Jóvenes que estuvieron en el sistema de protección social a la infancia : reflexiones a partir de una investigación realizada en Girona, España = Young people who were in the child protection system : reflections from a study done in Girona, Spain

Research on residential care is still scarce despite its high implementation in Spain. This article presents the results of a research using qualitative methods. The study analyses the situation experienced by young people who lived in foster care in the province of Girona (1994-2002) based on their opinions and perceptions expressed in a semi-structured interview. The results, clustered into subcategories, show lack of knowledge about the reasons why they needed foster care, if it was better being there than staying with their parents, and the lack of support for transition to adulthood. The study shows implications for children and youth policies, professional practice and research

El bienestar psicológico de los preadolescentes

Research on psychological well-being - as a component of quality of life - has paroduced notable developments during the last two decades. However, few instruments exist that are applicable to the study of psychological well-being among adolescents. This article presents the results of administering un instrument of this kind to a sample of 1590 Catalan adolescents between 12 and 14 years old. The instrument, Huebner's siss scale (Huebner, 1991a, 1994) had already been adapted to study a population of Spanish children (Alsinet, 1998). The results are compared to those of positive and negative affect scales administered to the same sample, and to those obtained by Huebner with a US sample. The results demonstrate good reliability, a consistent factor structure, a goodfunctioning of the scale in the Spanish population, and a pattern of answers consistent with the original results by Huebner

Values and their influence on the life satisfaction of adolescents aged 12 to 16: a study of some correlates

In this research we explore several aspects of quality of life in young people, working with factors such as self-esteem, locus of control, perceived social support, values, and so on. We examine the correlations among factors that influence the values and life satisfaction of adolescents aged 12-16. Furthermore, we analyze the data obtained from the children, on the one hand, and their parents, on the other, we explore the relationships between the factors and we consider the agreements and discrepancies between the responses of parents and their offspring

Relationships between adolescents and parents values and parents answering behaviour

In this paper we set out a confirmatory factor analysis model relating the values adolescents and their parents aspire to for the child’s future. We approach a problem when collecting parents’ answers and analysing paired data from parents and their child: the fact that in some families only one parent answers, while in others both meet to answer together. In order to account for differences between one-parent and two-parent responses we follow a multiple group structural equation modelling approach. Some significant differences emerged between the two and one answering parent groups. We observed only weak relationships between parents’ and children’s values

Psychological and Family Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation in Pre-Adolescents

To assess the psychological and family factors associated with suicidal ideation in preadolescent children, we studied a sample of 361 students, average age 9 years old. Twogroups were formed, on the basis of the presence (n = 34) or absence (n = 44) of suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation was assessed with the Children’s Depression Inventory and the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised. Depression, hopelessness, self-esteem, and perceived family environment were compared in both the suicidal ideation and the control groups. Students with suicidal ideation generally presented greater depressive symptoms and hopelessness, and lower self-esteem and family expressiveness, although there weredifferences both between sexes, and when the variable depression was controlled. Identifying these risk factors in pre-adolescents may have an impact on prevention of suicidal behavior at higher risk ages

Capacitat evolutiva

A finals d'estiu vaig publicar un article titulat Fills de l'atzar (AVUI, 31/8/07), en què, centrant-me en l'evolució del cervell humà, discutia que l'evolució de les espècies és atzarosa, i em comprometia a parlar en un altre article de les principals teories evolutives. Avui és un bon dia, perquè em permet fer certes reflexions respecte a les preocupants dades revelades recentment per la Fundació Jaume Bofill, segons les quals a Catalunya més d'un 34% dels nois i noies abandonen els estudis en finir l'ESO, i l'informe PISA, que indica que a Catalunya els alumnes de 15 anys saben menys ciències que la mitjana europea (AVUI,21/11/07 i 29/11/07) [...].