Adolescent Psychological Well‐being, Radicalism, and Activism: The Mediating Role of Social Disconnectedness and the Illegitimacy of the Authorities
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The identification of factors that counter youth’s radicalization while promoting democratic activism is a timely social issue. This paper examines the association of psychological well‐being (PWB) with violent radicalism and nonviolent activism, by focusing on the mediating role of both social disconnectedness (SD) and the perceived illegitimacy of the authorities (PIoA). Two mediation structural equation models (full vs. partial) were applied to data collected from 328 Italian adolescents (14–19 years). The results showed how SD and PIoA fully mediated the link of PWB with radicalism (negatively) and activism (positively). This model was further supported when compared with an alternative one proposing PWB as a mediator between SD and PIoA. The findings are discussed in light of the existing literature and provide potential implications for practice.
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In a cross-sectional study of 328 Italian high school students aged 14-19, psychological well-being had a negative effect on radicalism.
“+ effect of psychological well-being on activism and - effect on radicalism; this association was medi - ated by social discon - nectedness and perceived illegitimacy of authorities”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al. (2021)
The Method describes 328 high-school students aged 14–19 in Southern Italy, and the Mediation Model reports a negative indirect association between psychological well-being and radicalism through social disconnectedness and perceived illegitimacy of authorities. It also reports a positive indirect association with activism. However, the Discussion says the cross-sectional design cannot establish the direction of these associations, so describing the negative association as an effect overstates the finding. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn a cross-sectional study of 328 Italian high school students aged 14-19, psychological well-being had a positive effect on activism.
“+ effect of psychological well-being on activism and - effect on radicalism; this association was medi - ated by social discon - nectedness and perceived illegitimacy of authorities”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al. (2021)
In a cross-sectional study of 328 Italian high school students aged 14-19, the association between psychological well-being and activism/radicalism was mediated by social disconnectedness and perceived illegitimacy of authorities.
“+ effect of psychological well-being on activism and - effect on radicalism; this association was medi - ated by social discon - nectedness and perceived illegitimacy of authorities”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al. (2021)
The associations between activism/radicalism and psychological well-being were mediated by social disconnectedness and perceived illegitimacy of the authorities.
“Their results also showed that these asso -ciations were mediated by social disconnectedness and the perceived illegitimacy of the authorities (Costabile et al., 2021 ).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al., 2021
Psychological well-being was positively associated with activism (nonviolent political action) but negatively with radicalism (violent political action) among Italian adolescents.
“where authors tested the opposite direction of effects and found that psy -chological well-being was positively associated with activ -ism (i.e., political action through nonviolent means) but negatively with radicalism (i.e., political action through violent means).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al., 2021
Beneficial effects of protest action seem limited or reversed when the protest action is too risky, intensive, violent, or long-term.
“However, these beneficial effects seem limited or even reversed when the protest action is too risky, intensive, violent, or long-term (e.g., Costabile et al., 2021).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Costabile et al., 2021
The Discussion reports an association between adolescents’ psychological well-being and intentions toward violent radicalism or nonviolent activism. It does not examine whether protest action benefits participants, or whether risk, intensity, violence, or duration limits or reverses those benefits; the study’s cross-sectional design also precludes establishing the direction of the association. (LLM, conf=0.77)
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- Authors
- Costabile, A., Musso, P., Iannello, N. M., Servidio, R., Bartolo, M. G., Palermiti, A. L., & Scardigno, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Calabria (IT)
- University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Research on Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-10-22
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 25-33
- ISSN
- 1050-8392 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7795
- OpenAlex
- W3094572730
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 2.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Journal of Research on Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archive of Doctoral Theses and Digital Collections (University of Calabria) (submittedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Bari Aldo Moro) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- H2020 Security (740072)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Islamic Studies and Radicalism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- adolescent psychological well-being, violent radicalism, nonviolent activism, disconnection, mediation, youth radicalization, democratic activism, Italian adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Group Processes, Humans, Illegitimacy
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