Paula Morales Almeida

Adoption and foster care are important forms of family life that challenge traditional understandings of kinship, parenthood, and family relationships. Examining how these family forms are socially represented is essential for understanding public attitudes toward child protection and children’s right to grow up in a family environment. This study analysed social representations of adoption, foster care, and child protection among university students and adults from the general population. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 182 participants including Social Work students, participants with a Law background, and adults from the general population without a specific academic background in the legal or social sciences. Data were collected using a researcher-administered open-ended questionnaire and analysed using IRaMuTeQ software. Similarity analysis and Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC) were used to identify the main discursive structures underlying participants’ representations. Social representations frequently emphasised caregiving capacity, emotional stability, and secure relationships when participants discussed family suitability. Biological relatedness also remained present, indicating the coexistence of biological and caregiving-based meanings of family, without implying that one had fully displaced the other. Profile-specific associations were also identified: Social Work students were more strongly associated with discourses concerning parental competence, child development, and protective intervention, whereas adults from the general population were more strongly associated with family diversity, family harm, and the complexities of child protection decisions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming higher education, requiring universities to prepare graduates who can use these technologies critically, ethically, and responsibly. However, socially oriented professions remain comparatively underexplored. This study examined preparedness for AI-mediated professional practice among Social Education students through a convergent mixed-methods design integrating perceived AI use, self-reported learning competencies, and professional knowledge requirements. Participants were 49 undergraduate students enrolled in a Social Education degree programme. Quantitative data were collected using a single self-report item assessing perceived AI use and the abbreviated Basic Learning Competencies Scale (COMPES), while qualitative data were obtained through an open-ended question analysed using the Reinert method with IRAMUTEQ. Participants predominantly reported low to moderate perceived AI use. The association between perceived AI use and the overall COMPES score was small and imprecise, r = 0.16, 95% CI [−0.13, 0.42], precluding firm conclusions. Lexical analysis identified six classes that reflected practical applications, professional knowledge, educational considerations, and ethical concerns related to AI-mediated socioeducational practice. The findings suggest that preparedness for AI-mediated practice may involve perceived AI use, self-reported learning competencies, ethical-professional judgement, and professional knowledge requirements. The study provides a preliminary integrative interpretation with implications for curriculum development in Social Education.

The transition to adulthood for young people with deafness—whether they communicate through spoken language, sign language, or a bilingual modality, and whether or not they use hearing prostheses—represents a critical milestone in youth development. This stage is shaped by decisions that impact their autonomy, social inclusion, and civic participation. However, the scientific literature addressing this topic remains fragmented across various academic disciplines. The aim of this study is to identify the prevailing thematic trends, key authors, institutions, and core research areas in the field, as well as to highlight existing gaps. The findings cluster into four main thematic areas: childhood hearing intervention and age-related hearing loss, identity and communication, and inclusion and hearing disability. This bibliometric analysis offers critical insights to support the development of more comprehensive and interdisciplinary studies on the transition to adulthood among young people with deafness.

While some aspects of the prison system are documented, the psychosocial experiences of individuals during incarceration and their reintegration after release remain relatively underexamined and poorly understood by the broader public. This qualitative research explores the perceptions of 16 former people deprived of liberty from Gran Canaria, Spain, focusing on their reintegration process. Semi-structured interviews provided direct and personal insights, analyzed using IRAMuTeQ software to identify key themes. Two main subcorpora emerged: one addressing the experiences within the penitentiary system and the other focusing on the challenges post-release. Results revealed significant barriers, such as limited resources in prison, persistent stigma, and difficulties in securing employment and housing. The role of the Social Educator was identified as critical, providing emotional, educational, and social support during incarceration and facilitating connections with community services post-release. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing both psychological and social dimensions to promote successful reintegration and highlight the potential of socio-educational programs to foster resilience, self-efficacy, and social integration.

