Do caring teachers protect African American youth with adverse adolescent experiences from risky behaviors?

The current study aims to fill the existing research gaps by investigating the role of teacher care in protecting African American adolescents in under-resourced neighborhoods from negative outcomes of adverse life events. The study included 638 adolescents from four under-resourced neighborhoods in Chicago's Southside who were assessed to determine the moderating role of caring teachers on the relationship between adverse adolescent experiences and risky sexual behaviors, substance use, bullying perpetration, and violent behaviors. Caring teachers had a significant moderating effect on the association between adverse experiences and both bullying perpetration and violent behaviors. Adolescents who perceived their teachers as caring showed lower tendencies towards bullying and violence, even if they had adverse experiences. These results highlight the crucial role of teacher care in supporting African American adolescents from under-resourced neighborhoods who have experienced adverse life events. It emphasizes educators' role in shaping our youth's future, especially those facing adversity and at a crossroads in their lives.

Despite adverse life events, adolescents who perceived their teachers as caring were less at risk of engaging in bullying and violence. Caring teachers are especially important for African American adolescents in under-resourced neighborhoods.

Defending Others Online: The Influence of Observing Formal and Informal Social Control on One's Willingness to Defend Cyberhate Victims.

This paper examines factors correlated with online self-help-an informal form of social control vis-à-vis intervention-upon witnessing a cyberhate attack. Using online surveys from 18- to 26-year-old respondents in the United States, we explore the roles of various types of online and offline formal and informal social control mechanisms on the enactment of self-help through the use of descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression. The results of the multivariate analyses indicate that online collective efficacy is positively related to self-help, as is having close ties to individuals and groups offline and online. Formal online social control, however, is not significantly related to engaging in self-help. Other findings demonstrate that personal encounters with cyberhate affect the likelihood that an individual will intervene when witnessing an attack, and that individuals with high levels of empathy are more likely to intervene to assist others. This work indicates that pro-social online behavior is contagious and can potentially foster online spaces in which harmful behaviors, such as propagating cyberhate, are not condoned.

A longitudinal study of protective factors against substance use in early adolescence. An ecological approach.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent substance use has been widely related to different individual, school, family and community factors. Yet, the number of studies with all these variables together in a model from an ecological perspective is still low, and they rarely used a longitudinal design. The aim of this study was to explore, from an ecological perspective, the prospective impact of different individual, school, family and neighbourhood factors on adolescent substance use. METHODS: This was a longitudinal study with a one-year follow up. There were 881 participants (Mage = 12.57; 48.1% females) at wave 1, of which 686 (Mage = 13.51; 51.8% females) were followed-up at wave 2. Validated questionnaires were used for data collection. RESULTS: Regression analyses showed that higher substance use was predicted by high family socio-economic status cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and it was related to low neighbourhood socio-economic status cross-sectionally only. Participants who disliked school and had a poor academic performance were more likely to use substances, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of families in substance use prevention programmes could be a key component in these interventions. Moreover, promotion of a positive school climate could protect adolescents from using substances.

Adolescent Compliance with anti-COVID Measures. Is It Related to Substance Use?

Prevalence rates of compliance with anti-COVID measures have been widely studied, but little is known about this issue in early adolescence. Moreover, the relation between substance use and compliance with anti-COVID regulations is still unexplored. Thus, this study aimed to determine the level of compliance with anti-COVID measures by adolescents and the link between substance use and compliance with anti-COVID regulations. This was a cross-sectional study including 909 participants (M age = 12.57; SD = 0.81). The most complied measure was mask-wearing, followed by avoiding hug/kiss friends and, finally, social distancing. All substance use negatively correlated with compliance with measures. However, strong alcohol and tobacco were the only substances significantly related to less compliance of anti-COVID measures after controlling for covariates. These results provide evidence about the relation between substance use and compliance with anti-COVID measures. Strategies addressed to decrease substance use could be effective to reduce behaviours associated with coronavirus transmission.

