Juvenile firesetting in Italy: relationship to aggression, psychopathology, personality, self-efficacy, and school functioning.
Despite the fact that juvenile fire involvement is associated with significant injuries and is highly correlated with diverse maladjustment characteristics, firesetting has never been empirically evaluated in Italy. Participants included 567 youth between 11 and 18 years of age. This investigation attempted to address four gaps in the literature. The first objective was to examine how common firesetting behavior is among Italian youth. The second goal was to explore whether in Italy firesetting is associated with other types of psychopathology and later maladjustment. Thirdly, this study sought to extend our knowledge of the personal characteristics of firesetters. Finally, the relationship between firesetting and aggression remains an empirical question. Results suggested that almost one in three Italian youth reported engaging in fire involvement. Moreover, firesetting in Italian youth is associated with significant levels of antisocial behavior and psychopathology. In fact, firesetters-only demonstrated higher levels of most measures of maladjustment than did aggressive-only youth. Finally, the findings of this study suggest that aggressive firesetters are not at higher risk than nonaggressive firesetters. Instead, fire involvement appears to be the most important variable when predicting serious behavioral difficulties and anti-sociality. This highlights the importance of fire involvement in both the assessment and prediction of antisocial behavior and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence.
Del Bove
Giannetta
G
La Sapienza Inter-University Center for Research on the Origins of Prosocial and Antisocial Motivation, University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy. giadelbove@hotmail.com
Caprara
Gian Vittorio
GV
Pastorelli
Concetta
C
Paciello
Marinella
M
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005391:Firesetting Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires