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Mental health during childhood is a growing social challenge with important implications for optimal development. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions have been shown to prevent problems related to psychological maladjustment, as well as promote emotional well-being. This article aims to provide evidence for the impact of RULER (Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, Regulating), an evidence-based approach to SEL, on students’ mental health outcomes in Spanish public schools. A total of 207 primary school students (50.24% girls, mean age of 9 years) participated in the study. The teachers in the intervention school as compared to the control school received RULER instruction consisting of 15 hours of professional development training, 3 hours of follow-up, and SEL implementation guidelines throughout the school year. Students completed the Behavior Assessment System (BASC S-2). Results showed significant impacts in the RULER as compared to control school, including a reduction of clinical symptoms, such as anxiety and atypicality, as well as emotional symptoms, such as the sense of inadequacy among 9 to 12 year old students. Implications of these findings are discussed., La salud mental en la infancia es un problema social creciente con importantes implicaciones para su óptimo desarrollo. Se ha demostrado que las intervenciones en educación social y emocional previenen problemas relacionados con el desajuste psicológico, así como, promueven el bienestar. Este artículo tiene como objetivo proporcionar evidencia del impacto de RULER, un enfoque de educación social y emocional basado en evidencia, en variables relacionadas con la salud mental de estudiantes de escuelas públicas españolas. Participaron un total de 207 alumnos de Primaria (50,24% niñas, edad media 9 años). El profesorado del colegio experimental recibió la intervención RULER que consistió en una formación centrada en desarrollo profesional docente de 15 horas, más 3 horas de seguimiento y plan de implementación de las herramientas SEL durante todo el año escolar. Los estudiantes completaron el Sistema de Evaluación de la Conducta (BASC S-2). Los resultados mostraron una reducción de los síntomas clínicos, tales como la ansiedad y la atipicidad, así como el índice de síntomas emocionales, como el sentido de incapacidad, entre los estudiantes de 9 a 12 años, en comparación con los estudiantes cuyos profesores no recibieron la formación SEL. Se discuten las implicaciones de estos hallazgos.

En la última década el interés por los efectos de la práctica de mindfulness ha sido exponencial. Sin embargo, todavía es escasa la investigación sobre sus efectos en el contexto escolar. Este estudio piloto examinó la efectividad de una intervención breve basada en mindfulness en estudiantes de primaria. Se diseñó un estudio pre-post aleatorizado a nivel de clase con un grupo control. Se investigaron sus efectos sobre distintos síntomas internalizantes y externalizantes, las habilidades de mindfulness y el rendimiento académico. El grupo de mindfulness comparado con el grupo de control disminuyó sus puntuaciones en problemas de conducta, aumentó en relajación, y mostró una mejora en sus relaciones sociales. Su rendimiento académico se mantuvo, mientras en el grupo control descendió. Se discuten posibles explicaciones y líneas futuras de investigación., Interest in the effects of mindfulness practice has been exponential in the last decade. However, very little research has been conducted into its effects in the school context. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of a brief mindfulness-based intervention among elementary students. A pretest-posttest design randomized at student class level with a control group was used to test the effects on internalizing and externalizing symptoms, mindfulness skills, and academic performance. Compared to the control group, students in the mindfulness group had significantly lower scores in behavioral problems, higher relaxation, and better social interactions. While academic performance was maintained in the mindfulness group, it decreased in the control group. Possible explanations and future research are discussed.

© 2015 Japan Pediatric Society. Background: Effective preventive interventions for both eating disorders and obesity in adolescence should be focused on shared risk factors. We analyzed the association between television (TV) viewing time and the risk of eating disorders, as well as the potential role of obesity in this association. Methods: The sample consisted of a total of 3458 Spanish adolescents, aged 13-18.5 years, from the Food and Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Adolescents (AVENA) and Physical Activity as a Preventive Measure of the Development of Overweight, Obesity, Allergies, Infections, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents (AFINOS) studies. Adolescents' TV time was assessed by self-report. Body mass index was calculated and the adolescents were classified into non-overweight and overweight-obesity. The risk of eating disorders was evaluated using the SCOFF questionnaire. Results: Adolescents who watched TV >1 h/day had a higher risk for eating disorders, compared with those adolescents who watch TV <1 h/day. Also, overweight-obese adolescents had a higher risk for eating disorders than those who were non-overweight. Analyses across groups of TV viewing time and weight status showed similar trends, so that the higher the time spent in TV viewing, the higher the risk of eating disorders, regardless of weight status. Conclusions: TV viewing time might be a focal point for prevention of both eating disorders and obesity in adolescence.

