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Background: Adolescent girls’ family context and psychological characteristics play important roles in their sexual behavior, including the use of the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP). This study aims to (1) determine the prevalence of ECP use among girls who have had sexual intercourse and (2) comparatively analyze their family and psychological profiles according to whether they have used ECPs. Methods: The sample of 1735 Spanish girls aged 15 to 18 came from a representative sample of the 2014 edition of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Of this sample, 398 girls had sexual intercourse and reported their ECP use. Data collection for the HBSC study was performed through an online questionnaire to which adolescents responded anonymously in school. Data analyses were descriptive and bivariate and were performed with the statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Results: The results demonstrated that 30.65% of girls who had sexual intercourse used ECPs. Noticeable differences in paternal knowledge and communication with the father were observed between girls who used the ECP at least once and those who did not use it. In contrast, differences between girls who used the ECP once and those who used it twice or more were pronounced with regard to parental knowledge, communication with parents, maternal affection, life satisfaction, sense of coherence and depression. Conclusions: This work demonstrates a high prevalence of ECP use and a more positive family and psychological profile for girls who used ECP once compared with those who used it twice or more.

This chapter presents qualitative research using focus groups consisting of students aged 11–18 years in England and Spain. The aim of this cross-cultural study was to expand previous qualitative evidence regarding the main attributes of connectedness with teachers from the students’ perspectives. A bottom-up approach to thematic analysis was used to obtain a rich description of such attributes. The presentation of findings highlights commonalities between both countries, addresses some subtle differences, and points to aspects that deserve further investigation. This research contributes to progress in the conceptualisation of connectedness with teachers from the students’ perspectives, allowing us to identify key attributes for defining the student-teacher connectedness construct.

This chapter begins with a brief comment on the status of wellbeing in current global health promotion and education agendas. Next, a state-of-the-art account of theoretical models and empirical research about student-teacher relationships and their importance for wellbeing in schools is presented. Specifically, this chapter reviews the contributions of attachment theory, parenting style theory, self-determination theory, social support models, and informal or natural mentoring approaches to the study of student-teacher relationships. Additionally, this chapter provides an overview of empirical research that clearly supports a link between student-teacher relationships and student wellbeing. Finally, changes in student-teacher relationships during the transition from primary to secondary school are briefly delineated, and the importance of student-teacher relationships for secondary school students is underscored.

Knowledge translation is a fundamental goal when conducting research. With that in mind, the first part of this chapter focuses on the practical implications of the research findings summarised in this book for teachers and educators. The following four key take-home messages are presented and discussed: (1) student-teacher relationships are essential for learning and wellbeing; (2) teaching is an inherently relational practice; (3) individualised personal interactions, empathy, and support are key ingredients for developing connectedness with students; and (4) authority should not be confused with authoritarianism. Based on insights gained from the Teacher Connectedness Project, the second part of the chapter offers some ideas and recommendations for future research in this area.

Sense of coherence (SOC) is an important predictor of health and subjective well-being, but research on the factors that shape SOC development is scarce. Using structural equation modeling, this study obtained a hierarchy of the contributions of several contextual factors to SOC in a representative sample of adolescents (N = 4,943, M age = 15.43) selected for the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey in Spain. Goodness-of-fit indices consistent with good fit, logical parameter estimates and a level of explained variability of 38.2 % were found in the final model. The examination of parameter estimates provided a hierarchy of contextual factors in shaping SOC. Quality of parent–child relationships was the most influential factor and appeared at the top of the hierarchy. Positive models of behavior in the peer group, neighborhood assets and classmate support occupied intermediate positions, and teacher support appeared at the bottom of the hierarchy. Multi-group analysis revealed more commonalities than differences between male and female adolescents, with the exception of teacher support, which seemed to have a higher significance for the SOC of females.

The quality of parent–child relationships has important implications for adolescent development and well-being. However, whereas numerous measures of specific dimensions contributing to quality of parent–child relationships are available, scales that provide a global assessment of this content are scarce. Consequently, the assessment of quality of parent–child relationships poses a challenge to the researcher, especially when the need exists to consider its main aspects but long instruments can not be used due to diverse circumstances. This paper presents a composite factorial score on quality of parent–child relationships developed from four short measures of affection, communication, parental knowledge and family satisfaction that can contribute to solving some of those difficulties. This composite score can be a useful tool to assess quality of parent–child relationships, especially for studies devoted to the study of the relationships between experiences within the family and the adolescent's well-being.

The neighbourhood has traditionally been neglected in studies about adolescents' sense of coherence (SOC). The current study represents the first attempt to analyse the associations between neighbourhood assets, neighbourhood risks, and SOC during adolescence. The sample consisted of 7,580 Spanish adolescents aged 13-18 who were selected for the 2009/10 edition of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Spain. The adolescents completed self-report questionnaires that included the SOC-29 scale and separate HBSC scales measuring neighbourhood risks and assets. The results showed that neighbourhood risks were negatively associated with the adolescents' SOC. In contrast, neighbourhood assets, especially relationships with significant adults, were positively associated with the adolescents' SOC. Assets explained 6.5% of the variability in SOC scores after controlling for risks, suggesting that assets may play a significant role, even in neighbourhoods where risks are present. We discuss implications and future research directions.

The aim of this study was to examine the role of family dimensions in tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use among adolescents. Furthermore, we investigated how demographic variables (adolescents’ gender and age) influence substance use and moderate the relationship between family dimensions and substance use. The sample consisted of 14,825 adolescents aged 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18 who participated in the 2006 edition of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Spain. The HBSC-2006 questionnaire included demographic variables (gender and age), substance use variables (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use), and family dimensions (parental affection, parental promotion of autonomy, family activities, adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental knowledge). The results indicated that adolescent disclosure, family activities, and parental knowledge had a significant effect on substance use. Specifically, maternal variables were shown to be slightly more relevant than paternal variables. Additionally, substance use was higher in older adolescents than in younger adolescents, and boys smoked less than girls. The discussion focused on how family dimensions promoted responsible substance use in adolescence.

