Emotional Loneliness, Suicidal Ideation, and Alexithymia in Adolescents Who Commit Child-to-Parent Violence.

The objective of this research was to explore the relationship between involvement in child-to-parent violence (CPV) and the development of emotional loneliness, suicidal ideation, and alexithymia based on sex; 1,928 adolescents of both sexes participated (50.5% males and 49.5% females), aged between 12 and 18 years (M = 14. 67, SD = 1.77), enrolled in four educational centers in Spain. A multivariate analysis of variance (3 × 2 MANOVA) was applied using sex and CPV levels as independent variables. Univariate analyses were carried out to explore the significant relationships detected. Results showed that the adolescents with higher CPV scored higher in emotional loneliness, suicidal ideation, and alexithymia. Girls showed a greater prevalence of CPV at the medium and high levels. An interaction of sex and CPV with alexithymia was detected. Girls with high and moderate values of CPV presented a higher level of alexithymia. These results provide novel information in the field of CPV. Previous research has placed the main focus of analysis on the adolescents' behavior problems and not so much on their perceptions of personal adjustment and their emotional experiences. The information presented in this study contributes to achieve a more precise definition of the profile of adolescent who assault their parents for better prevention of CPV.

Parental Attachment and Satisfaction With Social Life: The Mediating Role of Gelotophobia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate how gelotophobia is related to secure parental attachment, the degree of satisfaction with social life and coping strategies in a non-clinical sample of young Spanish adults. METHOD: the sample consisted of 306 young Spanish adults (M= 21.4 years; SD= 2.27; 67.6% women). The relationships between the study variables were analysed and a mediation model was tested in which gelotophobia (M) mediated the relationship between secure parental attachment (IV) and the level of satisfaction with social life (DV). RESULTS: a satisfactory social life was related with low levels of gelotophobia and high levels of secure attachment to the father, as well as with the use of positive coping strategies of control and social support. Secure attachment to the father was positively associated with coping strategies focused on seeking social support and negatively associated with gelotophobia. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of secure attachment to the father are related to higher life satisfaction mediated by low levels of gelotophobia.

Myth Acceptance Regarding Male-To-Female Intimate Partner Violence amongst Spanish Adolescents and Emerging Adults.

(1) Background: General beliefs and attitudes toward Male-to-Female Intimate Partner Violence (MFIPV) play a fundamental, critical role in the expression of violent behaviors in relationships during both adolescence and adulthood. The objective of the present study was to contrast the degree of myth acceptance regarding MFIPV, based on the sex and age of Spanish teenagers and emerging adults. (2) Methods: A sample of 1580 participants aged between 15 and 24 took part in the study. The subjects were enrolled in 34 secondary schools and two university centers spread across Seville (Spain). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was carried out for the data analysis. (3) Results: Overall, males had a higher level of myth acceptance than females in all the dimensions considered in the study. In the case of significantly high levels of myth acceptance, males quintupled females. The research dimension that revealed the greatest differences was romantic love. Regarding age, a degree of stability was observed in the age period of 15-17 years and 18-20 years, but this subsequently decreased for the age range of 21-24 years. (4) Conclusions: Efforts should be focused on promoting actions to challenge male mandates and narratives concerning romantic or true love.

Scene-Based Psychodramatic Family Therapy With Troubled Adolescents and Parents: A Pilot Study.

Scene-Based Psychodramatic Family Therapy (SB-PFT) is an innovative treatment used with troubled adolescents and their parents to improve family relationships and reduce adolescents' problematic behavior. It integrates the principles of family therapy, psychodrama, and multiple-family group methodology. This research is a pilot study to obtain empirical evidence on the SB-PFT therapeutic process by gauging the perception of change of troubled adolescents and their parents, and assess the perceived helpfulness of its methodology and techniques. Ten multiple-family intervention groups were drawn up, with 110 participants (63 adolescents and 47 parents), and we adopted a qualitative methodology with focus groups, using an inductive analysis of 290 active constructions of participant narratives. Concerning perception of change, the adolescents reported mainly gaining in social support, prosocial attitudes, keys to problem solving, and expression of emotions due to the treatment. The parents perceived improvement in social support, keys for educational practices, emotional well-being, and expression of emotions due to the treatment. Regarding the perceived helpfulness of methodology and techniques, both adolescents and parents highlighted the usefulness of the group methodology for gaining social support, relativizing the problem, and expressing emotions. Additionally, participants referred to role-playing and mirror techniques as the most useful techniques. In conclusion, this first study on SB-PFT presents and describes its treatment for troubled adolescents and their parents. The participants' positive perception of their personal and relational change after treatment should serve to promote further studies with quantitative methodology in order to verify the effectiveness of SB-PFT treatment.