Eating disorders (ED) can arise from a combination of biological and psychological factors. Some studies suggest that intellectual factors might be important in the development of ED, although the evidence is still scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the association between cognition measurements (cognitive performance and academic achievement) and the risk of developing ED in adolescents considering their weight status. The sample consisted of 3,307 adolescents (1,756 girls), aged 13-18.5 years, who participated in the AVENA (n¿=¿1,430; 783 girls) and AFINOS (n¿=¿1,877; 973 girls) studies. Cognitive performance was measured by the TEA test in the AVENA study, and academic achievement was self-reported in the AFINOS study. ED risk was evaluated in both studies by using the SCOFF questionnaire. Body mass index was calculated to classify adolescents as non-overweight or overweight (including obesity). Overweight adolescents showed a higher risk of developing ED than non-overweight ones in both studies. In the AVENA study, overweight boys with low performance in reasoning ability showed increased risk of ED (p¿=¿0.05). In the AFINOS study, overweight boys with low academic performance in physical education and non-overweight girls with low academic achievement in all the areas analyzed showed higher risk of ED than their peers (all p¿<¿0.05). CONCLUSION: No association between cognitive performance and ED risk was found in adolescents, while academic achievement was associated with ED risk, especially in non-overweight girls. The non-cognitive traits that accompany academic achievement could influence the likelihood of developing ED in these girls.

The aim of this report was to examine the associations between some characteristics (i.e., structure and number) of extracurricular physical activity (EPA) and cognitive performance in adolescents. A total of 1662 adolescents (880 girls; 13.0-18.5 years) from 5 Spanish cities (Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza) were included in this study. Structure (organised and non-organised) and number of EPAs, and participation at vigorous intensity during EPA were self-reported. Cognitive performance (verbal, numeric and reasoning abilities, and an overall score) was measured with the >SRA-Test of Educational Ability>. Results showed that vigorous EPA was positively associated with all cognitive variables. Adolescents who practiced an organised EPA had higher scores in 3 of the 4 cognitive variables than those who practiced a non-organised EPA (all P < 0.05). Likewise, the group who participated in more than one EPA had higher cognitive performance in all variables than the group who participated in only one EPA (all P < 0.05). Regardless of potential confounder variables, including vigorous EPA, both structure and number of EPAs were each other independently associated with cognitive performance. Therefore, structure and number of EPAs may positively influence cognitive performance in adolescents. Participating in multiple, organised EPA may have benefits for cognitive performance.

the aim of this study was to know the attitudes toward the physical activity and sport practice oriented to health in a representative sample of Spanish adolescents. A descriptive cross-sectional study was implemented and the survey about behaviours, attitudes and values related to physical activity and sport practice developed in the AVENA study was used. The sample size was 2859 Spanish students from public and private secondary schools in 5 Spanish cities: Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza. The main results verify that both boys and girls have a greater orientation towards process-related attitudes (PA) of physical activity and sport that outcome-related attitudes (AR) of the practice. In boys and girls, both AP and AR both genders, there is a progressive decrease when increasing the age. Adolescents who engaged in physical activity had higher levels of attitudes than non-practitioners. In conclusion, AP became more important than AR in young adolescents; both AP and AR were higher in boys than in girls and attitude values decreased with increasing age. The knowledge of attitudes might allow to develop effective and long-term successful intervention programmes for adopting healthy lifestyles in the current young people, el objetivo del estudio se centra en conocer las actitudes hacia la práctica de actividad físico deportiva orientada a la salud en una muestra representativa de adolescentes españoles. Para ello, se ha efectuado un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal, empleando la encuesta sobre comportamientos, actitudes y valores sobre actividad física y deportiva del Grupo AVENA. El análisis descriptivo e inferencial, nos permite obtener la opinión de 2.859 estudiantes, procedentes tanto de centros públicos como privados de cinco ciudades españolas: Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander y Zaragoza. Los principales resultados verifican que tanto chicos como chicas presentan una mayor orientación hacia actitudes relacionadas con el proceso (AP) de la actividad físico-deportiva que hacia actitudes referidas al resultado (AR) de dicha práctica. En ambos sexos, se produce una disminución progresiva en dicha orientación, tanto en las AP como en las AR, conforme aumenta la edad. En aquellos adolescentes que practican actividad física, la orientación hacia las actitudes es mayor que en adolescentes no practicantes. Como conclusión, las AP adquieren mayor importancia que las AR en los jóvenes adolescentes, siendo ambas mayores en chicos respecto a chicas y disminuyendo los valores de ambas conforme aumenta la edad. El conocimiento facilitado en este trabajo podría servir de apoyo para perfeccionar las diversas estrategias de promoción de la salud sobre las que asentar la adquisición de nuevos estilos de vida entre la población joven de una forma estable y duradera

