Contents


Preface

The title chosen for the present book, *Adolescences*, introduces an unusual plural noun because the outcomes of the transitional trajectories from childhood to adulthood are indeed plural. A plural noun underlines also that the crossing paths of adolescence are multiple, according to the important theoretical legacy of Renzo

Ours is a rapidly changing world with new economic, technological, and ecological demands challenging adolescents' ability to adapt. Teenagers are committed to building their future in this reality: they appear as a positive generation civically engaged in making the world we live in better (cf. the *Fridays for Future statements* [2]). Indeed, they act as agents for social and developmental transformation into and with the microsystems in which they are embedded (families, schools, peers, communities). However, they are also a bridge generation continually challenged by the pitfalls of their fundamental development task: identity integration (cf. [3] and

As Valkenburg and Peter [4] note, no other teen generation has had the same opportunities as the current one to "explore their identities with such a multiplicity of means and without the supervision of traditional socialization agents, such as parents and school" (p. 125). The adolescence transition, therefore, appears to be an age of extraordinary opportunities but is also more traditionally seen as an age of

The seven contributions collected in this book are a small sample of the above-

interstitial, filling up the intervals between daily activities" ([5], p. 22).

potential risk factor for the development of addictive behaviors.

Chapter 1 by Ingrassia and colleagues, "Adolescents Suspended in the Space-Time: Problematic Use of Smartphone between Dissociative Symptoms and Flow Experiences", addresses the pervasive and continuous use of the smartphone by teens. Among the empirical data presented in the chapter, an important association emerges between prolonged exposure to smartphone screens and the manifestation of dissociative symptoms by smartphone users. Furthermore, the dissociative symptoms seemed related to the absorption and imaginative-involvement experiences (i.e., flow experiences), which could reinforce the overuse of devices, a

Chapter 2 by Hattingh, "The Dark Side of YouTube: A Systematic Review of Literature", highlights a very disturbing aspect of the use of digital platforms by adolescents: the possibility of accessing myriad videos with highly inappropriate content (smoking, promotion of alcohol use, bullying, self-harm/suicide, and so

The current teen generation appears hyper-connected, engaged in its usual development tasks but endowed with new powerful means of socialization. Teens spend an increasing amount of time on digital screens, often engaged in media-multitasking activities. Their internet use through the smartphone "has become continuous and

Canestrari, a master of Italian psychology [1].

special issue *Dark Side of Identity*).

exposure to amplified risks.

mentioned plurality.