Factors Associated with Online Hate Acceptance: A Cross-National Six-Country Study among Young Adults.

The Internet, specifically social media, is among the most common settings where young people encounter hate speech. Understanding their attitudes toward the phenomenon is crucial for combatting it because acceptance of such content could contribute to furthering the spread of hate speech as well as ideology contamination. The present study, theoretically grounded in the General Aggression Model (GAM), investigates factors associated with online hate acceptance among young adults. We collected survey data from participants aged 18-26 from six countries: Finland (n = 483), France (n = 907), Poland (n = 738), Spain (n = 739), the United Kingdom (n = 959), and the United States (n = 1052). Results based on linear regression modeling showed that acceptance of online hate was strongly associated with acceptance of violence in all samples. In addition, participants who admitted to producing online hate reported higher levels of acceptance of it. Moreover, association with social dominance orientation was found in most of the samples. Other sample-specific significant factors included participants' experiences with the Internet and online hate, as well as empathy and institutional trust levels. Significant differences in online hate acceptance levels and the strength of its connections to individual factors were found between the countries. These results provide important insights into the phenomenon, demonstrating that online hate acceptance is part of a larger belief system and is influenced by cultural background, and, therefore, it cannot be analyzed or combatted in isolation from these factors.

Improving Literacy Competence and Social and Emotional Competencies in Primary Education Through Cooperative Project-Based Learning.

BACKGROUND: Cooperative learning and Project-Based Learning are methodologies that can promote learning environments and improve learning, school achievement, and social and emotional competencies. METHOD: A mixed combination of these two methodologies called Cooperative Project-Based Learning was designed, and a quasi-experimental evaluation study with a pre-test and a post-test was conducted with a sample of 156 students from Primary Education. Literacy competence and social and emotional competencies, including empathy, were analyzed and compared between experimental and control groups. RESULTS: The intervention effectively increased scores on literacy competence, social and emotional competencies, and empathy in the experimental group, significantly more than in the control group. The girls in the experimental group exhibited greater improvement than the controls in literacy competence, social and emotional competencies and empathy. However, the boys in the experimental group were only different from the boys in the control group in literacy competence, but not in the other two variables. CONCLUSIONS: These results have implications for school practice and curriculum planning in Primary Education. New lines of future research are also being opened based on the impact of Cooperative Project-Based Learning on other key competencies and on the prevention of antisocial behaviors.

Descriptive and Quasi-Experimental Studies about Moral Emotions, Online Empathy, Anger Management, and Their Relations with Key Competencies in Primary Education.

BACKGROUND: Antisocial behaviours make social interactions difficult among students. Moral emotions, online empathy, and anger management are social and emotional variables related to prosocial and antisocial behaviours and health problems. This research aims to assess the impact of Cooperative Project-Based Learning intervention on these three variables for Primary Education students. Additionally, the relations of these variables with key competencies, such as social and emotional competencies and literacy competence, were studied. METHOD: This research is made up of two studies, descriptive and quasi-experimental, during regular school hours. The descriptive study was carried out with a sample of 516 primary school students and aimed to assess the development of the three variables, taking into account personal and ethnic-cultural factors. The quasi-experimental study, with pre-test and post-test data, had the participation of 145 students to study the incidence of these variables after Cooperative Project-Based Learning intervention in Primary Education. RESULTS: The results show the relation among the cited variables and the positive impact of the intervention on moral emotions and anger management in the experimental group compared to the control group. Experimental group girls presented higher scores in moral emotions than control group girls. CONCLUSION: These results open new research lines in relation to the intervention as a programme to prevent the appearance of antisocial behaviours and health problems at school.

A longitudinal study of preadolescent and adolescent substance use: Within-individual patterns and protective factors.