Subjective well-being, influenced by various factors such as personality and interpersonal relationships, is crucial to the happiness of everyone. This article presents the findings of a mixed-method and exploratory study on subjective well-being among university students, focusing on understanding their individual perceptions and how these influence their happiness. Utilizing social representations theory and Reinert’s lexical analysis method, the study examined conceptions of happiness and the contributing factors among participants. The findings revealed that perceptions of happiness among university students clustered into four distinct classes, highlighting two primary dimensions: personal life evaluation and emotional experience. These dimensions influence personal balance and participants’ basic needs. Additionally, the analysis identified three classes of factors influencing happiness, including life circumstances, personal factors, and social environment. The importance of mental health and interpersonal relationships in the emotional well-being of young university students was underscored. These findings emphasize the complexity of subjective well-being and the significance of addressing both emotional and contextual aspects to understand and enhance happiness and life satisfaction in this population.

The support provided by parents plays a relevant role in the life satisfaction (LS) of young people, as well as in their level of psychological distress (PD), which are among the important mediators of their well-being. Family structure has also been identified as a protective or risk factor. Hence, the present study provides a more complex analysis of young people’s LS, considering the type of family cohabitation (based on parental presence), the personal conditions of the young people (PS), and their perception of the context (social support; SP). A cross-sectional design was used, and 557 young people, with a mean age of 20.68 (SD = 2.23), 50.8% women, 60.7% students, participated. Their levels of psychological distress, perceived social support, life satisfaction, and parental cohabitation were assessed. A mediation and a moderated-mediation model were used. Young people living in a biparental family reveal higher levels of LS and lower levels of PS. A partial mediation was found in the effect of SP on the relation between PS and LS. The moderated-mediation model tested showed that the indirect effects on the paths PS–SP and SP–LS were not significant by the type of parental family cohabitation. Several implications regarding family structure on young people’s LS are discussed.

Background: The transition to adulthood is especially critical for young people who have been in the child protection system, as they face significant challenges in areas such as education, mental health, employment, and economics. Methods: This qualitative study examines the perceptions of 20 young adults from Spain who have exited the child protection system regarding their transition to adulthood. Structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed using IRAMuTeQ software to identify thematic patterns. Results: The young adults reported inadequate preparation and a need for ongoing support, and they faced challenges in areas such as housing, employment, financial education, and mental health. They emphasized the importance of social and emotional support networks for successful adaptation. The results reveal a deficit in training programs and structural support, suggesting the need for a review of existing Spanish policies. Conclusions: Social educators play a crucial role in facilitating the transition to adulthood for young people who have been in protective systems in Spain, providing emotional support and resources to aid in their integration and autonomy. Effective coordination between institutional actors and Spanish society is vital to ensure a successful transition to adulthood.

Background: The family environment has a significant influence on the personality development of young people and their assessment of life satisfaction. Perceived stress is related to life satisfaction, but this relationship is also influenced by the family context. The present study analysed the impact of perceived stress on life satisfaction and the mediating role of family climate in university students. Methods: A sample of 920 university students was recruited for this study. The instruments used included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Family Social Climate Scale, and socioeducational information was collected. Results: The results indicate that perceived stress had a significant and positive effect on both conflictive and violent family climates, while life satisfaction was negatively impacted by these negative family climates. Additionally, supportive and cohesive family climates, along with difficulty expressing feelings and opinions, were found to have significant positive effects on life satisfaction. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of the family system in shaping individual conditions and how it can regulate the relationship between stress and life satisfaction.

Secure attachment, developed through consistent relationships with attachment figures in childhood, is a crucial factor in fostering healthy interpersonal relationships and a positive self-perception. Part of the positive parenting approach and the theory of affect is taken as a basis to assess how perceived security, as an indicator of secure attachment, predicts adult self-concept through the mediating effects of resilience and positive self-esteem. A quantitative, cross-sectional, and nonprobabilistic study was conducted with 383 participants. We unveiled significant positive associations between perceived security, self-concept, resilience, and positive self-esteem. Path analysis demonstrated that resilience and positive self-esteem sequentially mediate the relationship between perceived security during childhood and adult self-concept. Findings suggest that the ability to cope with adversity and personal acceptance underlie the impact of perceived security on self-concept. It is recommended to promote family intervention programs framed within positive parenting that focus on fostering secure attachment given its influence on adult life. It is also deemed essential to incorporate the promotion of resilience and self-esteem into programs aimed at youths, and adult role models can enhance their self-perception and resilience in the face of potential effects stemming from insecure parenting practices.