Dismantling stereotypes: Sexual orientation and risk for substance use in adolescence. / Desmontando estereotipos: Orientación sexual y riesgo para el consumo de sustancias en la adolescencia.

Substance use and abuse is a major public health problem. Research has generally shown that sexual minority groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other (LGBT+) people are among the most at-risk vulnerable groups for substance use. However, research in the Spanish context is very scarce and has not analyzed these issues. This research, therefore, aimed to analyze substance use in young people according to their sexual orientation through two studies using representative samples of adolescents. The analyses revealed only some differences in substance use by sexual minority groups. Bisexual adolescents showed a higher frequency of use in some indicators of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol, and lesbians showed a higher frequency of heavy alcohol use but no other indicators of differential use. Questioning adolescents, on the other hand, had the lowest rates of use compared to the other groups on many indicators. Results derived from both studies could indicate, at least with these samples and indicators, that there is no generalized and more frequent use of substances by people of sexual minority groups, which could suggest the existence of a stereotype rather than a fact.

El uso y abuso de sustancias es un importante problema de salud pública. La investigación generalmente ha mostrado que los grupos de personas de minorías sexuales como lesbianas, gais, bisexuales, transexuales y otros (LGBT+) se ubican entre los grupos vulnerables de mayor riesgo de consumo. Sin embargo, la investigación en el contexto español es muy escasa y no ha analizado esta cuestión. Esta investigación, por lo tanto, pretendió analizar el consumo de sustancias en jóvenes según su orientación sexual a través de dos estudios utilizando muestras representativas de adolescentes. Los análisis revelaron únicamente algunas diferencias en el consumo de sustancias por parte de los grupos de minorías sexuales. Los y las adolescentes bisexuales presentaron una frecuencia mayor de consumo en algunos indicadores de tabaco, cannabis y alcohol y las lesbianas mostraron una mayor frecuencia de consumo intensivo de alcohol, pero no otros indicadores de consumo diferencial. Por su parte, los adolescentes questioning presentaron las tasas de consumo más bajas en comparación con los otros grupos en muchos indicadores. Los resultados de ambos estudios podrían indicar, al menos con estas muestras y con estos indicadores, que no existe un uso generalizado y más frecuente de sustancias por parte de personas de minorías sexuales, lo que podría sugerir la existencia de un estereotipo y no tanto responder a un hecho.

Suicidal behavior assessment in adolescents: Validation of the SENTIA-Brief scale.

Suicide is a social-health problem in the youth population worldwide; however, there are no measuring instruments specifically designed for use in Spanish adolescents. The main goal of this work was to analyze the psychometric properties of a new measuring instrument, called SENTIA-Brief, for suicidal behavior assessment in Spanish adolescents.

The assessment of transdiagnostic dimensions of emotional disorders: Validation of the Multidimensional Emotional Disorders Inventory (MEDI) in adolescents with subthreshold anxiety and depression.

BACKGROUND: The transdiagnostic approach to psychopathology has emerged as an alternative to traditional taxonomic approaches. The Multidimensional Emotional Disorders Inventory (MEDI) is a specifically designed self-report to measure the transdiagnostic dimensions proposed by Brown and Barlow (2009). This study aims to analyse the psychometric properties of the MEDI scores in adolescents with subthreshold anxiety and depression. METHOD: The sample consisted of a total of 476 students. The mean age was 13.77 years (SD = 1.43) (range 10 to 18 years), 73.9 % were females. Several questionnaires assessing positive affect, negative affect, mental health difficulties, and quality of life were used. RESULTS: The original 9-factor structure of the MEDI was confirmed with good fit indices. Satisfactory levels of internal consistency were observed in most of the MEDI scores using McDonald's Omega, ranging from 0.58 to 0.87. The MEDI dimensions were associated with psychopathology, positive affect, negative affect, and quality of life. LIMITATIONS: Reliance on self-reported data, a cross-sectional design limiting temporal assessment, and a 73.9 % female gender imbalance. CONCLUSION: The MEDI scores showed adequate psychometric properties among adolescents with subclinical emotional symptoms. The results found might have potential clinical implications for conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and prevention of emotional disorders at both clinical and research levels.