Substance use is one of the main risks for adolescent health. Many research projects have studied longitudinal patterns of use and risk/protective factors, but the number of studies focused on within-individual stability and change is low. The objective of this study was to discover specific longitudinal profiles of drug use and explore the role of social and emotional competencies, and empathy as possible protective factors against substance use. Method: This was a longitudinal study with 879 students (9-17 years at wave 1, 10-18 at wave 2). Substance use, social and emotional competencies, and empathy were measured with a survey. Results: Nine longitudinal profiles of substance use were found in this sample. Multinomial regression analysis found that low responsible decision making, self-management and affective empathy predicted the profiles of ascending user, chronic user and experiencer, respectively. Experiencer was also predicted by a low level of social awareness. Conclusions: The trend to a higher use over time can increase the odds of addiction in future. Some personal variables were found as protective factors against drug use. Thus, school interventions addressed to promote social and emotional competencies, and empathy seem necessary in order to decrease the adolescent drug use.

El consumo de sustancias es uno de los mayores riesgos para la salud de los adolescentes. Numerosas investigaciones han estudiado el patrón longitudinal de consumo y factores de riesgo/protección, pero pocas han estudiado la estabilidad y el cambio a nivel intraindividual. El objetivo de este estudio fue descubrir patrones longitudinales específicos de consumo de drogas y explorar el papel de las competencias sociales y emocionales, y la empatía como posibles factores protectores. Método: Un estudio longitudinal con 879 participantes (9-17 años en tiempo 1; 10-18 en tiempo 2). El consumo de sustancias, las competencias socioemocionales y la empatía se midieron con una encuesta. Resultados: Se encontraron nueve perfiles longitudinales de consumo. Los análisis de regresión encontraron que baja toma de decisiones responsables, autocontrol y empatía afectiva predijeron los perfiles de consumidor ascendente, consumidor crónico y experimentador, respectivamente. Experimentador también fue predicho por bajos niveles de conciencia social. Conclusiones: La tendencia a aumentar el consumo a través del tiempo puede incrementar el riesgo de adicción en el futuro. Algunas variables personales actúan como factores de protección. Por ello, parecen necesarias intervenciones escolares dirigidas a promocionar las competencias sociales y emocionales, y la empatía para disminuir el consumo de sustancias.

Empathy, social and emotional competencies, bullying perpetration and victimization as longitudinal predictors of somatic symptoms in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Somatic symptoms are an important adolescent health problem that affects individuals and the society as a whole. Although research focused on somatic symptoms has been very fruitful, studies about their longitudinal predictors are still in their early stages. The present study focuses on the relations between social and emotional competencies, empathy and bullying, and the presence of somatic symptoms concurrently and one year later. METHOD: The sample consisted of 384 Spanish adolescents, who participated in a longitudinal study with a one-year follow-up. Validated questionnaires were used to assess social and emotional competencies, bullying, empathy and somatic complaints. RESULTS: High scores in social and emotional competencies were related to low scores in somatic symptoms one year later. High affective empathy predicted more somatic symptoms concurrently and one year later. Bullying victimization was related to more somatic symptoms concurrently and one year later. LIMITATIONS: Other-reports could be useful to further validate the results obtained with self-reports. Non-linear relations could be tested. Representative samples could be used in future studies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that it may be important to promote social and emotional competencies and reduce bullying to decrease somatic symptoms. More studies are needed to understand the impact of high affective empathy on somatic symptoms.

Social and emotional competencies and empathy as predictors of literacy competence.

BACKGROUND: Desirable interpersonal interactions require literacy competence and social and emotional competencies, which are closely related to empathy. This study aimed to investigate whether social and emotional competencies and empathy predict literacy competence in Primary Education, assessing students' socio-educational characteristics. METHOD: The three variables were analysed in a sample consisting of 516 Primary Education children from six schools in Spain. RESULTS: competence was higher in girls and students from the ethnic-cultural majority. Empathy and social and emotional competencies were related to literacy competence. CONCLUSIONS: Literacy competence could be improved by targeting social and emotional development. New intervention programs could be based on the results.

