Verónica C. Cala

The impact of social capital in socio-emotional competencies of Spanish and immigrant adolescents from the southeast of Spain

ABSTRACT How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.

School and emotional well-being: a transcultural analysis on youth in Southern Spain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare school well-being (SW) and emotional well-being (EW) among Romanian, Moroccan and Spanish youth, to determine the degree of relation between EW and scholar well-being. Design/methodology/approach The paper employed cross-sectional research with cluster sampling in two primary schools and seven secondary schools. The questionnaire Kidscreen-27 was distributed to a sample of 1,840 Romanian, Moroccan and Spanish students aged between 10 and 19 years old. Data analysis was conducted with the software package SPSS, version 21. Findings EW shows significant gender (gender gap) and origin inequalities (lower performance for the Moroccan community). However, well-being in school shows positive results for the Moroccan students and women. Moreover, EW and well-being at school are presented as related and co-linear variables with a predictive power over one another. Research limitations/implications Understanding cultural expressions in heterogeneous cultures is a very complex task. Despite the cultural adaptation and validation of instruments, the applied surveys could not consider cultural differences. Practical implications The paper underlines that gender and origin remain decisive and determinant for adolescent health. However, the school can have positive effects on the well-being of immigrants. The reasons for well-being need to be explored, and it would be useful to develop educative strategies to implement transcultural EW and SW. Originality/value It is the first study about SW and EW of immigrants in Spain that explains a better SW in immigrants groups. It is also relevant for applied school intervention to predict the relationship between EW and SW.

Adolescents Perceptions of Health Education in Secondary Schools: The Need for a Dialectical, Practical and Transcultural Proposal.

Abstract Health education in Spanish schools is still considered as a controversial subject, which Educational laws and programs have always faced ambiguously. This report presents adolescents’ opinion about health education in their schools. In particular, which curricular and extracurricular aspects are being developed, and which strengths and problems related to health education they identify in their educational centers. Based on the situational analysis, we make a quick diagnosis of the state in which health education stands, in order to find a starting point for the improvement. We conducted 15 depth interviews with Romanian and Spanish students in 3 teaching centers of the South of Spain. The qualitative analysis of data was carried out using Atlas Ti, version 7. The results show that participants do not consider schools as the main source of health learning, while family, peers and technologies are seen as more significant agents. In secondary schools, most of the information related to health is received through outside educational programs, and it is seen as ineffective because they are partial, merely informative and not continuous over time. The main health problems in secondary schools identified were stress and bullying, and we may consider as relevant the existence of discrimination based on origin or precedence. Furthermore, participants provide an essentialized, stereotyped and inferior vision of health in other foreign continents (Africa) and religions (Islam). Adolescents portrays a School far from health, with a traditional health education model and a biomedical conception of health. This scenario suggest a need to bring back the Perugia School approach based on developing dialectical, praxiological and transcultural methodologies and where students could get involved and participate in their own health learning.

A Comparative Study of Breakfast Habits of Romanian and Spanish Adolescents Enrolled in Southern Spain Schools.

Abstract Introduction: Globalization has favored intra-European Commission (EC) and extra-EC migration to Spain. One of the most numerous cultural groups that have settled in the southern Spain is from Romania. Coexistence, especially in schools, has made us become interested in knowing the eating habits at breakfast of Romanian and Spanish populations. Numerous studies show that the food intake at breakfast, mostly made before leaving home, has an incidence on the physic wellbeing of adolescent throughout the day. The processes of acculturation are also inseparable from the eating habits, health and life, that maintain the migrant teenagers. Breakfast is analyzed as one of the habits more associated with diet quality; paradoxically, one of the findings of our study, many adolescents do not take a proper breakfast every day. Objectives: The study analyzes the characteristics and the main cultural and gender differences in the implementation of breakfast: its maintenance or omission in young autochthonous and immigrants of Romanian origin in the southeast Spanish schools. Design. This is a cross-sectional study with a cluster sampling in two Primary schools and seven Secondary schools. The instrument applied was an adaptation of the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire. Sample. It has been formed by 1472 students between 11 and 18 years old; nationality: 1315 were Spanish and 157 were Romanians. Data analysis. Descriptive and differential analyses using the chi-square and U of Mann-Whitney statistics. Results: In the study we identified 1.2% of Spaniards and 3.3% of Romanians who either skip breakfast or do not eat foods throughout the morning. The main breakfast foods of the Spanish students are dairy, bread and cereals, cookies, juice and olive oil; for the Romanian students the basic foods at breakfast are cereals, dairy products, juices, biscuits and jams. We have found significant differences between the two compared cultural groups. We also found significant differences between the food eaten by men of the two cultural groups (Spanish and Romanian) and by the food eaten by women (Spanish and Romanian) in the breakfast food. Conclusions: The results show the need to further promote and implement educational programs that encourage students to make breakfast before leaving home. Also, it is necessary, they take care of the intake of the right foods to start the day and contemplate this habit from a transcultural and gender approach. Significant differences were identified in the breakfast practice food by both genders and cultural groups.