La terapia familiar psicodramática basada en escenas (SB-PFT, por sus siglas en inglés) es un tratamiento innovador usado con adolescentes conflictivos y sus padres para mejorar las relaciones familiares y disminuir el comportamiento problemático de los adolescentes. Integra los principios de la terapia familiar, del psicodrama y de la metodología grupal multifamiliar. Esta investigación es un estudio piloto para obtener conocimiento empírico sobre el proceso terapéutico de la SB-PFT mediante la medición de la percepción de cambio de los adolescentes conflictivos y sus padres, y para evaluar la utilidad percibida de esta metodología y técnica. Se formaron diez grupos multifamiliares de intervención con 110 participantes (63 adolescentes y 47 padres), y adoptamos una metodología cualitativa con grupos focales utilizando un análisis inductivo de 290 construcciones activas de historias de los participantes. Con respecto a la percepción de cambio, los adolescentes informaron un aumento pricipalmente del apoyo social, de las actitudes prosociales, de las claves para resolver problemas y de la expresión de emociones debido al tratamiento. Los padres percibieron una mejora del apoyo social, de las claves para las prácticas educativas, del bienestar emocional y de la expresión de emociones debido al tratamiento. Con respecto a la utilidad percibida de la metodología y las técnicas, tanto los adolescentes como los padres destacaron la utilidad de la metodología de grupo para obtener apoyo social, relativizar el problema y expresar emociones. Además, los participantes se refirieron al juego de roles y a las técnicas del espejo como las más útiles. En resumen, este primer estudio sobre la SB-PFT presenta y describe su tratamiento para adolescentes conflictivos y sus padres. La percepción positiva de los participantes de su cambio personal y relacional después del tratamiento debería servir para promover más estudios con una metodología cuantitativa a fin de verificar la eficacia del tratamiento con la SB-PFT.

[Family categorization as a technique to support the analysis process that follows the grounded theory]. / La categorización familiar como técnica de apoyo al proceso de análisis que sigue la teoría fundamentada.

An important aspect that requires special attention by researchers using qualitative methods is the construction of theoretical categories, or more specifically, the step between coding and categorization. One of the most structured methodological proposals used in health sciences is grounded theory. In this paper an analytical technique called "family categorization" is proposed. Its aim is to facilitate the steps of creating the initial categories, based on intra- and inter-family codes analysis.

Child-to-Parent Violence: Attitude towards Authority, Social Reputation and School Climate.

Research into child-to-parent violence (CPV) has focused mainly on the description of individual and family variables of adolescents. It is observed that the school context has received little attention despite being a context of development of great importance. In order to deepen the understanding in this field, the objective of this study was to analyze the relationships between child-to-parent violence (CPV) and the attitude towards authority, social reputation and school climate. A total of 2101 Spanish adolescents (50.1% males and 49.9% females) from 13 to 18 years participated. A multivariate factorial design (MANOVA, 3 × 3) was carried out using as independent variables CPV level and age. It was found that adolescents with high CPV presented lower values of positive attitude towards institutional authority (PATIA) and school climate (involvement, friendships and teacher's help), and higher values of positive attitude towards the transgression of social norms (PATTSN) and of perceived and ideal non-conformist social reputation (PNCSR and INCSR, respectively). Younger participants obtained the highest PATIA scores and lowest of PNCSR and the 15-16 years age group obtained the highest scores in PATTSN and INCSR. Adolescents aged 17-18 years show the highest scores in involvement and teacher's help. Also, three interaction effects were found and indicated that there is an improvement in attitudinal and school adjustment indicators according to the age, except in ideal non-conformist social reputation, which has important practical implications.

El patrón de consumo de alcohol en adultos desde la perspectiva de los adolescentes / Adult pattern of alcohol use as perceived by adolescents