A Longitudinal Study on Stability and Transitions Among Bullying Roles.

Trajectories of stability and change in bullying roles were examined through a longitudinal prospective study of 916 school students followed up biannually from age 11 to 17. Perpetrators and victims had relatively stable trajectories with most of the children remaining in the same role over time or becoming uninvolved. Bully/victim was the most unstable role with frequent transitions to perpetrators or victims. Developmental change in bullying roles was found with a decrease in physical forms over time in bullies and victims but with persistently high perpetration and victimization in bully/victims. These findings open new horizons in research and practice related to bullying and can be useful for its early detection or design of targeted interventions.

Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale: Validation in Spanish University Students.

The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) has already been validated in nine languages and has had a major scientific impact. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate this instrument in its Spanish version, one of the most important languages in the world. We analyzed the psychometric properties of the scale, applied to a sample of 378 students of the Faculty of Education at the University of Cordoba. The scale consists of 13 items, divided into three dimensions of the process of identity: commitments, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of the commitments. In this report, the factorial three-dimensional model of process identity is confirmed and shows that the instrument is reliable for measuring the educational, social or global identity of the individual.

Dimensions and Psychometric Properties of the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire (SEC-Q) in youth and adolescents / Dimensiones y Propiedades Psicométricas del Cuestionario de Competencias Sociales y Emocionales (SEC-Q) en jóvenes y adolescentes

Abstract Many intervention programs are conducted in different countries in order to promote social and emotional learning. Nevertheless, the number of instruments to evaluate these competencies is still low, and core social and emotional competencies are rarely included in a single questionnaire and measured as a single construct. Thus, this study was conducted to design and validate the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire. This instrumental study was conducted with 643 university students and a representative sample of 2,139 adolescents. The results show that the questionnaire has good psychometric properties and includes four components: self-awareness, self-management and motivation, social-awareness and prosocial behavior, and decision-making. These competencies are positively related to perceived emotional intelligence and negatively related to alexithymia. This questionnaire can be useful in evaluating social and emotional competencies in different settings. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of social and emotional learning programs.

Resumen En diferentes países se llevan a cabo numerosos programas de intervención para promover el aprendizaje socio-emocional. Sin embargo, las principales competencias sociales y emocionales raramente se incluyen en un solo cuestionario o se miden como un único constructo. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio fue diseñar y validar el Cuestionario de Competencias Socio-Emocionales. Este estudio instrumental se realizó con 643 estudiantes universitarios y con una muestra representativa de 2139 adolescentes. Los resultados mostraron que el cuestionario tiene muy buenas propiedades psicométricas e incluye cuatro componentes: autoconciencia, autogestión, conciencia social y conducta prosocial, y toma de decisiones. Estas competencias están relacionadas positivamente con la inteligencia emocional percibida y negativamente con la alexitimia. Este cuestionario puede ser útil para evaluar las competencias socio-emocionales en diferentes contextos. También puede usarse para evaluar la efectividad de los programas de aprendizaje socio-emocional.

Victimisation through bullying and cyberbullying: Emotional intelligence, severity of victimisation and technology use in different types of victims.

BACKGROUND: Bullying and cyberbullying are global public health problems. However, very few studies described prevalence, similarities and differences among face-to-face victims, cybervictims and students who are victimised through both bullying and cyberbullying. This study was conducted to describe these different patterns of victimisation and severity of victimisation, emotional intelligence and technology use in different types of victims. METHOD: A total number of 2,139 secondary school students from 22 schools, randomly selected from all provinces of Andalusia, Spain, participated in this study. Information about bullying, cyberbullying, social networking sites use and perceived emotional intelligence was collected. RESULTS: Face-to-face victimisation only is the most common type of victimisation followed by mixed victimisation. Cybervictimisation only is rare. Mixed victims score higher in severity of bullying and present higher emotional attention than face-to-face victims. CONCLUSIONS: Most victims of cyberbullying are also face-to-face victims. Holistic approach that focuses on different problems at the same time seems to be needed to tackle these behaviours.

