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Background: Nighttime fears are common among school-aged children and may be linked to psychological difficulties, while coping strategies may vary and affect their emotional well-being. This study aimed to identify patterns of nighttime fears and coping styles in school-aged children using Latent Profile Analysis. Subsequently, possible predictors of the latent profiles were tested through multinomial logistic regression analysis., Method: A sample of 786 Spanish-speaking children (aged 8 to 12; Mage = 9.66, = 1.20; 51.3% girls) participated and completed self-report measures of nighttime fears and coping responses., Results: The results revealed four latent profiles: (1)"low fears, low self-control" (24.2%), (2)"high fears (except for imaginary fears), maladaptive coping" (22.8%), (3)"moderate fears, adaptive coping" (44.9%), and (4)"high fears, maladaptive coping" (8.1%). The regression analysis revealed that sociodemographic characteristics and children's perceived helpfulness of coping strategies were predictors of the latent profiles., Conclusions: These findings suggest the presence of distinct patterns and heterogeneous subgroups, which may emerge as higher or lower risk profiles. It highlights the need to consider the existing patterns to provide tailored interventions targeting nighttime fears.

Background: Although several studies have reported an increase in psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of stressful life events on Spanish children and adolescents using a person-oriented statistical approach and the relationships between the profiles and emotional and behavioral symptoms have not yet been examined. The present study aims to identify profiles of Spanish children and adolescents, considering life-threatening stressful events during the COVID-19 pandemic., Method: Participants were 252 parents of children aged 3 to 15 years old who completed an online structured questionnaire that collected information about stressful life events related to the pandemic and its impact on their children's welfare., Results: Through Latent Class Analysis (LCA), four profiles of children and adolescents were found according to the stressful events experienced: "COVID infection, social confinement", "economic loss", "reduced social contact" and "parental stress", with no significant age or gender differences. Reduction in social contact was the most prevalent stressor. Comparisons of psychological symptoms across latent classes were analyzed., Conclusions: The findings increase our understanding of how stressful life events during the COVID-19 situation impacted young people's psychological welfare and highlight the need to promote strategies to prevent emotional problems during a pandemic considering the identified profiles.

Background: The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) is one of the few well-established available measures designed to assess childhood depression. The objective of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties and explore the differential item functioning (DIF) of the SMFQ in a community sample of Spanish children. Gender and age differences in SMFQ scores were also analyzed., Method: The sample included 824 students aged 8-12 years (Mage = 9.64, SD = 1.2) recruited from four public and private schools in urban areas in the southeast of Spain., Results: Findings from factor analysis and Polytomous Rasch analysis supported a unidimensional interpretation of the SMFQ, thereby replicating findings across cultures and languages. The SMFQ had good reliability, and test-retest analysis indicated fair to good temporal stability. Evidence of construct validity was provided by a path diagram of the SMFQ and SDQ subscales. No age or gender differences in the SMFQ scores were observed. However, two items (3 and 11) exhibited gender-related DIF., Conclusions: The use of SMFQ sum-scores as a continuous measure of the severity of depressive symptoms can be supported. The measure shows promise as brief, reliable, valid instrument for the assessment of depressive symptoms in Spanish children.

Background: Despite being necessary to delay the spread of COVID-19, home confinement could have affected the emotional well-being of children and adolescents. Knowing which variables are involved in anxiety and depressive symptoms could help to prevent young people's psychological problems related to lockdown as early as possible. This cross-sectional study aims to examine anxiety and depressive symptomatology in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese children and adolescents in order to determine which variables are related to poorer well-being during the pandemic., Method: The parents of 515 children, aged 3-18 years old, completed an online survey. Children's anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale-Parent Version, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Parent Version., Results: We found differences in anxiety and depression between countries, with higher anxiety scores in Spanish children, and higher depression scores in Spanish and Italian children compared to the Portuguese. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were more likely in children whose parents reported higher levels of stress., Conclusions: These findings are discussed in the light of detecting and supporting affected children as early as possible.

Background: Super Skills for Life (SSL) is an innovative transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral prevention program that has demonstrated positive results targeting children's internalizing problems. SSL has a strong component aimed at enhancing social competence, including strategies such as video-feedback with cognitive preparation. This study examined for the first time the immediate impact of SSL on improving social skills in young children with anxiety symptoms, as well as mediating factors predicting SSL anxiety outcomes., Method: Participants were 67 Spanish-speaking children aged 6-8 years old. Children were video-recorded and assessed behaviorally through a 2 minute speech task, before and after the 8-session program., Results: The results revealed significant positive behavioral changes related to children' social skills in several domains. Depression acted as a mediator of change in pre- to post-intervention generalized anxiety scores., Conclusions: This study provides initial support for the usefulness of SSL to immediately improve social skills in young children with anxiety symptoms.

