Bárbara Lorence Lara

Evaluación del apoyo social mediante la escala ASSIS: descripción y resultados en una muestra de madres en situación de riesgo psicosocial

En el articulo presentamos algunos de los resultados obtenidos en un estudio realizado con madres en situacion de riesgo psicosocial. En concreto, se describen diversas dimensiones del apoyo social de estas mujeres y las principales caracteristicas de sus redes de apoyo. Asimismo, el articulo se ocupa de la escala utilizada para evaluar el apoyo social y, de manera especifica, se analiza su utilidad como instrumento de evaluacion para los profesionales de los Servicios Sociales.

Adolescent Adjustment in At-risk Families: The Role of Psychosocial Stress and Parental Socialization

Introduccion: El estudio de factores asociados con problemas internalizantes y externalizantes en adolescentes que viven en familias en riesgo es objeto de interes reciente en salud mental en Espana. La presencia de problemas de salud mental en menores y adolescentes es demasiado frecuente en estas familias debido a la alta y variada exposicion a factores de riesgo, asi como a la falta de elementos de proteccion que les rodean. Sin embargo, pocos estudios han examinado la contribucion que factores especificos hacen a cada tipo de problemas de salud mental en adolescentes de familias espanolas en riesgo. Este estudio intenta contribuir al conocimiento en este campo, analizando el papel de dos dimensiones frecuentemente relacionadas con el ajuste adolescente: estres psicosocial y socializacion parental. Asimismo, este estudio trata de identificar si ambas dimensiones predicen de forma diferente los dos tipos (internalizantes y externalizantes) de problemas de salud mental en adolescentes de familias en situacion de riesgo. Metodologia: La muestra se compone de 134 adolescentes espanoles (56 chicas y 78 chicos) con una media de edad de 13.52 (DT=1.57). Estos adolescentes crecieron en familias que estaban recibiendo una intervencion psicosocial por parte de los Servicios Sociales espanoles por razones de preservacion familiar. El diseno de esta investigacion es de caracter transversal y descriptivo. Los instrumentos administrados permitieron recabar datos sobre problemas de salud mental, estres psicosocial, socializacion parental y la intervencion recibida por los Servicios Sociales. Resultados: Los modelos de regresion multiple jerarquica mostraron que ambos dominios (estres psicosocial y socializacion parental) estuvieron significativamente relacionados con los problemas de salud mental, pero emergio un patron de resultados diferentes para cada tipo de problemas. Cuando la comorbilidad entre ambos problemas fue controlada, el estres psicosocial estuvo significativamente relacionado con los problemas internalizantes, mientras que la socializacion parental se asocio con los problemas externalizantes. Discusion y conclusiones: Este estudio subraya la importancia de distinguir entre los dos problemas de salud mental analizados y hace hincapie en que, tanto la mejora en la socializacion de los progenitores como el entrenamiento de los adolescentes en habilidades sociales positivas que permitan afrontar adecuadamente acontecimientos estresantes, deben ser contenidos fundamentales en los programas de intervencion destinados a familias en situacion de riesgo psicosocial.

Evaluación de la implementación de dos programas de prevención de drogodependencias en el sistema educativo andaluz : 'Dino y Prevenir para Vivir'

This article focuses on the evaluation of two school-based drug prevention programs, Dino and Prevenir para Vivir, both of which are widely applied in Andalusian schools. The scientific interest of this study may be traced to (1) the need to find indicators of the effectiveness of these programmes and (2) the lack of information about the application conditions and application characteristics of both Andalusian programmes. The study sample consisted of 250 schools running the Dino programme and 192 schools applying the Prevenir para Vivir programme. Study participants filled in an ad hoc questionnaire assessing different characteristics of programme application and their degree of satisfaction with the programmes. The results showed that the programmes were applied primarily by teachers, who reported a high-to-middle satisfaction level. In the light of empirical review, implementation presented both positive and negative aspects. The strengths were that, in most schools, there was coordinated planning prior to programme application, the programmes were applied at times when students had easy access and contents related to daily life skills were included. The weaknesses, on the other hand, were a lack of process evaluation before implementation, a lack of specific training for the people in charge of programme implementation and low family involvement during programme application. To summarize, this study provides important data about the specific aspects of implementation that government agencies or schools themselves could address to improve the effectiveness of Dino and Prevenir para Vivir.

Assessing the level of risk of families supported by Child and Family Protection Services: Practitioners and mothers as informants

Summary The evaluation of the specific level of family risk is a central topic to better understand the diversity of families assisted by Child and Family Protection Services, and also to design and address effective social interventions. Professionals of these services tend to have a great amount of knowledge and experience that has been rarely taken into account in research about at-risk families. In this study the level of family risk, according to data reported both by practitioners and mothers receiving family preservation intervention, is analyzed in a sample of 106 mothers assisted by state Child and Family Protection Services in Huelva, Spain. Findings A frequent profile of poor and multi-assisted families was found, but there was also an important level of heterogeneity in the level of risk, suggesting that these families are not a homogeneous group. The global valuation of family risk informed by professionals was significantly related to data reported by mothers using a standardized tool of family risk factors. Analyses presented also show significant relations with both the family socio-demographic profile and data of the case history involving protection services: higher levels of family risk were mainly associated with higher levels of economic, educational, and labor precariousness, and with more complex and complicated case indicators. Applications Implications of these results concerning both the importance of incorporating systematic evaluations of family risk by means standardized tools to practice and considering practitioners as a relevant source of information in family research are discussed.

Diversidad familiar : una experiencia docente en el Grado de Trabajo Social

The study about family change, family diversity, and the implications for care and Social Services fields, are central topics in the academic training of Social Workers. The present paper shows an innovative educational experience characterized by an interdisciplinary and cross-curricular approach. The main purposes of this paper are: (1) to describe an educational and research activity carried out in the Social Work Degree; and (2) to present the research results obtained in the activity. A group of 216 university students collected data about a sample of 258 subjects (age range: 22 to 85 years) using a questionnaire focused on the concept of family and the acceptance of new models of families. Results obtained showed that the concept of family was mainly based on both functional and relational criteria, and also a high level of acceptance of the different types of families, but with differences associated to the subjects’ profile. For students, this activity promotes the awareness of both the importance of social research for the practice and the existence of prejudice about nonconventional families.