Bullying and Cyberbullying in Minorities: Are They More Vulnerable than the Majority Group?

Inclusion in education of all the children is necessary for the success, equality and peace among individuals and societies. In this context, special attention needs to be paid to the minorities. These groups might encounter additional difficulties which make them more vulnerable to be involved in bullying and cyberbullying. The current study was conducted with the objective of describing the involvement in bullying and cyberbullying of students from the majority group and also from sexual and ethnic-cultural minorities. The second objective was to explore if the implication is predicted by the interaction with gender, grade and the size of the population where the schools are located. It is an ex post facto transversal descriptive study with a survey on a representative sample of adolescents enrolled in the Compulsory Secondary Education in the south of Spain (Andalusia). The survey was answered by 2139 adolescents (50.9% girls) in 22 schools. These participants were selected through the random multistage cluster sampling with the confidence level of 95% and a sampling error of 2.1%. The results show that the minority groups, especially sexual minorities, are more involved in bullying and cyberbullying. Regression analyses show that being in the majority or a minority group predicts a small but significant percentage of variance of being involved in bullying and cyberbullying. Results are discussed taking into account the social vulnerability of being a part of a minority group and the need of designing educational programs which would prevent this vulnerability thorough the inclusion in education. There is a need for an educational policy that focuses on convivencia and ciberconvivencia which would promote the social and educational development of all the students.

Burnout and its relation to sociodemographic variables among education professionals working with people with disabilities in Córdoba (Spain). / El Burnout y las variables sociodemográficas en los profesionales de la educación que trabajan con personas con discapacidad en Córdoba (España).

The main objective of this study was to determine the level of burnout among education professionals working with people with disabilities in Córdoba, Spain and the association between these levels and sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status, and level of education). DESIGN: descriptive, cross-sectional study to determine prevalence. POPULATION: 157 professionals. Evaluation tools: questionnaire to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Statistical tests: Pearson's bivariate correlation, the Student's t-test, Levene's test, single factor ANOVA, and the post hoc multiple comparison test (Bonferroni). The findings of this study confirm the variety of variables that influence burnout and its dimensions. The study shows the incidence of burnout according to the sex, age, marital status, and level of education of the professionals who participated in this research. Based on an exhaustive scientific literature review on the topic and considering the findings of this study, there is an irrefutable need for further research into burnout among professionals who work with people with disabilities. It is hoped that the findings obtained by this study will help in the elaboration of future initiatives directed at the detection, early care, and reduction of this syndrome among this group.

El Burnout y las variables sociodemográficas en los profesionales de la educación que trabajan con personas con discapacidad en Córdoba (España) / Burnout and its relation to sociodemographic variables among education professionals working with people with disabilities in Córdoba (Spain)

Resumen El objetivo fundamental de esta investigación es describir el nivel de Burnout o “Síndrome de Quemado por el Trabajo” en los profesionales de la educación que trabajan con personas con discapacidad en Córdoba (España), y la relación con sus características sociodemográficas (sexo, edad, estado civil y nivel de estudios). Diseño: estudio de prevalencia, descriptivo y transversal. Población: 157 profesionales. Instrumento de evaluación: un cuestionario sociodemográfico y el cuestionario MBI. Pruebas estadísticas: Pearson, T- Student, Levene, Anova de un factor y comparaciones múltiples Post Hoc (Bonferroni). Los resultados de esta investigación avalan la diversidad de variables que influyen en el Burnout y en sus dimensiones. Concretamente se ha demostrado la incidencia del sexo, la edad, el estado civil y el nivel de estudios de los profesionales encuestados. Tras una exhaustiva revisión científica sobre el tema, y considerando los resultados obtenidos, se hace fehaciente la necesidad de continuar investigando el Burnout en este colectivo profesional. Se espera que lo resultados obtenidos ayuden en la elaboración de futuras propuestas de detección, atención temprana y reducción de este síndrome en este colectivo profesional.

