Importancia de los estilos de socialización parental en los roles del acoso entre pares / Importance of the parental socialization style in the roles of harassment among peers

Resumen La familia es un escenario primordial en el estudio del acoso entre iguales, y particularmente la relación paterno-filial ha cobrado relevancia en la investigación científica sobre el tema. En este sentido, la socialización parental puede ser clave como factor de protección o de riesgo en la aparición de situaciones de acoso. El presente estudio aborda el análisis de estrategias y estilos de socialización de padres y madres en estudiantes de secundaria implicados en acoso escolar, como testigo, agresor, víctima y agresor-víctima. Se evaluaron 551 adolescentes de entre 12 y 18 años mediante un diseño comparativo de grupos naturales. Se aplicó el cuestionario del defensor del pueblo sobre violencia escolar ajustado para contexto colombiano y la escala de estilos de socialización parental en la adolescencia (ESPA 29). Como resultado se identificaron en los participantes altos niveles de estrategias de socialización basadas en coerción/imposición por parte de ambas figuras paternas. A diferencia de estudios previos, no se identifica relación entre ninguno de los estilos parentales de la madre y los roles asumidos por los estudiantes en situaciones de acoso, mientras que el estilo indulgente en el padre mostró relación estadísticamente significativa con los roles de testigo y agresor-víctima. Se discuten las implicaciones de los resultados resaltando la importancia de la crianza afectiva y el rol que desempeñan las figuras parentales en la socialización y formación de habilidades psicosociales que contribuyan en la disminución de las prácticas de acoso en niños y adolescentes.

Abstract The family is a primary scenario when studying harassment among equals. Particularly, the parent-child relationship has built up importance in scientific investigations regarding this topic. In this regard, parental socialization may be key as a protection or risk aspect in the occurrence of harassment situations. The development of this study focuses in the achievement of two main objectives. The first objective is aimed to identifying differences in the strategies of parental socialization in both parents, in accordance to the role of the participants involved in harassing behavior. The second objective is based in stablishing if the roles adopted by students have any co-relation with the parental socialization style. In order to fulfill these objectives an empirical, comparative, investigation took place that was based in the design of natural groups, which facilitates the comparison of different variables in social groups that belong to a same culture, e.g. students, where the analyzed variables source differences among individuals. The study had a base of 551 students (290 male and 261 female) from four different educational institutions, with ages ranging from 12 to 18 (µ = 15.2, of = 1.3). Harassment conducts were evaluated in accordance to the Defensor del Pueblo questionnaire, from a version adjusted to the Colombian context. Whereas the parental style of socialization was evaluated in accordance with Escala de Estilos de Socialización Parental en la Adolescencia (ESPA-29). The participant-type descriptive evaluation highlights that 296 (53.8 %) of the students take part as bully-victims, 95 (17.2 %) take part as non-involved, 87 (15.8 %) take part as victims, and 73 (13.2 %) take part as bullies. These roles were embraced similarly in men and women without a significant relationship between gender and the type of participant (χ2 = 5.328, p = .149 > .05). Concerning to the socialization strategies of parental figures, in the mother's case, the obtained data indicates that the main differences are found in the group of students who embrace the role of offender-victims. In this group, participants show a higher level of indifference that non-involved (p = .023 < .05) and bullies (p = .007 < .05), a higher level of physical coercion than non-involved (p = .000 < .05) and victims (p = .023 < .05), as well as a higher level of the strictness/imposition axis than non-involved (p = .001 < .05). The latest show higher verbal coercion (p = .009 < .05) and strictness/imposition (p = .032 < .05) than bullies. In the father's case, the obtained data also highlights the bully-victims as the group with higher ennui than non-involved (p = .000 < .05) and bullies (p = .046 < .05), higher indifference than non-involved (p = .000 < .05) and bullies (p = .010 < .05), higher physical coercion than non-involved (p = .000 < .05) and victims (p = .021 < .05), as well as a higher number than non-involved (p = .001 < .05) in the strictness/imposition axis. The most common parental style strategy in mothers is indulgent (n = 240, 43.6 %), followed by authoritative (n = 161, 29.2 %), neglectful (n = 102, 18.5 %) and last authoritarian (n = 48, 8.7 %). Meanwhile, the indulgent style is also the most common among fathers (n = 211, 38.3 %), followed by neglectful (n = 171, 31 %), authoritative (n = 109, 19.8 %) and authoritarian (n = 60, 10.9 %). This discards the existence of a significant association between the mother's socialization style and student's harassment roles. On the other hand, the indulgent style in fathers was significant in relation to the witnesses (χ2 = 16.88, p = .000 > .001; ϖ = .18, 1-β = .97) and the bully-victims (χ2 = 8.96, p = .03 > .05; ϖ = .14, 1-β = .80). The parenthood focused on fulfilling the children demands with low boundaries delimitation is reiterative in parents where indulgent is their most common style of parent socialization, which seems to be associated with an expectation to harass. This work highlights the important role that the parent figures play in the formation of psychosocial skills to the integration of children and teenagers. Furthermore, it features the importance of how parents build bonding relationships with their children.

