Parentalidad adoptiva y problemas de conducta infantil

Traditionally, research in the context of the adoption has tried to answer two main research questions. The first question is whether adopted children have more problems than non-adopted children and the second is whether adopted children get recover from adversity experienced before being adopted. In the literature on adoption there are evidences that have been responding to these questions. Recent research on adoption, in addition to the above issues, address the issue referred to the processes and factors operating in the psychological adjustment of children adopted. With the intention of responding to these ultimate questions this research is designed, which focuses on the analysis of the psychological characteristics of parents and the processes of relationship between parents and children. Specifically parents are analysed in attachment related aspects, sensitivity, reflective functioning and parental stress. These issues are discussed in the context of the family adoption and its relationship with behavioural problems in children. The sample amounted to a total of 98 Spanish families, 40 adoptive families and 58 non adoptive families. The multiple linear regression revealed that when parents had a personal history of low maternal and paternal overprotection and high affection by the figure of the mother in childhood and adolescence, a positive parental reflective function under parental stress and high quality in the interaction between mothers and children, the behavioural adjustment difficulties decreased. Deepening on the dynamics and functioning that occurs inside adoptive families will improve designs for future lines of action in this context.Tradicionalmente, la investigación en el contexto de la adopción ha tratado de dar respuesta a dos preguntas principales de investigación. La primera pregunta es si los niños adoptados presentan más problemas que los niños no adoptados y la segunda es si los niños se recuperan de la adversidad experimentada antes de ser adoptados. En la literatura sobre adopción existen evidencias que han ido dando respuesta a estos interrogantes. Investigaciones más recientes en adopción abordan, además de las cuestiones anteriores, la cuestión referida a los procesos y factores que operan en el ajuste psicológico de los niños adoptados. Con la intención de dar respuesta a estas últimas cuestiones se ha diseñado la presente investigación, que se centra en el análisis de las características psicológicas de los padres y madres y los procesos de relación entre padres e hijos. En concreto se analizan en los padres aspectos relacionados con el apego, con la sensibilidad, la función reflexiva y el estrés parentales. Estos temas se analizan en el contexto familiar de la adopción, así como su relación con los problemas de conducta en los menores. La muestra ascendió a un total de 98 familias españolas, 40 familias de adopción internacional y 58 familias no adoptivas. El análisis de regresión lineal múltiple reveló que cuando los padres y madres presentaban una historia personal de baja sobreprotección materna y paterna y alto afecto por parte de la figura de la madre en la infancia y la adolescencia, una función reflexiva parental positiva, bajo estrés parental y alta calidad en la interacción entre madres e hijos, las dificultades de adaptación conductual disminuyeron. Profundizar en la dinámica y el funcionamiento que se da en el interior de las familias adoptivas permitirá mejorar los diseños de futuras líneas de intervención en este contexto

Assessment of the Family Context in Adolescence: A Systematic Review

Background: Bearing in mind that the characteristics of the family system have a significant influence on the positive development of adolescents and considering that there are different measuring instruments, the main objective of this work is to review studies on the instruments for evaluating the family context, to determine which instruments are validated or adapted by researchers between 2010 and 2020 and which variables in the family context are valued during the adolescent stage. Methods: The academic search engines consulted have been Scopus, Redalyc and Web of Science. Following the criteria contemplated in the PRISMA Declaration, once duplicates were eliminated, a total of 101 studies were identified. A critical reading of the titles, summaries and a large part of the complete articles was carried out, and 56 studies were excluded. Finally, a systematic review of 45 studies that contrasted the psychometric properties of self-report measures (questionnaires, inventories, scales), between original papers and adaptations was carried out. Results: The results obtained reveal that the instruments measure different aspects of the family system: the family dynamics (variables such as parental competence, resilience, social support, parenting style and practices of leisure and free time); family functioning (variables such as problem solving, communication, roles, affective response capacity, affective participation, behavior control, cohesion, adaptability and family satisfaction); family adjustment (variables referring to parental stress, parental conflict, family health and family protection; and the parent–child relationships (variables such as quality, family effectiveness, family atmosphere and attachment). Conclusions: The most used psychological tests are: Parental Bonding Instrument, Family Assessment Resources, Social Support Scale, Parental Stress Index and Scale of Adaptation, Participation, Gain, Affection and Resources. Parental Bonding Instrument shows excellent psychometric properties. The rest of the self-report measures present acceptable reliability indices. The psychometric properties of some Family Assessment Resources, Social Systems Assessment Scale and Protective Factors Survey scales are more questionable, so new validation studies of these instruments are required. Affect (quality of relationships, manifestation, attachment bond), communication between members of the family group and parental control (behavioral and psychological) have been the main dimensions of the family context studied in adolescence. Along with these variables, others have been incorporated, such as parental resilience, family leisure and free time routines, family health or family strengths and weaknesses. The related instruments used in different psychological and cultural environments may help us to better understand the educational and parenting practices based on family dynamics, functioning, adjustment and parent–child relationships