Abstract The main objective of this study was to determine the level of burnout among education professionals working with people with disabilities in Córdoba, Spain and the association between these levels and sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status, and level of education). Design: descriptive, cross-sectional study to determine prevalence. Population: 157 professionals. Evaluation tools: questionnaire to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Statistical tests: Pearson’s bivariate correlation, the Student’s t-test, Levene’s test, single factor ANOVA, and the post hoc multiple comparison test (Bonferroni). The findings of this study confirm the variety of variables that influence burnout and its dimensions. The study shows the incidence of burnout according to the sex, age, marital status, and level of education of the professionals who participated in this research. Based on an exhaustive scientific literature review on the topic and considering the findings of this study, there is an irrefutable need for further research into burnout among professionals who work with people with disabilities. It is hoped that the findings obtained by this study will help in the elaboration of future initiatives directed at the detection, early care, and reduction of this syndrome among this group.

Causes and Solutions for the Economic Crisis According to the International Scientific Community / Causas y soluciones a la crisis financiera según la comunidad científica internacional

The current economic crisis started in the USA between 2007 and 2008, and its causes are still being discussed. Although there are many theoretical proposals that analyze the causes and possible solutions to this situation, the number of empirical research is still very scarce. The objective consisted of collecting and analyzing the opinion of the world scientific community on the causes and possible solutions to the crisis. 1770 scientists answered a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose. Results show that the causes of the economic crisis depended on the management inside and outside the financial institutions. The highest percentage of participants was in agreement with a solution that promotes private initiative but also with governmental help and control.

La actual crisis económica iniciada en los EEUU entre 2007 y 2008, y sus causas todavía se están discutiendo. Aunque hay muchas propuestas teóricas que analizan las causas y posibles soluciones a esta situación, el número de investigaciones empíricas aún es escaso. El objetivo de esta investigación consistió en recoger y analizar la opinión de la comunidad científica mundial sobre las causas y posibles soluciones a la crisis. 1770 científicos respondieron un cuestionario específicamente diseñado para este propósito. Los resultados muestran que las causas de la crisis económica dependieron de la gestión interna y externa de las instituciones financieras. El porcentaje más alto de participantes está de acuerdo con una solución que promueva la iniciativa privada, pero con control y ayuda de los gobiernos.

¿Deficiencia, discapacidad o identidad cultural?: interpretación de la sordera y respuestas en el sistema educativo en España / Illness, disability or cultural identity?: interpretation of deafness and answers from the Spanish educational system

En España, en los últimos años, se han experimentado múltiples cambios en la prevención y la atención de las personas con discapacidad, en particular en lo que se refiere a las personas sordas. La interpretación de la sordera no sólo como deficiencia auditiva, sino como una diferencia comunicativa, está llevando a la disposición de contextos educativos con carácter bilingüe y bicultural. Esta nueva perspectiva conceptual y la consecuente orientación de las prácticas escolares tienen un impacto positivo en los campos de la salud, la educación y el ámbito social, fomentando el desarrollo tanto del alumnado sordo, como del alumnado oyente. En este artículo se expone la situación del contexto español en este campo, y ha servido de base para la realización de un proyecto transnacional europeo.

In Spain and in recent years, multiple changes have been experimented in the prevention and care of people with disabilities, particularly in what concerns to deaf people. The interpretation of deafness not only as hearing impairment, but as a communicative difference is causing the provision of educational contexts with bilingual and bicultural characteristics. This new conceptual perspective and the consequent orientation of school practices have positive impact in the fields of health, education and social development, encouraging the development of both deaf as listener students. This article explains the situation of the Spanish context on this field and it has provided the basis for the accomplishment of a European transnational project.