A Psychoeducational Program to Prevent Internet abuse in Young people

Authors

  • Antonella Gigantesco Head of the Unit of Clinical-epidemiological research in mental health, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità
  • Debora Del Re Research assistant, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità
  • Isabella Cascavilla Technologist, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità
  • Daniela Bonaldi Official Department of Health and Social Policies, Provincia Autonoma di Trento
  • Vindice Deplano Psychologist, trainer, and e-learning consultant

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61007/QdC.2023.2.125

Keywords:

Internet abuse, serious game, soft skills

Abstract

There is no doubt that the Internet has such an important and relevant role in life that we cannot reasonably believe that we want and can live without it (Unicef, 2017). Researchers working in the psychoeducational field ask schools and educators to use such technology in ways that could be productive (Thompson, 2013). Learning digital activities such as online videos and serious games can be particularly useful, for example, to improve emotional, social, and decision-making skills (Campbell et al., 2010; Albert and Steinberg, 2011). 

The authors of this paper have developed a program for middle school students aimed at the prevention of Internet abuse. The program based on serious games has been developed within a multi-regional project funded by the Ministry of Health under the CCM Call (National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) in 2018.

Here we will briefly describe the program and present the main results of its implementation that involved schools from different Regions and provinces of Italy, such as the Autonomous Province of Trento, Lombardy, Lazio, Marche and Molise.

Author Biographies

Antonella Gigantesco, Head of the Unit of Clinical-epidemiological research in mental health, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità

Antonella Gigantesco, Psychologist, epidemiologist. She is First Researcher at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità where she has carried out research activities since 1990. She was awarded the national scientific qualification as Associate Professor of Clinical and Dynamic Psychology in 2018. She is the author of 100 scientific articles in international indexed journals. Among her research activities, one strand in particular concerns the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions for mental health promotion and primary prevention of common mental disorders in the general youth population.
Key words: psychosocial and rehabilitation interventions in psychiatry and clinical psychology; mental health promotion; quality of mental health services.

Debora Del Re, Research assistant, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità

Debora Del Re, Psychologist at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità where she has been providing technical assistance to research projects since 1990. She currently works in the Reference Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health and participates in projects on surveillance of mental disorders, mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders in young people and perinatal mental health. She also organises training events and is co-author of about 50 publications.

Keywords: mental disorders, mental health promotion, perinatal mental health.

Isabella Cascavilla, Technologist, Centre of Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità

Isabella Cascavilla, a graduate in Foreign Languages and Literature, is a Technologist at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità where she has been providing technical assistance to research projects since 1992. She currently works in the Reference Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health and participates in projects on the surveillance of mental disorders, mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders in young people and perinatal mental health. She also organises training events and is co-author of 50 publications.

Keywords: mental disorders, mental health promotion, perinatal mental health.

Daniela Bonaldi, Official Department of Health and Social Policies, Provincia Autonoma di Trento

Daniela Bonaldi, Official of the Innovation and Research Office of the Health and Social Policy Department of the Autonomous Province of Trento.

Fields of interest: innovation and digitalisation in public administration and, in particular, in the health sector, health promotion.

Vindice Deplano, Psychologist, trainer, and e-learning consultant

Vindice Deplano, a graduate in Psychology, has been involved full-time in vocational and management training since 1990 and, since the second half of the 1990s, in e-learning, with a marked predilection for simulations, serious games and other ‘active’ methods. He has proposed a number of methodological approaches in this field. Today he collaborates, as a freelancer, with several of the most lively realities in the field of e-learning and public administration. He has numerous publications to his credit on the topics of training and educational technologies. His professional experience and contributions are documented on the Apprendere/Pensare website <http://www.vindice.it>, where you can download the publications.

Fields of interest: learning, training, e-learning, simulations, serious games

References

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Bai, Y. M., Lin, C. C., Chen, J. Y. (2001), «Internet addiction disorder among clients of a virtual clinic», in Psychiatr Serv, 52(10), 1397.

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UNICEF (2017), The States of the World’s Children 2017. Children in a digital world. https://www.unicef.org/sowc2017.

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Published

2023-09-01

How to Cite

Gigantesco, A., Del Re, D., Cascavilla, I., Bonaldi, D., & Deplano, V. (2023). A Psychoeducational Program to Prevent Internet abuse in Young people. Community Notebook. People, Education and Welfare in the Society 5.0, (2), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.61007/QdC.2023.2.125

Issue

No. 2 (2023): Teaching Enhanced Learning for Engaging and Inclusive Learning

Section

Education Column

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