Youth screening depression: Validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in a representative sample of adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Depression symptoms and mood disorders constitute one of the major public health challenges among youths. Thus, early prevention and intervention for depression should be a priority. The main goal of the present study was to validate the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores in a school-based sample of non-clinical adolescents. METHOD: Stratified random sampling was conducted. Participants were 2235 students (M = 14.49, SD =1.76, range= 12-18 years), 52.9 % were female, from 34 secondary schools in Spain. Several previously validated self-reported questionnaires of mental health and psychopathology were administrated. RESULTS: The unidimensional factorial model of the PHQ-9 items showed adequate goodness of fit indices. Strong measurement invariance across gender was found. Omega for the PHQ-9 total score was 0.87. The PHQ-9 total score was positively associated with anxiety symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems, and negatively associated with prosocial behavior and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The PHQ-9 is a brief, easy, and reliable tool for assessing self-reported depressive symptoms in both clinical and school settings. PHQ-9 may be used as a screening tool for universal early detection and monitorization of depression symptoms during adolescence.

Gambling in Spanish Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Mental Health Indicators.

Concern about the development of behavioral addictions in adolescence, including gambling, has increased in recent years. Evidence shows that problem gambling can lead to personal, social, or health problems. However, even though gambling is an illegal activity, studies on this problem are quite limited in Spain. The main objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of gambling in adolescents in Spain. Moreover, gambling behaviors were examined according to gender and age, and their possible relationship with several mental health indicators was analyzed. The results showed that 20.6% of the adolescents who participated in the study had gambled money in the past year. The highest gambling prevalence was found in boys and in adolescents from the age of 16 years old. Moreover, the results showed that gambling behavior was related to different mental health indicators.

[Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review]

Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review. BACKGROUND: Psychological treatments have shown their efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency in dealing with mental disorders. However, considering the scientific knowledge generated in recent years, in the Spanish context, there are no updating studies about empirically supported psychological treatments. The main goal was to carry out a selective review of the main empirically supported psychological treatments for mental disorders in adults. METHOD: Levels of evidence and degrees of recommendation were collected based on the criteria proposed by the Spanish National Health System (Clinical Practice Guidelines) for different psychological disorders. RESULTS: The results indicate that psychological treatments have empirical support for the approach to a wide range of psychological disorders. These levels of empirical evidence gathered range from low to high depending on the psychological disorder analysed. The review indicates the existence of certain fields of intervention that need further investigation. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this selective review, psychology professionals will be able to have rigorous, up-to-date information that allows them to make informed decisions when implementing empirically based psychotherapeutic procedures based on the characteristics of the people who require help.

SENTIA: An Adolescent Suicidal Behavior Assessment Scale.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this work was to design and validate a new measuring instrument, called SENTIA, for assessing suicidal behavior in Spanish adolescents. METHOD: a total of 1790 randomly selected students participated in the survey. The average age was 15.70 ( SD =1.26), 53.7% of the sample were girls. RESULTS: The results of exploratory factor analyses suggested that the dimensional structure that best explained the SENTIA scores was a bifactor model, specified in a general suicidal behavioral factor plus three specific factors (Ideation, Communication, and Act/Planning). SENTIA scores demonstrated adequate levels of reliability. None of the SENTIA items showed differential functioning by gender. SENTIA scores were positively associated with suicidal ideation, symptoms of depression, emotional and behavioral problems, and psychotic-like experiences. CONCLUSIONS: SENTIA is a useful, easy, brief measuring instrument that has been specifically constructed and validated for the assessment of suicidal behavior in Spanish adolescents. As a screening tool, SENTIA can help the analysis, evaluation, understanding, and intervention in a the major socio-health problem that is suicide.

Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis.

: The main goal of the present study was to identify and validate latent classes of suicidal behavior in a representative sample of adolescents. The sample comprised a total of 1506 students, including 667 males (44.3%), selected through a sample stratified by clusters. The mean age was 16.15 years (SD = 1.36). The instruments used evaluated suicidal behavior, positive and negative affect, emotional and behavioral problems, prosocial behavior, and subjective well-being. Using the Paykel Suicide Scale, the latent class analysis identified four homogeneous subgroups: "low risk", "suicidal act", "suicidal ideation", and "high risk for suicide". These subgroups presented a differential pattern in terms of their social-emotional adjustment. The subgroups with the highest theoretical risk showed lower scores on subjective well-being and positive affect as well as higher scores on emotional and behavioral problems and negative affect compared to the non-risk subgroups. This study contributes to an understanding of the typologies of suicidal behavior among adolescents and the relationship with psychopathological adjustment. Ultimately, these findings may promote the development or improvement of early detection and prevention strategies in the suicidal behavior field in order to reduce the socio-economic burdens associated with suicide in young populations.

Suicidal behaviour in adolescents: A network analysis. / Conducta suicida en adolescentes: un análisis de redes.

