Adolescenza e sessualità durante il lock- down: un’indagine su vissuti e comportamenti degli adolescenti in Italia

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy was one of the countries that imposed the most restrictive containment measures. Several studies have highlighted the negative repercussions of the lockdown period, and of the pandemic in general, on the well-being of young people. A lack of well-being that also affected romantic and sexual relationships. Forced isolation also led many young people to intensify technology-mediated relationship modes. However, few studies have focused exclusively on adolescents, a target group with characteristics different from young adults, primarily because of the reduced possibilities of privacy due to living with parents. The present study aims to contribute to the knowledge of how Italian adolescents have experienced the lockdown period in relation to their sexual sphere, extending the analysis to their general emotional state and, as a last resort, to their views on sex education. For this purpose, an on-line questionnaire was used, administered to 250 people who were between 16 and 18 years of age at the time of the first lockdown. The results confirm the negative repercussions of the pandemic on the well-being of adolescents, noting a strong presence of experiences of boredom, disorientation, demotivation, etc. After the lockdown, many adolescents experienced anxiety about the idea of making contact with other people or felt sexually blocked. Forced distance led some to vio-late restrictions to have sex, while many of those in an existing rela-tionship increased their sexting practices. The results suggest, among other things, the need for a greater in-depth examination of the role that the virtual dimension of sexuality takes on in adolescents, also with a view to integrating and updating sex education.