[Psychosomatic symptoms as an expression of the deterioration of the health-related quality of life in adolescents]. / Síntomas psicosomáticos como expresión del deterioro de la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en adolescentes.

AIM: To analyze, in a population of adolescents in school, the relationship between psychosomatic symptoms and the perception of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), differentiating by gender and age group. DESIGN: Transversal study. LOCATION: Five Secondary Schools. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred and forty four adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 in secondary school. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: HRQoL using KIDSCREEN-52 and psychosomatic symptoms with the psychosomatic problems scale (PSP). RESULTS: Girls and adolescents aged 17-18 years presented significantly higher psychosomatic symptoms, both groups also scored worse in all dimensions of HRQoL, although only the dimensions related to physical and mental wellness, mood and stress reached significance. All psychosomatic symptoms were inversely associated with the ten dimensions of KIDSCREEN-52. The regression models showed that sadness, concentrating difficulties and sleeping difficulties were the predictors of worse HRQoL in both sexes and age groups and these variables explained between 30 and 41% of the HRQoL variance of the adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosomatic symptoms are frequent especially in girls and in older adolescents and predictors of worse HRQoL. It is important to distinguish them from medical conditions to avoid unnecessary interventions. As expressions of emotional discomfort they must be evaluated and treated in an integral way because they interfere with daily life and increase the vulnerability proper of adolescence.

Validation to the Spanish of the Jefferson empathy scale health professions students version and its psychometric properties in nursing students.

The ability to empathize with patients has a positive effect on health outcomes and quality of care. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Spanish version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Student version (JSE-HPS) in a sample of 422 nursing students and to compare their factorial structure with that of the original scale. In this study, the Cronbach α value was 0.828. These analyses showed that the scale has a factorial structure with three dimensions and all the items loaded adequately (>0.36) except for item 18 (0.266). The main factor, ̔Perspective taking̕ grouped 10 items; the second factor, ̔Compassionate care̕, grouped 6 items, and the third factor, ̔Standing in the patient's shoes̕, grouped 3 items; 42.2% of the variance was explained. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the Spanish version of the JSE-HPS is a valid and reliable way to evaluate the empathic capacity of nursing students.

Influence of resilience on health-related quality of life in adolescents. / Influencia de la resiliencia sobre la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en adolescentes.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the influence of resilience on the different dimensions of health-related quality of life in a group of adolescents in Cuenca. METHOD: A descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre and multistage study was carried out in 5 secondary schools during the 2015-2016 school year. INSTRUMENTS: A self-administered questionnaire, which included sociodemographic characteristics and the CD-RISC 10 scale to assess resilience together with the KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire to measure health-related quality of life. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 844 students, of whom 54% were girls and the mean age was 16.36±1.05 years. Higher resilience scores were observed in boys. Health-related quality of life was lower in girls (except in the dimension of social acceptance) and in the oldest group. Resilience was significantly associated with all KIDSCREEN-52 dimensions and proved to be a relevant predictor, especially in the dimensions related with mental health and all those that measure social relationships. CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence on the synergy between health-related quality of life and resilience in adolescents. Resilience is associated with higher levels of quality of life in adolescents and as the scores are lower in girls, it could be one of the explanatory factors for their poorer health-related quality of life.