Background: Individual differences in the capacity to delay gratification explain considerable variability in adult life outcomes related to health, psychological well-being, and social relationships. Although individual differences in delay of gratification begin to emerge in adolescence, few studies have tried to evaluate this construct in adolescents, especially in Spanish. The goal of this study was to validate the Delaying Gratification Inventory and to analyse its psychometric properties in Spanish adolescents., Method: Using a sample of 695 adolescents (M = 15.18, SD = 1.22) between 13 and 18 years old, the factor structure, internal consistency and reliability were tested., Results: The analyses showed an adequate fit to the original model (χ ² (550) = 1671.59, CFI = .92, TLI = .92, RMSEA = .063, 95% CI [.063, .071]), and appropriate internal consistency (α = .80). The ability to delay gratification was directly and moderately associated with self-control and self-consciousness, and inversely and moderately related with depression and psychological difficulties., Conclusion: This study provides new data on a tool for assessing the ability to delay reward in Spanish adolescents, a key regulatory ability to prevent unhealthy high-risk behaviours that are associated with serious health, psychological, and social problems.

Background: Super Skills for Life (SSL) is a transdiagnostic prevention program designed for children with anxiety and depressive symptoms based on cognitive-behavioral therapy. This study is a trial of the efficacy of the SSL program to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms in a representative sample of Spanish children aged 6 to 8., Method: This cluster randomized controlled trial involved 123 Spanish-speaking children recruited from 10 schools. Schools were the unit of randomization, and were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: intervention group (SSL) and waiting list control (WLC) group. Assessments were conducted before and after the 8-week intervention., Results: Generalized estimating equations showed that, compared with WLC, the intervention significantly reduced emotional symptoms of anxiety and depression. Significant improvements were also found in specific symptoms of anxiety disorders, and in the interference of anxiety in the child´s life., Conclusions: The findings of this study provide initial support for the immediate effects of SSL, suggesting that it is a valuable resource for the early reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms in young Spanish-speaking children.

Background: There has been an increase in adolescent substance use that has led to the development and implementation of prevention programs. New evidence is needed in order to improve them and optimize the resources. The aim of this paper is to use a meta-analysis to analyze the effectiveness of school drug prevention programs in Spain., Method: Twenty-one studies that evaluated drug abuse prevention programs in schools, were published between 2002 and 2013, and that met the selection criteria were identified., Results: Preventive program effectiveness was low ( d = 0.16), although it was higher at the follow-up ( d = 0.30). The programs were most effective in changing attitudes ( d = 0.44) towards drugs. The models of health education ( d = 0.48) and social learning ( d = 0.20) were also very effective, especially in combination with oral, written, and audiovisual support material ( d = 0.21) and the implementation of joint programs by health education professionals and faculty members ( d = 0.25)., Conclusions: Is possible to determine the need for more rigorous evaluations of interventions to establish useful programs.

Background: The Alabama Child Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) is a multi-source and multi-method instrument created to assess the most relevant parenting practices from a bidirectional perspective. Despite its advantages, the APQ has not been validated with a Spanish population. The objective of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties and factor structure of the APQ, child self-report version, in a community sample of Spanish children., Method: The participants were 423 Spanish children (58.9% boys) aged between 8 and 12 years., Results: Exploratory factor analysis suggested a version of the questionnaire that consists of 16 items with a four-factor structure: Parental Involvement, Positive Parenting, Inconsistent Discipline, and Poor Supervision. The internal consistency of the subscales was moderate, except for the father's Parental Involvement factor, which reached acceptable reliability. Convergent validity with a measure of quality of life was adequate. Gender differences were only found in Poor Supervision, with higher scores in boys than in girls., Conclusions: Overall, these findings provide support for the use of the APQ to measure parenting practices perceived by Spanish children.

Marital breakup has been associated with numerous behavioral problems in children, such as sexual risk behaviors. This research is the first to examine sexual behaviors of Spanish adolescents related to whether their parents were married or divorced. Participants were 342 boys and girls aged between 14 and 18 years. The sample provided confidential information about their sexual behavior and birth control methods. Significant differences were only found in percentages of adolescents who had engaged in mutual masturbation, intercourse, or oral sex, and who had practiced these sexual relations in the last six months, in both cases, they were higher when the parents had broken their marital relationship. Regarding adolescents of divorced parents, engaging in intercourse is more likely in older teenagers who live with a stepparent. Moreover, older adolescents who were younger when parents divorced and who live in a reconstituted family, have more sexual partners. These and other findings are discussed.

The increase in the use of New Technologies in social relationships could be generating a new paradigm in social skills. Valid and reliable instruments to assess these changes are needed. The aim of this study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Social Expression (EMES) in the assessment of social skills on the Internet and Social Networks. A total of 413 college students from the province of Alicante participated on this study. The scale was applied according to two contexts: Real and Internet/Virtual. High internal consistency was shown. The 12-factor structure found for the Virtual Context scale is similar to that of the original study. The scale had shown to be a good predictor of hours of Internet use. In conclusion, EMES-C is useful for assessing real context and Internet context social skills.