels: the role of cognitive, social, and personality variables among young adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to analyze and estimate the relations between risky riding behaviors and some personality and sociocognitive variables through structural equation modeling. We focused on two-wheel riding behavior among a sample of 1,028 Italian adolescents at their first driving experience. CONCLUSIONS: The main findings confirmed the role of personality in influencing riding behavior directly as well as indirectly through risk perception. In particular, risk perception was a significant mediator between personality, social norm, and riding behavior. The significant relations that emerged in the general sample were further confirmed in the two specific sub-samples of males and females. In terms of social marketing and educational communication, it may consequently be advisable to proceed in an integrated and coordinated manner at both the cognitive and social level, taking into account some "dispositions to risk" related to personality. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The integrated and coordinated action on different levels--cognitive, social, and personality--may therefore allow more effective and significant results in reducing those risky riding behaviors that often underlie young two-wheel riders' higher involvement in traffic accidents.

[Presenteeism and workers' health: effects of mediation on psycho-physical stress in a longitudinal study]. / Presenteismo e salute dei lavoratori: effetti di mediazione sullo strain psico-fisico in un'indagine longitudinale.

The present work aims to investigate the phenomenon of presenteeism, a construct still little studied, especially in Italy, in its medical, psychological, social and economic implications. In the first part we propose a review of the international literature, and of the meanings, causes and consequences of the phenomenon on individual and organizational health. In the second part, we present a study which involved, for a period of about a year, 326 workers of a company in the engineering industry. This study is, in this writers' knowledge, the first survey--characterized by a longitudinal design and a multi-method approach, both not very present also in the international literature--carried out in our country on the phenomenon of presenteeism. The survey examines the mediating role of presenteeism in the relationship between specific risk factors of work context and content--career growth, conflict with colleagues, social rewards--and the psycho-physical strain. The risk factors were detected through a self-report instrument at the beginning of the year. The workers, at the end of the same year, were subjected to a healthcare surveillance visit in which the competent physician evaluated the psycho-physical strain. The hypothesized relations have been tested by estimating a structural equation model with observed variables. What emerged was a negative association between social rewards and presenteeism and a positive relation between conflict with colleagues and presenteeism. Instead, no association between growth and presenteeism emerged. Presenteeism, in turn, predicts psycho-physical strain. Overall, presenteeism mediates the relationship between social rewards and strain, as well as between interpersonal conflict and strain, but not between growth and strain. This work is characterized by some innovative aspects compared to previous studies conducted on the subject, both in theory and methodology. From a theoretical point of view the hypothesized model aims to capture specific risk factors of the process leading to the formation of work stress, through the role of presenteeism. From a methodological point of view the adoption of a longitudinal and multi-method research design allows a better understanding of the relationships between the variables investigated, often limited by the exclusive use of self-report instruments in cross-sectional designs. Finally, the possible interventions aimed at preventing presenteeism and minimizing its negative consequences on health are discussed.