Objetivo: Conocer la opinión de un grupo de adolescentes acerca del patrón de consumo de alcohol que muestran los/las adultos/as de su entorno social. Métodos: Investigación cualitativa fundamentada en Grounded Theory (Glaser y Strauss, 1967) con información obtenida mediante cinco grupos de discusión. Los/las participantes fueron seleccionados/as mediante muestreo teórico en la fase inicial y emergente del estudio, aplicando criterios maestros de selección fundamentados en la literatura previa. Se utilizaron criterios de heterogeneidad-homogeneidad en la composición de los grupos. Participaron 40 adolescentes de ambos sexos, entre 15 y 20 años de edad, pertenecientes a cuatro centros educativos de Sevilla. Resultados: Según los/las adolescentes entrevistados/as, el consumo de alcohol está normalizado entre las personas adultas, se vincula a actos de celebración, se orienta hacia la diversión e incluye el consumo abusivo e intensivo y la presencia de destilados. Los datos de los estudios recientes contradicen en parte la opinión de los/las adolescentes, pues muestran un patrón de consumo en las personas adultas asociado fundamentalmente al componente gastronómico y social de la bebida, con ingestas moderadas de cerveza y vino. Conclusiones: Se sugiere la posible existencia de una percepción distorsionada en algunos/as adolescentes acerca de la realidad del consumo en los/las adultos/as. Como explicación, se plantea la hipótesis de una relación entre esta percepción y la información contradictoria que reciben los/las jóvenes en materia de alcohol, la idea de ser normativos y el deseo de satisfacer sus propias necesidades hedónicas y de socialización (AU)

Objective: To identify the views of a sample of adolescents on the pattern of alcohol consumption shown by adults in their social environment. Method: A qualitative study was conducted using the method proposed by grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Data were collected through five discussion groups. Participants were selected by theoretical sampling in the initial and emerging phases of the study by applying criteria based on previous research. Heterogeneity-homogeneity criteria were used in the composition of the groups. The final sample consisted on 40 adolescents of both sexes between 15 and 20 years from four educational centres in Seville (Spain). Results: According to the adolescents interviewed, alcohol use was normal among adults, geared towards fun, and was linked to social gatherings and to abusive and intensive consumption including drinking spirits. Data from recent studies partly contradict adolescents’ perceptions, showing a pattern of consumption in adults associated mostly with the gastronomic and social component of drink and with moderate intake of beer and wine. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that adolescents may have a distorted view of the reality of adult patterns of alcohol use. As an explanation, we hypothesize that, faced with conflicting information, adolescents prioritize the information that best fits their view of what is socially acceptable and what meets their own hedonistic and social needs (AU)

[Adult pattern of alcohol use as perceived by adolescents]. / El patrón de consumo de alcohol en adultos desde la perspectiva de los adolescentes.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the views of a sample of adolescents on the pattern of alcohol consumption shown by adults in their social environment. METHOD: A qualitative study was conducted using the method proposed by grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Data were collected through five discussion groups. Participants were selected by theoretical sampling in the initial and emerging phases of the study by applying criteria based on previous research. Heterogeneity-homogeneity criteria were used in the composition of the groups. The final sample consisted on 40 adolescents of both sexes between 15 and 20 years from four educational centres in Seville (Spain). RESULTS: According to the adolescents interviewed, alcohol use was normal among adults, geared towards fun, and was linked to social gatherings and to abusive and intensive consumption including drinking spirits. Data from recent studies partly contradict adolescents' perceptions, showing a pattern of consumption in adults associated mostly with the gastronomic and social component of drink and with moderate intake of beer and wine. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that adolescents may have a distorted view of the reality of adult patterns of alcohol use. As an explanation, we hypothesize that, faced with conflicting information, adolescents prioritize the information that best fits their view of what is socially acceptable and what meets their own hedonistic and social needs.

[Effectiveness of institutional policies to prevent adolescent alcohol use: The view of experts and adolescents]. / Eficacia de las políticas institucionales de prevención del consumo de alcohol en adolescentes: la opinión de expertos y adolescentes.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to obtain the views of a sample of adolescents and experts on adolescence, family, school, local policies and media, regarding the effectiveness of institutional policies to prevent adolescent alcohol use. SETTING: Four educational centers in the province of Seville. Head office of the Alcohol and Society Foundation in Madrid. DESIGN: Qualitative study using the method proposed by Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). METHODOLOGY: Data were collected from 10 discussion groups guided by semistructured interviews. The data were analyzed using Atlas ti 5 software. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 32 national experts and 40 adolescents of both sexes aged 15 to 20 years living in the province of Seville, selected by theoretical intentional sampling. RESULTS: The experts believed that most of the evaluated preventive actions were effective, while adolescents disputed the preventive impact of most of them. Adolescents proposed actions focused on the reduction of supply of alcohol. Experts proposed a mixed model as the most effective strategy to prevent alcohol consumption in adolescents, combining supply and demand reduction policies, depending on specific short and long term objectives. CONCLUSIONS: We have obtained, not only an overview of what is working (or not) from the view of adolescents and experts, but also the key points that should be taken into account for designing effective prevention policies.