Acogimiento familiar en familia educadora en la provincia de Alicante, España: características de los recursos disponibles

Foster care is a determining resource for the child protection system. The scientific evidence shows that the psychosocial benefits of foster care for minors within the protection system are superior to those that can be provided by residential resource centres. Hence, during the last decade in Spain, work has been done to establish foster care as a priority resource. The objective of our work is focused on describing what type of families make up the Family Foster Care resource of the Province of Alicante and their parenting styles. A total of 207 people (72 minors and 132 foster parents) were evaluated, applying the following: 1) an ad hoc questionnaire composed of 12 questions; and 2) The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire consisting of 42 items (Spanish adaptation from Servera, 2007). More than 50% of the families are nuclear families and do not have biological children, with the duration of the foster care exceeding two years. The reconstituted families stand out due to its parental involvement and positive upbringing, while the nuclear and single-parent families show higher scores in consistent discipline. It is essential to know the profile of the foster families in order to achieve an adequate foster care process for minors

Superando el concepto de nativo digital. Análisis de las prácticas digitales del estudiantado universitario

A lo largo de la última década, niños y jóvenes han sido etiquetados como nativos digitales. Se considera que cualquier persona nacida a partir de la década de los 80 es hablante nativo de una lengua digital basada en el uso de los ordenadores, los videojuegos e Internet. De todos modos, algunos autores cuestionan este concepto ¿se trata realmente de jóvenes que aprenden de modo distinto, o simplemente incorporan algunas herramientas y procedimientos nuevos a su forma de acceder a la información y socializarse? El artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación (Usos de las TIC entre los estudiantes universitarios: perspectiva académica y social de los procesos de aprendizaje mediados. EDU2009-12125) centrada en el uso de las TIC que hacen los jóvenes universitarios de las diferentes universidades de Cataluña. Los resultados revelan distintos usos de las tecnologías, diferenciados por los ámbitos de uso y se alinean en las visiones críticas del concepto de nativo digital. La relevancia de los resultados apuntan a lineas emergentes de investigación para seguir mejorando la educación superior

Overcoming the digital native concept. Analysis of the university students practices

A lo largo de la última década, niños y jóvenes han sido etiquetados como nativos digitales. Se considera que cualquier persona nacida a partir de la década de los 80 es hablante nativo de una lengua digital basada en el uso de los ordenadores, los videojuegos e Internet. De todos modos, algunos autores cuestionan este concepto ¿se trata realmente de jóvenes que aprenden de modo distinto, o simplemente incorporan algunas herramientas y procedimientos nuevos a su forma de acceder a la información y socializarse? El artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación (Usos de las TIC entre los estudiantes universitarios: perspectiva académica y social de los procesos de aprendizaje mediados. EDU2009-12125) centrada en el uso de las TIC que hacen los jóvenes universitarios de las diferentes universidades de Cataluña. Los resultados revelan distintos usos de las tecnologías, diferenciados por los ámbitos de uso y se alinean en las visiones críticas del concepto de nativo digital. La relevancia de los resultados apuntan a lineas emergentes de investigación para seguir mejorando la educación superior.Over the last ten years, youth people are labeled as Digital Natives. It is considered that any person who born after the 80s is a native speaker of a digital language based on computer use, video games and the Internet. However, some authors question this concept: Are they learning in different way, or just incorporate some new tools and methods to their way of accessing information and socialize? The article presents the results of an investigation (Uses of ICT among college students: academic and social perspective of mediated learning processes. EDU2009-12125) focused on the use of ICT that make young students from different universities of Catalonia. The results show us different uses of technologies and they are related to critical view of Digital Native concept. The importance of the results point to new research fields to further improve higher education

Proresolving lipid mediators and liver disease.

Inflammation is a characteristic feature of virtually all acute and chronic liver diseases. It intersects different liver pathologies from the early stages of liver injury, when the inflammatory burden is mild-to-moderate, to very advanced stages of liver disease, when the inflammatory response is very intense and drives multiple organ dysfunction and failure(s). The current review describes the most relevant features of the inflammatory process in two different clinical entities across the liver disease spectrum, namely non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Special emphasis is given within these two disease conditions to gather the most relevant data on the specialized pro-resolving mediators that orchestrate the resolution of inflammation, a tightly controlled process which dysregulation commonly associates with chronic inflammatory conditions

Consequences of Confinement Due to COVID-19 in Spain on Anxiety, Sleep and Executive Functioning of Children and Adolescents with ADHD

The outbreak and the quick expansion of SARS-CoV-2, from December 2019 to today, has forced countries around the world to resolve virus containment measures in order to slow down the contagion curve. Between these measures, the situation of lockdown, and the isolation or limitation of social contact between the citizens, there has been an unknown psychological impact. Certain groups (the elderly, children and teenagers, and the clinical population, for instance) arouse serious fears among professionals due to their greater vulnerability and ignorance regarding the short- and long-term consequences. The main purposes of this work are first of all to evaluate the consequences of the lockdown in children and teenagers diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sleep-related problems, and problems with executive functions. Secondly, we aim to compare the effects produced with respect to the previously mentioned variables with normotypic subjects; that is to say, between a group that was subject to lockdown and another group that was not confined. The findings show that the clinic confined group had high levels of state anxiety and problems with sleep and executive functions; differences could also be seen between the two groups, with the confined ADHD group being more negatively affected in all measured variables

Consequences of COVID-19 Confinement on Anxiety, Sleep and Executive Functions of Children and Adolescents in Spain

