Ángela Díaz-Herrero

Sociometric types and social interaction styles in a sample of Spanish adolescents.

This study analyzed the relationship between social interaction styles and sociometric types in a sample of 1,349 (51.7% boys, and 48.3% girls) Spanish adolescents. The results revealed that the proportion of prosocial adolescents nominated as liked by peers was significantly higher than prosocial with social anxiety, whereas the proportion of aggressive adolescents nominated by peers as rejected was significantly higher than the proportion of rejected-prosocial and rejected-with social anxiety. The percentages of sociometric types and social interaction styles varied significantly according to gender and academic grade. Logistic regression analyses showed that being prosocial was 48% more likely when adolescents are nominated by peers as liked, whereas being prosocial was 41% and 79% less likely when adolescents were nominated as rejected and neglected, respectively. Furthermore, prosocial adolescents were 67% more likely nominated by peers as liked, and were less likely nominated as rejected (42%) and neglected (78%). Finally, being neglected was 83% more likely in aggressive adolescents.

Prevención, promoción del desarrollo y atención temprana en la Escuela Infantil

En este trabajo se plantea la importancia y necesidad, desde el ambito de la atencion temprana, de poner en marcha programas de prevencion primaria orientados a promocionar el desarrollo infantil y el ajuste familiar y escolar. Se expone la experiencia llevada a cabo desde el ano 2005 por el Grupo de Investigacion en Atencion Temprana (GIAT) de la Universidad de Murcia (Espana), y se analizan los resultados obtenidos en el curso 2010-2011 en la Escuela Infantil de Lorqui (Murcia, Espana) con un grupo de 64 ninos y sus respectivas familias. Los resultados indican un progreso mental y psicomotor de los ninos, entre el principio y el final del curso escolar, lo que pone en evidencia la relevancia de este tipo de programa. Tambien se constata un mejor nivel de desarrollo inicial en los ninos y las familias que han seguido el programa de prevencion y promocion del desarrollo infantil frente a los que no lo han recibido.This paper discusses the importance and necessity from the field of early childhood, to implement primary prevention programs designed to promote child development and family and school adjustment. It describes the experiment carried out since 2005 by the Research Group on Early Childhood Intervention (GIAT), University of Murcia (Spain), and analyzed the results of the 2010-2011 academic years in the Infant School Lorqui (Murcia, Spain) with a group of 64 children and their families. The results indicate an improvement of mental and psychomotor development of children, between the beginning and the end of the school, which highlights the relevance of such services. The study finds a higher level of initial development in children and families who have followed the program of prevention and promotion of child development compared to those who have not received it.

Positive and negative affect as predictors of social functioning in Spanish children

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between affect in its two commonly used theoretical categories, positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), and social functioning dimensions (school performance, family relationships, peer relationships and home duties/self-care). The sample comprised 390 students of primary education aged 8–11 years (M = 9.39; SD = 1.15). The short-form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for children (PANAS-C-SF) and the Child and Adolescent Social Adaptive Functioning Scale (CASAFS) were used. Student’s t tests indicated that those reporting high levels on all the social functioning dimensions also reported significantly higher levels of PA than peers who reported low levels; by contrast, students reporting high levels of social functioning reported significantly lower levels of NA than peers who reported low levels. Similarly, logistic regression analyses showed that an increase in PA increased probability of high levels of social functioning, and that an increase in NA decreased the probability of presenting high levels of social functioning dimensions, with the exception of school performance. These results expand the PA and NA relationship with social functioning reported in adults to Spanish children, which is potentially of interest in the fields of Education and Psychology.

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Short Form: Factorial Invariance and Optimistic and Pessimistic Affective Profiles in Spanish Children

The distinction in recent years between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) is becoming increasingly important due to their relationship with depression and anxiety. This work is composed of two studies. The first study aimed to validate the brief version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Short Form (PANAS-C-SF) in a Spanish child sample. The second study sought to check the existence of four affective profiles: self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA), low affective (low PA and NA), high affective (high PA and NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA) and to relate them to optimism and pessimism. Samples for both studies were composed of 647 and 1,296 Spanish students (between 8 and 11 years), respectively. Through various multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MCA), the invariance of the PANAS-SF and the lack of significant gender differences in the latent means were verified. In addition, cluster analysis confirmed the existence of the appropriate profiles. In this case, the self-fulfilling profile correlated with high scores in optimism and low scores pessimism, whereas the self-destructive profile correlated in the opposite direction. These contributions represent an advance in the study of child affect.

Prevention, promotion of development and early intervention in the Nursery School

En este trabajo se plantea la importancia y necesidad, desde el ambito de la atencion temprana, de poner en marcha programas de prevencion primaria orientados a promocionar el desarrollo infantil y el ajuste familiar y escolar. Se expone la experiencia llevada a cabo desde el ano 2005 por el Grupo de Investigacion en Atencion Temprana (GIAT) de la Universidad de Murcia (Espana), y se analizan los resultados obtenidos en el curso 2010-2011 en la Escuela Infantil de Lorqui (Murcia, Espana) con un grupo de 64 ninos y sus respectivas familias. Los resultados indican un progreso mental y psicomotor de los ninos, entre el principio y el final del curso escolar, lo que pone en evidencia la relevancia de este tipo de programa. Tambien se constata un mejor nivel de desarrollo inicial en los ninos y las familias que han seguido el programa de prevencion y promocion del desarrollo infantil frente a los que no lo han recibido.This paper discusses the importance and necessity from the field of early childhood, to implement primary prevention programs designed to promote child development and family and school adjustment. It describes the experiment carried out since 2005 by the Research Group on Early Childhood Intervention (GIAT), University of Murcia (Spain), and analyzed the results of the 2010-2011 academic years in the Infant School Lorqui (Murcia, Spain) with a group of 64 children and their families. The results indicate an improvement of mental and psychomotor development of children, between the beginning and the end of the school, which highlights the relevance of such services. The study finds a higher level of initial development in children and families who have followed the program of prevention and promotion of child development compared to those who have not received it.

Prevenção, promoção do desenvolvimento e atenção precoce na Escola Infantil

En este trabajo se plantea la importancia y necesidad, desde el ambito de la atencion temprana, de poner en marcha programas de prevencion primaria orientados a promocionar el desarrollo infantil y el ajuste familiar y escolar. Se expone la experiencia llevada a cabo desde el ano 2005 por el Grupo de Investigacion en Atencion Temprana (GIAT) de la Universidad de Murcia (Espana), y se analizan los resultados obtenidos en el curso 2010-2011 en la Escuela Infantil de Lorqui (Murcia, Espana) con un grupo de 64 ninos y sus respectivas familias. Los resultados indican un progreso mental y psicomotor de los ninos, entre el principio y el final del curso escolar, lo que pone en evidencia la relevancia de este tipo de programa. Tambien se constata un mejor nivel de desarrollo inicial en los ninos y las familias que han seguido el programa de prevencion y promocion del desarrollo infantil frente a los que no lo han recibido.This paper discusses the importance and necessity from the field of early childhood, to implement primary prevention programs designed to promote child development and family and school adjustment. It describes the experiment carried out since 2005 by the Research Group on Early Childhood Intervention (GIAT), University of Murcia (Spain), and analyzed the results of the 2010-2011 academic years in the Infant School Lorqui (Murcia, Spain) with a group of 64 children and their families. The results indicate an improvement of mental and psychomotor development of children, between the beginning and the end of the school, which highlights the relevance of such services. The study finds a higher level of initial development in children and families who have followed the program of prevention and promotion of child development compared to those who have not received it.