Portal de Murcia
www.portaldemurcia.com
Researchers from the University of Murcia (UMU) create a program that will prevent teenagers from emotional problems such as depression and promote their psychological well-being.
Through the Smile Program, a test based on effective techniques, the most traditional psychology is used together with new methods to promote the well-being of students through optimistic thinking, the tasting of pleasant activities or the use of strengths in leisure time .
For this project, Ă“scar Sánchez, principal investigator of the Faculty of Psychology of the UMU, worked with a total of 89 students of 13 years on average, selected from seven educational centers in the Region, both public and concerted from different parts of the city , collected among a sample of 1212 students.
Those selected participated in extracurricular workshops with their parents.
Compared through a control group, the Smile Program resulted in a significant decrease in depressive symptoms among the youngest, an improvement in psychological well-being in the first four months and family self-concept at eight.
"We found that program participants had significantly less depressive symptoms than the control group. Results that were also confirmed by our parents," confirms Sánchez.
Among the samples, not only the symptoms of depression were measured, but psychological well-being and self-concept were also evaluated.
The results guarantee the benefits of this program.
Although, as the author himself confirms, the effects of the design of this rigorous project could be further increased with its greater integration in the center, the participation of the rest of the entire educational community and its continuation in the time that allows conditions to be keep, otherwise over time the results fade.
"Stronger results are always obtained when we work with people who suffer from a pathology, by pure common sense. These start from being worse, so that when faced with a problem, the descent is even stronger."
On this occasion, the researchers focused on preventing possible future disorders in young people who have not yet presented any clinical cases or symptoms.
"In these cases, the change is more difficult to occur, but, even with that, we have found significant changes."
"It is necessary to raise awareness among all educational agents about what depression and emotional problems are and teach socio-emotional skills that strengthen adolescents. For example, teach them healthy habits, enhance leisure activities that develop their strengths, learn to have a more thought optimistic and create social skills, "says the UMU expert.
This idea is based on the doctoral thesis of Ă“scar Sánchez Hernández, professor in the Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, under the direction of Javier Méndez Carrillo.
Now the article is published in the journal Annals of Psychology edited by the UMU.
In addition, he has had the advice of Dr.
Judy Garber of the University of Vanderbilt (USA), expert in prevention of emotional problems and collaborator of Martin Seligman, creator of the optimism model and one of the parents of Positive Psychology.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
Privacy policy
- Legal notice
- Cookies