Research on resilience and vulnerability can offer very valuable information for optimizing design and assessment of interventions and policies aimed at fostering adolescent health. This paper used the adversity level associated with family functioning and the positive adaptation level, as measured by means of a global health score, to distinguish four groups within a representative sample of Spanish adolescents aged 13–16 years: maladaptive, resilient, competent and vulnerable. The aforementioned groups were compared in a number of demographic, school context, peer context, lifestyles, psychological and socioeconomic variables, which can facilitate or inhibit positive adaptation in each context. In addition, the degree to which each factor tended to associate with resilience and vulnerability was examined. The majority of the factors operated by increasing the likelihood of good adaptation in resilient adolescents and diminishing it in vulnerable ones. Overall, more similarities than differences were found in the factors contributing to explaining resilience or vulnerability. However, results also revealed some differential aspects: psychological variables showed a larger explicative capacity in vulnerable adolescents, whereas factors related to school and peer contexts, especially the second, showed a stronger association with resilience. In addition, perceived family wealth, satisfaction with friendships and breakfast frequency only made a significant contribution to the explanation of resilience. The current study provides a highly useful characterization of resilience and vulnerability phenomena in adolescence. [This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.]

Using a person-focused approach, the present study sought to identify meaningful constellations of contextual factors that led to predominantly high and low levels of sense of coherence (SOC). Specifically, the contributions of the quality of parent–child relationships, teacher and classmate support, models of behaviour in the peer group, and neighbourhood assets were examined in a representative sample of Spanish adolescents aged 13 to 18 that had taken part in the 2010 edition of the study Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. The quality of parent–child relationships emerged as the main predictor of SOC for the whole sample, but the remaining factors also made significant contributions, which underlines the importance of the simultaneous analysis of the main contexts in adolescents' lives. Additionally, the identified constellations usually included compensatory effects, so no factor should be considered to be completely determining. Interestingly, the role of support at school was different depending on contextual profiles.

Twenty years have passed since the publication of the seminal paper 'The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion' (Health Promot Int 1996;11:11-18.), in which Antonovsky proposed salutogenesis and its central construct sense of coherence as a way of boosting the theoretical basis for health promotion activities. Since then there has been a notable amount of conceptual and empirical work carried out to further explore its significance. The aim of this paper is to critically assess the current theoretical status of salutogenesis and its utility to advance effective health promotion practice for young people. The assessment was carried out in the context of contemporary international policy agendas on well-being. An analytic framework was developed using the previous literature on the definition and function of theory. This organizing framework comprised four criteria: description, explanation, prediction and measurability. The paper concludes with a perspective on the status of salutogenesis as a theory and how it can be further developed. Specifically, the critical assessment highlighted that salutogenesis has been subjected to considerable empirical testing over the last few decades resulting in convincing evidence of the relevance and subsequent advancement of the idea. However, less emphasis seems to have been placed on a systematic process of testing and iteration to develop its theoretical basis. The paper identifies a number of aspects that should be developed to support the progression of salutogenesis to the next level. A research-practice cycle approach is proposed that can facilitate that important next step.

Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron analizar las relaciones entre el sentido de coherencia (SOC) y el consumo de sustancias en los adolescentes espanoles y el potencial efecto moderador de los patrones de consumo de sustancias en el grupo de iguales en dicha relacion. La muestra constaba de 5475 adolescentes espanoles de 15 a 18 anos, participantes en la edicion 2010 del estudio Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). Los analisis estadisticos consistieron en analisis de cluster, para identificar grupos de adolescentes segun los patrones de consumo de sustancias en su grupo de iguales, y regresion logistica, con el SOC y los patrones de consumo en el grupo de iguales como predictores del consumo actual de tabaco y alcohol, episodios de embriaguez alguna vez en la vida y en la actualidad. Los resultados mostraron que un fuerte SOC parecia reducir la probabilidad de consumo de tabaco y episodios de embriaguez, pero no se asocio con el consumo actual de alcohol. Ademas, el efecto protector del SOC estaba moderado por los patrones de consumo del grupo de iguales. En concreto, el SOC tuvo un efecto protector significativo en los adolescentes cuyo grupo de iguales mostraba un patron de no consumo o de frecuente consumo de alcohol y episodios de embriaguez ocasionales, pero el efecto del SOC desaparecio si el patron de consumo de los iguales incluia drogas ilegales. En conclusion, el SOC tiende a actuar como un factor protector individual respecto al consumo de sustancias durante la adolescencia, pero la influencia del grupo de iguales parece moderar dicho efecto protector del SOC.

Título, resumen y palabras clave también en español Resumen basado en el de la publicación Se analiza la influencia de diferentes dimensiones familiares sobre el conocimiento que padres y madres tienen acerca de sus hijos e hijas adolescentes, teniendo en cuenta el país, el sexo y la edad de los adolescentes. Esta investigación se realiza desde dos perspectivas, nacional e internacional, con datos tomados de la edición 2006 del estudio Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) en España y otros países de la red internacional, concretamente, Alemania, Austria, Bélgica, Bulgaria, Canadá, Croacia, Dinamarca, Estonia, Finlandia, Francia, Reino Unido y República Checa. Los resultados indican que tanto los padres como las madres consiguen información sobre sus hijos e hijas a través de la revelación adolescente, el afecto parental, el interés parental y las actividades familiares. En la discusión se aborda cómo estas dimensiones familiares favorecen la consecución del conocimiento parental. Biblioteca del Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; biblioteca@educacion.gob.es ESP