OBJECTIVE: Suicidal behaviour has not yet been analysed from a network approach in adolescent samples. It is imperative to incorporate new psychological models to understand suicidal behaviour from a different perspective. The main objective of this work was twofold: a) to examine suicidal behaviour through network analysis and b) to estimate the psychological network between suicidal behaviour and protective and risk factors in school-age adolescents. METHOD: Participants were 443 students (M = 14.3 years; SD = 0.53; 51.2% female) selected incidentally from different schools. Different instruments were administered to assess suicidal behaviour, emotional and behavioural difficulties, prosocial behaviour, subjective well-being, emotional intelligence, self-esteem, depressive symptomatology, empathy, positive and negative affect, and emotional regulation. RESULTS: The resulting network of suicidal behaviour was strongly interconnected. The most central node in terms of strength and expected influence was «Consider taking your own life¼. In the estimated psychological network of suicidal behaviour and risk and protective factors, the nodes with the highest strength were depressive symptomatology, positive affect, and empathic concern. The most influential nodes were those related to emotional intelligence abilities. Suicidal behaviour was positively connected to depression symptoms and negative affect, and negatively connected to self-esteem and positive affect. The results of the stability analysis indicated that the networks were accurately estimated. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal behaviour can be conceptualized as a dynamic, complex system of cognitive, emotional, and affective characteristics. The new psychopathological and psychometric models allow us to analyse and understand human behaviour and mental health problems from a new perspective, suggesting new forms of conceptualization, evaluation, intervention, and prevention.

Profesionales de la Psicología en Contextos Educativos: Una Necesidad Ineludible / Psychology Professionals in Educational Contexts: An Unavoidable Necessity

Los problemas de salud mental y las dificultades de ajuste psicológico entre los adolescentes se erigen como un desafío personal, familiar, educativo y socio-sanitario. Se hace necesario abordar este reto social emergente mediante el estudio y la implementación de estrategias de promoción del bienestar psicológico y prevención de los problemas de salud mental en contextos educativos. El objetivo del presente trabajo es poner de manifiesto, a la luz de los datos epidemiológicos derivados del proyecto PSICE (Psicología Basada en la Evidencia en Contextos Educativos), la importancia de abordar la salud mental en entornos educativos. En primer lugar, se realiza una introducción al estudio del comportamiento humano y los problemas de ajuste psicológico. En segundo lugar, se aborda la importancia de los centros educativos como el lugar natural donde promocionar el bienestar psicológico y la salud mental infanto-juvenil. En tercer lugar, se mencionan los resultados de prevalencia derivados del estudio PSICE. Se finaliza con un apartado de recapitulación señalando la ineludible necesidad de promover, proteger y cuidar la salud mental durante la infancia y la adolescencia en los entornos educativos. La promoción del bienestar psicológico y la prevención de los problemas de salud mental en contextos educativos supone la mejor inversión por parte de la sociedad, los gobiernos y las instituciones.(AU)

Mental health problems and psychological adjustment difficulties among young people are emerging as a personal, family, educational, social, and health challenge. It is necessary to address this rising social challenge by studying and implementing strategies to promote emotional well-being and prevent psychological problems in natural contexts. The aim of this work is to highlight, based on the epidemiological data derived from the PSICE (Evidence-based Psychology in Educational Contexts) project, the importance of addressing mental health in school settings. Firstly, an introduction to the study of human behavior and psychological adjustment problems is presented. Secondly, the importance of schools as the natural place to promote the psychological well-being and mental health of children and adolescents is discussed. Thirdly, the prevalence results derived from the PSICE study are mentioned. To conclude, a summary section underscores the imperative need to promote, protect, and care for mental health during childhood and adolescence in educational settings. The promotion of psychological well-being and the prevention of mental health problems in educational contexts is the best investment on the part of societies, governments, and institutions.(AU)

PSICE Project Protocol: Evaluation of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment for Adolescents with Emotional Symptoms in School Settings / El protocolo del Proyecto PSICE: evaluación del protocolo unificado transdiagnóstico para adolescentes con síntomas emocionales en contextos educativos

