SOCIAL AND PARENTAL SUPPORT AS MODERATORS OF THE EFFECTS OF HOMOPHOBIC BULLYING ON PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN YOUTH

The aim of this study was to explore homophobic bullying in Portugal, including its forms, prevalence, and consequences, and to verify whether parental and social support moderated the effects of homophobic bullying for victims. An online questionnaire was completed by 211 female and male students, aged 12 to 20 years. Results showed that psychological violence prevailed, male students were more often victims than female students were, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents were victims more often than their heterosexual peers were. The emotional impact on victims was higher when social support was low, including suicidal ideation and school difficulties. Furthermore, a main effect of parental support was found for emotional and behavioral distress indices experienced by adolescents.     

The mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between victimization and psychological maladjustment in a sample of adolescents

The objectives of the present study were to analyze the relationship between victimization and psychological maladjustment in adolescents and the role of self-compassion as a mediator in this relationship. The sample was composed of 109 adolescents aged from 15 to 18 years old with poor school performance. The participants filled out a battery of questionnaires made up of: a socio-demographic data questionnaire; the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ); the Youth Self-Report (YSR); and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). Results indicated that victimization was positively associated with psychological maladjustment. Moreover, adolescents reporting poly-victimization showed significantly higher level of psychological maladjustment and different types of victimization show different effects on adolescents’ psychological maladjustment. Self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between victimization and psychological maladjustment and reduced negative consequences in adolescents who reported having been victimized. Adolescence is a time of development and search for identity in which strengthening personal protective factors could help overcome any traumas experienced. Therefore, developing self-compassion in adolescence could be a good way to help young people recover from bad experiences and protect themselves against future negative experiences. As self-compassion can be improved with practice it could be included in adolescent intervention and prevention programs.     

How Computer-Assisted Learning Influences Medical Students' Performance in Anatomy Courses

Anatomy is an essential subject of the medical curriculum. Despite its relevance, the curricular time and logistical resources devoted to teaching anatomy are in decline, favoring the introduction of new pedagogical approaches based on computer-assisted learning (CAL). This new pedagogical approach provides an insight into students' learning profiles and features, which are correlated with knowledge acquisition. The aim of this study was to understand how training with CAL platforms can influence medical students' anatomy performance. A total of 611 medical students attending Musculoskeletal Anatomy (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses were allocated to one of three groups (MA Group, CA Group, and MA + CA Group). An association between the performance in these anatomy courses and the number of CAL training sessions was detected. In the MA Group (r = 0.761, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.786, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between musculoskeletal anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Similarly, in the CA Group (r = 0.670, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.772, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between cardiovascular anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Multiple linear regression models were performed, considering either musculoskeletal or cardiovascular anatomy performance as the dependent variable. The results suggest that using CAL platforms to study has a positive dose-dependent effect on anatomy performance. Understanding students' individual features and academic background may contribute to the optimization of the learning process.     

Family of origin environments in two clinical samples of survivors of intra-familial, extra-familial, and both types of sexual abuse

OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that survivors of ongoing childhood sexual abuse (CSA) tend to have been reared in ineffective family environments that render them particularly vulnerable to maltreatment and which foster psychological difficulties beyond those accounted for solely by their abuse. If this conjecture is valid, one would expect that the family of origin environments of CSA survivors would be disturbed whether their abuser was intra-familial or extra-familial. To assess this hypothesis, two studies compared the childhood family of origin environments and supportive parenting characteristics of a clinical sample of women sexually abused by family members only (the intra-familial group), by non-family members only (the extra-familial group), and by both family and non-family members (the "both" group). METHOD: Study 1 compared the three groups (total N = 213) using the Family Environment Scale (FES). Study 2 compared groups (total N = 86) on the positive parenting scales of the Exposure to Abusive and Supportive Environments Parenting Inventory (EASE-PI). RESULTS: In Study 1, multivariate analyses indicated significant differences on the independence, cohesion, and conflict subscales of the FES. Pairwise comparisons revealed that the extra-familial group reported significantly higher levels of family independence and lower levels of conflict than the other two groups. In addition, the extra-familial group reported higher levels of cohesion than the intra-familial group. However, the effect sizes of these comparisons were extremely small. In Study 2, multivariate analyses revealed no group differences on the EASE-PI scales. CONCLUSIONS: Low effect sizes on the three significant FES scales, non-significance on the remaining seven FES scales, and non-significance on the EASE-PI scales suggest that there is considerable similarity in the family of origin environments of adult female CSA survivors seeking therapy regardless of whether their perpetrators were family members, non-family members, or both family and non-family members.     

Perceived emotional intelligence as predictor of psychological adjustment in adolescents: a 1-year prospective study

In recent years, emotional intelligence has appeared as a predictor of adults’ mental health, but little research has examined its involvement in adolescents’ psychological adjustment. In this paper, we analyzed the predictive validity of perceived emotional intelligence (attention to feelings, emotional clarity, and emotional repair) over psychological adjustment in an adolescent sample at two temporal stages with a 1-year interval. At Time 1, the results indicated that adolescents with high scores in attention to feelings and low scores in emotional clarity and repair display poorer psychological adjustment, concretely, higher levels of anxiety, depression, and social stress and lower levels of general mental health. At Time 2, attention to feelings and emotional repair significantly predicted adolescents’ psychological well-being, even when the effects of previous psychological adjustment were controlled for. The findings suggest that perceived emotional intelligence is a stable predictor of adolescent adjustment and may serve as a useful resource for preventive interventions.     

Does formative feedback on search behaviour help students in answering comprehension questions from an available text? / ¿Ayuda la retroalimentación formativa sobre el comportamiento de búsqueda a contestar preguntas de comprensión en lecturas con texto disponible?

This study analyses the efficacy of formative feedback to boost students’ search behaviour when answering comprehension questions in a with-text reading situation, which is a common reading situation in instructional and assessment settings. In these reading situations search strategies play an important role to predict students’ performance. Sixty-five high school students read two texts and answered eight multiple-choice comprehension questions per text using the software Read&Answer, which recorded all the students’ actions. After answering each question, students received either global-search-feedback or specific-search-feedback, which differed in the specificity of their information, or no-feedback. Participants who received any feedback had a second chance to correct their wrong answers. Specific-search-feedback increased students’ search decisions and improved their use of relevant information to repair wrong answers over global-search-feedback. Consequently, specific-search-feedback improved students’ performance when they corrected wrong answers over global-search-feedback. These results have implications for the design and implementation of formative feedback in computer-based systems aimed at improving students’ performance and teaching reading literacy skills.     

THE EFFECTS OF A SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: THE ROLE OF PUPILS’ CHARACTERISTICS

This quasi‐experimental exploratory study investigated whether a social–emotional learning program, implemented during a 1‐year period, could lead to gains in social–emotional competencies and a reduction in internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, it showed which pupils would benefit most from the program. The program was applied to 213 fourth‐grade Portuguese pupils. One hundred five controls followed an Origami curriculum during the same period. Sixteen teachers also participated in this study. Self‐report (pupils) and hetero‐report (teachers) questionnaires were administered before and after the intervention. There were significant intervention gains in some social–emotional competencies, namely, peer relations and social competence, but no gains were found in internalizing and externalizing problems. Intervention pupils with average pre‐test scores profited more in self‐management and peer relations than controls. Boys showed greater gains in self‐management, aggressiveness, and social problems than girls. There were no significant differences regarding socioeconomic status.