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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 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