OBJECTIVE:To examine the associations between active commuting to school and cognitive performance in adolescents. DESIGN:Cross-sectional study. SETTING Five cities (Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander, and Zaragoza) in Spain. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1700 adolescents (892 girls) aged 13 to 18.5 years. Main Exposures Mode and duration of transportation to school and participation in extracurricular physical activity were self-reported. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cognitive performance (verbal, numeric, and reasoning abilities and an overall score) was measured by the Spanish version of the SRA Test of Educational Ability. RESULTS: Active commuting to school was associated with better cognitive performance (all P < .05) in girls but not in boys, independent of potential confounders including participation in extracurricular physical activity. In addition, adolescent girls who spent more than 15 minutes actively commuting to school had better scores in 3 of the 4 cognitive performance variables (all P < .05) than those who spent less time actively commuting to school (¿15 minutes) as well as better scores in all of the cognitive performance variables (all P < .001) than girls inactively commuting. CONCLUSION: Active commuting to school and its duration may positively influence cognitive performance in adolescent girls.

Identifying factors related to physical activity levels in young people is important for a more efficient health promotion. The aims of this study were to assess physical activity levels in a national sample of urban Spanish adolescents, and to examine the association between significant others' physical activity (father, mother, brother, sister, and close friends) and that of the adolescents. The present study comprised 2260 adolescents (1157 boys, 1103 girls) aged 13.0-18.5 years participating in the AVENA Study. Both the adolescents' physical activity and that of their relatives and close friends was assessed by questionnaire. The odds of being active were higher in boys than girls (odds ratio = 2.79, 95% confidence interval = 2.34-3.33) and tended to decrease across age groups in both boys and girls. Father's and older brother's physical activity was associated with boys' physical activity, while that of any significant other was associated with girls' physical activity. When both parents reported being active, boys had nearly two times higher odds of being active and girls had nearly three times higher odds of being active. The physical activity levels of Spanish adolescents are in line with those previously reported. Physical activity levels in girls are strongly related to the physical activity of any significant other, whereas physical activity levels in boys are only related to their male relatives' physical activity. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Objective: To examine the combined influence of four lifestyle risk factors related to physical activity, television viewing, sleep duration, and meal frequency on body fat (BF) in adolescents. Method: This cross-sectional study comprised 1,310 Spanish adolescents (age 13-18.5 years). Lifestyle variables were self-reported and BF indicators (weight, height, six skinfold thicknesses, waist circumference) measured during the years 2000-2002. Lifestyle risk factors were: physically inactive, ≥3 h/day watching television, <8 h/day sleep duration, and <5 meals a day. The number of lifestyle risk factors was calculated for each participant, ranging from 0 to 4. Results: The number of lifestyle risk factors was positively associated with sum of six skinfolds, %BF, waist circumference, and waist-height ratio (all p < 0.001). The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of overweight (including obesity) for groups with 1, 2, and 3-4 lifestyle risk factors compared with those with 0 were 2.86 (1.77-4.62), 3.61 (2.16-6.04), and 5.81 (3.07-10.99), respectively (p for trend <0.001). All the observations were independent of age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and fat free mass. Conclusion: The combined influence of four lifestyle risk factors is positively associated with BF and an approximately sixfold risk of overweight in adolescents. © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.