Il presente programma di ricerca approfondisce l’uso dell’Expressive Writing (EW) con gli adolescenti a partire da tre studi, organizzati in modo sequenziale. Lo Studio 1 indaga l’efficacia e i fattori di moderazione dell’EW con gli adolescenti tramite meta-analisi. In particolare, è stata eseguita una review quantitativa degli studi sull’EW con partecipanti in età adolescenziale, attraverso i seguenti passaggi: ricerca sistematica e codifica degli studi; calcolo degli effect size; analisi dei moderatori. Lo Studio 2 confronta sperimentalmente sugli adolescenti gli effetti a breve e lungo termine di due tipi di istruzioni di scrittura, una convenzionale (EW) e l’altra orientata cognitivamente (CEW), elaborata sulla base dei risultati della meta-analisi. Le analisi sono state finalizzate a testare gli effetti della modificazione delle consegne di scrittura sul funzionamento emotivo e sociale degli adolescenti. Lo Studio 3 consiste in un’analisi secondaria dello Studio 2 ed esplora l’esito dell’intervento in funzione delle traiettorie di cambiamento dei meccanismi cognitivi (“Self-distancing”) rilevati negli scritti, tramite Group-Based Trajectory Modeling. I risultati degli studi sono discussi in funzione delle loro implicazioni teoriche e pratiche. / The present research program aims at evaluating the use of Expressive Writing (EW) with adolescents through three studies, organized in a progressive fashion. Study 1 investigates the efficacy and moderators of EW with adolescents through a meta-analysis. The study performed a quantitative review of the EW interventions with adolescent samples, according to the following steps: systematic literature search and coding of the studies; calculation of the effect size; analysis of the moderators. Study 2 experimentally compares the short- and long-term effects of the traditional writing condition (EW) to a cognitively-oriented EW condition (CEW) on a sample of adolescents. The analyses had the objective to test the effects of altering the writing instructions on social and emotional adjustment of participants. Study 3 consists in a secondary analysis of the written essays collected in Study 2 with the intent of examining the effects of the intervention as a function of the cognitive processes (“Self-distancing”) observed during the writing sessions by means of the Group-Based Trajectory Modeling. The findings are discussed on the basis of their theoretical and practical implications.

<p>This dissertation examined several dimensions of the development of physical aggression and indirect aggression in a longitudinal sample of boys and girls. These data are part of the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth which evaluated the development of children bi-annually from 1994 to 2010. The data for this thesis come from individuals aged 10 and 11 in Cycle 1 (1994) through to Cycle 5 (2002) when they were 18 and 19. In an attempt to explore trends in the development of aggression, the research is presented as three separate projects that examine the following: (1) measurement of physical and indirect aggression by informant and sex; (2) group-based trajectories of physical and indirect aggression and outcomes of trajectories in emerging adulthood; and (3) association between indirect aggression in adolescence and depression in emerging adulthood when physical aggression is taken into account. This is the first longitudinal study to investigate group-based physical and indirect aggression trajectories in childhood and adolescence and outcomes in emerging adulthood. The contribution of this thesis to the field of epidemiological research on aggression is the importance of considering distinct subgroups within both physical and indirect aggression, and joint trajectory groups of both physical and indirect aggression when exploring developmental trends and outcomes of aggression.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)