Carmen Castro Moreno

Parental stress, family functioning and children’s psychological adjustment in adoptive families: A comparative and longitudinal study

This work focuses on parental stress in adoptive families with regard to certain key components of family functioning (the family cohesion and adaptability and the parental reflective functioning) as well as in its connection with adopted children’s adjustment. The sample included 98 Spanish parents and children: a group of 40 internationally adoptive families and another group of 58 non-adoptive families, who served as a control group. The longitudinal and comparative analysis showed no significant differences between adoptive and non-adoptive families’ stress scores, but a different incidence of higher stress levels (more non-adoptive families scored above the 75% cut-off). Parental stress scores were related to family adaptability, parental reflective functioning and children’s psychological adjustment. The regression model showed that the best parental stress predictor, for adoptive families, was children’s hyperactivity problems, also linked to family adaptability.

Key Variables in the Development of Eating Disorders During the Adolescence: Implications for Sex Differences

Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia are associated with unsuitable behavior, cognition and emotions, which could have negative consequences for a person’s well-being and health. These risks frequently appear during adolescence, as this developmental stage is characterized by physiological, emotional, cognitive, and above all, social changes that lead to a greater concern for physical appearances. The propensity of adolescents to be unhappy with their body image has been stated in many studies, in which case, the adolescent can go so far as to create distorted perceptions of his/her own body. In short, this population shows major discrepancy between the subjective measurements of their body shape (contributed by the subjects) and the real measurements assessed with objective methods, this leading to a larger proportion of eating disorders (Conley & Boardman, 2007; Gardner, 1996; Martin & Gentry, 1997). Perceiving oneself as «obese» when this is not the case indicates a cognitive problem that can be explained by learning imposed by social and cultural pressures. Thus, the self-perception of one’s body becomes a decisive factor for the development of an eating disorder, which is, in turn, more important than body weight itself (Barker & Galambos, 2003; Bessenoff & Snow, 2006; Cash & Deagle, 1997).

Social Support from Developmental Contexts and Adolescent Substance Use and Well-Being: a Comparative Study of Spain and Portugal

The aim of this study was to analyse the contribution of social support from family, friend and school (teacher and classmate) contexts in substance use (tobacco and alcohol use) and well-being (life satisfaction and health-related quality of life). Participants were 5,784 Portuguese and 22,610 Spanish adolescents aged 11 to 16 years, from the 2014 edition of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Portugal and Spain. Results showed that for a higher life satisfaction, family (p < .001, partial η2 = .032), teacher (p < .001, partial η2 = .018) and classmate (p < .001, partial η2 = .031) support were important in Portugal, and family (p < .001, partial η2 = .056) and friend (p < .001, partial η2 = .015) support in Spain. Similarly, for a better health-related quality of life, all the social support variables were relevant in Portugal (family: p < .001, partial η2 = .063; teacher: p < .001, partial η2 = .032; classmate: p < .001, partial η2 = .054; friend: p < .001, partial η2 = .034) and in Spain (family: p < .001, partial η2 = .054; teacher: p < .001, partial η2 = .014; classmate: p < .001, partial η2 = .018; friend: p < .001, partial η2 = .040). In contrast, only family support (p < .001, partial η2 = .014) was relevant in Portugal for tobacco use. Therefore, social support was more relevant for adolescent well-being than for adolescent substance use, and the most relevant source of support was family support, in both Spain and Portugal.