Background: The aim of the PSICE (Evidence-based Psychology in Educational Contexts) Project is to examine the effectiveness of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Adolescents (UP-A) with symptoms of anxiety and depression in school settings. The goal is to prevent emotional problems and to improve adolescents’ socioemotional adjustment, learning processes, and academic performance. Method: A randomized controlled trial with two groups will be performed: active control (progressive relaxation training) and experimental (UP-A). After screening, participants with subclinical emotional symptomatology will be selected for pre- and post-test evaluation and follow-up at 6, 12, and 18 months. Results: The impact of different indicators at behavioral, cognitive, affective, social and academic functioning levels will be analyzed, as well as their effects in the short, medium and long term. Conclusions: Examining the effectiveness of the UP-A in the Spanish educational context will, among other things, provide data for informed decision-making in the field of educational psychology. In addition, it will ensure that such interventions, using standardized protocols, are accessible to a large population at such an important stage of human development as adolescence. The PSICE project will provide leadership and guidance on the importance of psychology in schools. (AU)

Antecedentes: El objetivo del Proyecto PSICE (Psicología basada en la evidencia en contextos educativos) es examinar la efectividad del protocolo unificado para el tratamiento transdiagnóstico de síntomas de ansiedad y depresión en adolescentes (UP-A) en contextos educativos. El objetivo es prevenir los problemas emocionales, así como mejorar el ajuste socioemocional, los procesos de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico de los adolescentes. Método: Se implementa mediante un ensayo controlado aleatorizado con dos grupos: control activo (entrenamiento en relajación progresiva) y experimental (UP-A). Tras un cribado, se seleccionarán participantes con síntomas emocionales subclínicos a los que se realizará evaluación pretest, postest y seguimiento a los 6, 12 y 18 meses. Resultados: Se analizará el impacto de diferentes indicadores a nivel comportamental, cognitivo, afectivo y de funcionamiento social y académico, así como sus efectos a corto, medio y largo plazo. Conclusiones: Examinar la efectividad del UP-A en el contexto educativo español permitirá, entre otras cuestiones, disponer de datos en el campo de la psicología educativa de cara a la toma de decisiones informadas, además de garantizar que dichas intervenciones sean accesibles, empleando protocolos estandarizados, para un gran conjunto de la población y en una etapa del desarrollo humano tan relevante como es la adolescencia. El proyecto PSICE proporcionará liderazgo y orientación sobre la importancia de la Psicología en el contexto educativo. (AU)

SENTIA: an adolescent suicidal behavior assessment scale / SENTIA: Escala para la evaluación de la conducta suicida en adolescentes

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this work was to design and validate a new measuring instrument, called SENTIA, for assessing suicidal behavior in Spanish adolescents. METHOD: a total of 1790 randomly selected students participated in the survey. The average age was 15.70 (SD = 1.26), 53.7% of the sample were girls. RESULTS: The results of exploratory factor analyses suggested that the dimensional structure that best explained the SENTIA scores was a bifactor model, specified in a general suicidal behavioral factor plus three specific factors (Ideation, Communication, and Act/Planning). SENTIA scores demonstrated adequate levels of reliability. None of the SENTIA items showed differential functioning by gender. SENTIA scores were positively associated with suicidal ideation, symptoms of depression, emotional and behavioral problems, and psychotic-like experiences. CONCLUSIONS: SENTIA is a useful, easy, brief measuring instrument that has been specifically constructed and validated for the assessment of suicidal behavior in Spanish adolescents. As a screening tool, SENTIA can help the analysis, evaluation, understanding, and intervention in a the major socio-health problem that is suicide

ANTECEDENTES: el objetivo principal de este trabajo fue construir y validar un instrumento de medida, denominado SENTIA, para la evaluación de la conducta suicida en adolescentes españoles. MÉTODO: participaron 1.790 estudiantes seleccionados mediante un muestreo estratificado por conglomerados. La media de edad fue 15,70 (DT= 1,26), siendo el 53,7% chicas. RESULTADOS: los resultados del análisis factorial exploratorio sugirieron que la estructura dimensional que mejor explicaba las puntuaciones de SENTIA consistía en un modelo bifactor, concretado en un factor general de conducta suicida más tres factores específicos (Ideación Suicida, Comunicación Suicida y Acto/Planificación Suicida). Las puntuaciones de SENTIA mostraron adecuados niveles de fiabilidad. Ningún ítem de SENTIA mostró funcionamiento diferencial en función del género. Las puntuaciones de SENTIA se asociaron positivamente con ideación suicida, síntomas de depresión, problemas emocionales y comportamentales y experiencias psicóticas atenuadas. CONCLUSIONES: SENTIA es un instrumento de medida sencillo, breve y útil que ha sido construido y validado específicamente para la evaluación de la conducta suicida en jóvenes españoles. SENTIA, como herramienta de cribado, puede ayudar a analizar, evaluar, comprender e intervenir en un problema socio-sanitario de primer orden como es la conducta suicida