Children and adolescents are not indifferent to the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to be forced to live in confinement. The change in life to which they have been abruptly subjected forces us to understand the state of their mental health in order to adequately address both their present and future needs. The present study was carried out with the intention of studying the consequences of confinement on anxiety, sleep routines and executive functioning of 1,028 children and adolescents, aged from 6 to 18 years, residing in Spain to; assess if there are differences regarding these consequences in terms of sex and age; how anxiety affects executive functioning in males and females; and to examine the possible correlations between the measured variables. For this purpose, an online questionnaire containing five sections was designed: the first section gathers information on sociodemographic and health data, while the following sections gather information from different standardized scales which measure anxiety, sleep and executive functions, whose items were adapted in order to be completed by parents, and/or legal guardians. The statistical analyzes carried out highlights significant differences in executive functioning between males and females. In turn, in regards to age, greater difficulties were detected in anxiety in the 9 to 12 age group and greater sleep disturbances between 13 and 18 year olds. On the other hand, significant differences were found in intra-sexual executive functioning depending on whether they presented greater or lesser anxiety, with executive functioning being more tendentiously maladjusted in males than in females, revealing a significantly relevant effect size (p = 0.001; ω2 = 0.27 BRIEF-2; ω2 = 0.19 BDEFS-CA; 95%). Positive correlations are obtained between state anxiety and sleep and executive functioning alterations. Finally, through Path Analysis, it is verified that state anxiety is the variable with the greatest weight within the model that would explain the alteration in the executive functioning of the present sample

Implications of the Online Teaching Model Derived from the COVID-19 Lockdown Situation for Anxiety and Executive Functioning in Spanish Children and Adolescents

Given the seriousness of the existing situation regarding the mental health of children and adolescents relating to the confinement period imposed due to COVID-19, we conducted this study to describe the effects of the confinement on state anxiety and executive functioning dimensions in a period of online educational modality. A sample of 953 children and adolescents was assessed. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the State Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), and the Behavioral Evaluation of Executive Function (BRIEF-2) scale were applied. The analysis of the results indicates that 68.8% of children and adolescents presented medium–high levels of anxiety. Regarding sex, females showed higher levels of anxiety and worse levels of executive functioning. Although the group aged 11 to 18 years showed methodologically higher state anxiety (p = 0.041) than the group aged 6 to 10 years, the difference was not clinically relevant (δ = −0.113). The state anxiety variable was also correlated positively and significantly to the three executive functioning dimensions explored. In conclusion, it seems evident that COVID-19 lockdowns could have psychological and emotional effects on children and adolescents

Diseño y validación de un instrumento para medir las dimensiones ambiental, pedagógica y digital del aula

Las investigaciones y las innovaciones recientes sobre los espacios de aprendizaje escolar muestran la necesidad de enlazar tres dimensiones (pedagógica, ambiental y digital) en el momento de analizar y diseñar espacios educativos. Este artículo presenta el diseño y la validación de un instrumento de recolección de información que permite medir las tres dimensiones citadas: el espacio del aula, los aspectos pedagógicos y los elementos tecnológicos desde la percepción de los docentes. El cuestionario creado puede ser transferible a otras investigaciones con el mismo foco así como útil para el profesorado que quiera diseñar y planificar espacios de aprendizaje

Family, parenting styles and children in care

El objetivo de nuestro trabajo se centra en describir qué tipo de familias conforman el recurso de Acogimiento Familiar en Familia Ajena de la Provincia de Alicante, perfiles de crianza y éxito en la consecución de objetivos en relación a las características de los menores. Se evaluaron 206 personas (75 menores y 131 acogedores), a las que se le aplicaron: 1) un cuestionario ad hoc sociodemográfico de 12 preguntas; 2) el Alabama Parenting Questionnaire de 42 ítems (Servera, 2007); 3) un cuestionario ad hoc de características del menor tutelado asignado a la familia de 16 ítems; y 4) un cuestionario ad hoc cumplimentado por los técnicos de seguimiento que mide Éxito/fracaso en relación a la consecución de objetivos del acogimiento en relación al menor de 27 ítems. El 61.3% de las familias educadoras son nucleares y no tienen hijos biológicos el 52%, siendo la duración media del acogimiento superior a dos años. La familia reconstituida destaca por su implicación parental (43.33) y crianza positiva (25.67), mientras que la familia nuclear puntúa alto en disciplina severa (6.59) y la monoparental obtiene una mayor puntuación en disciplina inconsistente (12.50). Por otra parte, se recoge que un menor que consigue unas adecuadas relaciones sociales (.329), que muestra responsabilidad (.397) y que mantiene una relación familiar positiva (.334) correlaciona con el éxito en el cumplimiento de objetivos del acogimiento.The aim of our work focuses on describing the type of families that make up the Foster Care resource in the province of Alicante, their parenting profiles and success in achieving objectives in relation to the characteristics of the children. A total of 206 people were evaluated (75 children and 131 foster carers), to whom the following were applied: 1) an ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire of 12 questions; 2) the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire of 42 items (Servera, 2007); 3) an ad hoc questionnaire of characteristics of the foster child assigned to the family of 16 items; and 4) an ad hoc questionnaire filled out by the monitoring technicians that measures Success/failure in relation to the achievement of foster care objectives in relation to the child of 27 items. 61.3% of the foster families are nuclear and 52% do not have biological children, the average duration of foster care being over two years. The reconstituted family stands out for its parental involvement (43.33) and positive parenting (25.67), while the nuclear family scores high on severe discipline (6.59) and the single-parent family scores higher on inconsistent discipline (12.50). On the other hand, a child who achieves adequate social relations (.329), who shows responsibility (.397) and who maintains a positive family relationship (.334) is correlated with success in meeting foster care goals