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- Parents' perceived social support and children's psychological adjustmentPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Martins, Cátia; Nunes, Lara; Adelaide de Matos, Filomena; Costa, Emília Isabel; Gonçalves, AndreaPerceived social support has often been investigated due to its direct and indirect effects in reducing the impact of several risk factors on physical and psychological well-being. Moreover, many studies have revealed a link between social support and positive parenting, which in turn has an impact on children's well-being. In Portugal, there is a significant lack of studies in this area. The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between parents' perceived social support and children's psychological adjustment. The sample consisted of 409 parents (83.13% mothers) living in the region of Algarve (South of Portugal). The Duke-UNC Functional Social Support and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were used. Findings The results showed that, on average, families had a social support network of nine people, with a balanced presence of family (M = 4.25, SD = 3.54) and friends (M = 4.36, SD = 3.17). Parents reported medium-high levels of confidant and affective support, but instrumental support was lower. However, single-parent families, immigrant families, and divorced parents were found to be more socially isolated and received less support than they needed. Affective social support showed predictive value for child psychological adjustment. Applications These findings suggest that developing universal and selective parental education and support programs that focus on strengthening informal social support networks is needed, especially for vulnerable families. Implications for social workers who intervene with families are discussed.
- The Brief COPE: Measurement invariance and psychometric properties among community and at-risk portuguese parentsPublication . Nunes, C.; Pérez-Padilla, Javier; Martins, Cátia; Pechorro, Pedro; Ayala Nunes, Lara; Ferreira, Laura InêsParenting generally brings about high internal and external demands, which can be perceived as stressful when they exceed families’ resources. When faced with such stressors, parents need to deploy several adaptive strategies to successfully overcome these challenges. One of such strategies is coping, an important cognitive and behavioural skill. In this study, we intended to examine the psychometric properties of Carver’s (1997) Brief COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced), extending its cross-cultural validity among a Portuguese sample of community and at-risk parents. The sample comprised community (n = 153) and at-risk (n = 116) parents who completed the brief COPE, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales and the Parenting Stress Index—Short Form. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, cross sample invariance, convergent and discriminant validity were analysed. Data from the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 14-factor model obtained the best fit. The results provided evidence that the Brief COPE is a psychometrically sound instrument that shows measurement invariance across samples and good reliability. Our findings demonstrated that the Portuguese version of brief COPE is a useful, time-efficient tool for both practitioners and researchers who need to assess coping strategies, a relevant construct in family context.
- Características psicométricas e estrutura fatorial da FACES III numa amostra de famílias em risco psicossocialPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Ferreira, Laura Inês; Martins, CátiaEste estudo visou a adaptação e exploração das características psicométricas da Escala de Avaliação da Coesão e Adaptabilidade Familiar (FACES III) com uma população de famílias portuguesas em risco psicossocial. Esta medida é a mais utilizada para a avaliação do funcionamento familiar de acordo com as dimensões do Modelo Circumplexo dos Sistemas Familiares. Participaram 388 pais de crianças com medidas de apoio e proteção, residentes no Algarve. A FACES III foi aplicada em conjunto com medidas de stresse parental, aliança parental e sentimento de competência parental para testar a validade de constructo. A análise fatorial exploratória confirmou a solução original de dois fatores. A Coesão demonstrou alta consciência interna e boa validade de constructo, podendo ser considerada uma medida fiável desta dimensão. A Adaptabilidade apresentou resultados insatisfatórios em todos os indicadores psicométricos, pelo que se aconselha a revisão desta subescala. Os resultados são discutidos considerando as diversas versões do instrumento.