The Observatory on Youth Trends focuses on the analysis of youth attitudes, behaviors, and social conditioning, with a particular interest in the childhood and adolescent population. Since 2014, the Observatory has conducted periodic qualitative-quantitative study and research activities primarily focused on students in Italian public schools. The Giovani Alla Prova (GAP) project, which studies youth trends detectable within upper secondary schools, is part of the Observatory’s research activities. Within the GAP project, two sample surveys were initially conducted in Rome, the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, and Latina in 2015 and 2017, respectively. These studies served as pilot phases to refine and validate innovative research tools. In 2019, the GAP national survey was carried out, directly involving thousands of young people from northern to southern Italy.
Since 2021, also as a result of the spread of COVID-19 and the effects of physical distancing measures on youth social interaction, the Observatory has received a mandate from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department for Family Policies, to identify and analyze:

– violence and social deviance induced in the childhood population by social conditioning and exposure to TV and web series, video games, and apps with stereotypical and violent content;
– individual and social factors hindering the spread of well-being, equal opportunities, and youth inclusion, through the analysis of adolescent attitudes and behaviors with particular attention to ongoing changes in social interaction, the state of individual and relational well-being, violence and social deviance, at-risk behaviors and consumption, socio-cultural conditioning, and opinions regarding society and institutions.

Also starting from 2021, a specific objective of the Observatory will be the definition of innovative policies aimed at countering social deviance and promoting well-being, equal opportunities, and youth inclusion, as well as the production of specific training and educational interventions for school teachers, students, and parents. This result will be produced through the application of the CNR-Irpps Delphi MIX method.

The Observatory conducts periodic surveys at both local and national levels using innovative indicators and a psychosocial research approach, in order to produce a complex interpretation of the phenomena under study that simultaneously considers the influence of individual and social variables in determining population trends. Sample surveys are conducted using the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) and CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) methods, with the aid of semi-structured electronic survey questionnaires. The data collection method is anonymous and assisted, and requires the presence of CNR researchers at each collection site to ensure high data reliability. Furthermore, in-depth phases of the observed phenomena are planned using qualitative research tools such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, and scenario planning activities.

The Observatory’s research activities focus on the following dimensions of analysis:

– quantity, quality, and methods of horizontal and vertical personal interaction;
– empathy, self-esteem, prosociality, use of the internet and social media, hyper-connectivity, social deviance (bullying, cyberbullying, sexting);
– social conditioning and relationship with diversity;
– family climate, stereotypes, gender roles and violence, sibling violence, and witnessed violence;
– lifestyles, leisure activities, general well-being, at-risk consumption, and addictions;
– values, orientations, opinions, ontological security, and systemic trust.

The Observatory draws on the contribution of a broad and multidisciplinary research group with expertise in sociology, statistics, psychology, demography, economics, and cultural anthropology. The group members have extensive experience in analyzing population attitudes and behaviors, social interaction and conditioning, and scientific communication and dissemination.

The communication and dissemination activities of the Observatory’s research results include the production of international scientific publications and the transfer of knowledge to the mass media, the scientific, school, and healthcare worlds, educators, and policymakers, also through guidance interventions and via conferences, institutional websites, and related social media pages. Particular attention is paid to identifying guidance actions and promoting youth skills in response to physiological and contingent critical issues affecting the world of education and culture. The dissemination plan for research results is supported by the CNR Press Office and Communication Office.

The Observatory’s activities have so far produced a monographic text, several publications in scientific journals, participation in scientific conferences, training activities for public school teachers, and dissemination through radio and television information programs.

Research is conducted through questionnaires administered via Limesurvey software, installed on a CNR server. The web space is secure (HTTPS) and managed by CNR system administrators. The questionnaires do not collect identifying data, do not track IP addresses, do not store respondent cookies (not even technical ones necessary for navigation), and do not retain identifying data resulting from accessing the questionnaire. The collected data are analyzed exclusively by the Observatory’s research group and are not intended to be shared with third parties, either nationally or abroad. Only aggregated data are subject to disclosure.

The collected data are analyzed exclusively by the Observatory’s research group and are not intended to be shared with third parties, either nationally or abroad. Only aggregated results are subject to disclosure.