Emotional Intelligence Components as Predictors of Engagement in Nursing Professionals by Sex

Engagement of nursing professionals is related to their psychological wellbeing, and therefore, emotional intelligence acts as a predictor. The purpose of this study was to analyze the explanatory value of the dimensions of emotional intelligence in engagement in both sexes, as well as the conditional effect of interaction of sex as a moderating variable. The sample was comprised of 2126 nurses with a mean age of 31.66 years. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Brief Inventory of Emotional Intelligence for Senior Citizens (EQ-i-20M) were used for their evaluation. The results revealed the existence of significant differences in engagement depending on the sex of the nursing professionals. Furthermore, this study showed that the interpersonal component of emotional intelligence is the predictor of engagement of female professionals, while mood and the interpersonal dimensions have a higher predictive value of engagement in males. Finally, this study was able to emphasize the sex differences found along with the importance of the role emotional intelligence dimensions have in engagement levels, which must be taken into account when designing intervention programs to improve engagement and promote participation of nursing professionals in their workplace

Looking for Crumbs in the Obesity Forest: Anti-obesity Interventions and Obesity-Associated Cardiometabolic Traits in the Mexican Population. History and Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses

Mexicans and Mexican Americans share culture, genetic background, and predisposition for chronic complications associated with obesity and diabetes making imperative efficacious treatments and prevention. Obesity has been treated for centuries focused-on weight loss while other treatments on associated conditions like gout, diabetes (T2D), and hypertriglyceridemia. To date, there is no systematic review that synthesizes the origin of obesity clinics in Mexico and the efforts to investigate treatments for obesity tested by randomized clinical trials (RCT). We conducted systematic searches in Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science to retrieve anti-obesity RCT through 2019 and without an inferior temporal limit. The systematic review included RCT of anti-obesity treatments in the Mexican adult population, covering alternative medicine, pharmacological, nutritional, behavioral, and surgical interventions reporting metabolism-associated traits such as BMI, weight, waist circumference, triglycerides, glucose, among others. Only the studies with at least 3 months of treatment were included in the meta-analyses in order to reduce placebo effects. We found 634 entries, after removal of duplicates and screening the studies based on eligibility criteria, we analyzed 43 national, and 2 multinational-collaborative studies. Most of the national studies had small sample sizes, and the implemented strategies do not have replications in the population. The nutrition/behavioral interventions were difficult to blind, and most studies have medium-to-high risk of bias. Nutritional/behavioral interventions and medications showed effects on BMI, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Simple measures like pure water instead of sweet beverages decrease triglycerides and systolic blood pressure. Dark chocolate showed the highest effect for BMI and high blood pressure, and treatment with insulin increased weight in those with T2D. The study of obesity in Mexico has been on-going for more than four decades, the interest on RCT just increased until this millennium, but with small sample sizes and lack of replication. The interventions affect different cardiometabolic associated traits, which should be analyzed in detail in the population living near the Mexico-U.S. border; therefore, bi-national collaboration is desirable to disentangle the cultural effects on this population\u27s treatment response

Pictolysin-III, a Hemorrhagic Type-III Metalloproteinase Isolated from Bothrops pictus (Serpentes: Viperidae) Venom, Reduces Mitochondrial Respiration and Induces Cytokine Secretion in Epithelial and Stromal Cell Lines

From the venom of the Bothrops pictus snake, an endemic species from Peru, we recently have described toxins that inhibited platelet aggregation and cancer cell migration. In this work, we characterize a novel P-III class snake venom metalloproteinase, called pictolysin-III (Pic-III). It is a 62 kDa proteinase that hydrolyzes dimethyl casein, azocasein, gelatin, fibrinogen, and fibrin. The cations Mg2+ and Ca2+ enhanced its enzymatic activity, whereas Zn2+ inhibited it. In addition, EDTA and marimastat were also effective inhibitors. The amino acid sequence deduced from cDNA shows a multidomain structure that includes a proprotein, metalloproteinase, disintegrin-like, and cysteine-rich domains. Additionally, Pic-III reduces the convulxin- and thrombin-stimulated platelet aggregation and in vivo, it has hemorrhagic activity (DHM = 0.3 µg). In epithelial cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and Caco-2) and RMF-621 fibroblast, it triggers morphological changes that are accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial respiration, glycolysis, and ATP levels, and an increase in NAD(P)H, mitochondrial ROS, and cytokine secretion. Moreover, Pic-III sensitizes to the cytotoxic BH3 mimetic drug ABT-199 (Venetoclax) in MDA-MB-231 cells. To our knowledge, Pic-III is the first SVMP reported with action on mitochondrial bioenergetics and may offer novel opportunities for promising lead compounds that inhibit platelet aggregation or ECM–cancer-cell interactions.</p