Relación entre riesgo suicida, autoestima, desesperanza y estilos de socialización parental en estudiantes de bachillerato / Relations between suicidal risk, self-esteem, despair and parental socialization styles in high school students

Resumen Este trabajo es resultado de una investigación empírico-analítica, realizada con un diseño descriptivo-correlacional y de corte transversal. Su objetivo consistió en describir la relación entre niveles de autoestima, riesgo suicida y estilos de socialización parental, para lo cual se aplicaron: la escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg, la escala de Desesperanza de Beck, Weissman, Lester y Trexler (1974)y la escala de Socialización Parental ESPA-29. El estudio encontró que la autoestima no se correlaciona de forma importante con el riesgo suicida, y que 6 de cada 10 estudiantes presenta algún tipo de riesgo, que se incrementa cuando los padres son indulgentes o negligentes, y ambos perfiles tienden a la coerción verbal e indiferencia. Otros elementos asociados al riesgo suicida fueron: la aceptación e imposición del dominio parental y un elevado control con afecto negativo, coerciones e imposiciones.

Abstract This work is the result of an empirical and analytical research conducted with a descriptive, cor relational and transversal methodology. Its aim was to describe the relations between self-esteem, suicidal risk and parental socialization styles. In order to achieve the objective these tools were used: the Rosenberg Scale for Self-esteem, the Scale of Despair of Beck, Weissman, Lester and Trexler (1974) and the ESPA-29 scale of Parental Socialization Styles. The study found that self esteem is not significantly correlated with suicidal risk; and that 6 out of 10 students presented some risk, that increases when parents are indulgent or negligents; and both profiles present verbal coercion and indifference inclinations. Other elements associated to suicidal risk were: acceptance and imposition of parent control and a high control with negative effects, coercions and impositions.

Adolescent adjustment in at-risk families: The role of psychosocial stress and parental socialization / Ajuste adolescente en familias en situación de riesgo: El rol del estrés psicosocial y de la socialización parental

Introduction The study of factors associated with internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents living in at-risk families is a subject of recent interest in mental health in Spain. The presence of mental health problems in children and adolescents is too frequent in these families due to their high exposure to a variety of risk factors and the lack of protection factors. However, few studies have examined the contribution of specific factors to each type of mental health problem in adolescents from at-risk Spanish families. This study strives to contribute to knowledge in this field, by analyzing the role of two important dimensions frequently linked to adolescents' adjustment: psychosocial stress and parental socialization. Likewise, this study seeks to identify whether both dimensions predict differently for two types of mental health problems in adolescents from at-risk families. Methodology The sample was composed by 134 Spanish adolescents (56 girls and 78 boys) with an average age of 13.52 (SD = 1.57). These adolescents grew up in families who were receiving psychosocial intervention from Social Services in Spain for family preservation reasons. This research is considered to be a cross-sectional descriptive study and the instruments administered allowed the collection of data about mental health problems, psychosocial stress, parental socialization and intervention data by Social Services. Results The hierarchical multiple regression models showed that both domains (psychosocial stress and parental socialization) were significantly related to mental health problems, but a different pattern of findings emerged for each type of problem. When co-morbidity between both problems was controlled, psychosocial stress was mainly related to internalizing problems, whereas parental socialization predicted the externalizing ones. Discussion and conclusions This study underscores the importance of distinguishing between two types of mental health problems analyzed (internalizing and externalizing) and emphasizes that both, the enhancement in parental socialization as well as the training of adolescents in positive social skills to cope better with stressful life events, should be part of at-risk family programs.

Introducción El estudio de factores asociados con problemas internalizantes y externalizantes en adolescentes que viven en familias en riesgo es objeto de interés reciente en salud mental en España. La presencia de problemas de salud mental en menores y adolescentes es demasiado frecuente en estas familias debido a la alta y variada exposición a factores de riesgo, así como a la falta de elementos de protección que les rodean. Sin embargo, pocos estudios han examinado la contribución que factores específicos hacen a cada tipo de problemas de salud mental en adolescentes de familias españolas en riesgo. Este estudio intenta contribuir al conocimiento en este campo, analizando el papel de dos dimensiones frecuentemente relacionadas con el ajuste adolescente: estrés psicosocial y socialización parental. Asimismo, este estudio trata de identificar si ambas dimensiones predicen de forma diferente los dos tipos (internalizantes y externalizantes) de problemas de salud mental en adolescentes de familias en situación de riesgo. Metodología La muestra se compone de 134 adolescentes españoles (56 chicas y 78 chicos) con una media de edad de 13.52 (DT=1.57). Estos adolescentes crecieron en familias que estaban recibiendo una intervención psicosocial por parte de los Servicios Sociales españoles por razones de preservación familiar. El diseño de esta investigación es de carácter transversal y descriptivo. Los instrumentos administrados permitieron recabar datos sobre problemas de salud mental, estrés psicosocial, socialización parental y la intervención recibida por los Servicios Sociales. Resultados Los modelos de regresión múltiple jerárquica mostraron que ambos dominios (estrés psicosocial y socialización parental) estuvieron significativamente relacionados con los problemas de salud mental, pero emergió un patrón de resultados diferentes para cada tipo de problemas. Cuando la comorbilidad entre ambos problemas fue controlada, el estrés psicosocial estuvo significativamente relacionado con los problemas internalizantes, mientras que la socialización parental se asoció con los problemas externalizantes. Discusión y conclusiones Este estudio subraya la importancia de distinguir entre los dos problemas de salud mental analizados y hace hincapié en que, tanto la mejora en la socialización de los progenitores como el entrenamiento de los adolescentes en habilidades sociales positivas que permitan afrontar adecuadamente acontecimientos estresantes, deben ser contenidos fundamentales en los programas de intervención destinados a familias en situación de riesgo psicosocial.