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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.
- Impact of an online parenting support programme on children’s quality of lifePublication . Nunes, Cristina; Martins, Cátia; Brás, Marta; Carmo, Claudia; Gonçalves, Andrea; Pina, AntónioThe study aims to describe the parental use of an online parenting support programme, the ‘Open Window to Family’ (JAF) and to evaluate its impact on perceived children’s quality of life (QoL). This programme makes online resources available to support positive parenting. The study included 363 parents (nintervention group = 142) who completed measures to evaluate their children’s QoL. The results suggest that using the programme for a longer time and accessing more information/services are positively related to the perception of utility but not to the frequency of use. The programme proved to be more useful for specific difficulties and to search for specific information. We found high levels of parental perception of children’s well-being, both physical and psychological, and lower values in social support and relationships with peers. No differences were observed between the total QoL of children in the intervention group and control group. The differences in the dimensions of QoL are due to interaction with the level of education of the mother: mothers with higher education reported higher physical well-being, social support, relationships with peers, and school context. Guidelines are suggested to enhance the accessibility of this type of programme as well as enhance its impact on parents and children.
- The adapted DUKE-UNC functional social support questionnaire in a community sample of portuguese parentsPublication . Martins, Silvana; Martins, Cátia; Almeida, Ana; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Gonçalves, Andrea; Nunes, CristinaPurpose: Social support measures have generated empirical evidence of helping relationships and their role in family functioning and well-being. Social support networks affect parental practices and the ways in which families overcome stressful life events. Thus, it is important to gather knowledge about the different forms of support that families can benefit from. The aim of this study was to translate, adapt, and validate the Portuguese version of the Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ), a three dimension measure (confidant support, affective support, and instrumental support), Method: 1058 Portuguese parents participated in the study. They were mostly married/cohabiting and employed mothers. The Portuguese version of the FSSQ contained 13 items distributed into 3 subdimensions. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and the study of Pearson correlations. Results: The FSSQ original three-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis and the instrument showed good internal consistency. Confidant support and Instrumental support were negatively associated with Permissive parenting and Affective support was negatively associated with Authoritative parenting and Permissive parenting. All three dimensions showed low and positive correlations with Authoritarian parenting. Discussion: The Portuguese version of the FSSQ met adequate psychometric criteria and can be confidently used in family assessments of social support, whenever a brief, self-administered questionnaire would be useful for community services providers