• Tintori A. (2021). Essenza e apparenza nel continuo mutare sociale. Le nuove frontiere della scuola, n. 55, La Rigenerazione. La Medusa Editrice, pp. 60-64 [ISSN: 2281-9681];

• Tintori A., Ciancimino G., Vismara A., Cerbara L. (2021). Sports as education: Is this a stereotype too? A national research on the relationship between sports practice, bullying, racism and stereotypes among Italian students. Cogent Education, Taylor & Francis, 8:1, 1938385, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2021.1938385;

• Tintori, A.; Ciancimino, G.; Giovanelli, G.; Cerbara, L. (2021) Bullying and Cyberbullying among Italian Adolescents: The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on Violent Behaviours. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18(4), 1558; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041558;

• Avveduto S., Tintori A. (2020). Il lungo cammino dell’equità di genere nella scienza. N. 25. Prisma Magazine;

• Tintori A. (2019). La misura ideale del reale. Le distanze sociali, Le nuove frontiere della scuola, n. 51, La misura, year XVI, November, pp. 81-86 [ISSN: 2281-9681];

• Caruso M. G., Cerbara L. Tintori A. (2019). Stereotipi, bullismo e devianza a scuola. Identikit degli studenti italiani. Minorigiustizia, n. 2/2019, Milan, Franco Angeli [ISSN: 1121-2845; DOI:10.3280/MG2019-002010];

• Cerbara L., Tintori A. (2019). L’immagine che vogliamo. Il web e gli stereotipi sui migranti. In: Uomini, donne e bambini, edited by Ezio Alessio Gensini and Leonardo Santoli, Tuscany Region, Regional Council, p. 2017-2016 [ISBN: 978-88-85617-41-4];

• Tintori A. (2018). L’illusione della competenza e l’inganno dell’opinione, Le nuove frontiere della scuola, n. 48, La competenza, year XV, October, pp. 11-16 [ISSN: 2281-9681];

• Cerbara L., Tintori A. (2018). Bullismo, stereotipi, pregiudizi e comportamenti a rischio. Un confronto tra studenti italiani e stranieri di Latina. Osservatorio romano sulle migrazioni, Tredicesimo Rapporto, IDOS Study and Research Center, IDOS Edizioni, p. 69-75 [ISBN: 9788864800264];

• Cerbara L., Tintori A. (2018). La condizione giovanile nella città di Latina. Indagine GAP 2017. Rome: National Research Council – Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (IRPPS Working papers 107/2018) [ISSN: 2240-7332];

• Tintori A. (2018). Devianza e disagio relazionale a scuola. Bullismo e cyberbullismo tra tradizione e modernità. In: Pugni chiusi. Bullismo: punti di vista, non-storie, impressioni, significati. Soluzioni? Un contributo a cambiare, per cambiare, edited by Ezio Alessio Gensini and Leonardo Santoli, Tuscany Region, Regional Council, p. 69-73 [ISBN: 978-88-85617-11-7];

• Cerbara L., Tintori A. (2017). Lungo l’asse dell’integrazione/esclusione. Il banco di scuola con-diviso tra studenti italiani e stranieri. In: Migrazioni e integrazioni nell’Italia di oggi, edited by Corrado Bonifazi, Rome: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing, p. 199-211 [ISBN: 978-88-98822-12-6 (online), 978-88-98822-10-2 (print), DOI 10.14600/978-88-98822-12-6];

• Tintori A., Cerbara L. (2017). Lo sport di tutti. Valori e didattica dell’integrazione sociale. In: Pratica sportiva e lavoro sociale tra stato, mercato e comunità, Culture e Studi del Sociale (CuSSoc), vol. 2 (1), June, pp. 43-54 [ISSN: 2531-3975];

• Tintori A., Cerbara L. (eds.) (2016). Giovani alla prova. La condizione giovanile nella Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale. Aracne editrice [ISBN: 978-88-548-9278-1];

• Brandi C., Cerbara L., Tintori A. (2016), Prospettive, aspettative e atteggiamenti degli studenti di seconda generazione della Città metropolitana di Roma. Osservatorio romano sulle migrazioni, Undicesimo Rapporto, IDOS Study and Research Center, IDOS Edizioni, [ISBN: 9788864800523].