Search

AbstractNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behavior in adolescence are global mental health concerns. These behaviors are often interconnected, but can also manifest independently. This study aimed to assess the predictive abilities of neuroticism, emotional competencies, and the school social climate on four typologies based on the presence of NSSI and levels of suicidal behavior. The study included 713 participants aged 11–16 years who completed questionnaires assessing suicidal behavior, NSSI, neuroticism, emotional competencies, and the school social climate. The data were analyzed using logistic regression techniques. The findings revealed that adolescents with high levels of neuroticism and emotion perception, low levels of emotion expression and regulation and an inadequate school social climate were more likely to belong to typologies characterized by NSSI and/or high suicidal behavior. This study underscores the importance of enhancing the school social climate as a crucial step toward reducing the likelihood of NSSI and suicidal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family can be a supportive and protective mental health context for trans children, yet little research, mainly qualitative, has focused on the experience of parents, who also suffer the impact of minority stress and live a process of meaning-making during gender affirmation process. This research aims to explore the impact of ambiguous loss and its relationship to their emotional intelligence and well-being. A mixed methods triangulation design with cross-sectional observation was used. Eighty-nine parents of transgender people participated in the study. The mean age was 46.37 years (S.D. = 7.15), 86.5% (n = 77) identified themselves as female and 44.4% reported a grieving process, although there were no statistically significant differences on well-being, emotional intelligence or emotional symptoms depending on it. However, parents with loss reported more negative emotions and do not benefit to the same extent from emotional intelligence or the buffering effect of positive emotions (especially pride). Perception of loss increases family distress, encouraging the gender affirmation process to be felt as a rupture and hindering the elaboration of new meanings. Future studies could include different personal, family, and contextual variables to further explore the experience of loss during the process, to assist these families more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional theories about intuition emerged from the study of decision-making, and consider it a typical expert judgment or a heuristic process that generates erroneous decisions. Research into clinical intuition is currently growing, although there are few studies focused on psychotherapy and not associated with a specific theoretical orientation. The purpose of this study was to analyse the use of clinical intuition in psychotherapy, comparing psychological schools. Ten Spanish psychotherapists with at least four years' experience participated in the study. It had a qualitative design and was based on Grounded Theory. The results found that all professionals use intuition similarly in a bottom-up and non-linear process that captures incongruous information, allowing them to quickly organize complex information and establish working hypotheses that they then contrast with reality, preventing them from functioning heuristically. There is a need for further research on clinical intuition as a common factor of therapy success, and into its possible applications to improve the training and supervision of psychotherapists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature on the psychological impact of COVID-19 has shown a direct relationship between family conflicts and psychological distress among parents and their children during the domestic lockdown and social isolation; but there are also opportunities to enhance family bonding, encourage collective problem-solving and improve personal relationships. This study aimed to explore psychological adjustment processes of Spanish adolescents and their parents during the first month of lockdown by analyzing their narratives, perceived outcomes, protection and risk factors. A total of 142 people agreed to participate in this study. Of all participants, 61 were adolescents (M = 13.57; SD = 1.74; 57% women) and 81 were parents (M = 46.09; SD = 4.72; 91% mothers). All were Spanish residents and completed an online survey during the domestic lockdown in March 2020. From a qualitative design, methodology followed a mixed approach to analyze data. The results showed three different types of adaptation to lockdown and social isolation in both adolescents and their parents: 1) positive adjustment, 2) moderate adjustment, and 3) maladjustment. Most participants reported a good adjustment and only a 20% of parents and a 16% of adolescents stated that they had not been able to achieve a positive psychological adjustment. There are few significant quantitative differences between adolescents and their parents. The qualitative analysis of data showed that adolescents reported less psychological distress than their parents. The two most important protective factors were social support and keeping busy during lockdown. The most significant risk factors were loss of mobility and social isolation. The conclusions stressed that regarding psychological maladjustment, parents experienced feelings of uncertainty whereas adolescents experienced a kind of mourning process. These findings can be used to design and implement effective intervention measures for mental health and psychological well-being in such a difficult situation as domestic lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great part of the research in adolescent popularity is based on sociometric methods, not always distinguishing between social preference (acceptance or likeability) and perceived popularity (visibility or salience), which has practical and theoretical implications. The aim of this work was to analyze the features that a sample of 406 Spanish adolescents (53.2% girls, M = 16.76 years) and their teachers (n = 26, 50% women) associated with perceived popularity. The data analysis established three main themes that categorize perceived popularity: behaviors, developmental traits, and other resources, which include both peer-valued and not valued characteristics. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons indicated differences between male and female popularity, mostly from the point of view of the students. Our findings suggest that perceived popularity is consistent with gender stereotypes, and that positive and negative popularity perceptions coexist with a denial of popularity as a real phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature reveals multiple benefits of emotional education in adolescents' development. This study examines the effects perceived by participants in the Emotional Education Programme for Adolescents (PREDEMA), which is based on the ability model of emotional intelligence and assumes a dialogical paradigm geared at meaningful learning. A total of 293 students aged 11 to 15 participated in the programme. A mixed methodology was used to evaluate the intervention, analysing participants' perceived learning and exploring their subjective experience in depth. The results indicate significant learning in all four emotional competences described by the emotional intelligence model, as well as in related areas. The contribution of the qualitative methodology in combination with quantitative analysis is discussed to explore the effects of emotional education programmes that promote adolescents' emotional awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the confinement of the population in many parts of the world, with Spain being one of the most affected countries. This particular situation may have negative psychological consequences, depending on the experience of threat. This experience is influenced by what we think about COVID-19. The aim of this study was to analyze the social representations of COVID-19 in 61 adolescents and their families (81 parents), using a mixed design with cross-sectional data. We identified six basic categories that describe participants' social representation of COVID-19, highlighting the health and emotional domains. In conclusion, the social representation of coronavirus in adolescents and adults is similar in the medical and health domain, but differs in the fact that it is broader and more fear-driven in adults. Understanding adolescents' and adult's social representation regarding the coronavirus can be useful in orienting future psychological and emotional interventions during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Technologies provide a brilliant opportunity to promote social-emotional competences, well-being and adjustment in adolescence. Game-based programmes and serious games are digital tools that pursue an educational goal in an attractive environment for adolescents. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the effectiveness of emoTIC, a game-based social-emotional programme designed according to Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey's model of emotional intelligence. Materials and methods: The participants were 119 adolescents between 11 and 15 years, randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. The adolescents completed questionnaires to assess their emotional intelligence, self-esteem, affect balance, difficulties, prosocial behaviour, depression, anxiety and stress. Results: The MANCOVA results showed that adolescents who completed the game-based programme had improved self-esteem, affect balance, emotional symptoms, behavioural problems, and hyperactivity (Wilks' λ =.77; F = 2.10; p =.035). Hierarchical multiple regression indicated that adolescents in the experimental group had a greater change in self-esteem and affect balance (positive β), while their emotional problems and hyperactivity decreased (negative β). Anxiety moderated the influence of the intervention on self-esteem (b =.04; t = -2.55; p ≤.05; LLCI = -0.43, ULCI = -0.05). Adolescents with low or medium anxiety improved their self-esteem with the intervention, while those with high anxiety did not develop it. Conclusions: The use of technology in social-emotional programmes could be the first step in increasing adolescents' interest in emotions and emoTIC could be considered a useful programme which influences their personal, emotional and social factors. Trial registration: Clinical Trial identifier: NCT04414449. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]