Background: Learning and socio-emotional development is promoted through the creation and nurturing of an optimal school climate. This study aims to analyze the relationship between life skills and academic performance in a large sample of adolescents from the autonomous community of Aragón (Spain). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the life skills and academic performance of a sample of 7th and 8th grade middle school students during the academic year 2018–2019. A sample of 43 middle schools were randomly selected; the final sample comprised 1745 students. The following data were collected through an anonymized, previously validated questionnaire: sociodemographic variables, social skills, self-efficacy, affective balance, and academic performance. Results: We found a statistically significant association between life skills and academic performance (p < 0.001) in our sample. We also observed significant gender differences in life skills, with boys obtaining higher scores in cognitive skills and affective balance, and with girls achieving higher scores in social skills. Conclusion: We argue that life skills should be integrated into educational policies in order to improve the academic performance and health outcomes of students.

Background: There is insufficient evidence about the impact of health promoting schools on the student’s health and academic performance. The aim of this study was to compare the life skills, lifestyle habits and academic performance of 7^th and 8^th grade students registered in health promoting and non-health promoting schools in the Autonomous Community of Aragon. Methods: An observational, descriptive, comparative study of the life skills, lifestyle habits and academic performance of 7^th and 8^th grade students registered in 43 randomly selected health promoting and non-health promoting schools was carried out. We used an adapted tool, which was validated through the expert panel technique, to evaluate the students’ life skills (self-efficacy, social skills and affect balance), lifestyle habits (diet, sleep, physical exercise, use of screen and substance abuse) and academic performance. Results: The socioeconomic level of the mothers and fathers of the students who attended non-health promoting schools was significantly higher than that of the parents of the adolescents who attended health promoting schools (p < 0.001). The students who attended non-health promoting schools had better self-efficacy, led a healthier life generally and achieved better academic results (p = 0.03). Conclusions: As opposed to previous studies, which found a positive association between health promoting schools and life skills, lifestyle habits and academic performance, our findings suggest that the impact of these health programs on the students’ health and academic performance is limited. We recommend that the degree of implementation of health promotion programs in health promoting schools is systematically evaluated, and the health promoting school accreditation process and requirements reviewed, in order to ensure that the health of school children and adolescents is safeguarded and promoted in the short, medium and long term.

A healthy lifestyle is important to the present and future development and health of school age people. This study aims to analyze the relationship between daily lifestyle habits and academic performance in a sample of adolescents from the autonomous community of Aragon (Spain). We performed a cross-sectional study to analyze the lifestyle habits and academic performance of a total of 1745 7th and 8th grade middle school students during the academic year 2018–2019; the participants were selected from a random sample of 43 middle schools from the region of Aragon. The following data were collected through an anonymized, previously validated questionnaire: diet, sleep, physical activity, use of screens, use of toxic substances, and academic performance. We found a statistically significant association between all the lifestyle habits analyzed and academic performance (p < 0.001) in our sample. Based on our findings, we suggest that health promotion and education in healthy lifestyles should be integrated in middle school curricula to improve academic performance and, more importantly, to promote both present and future health outcomes of adolescents.

Background: Adequate nutritional knowledge among intensive care nurses is essential for early identification of nutritional risk and prevention of complications in critically ill patients. The questionnaire “Nurses’ perceptions of responsibility, knowledge and documentation focusing on enteral nutrition and nursing practice regarding enteral feeding in the intensive care unit”, developed by Persenius et al., is used internationally, yet no culturally adapted Spanish version has been available. Objectives: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt Persenius et al.’s questionnaire and evaluate its content for use among Spanish-speaking intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. Materials and methods: A multistep process was conducted, including forward–backward translation, expert review by an expert panel of ICU nurses (N = 26) with at least 2 years of critical care experience, and content validity analysis. Experts rated item relevance and comprehensibility. Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI), Scale CVI, and Aiken’s V were calculated using predefined thresholds. Linguistic clarity/comprehensibility was assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (1–5). To assess the questionnaire’s reliability, Cronbach’s alpha was also analysed in a pilot study (N = 99). Results: The Spanish version retained all 47 original items after minor linguistic adjustments. All items met the minimum content validity threshold; most showed I-CVI values > 0.78 and acceptable Aiken’s V coefficients. The mean comprehensibility score for all items exceeded 4.0, indicating high clarity. No item required significant semantic modification after expert review. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.85 reflected its reliability. Conclusions: The Spanish version of Persenius et al.’s questionnaire demonstrated adequate content and linguistic validity and internal consistency in a pilot sample of ICU nurses.

Background: Chemsex poses growing psychological and behavioural risks among men who have sex with men (MSM). Although the Chemsex Inventory (CSI) was developed to assess these risks, clinical cutoff points distinguishing recreational use from pathological patterns remain undefined. This study aimed to determine optimal CSI cutoff points to identify profiles of increased psychological and behavioral vulnerability associated with chemsex. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Spain between January and April 2023 with 563 MSM who reported chemsex use within the previous 12 months. Psychometric analyses included principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of a second-order model with four dimensions: emotional instability, risk of psychosis, altered body perception, and suicide risk. Cutoff points were determined using the percentile-based P-score method. Results: The CSI showed excellent internal reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.88; ω = 0.88) and strong factorial validity (CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.05). The second-order model fit significantly better than the first-order alternative (χ²diff = 8.14; p = 0.017). High-risk cutoffs were: emotional instability ≥ 78.3, psychosis ≥ 51.4, body-perception disturbance ≥ 95.0, suicide risk ≥ 75.0, and global ≥ 66.4. About 5% of participants exceeded these thresholds, indicating elevated psychological vulnerability. Conclusions: CSI cutoff points provide a reliable and sensitive tool for early detection of mental-health risks related to chemsex. Policy Implications: Incorporating the CSI into sexual-health, primary-care, and mental-health services may enhance early detection of at-risk individuals and support evidence-based prevention and harm-reduction strategies.

Background: Health promotion within the university setting requires valid and reliable instruments to identify factors related to lifestyle, emotional well-being and mental health among staff. Although the Life Conditions Scale (LifeConScale) had previously been validated in adolescents, there were no instruments specifically integrating these dimensions for university personnel. Therefore, adaptation and validation for use with higher education professionals is necessary. Objective: To adapt the LifeConScale and examine its psychometric properties in university staff, including Teaching and Research Staff and Technical, Management, Administrative and Services Staff. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 440 professionals from two universities in Spain and Colombia. The instrument was adapted via a Delphi process with health and health-promotion experts. Common-factor exploratory factor analysis with parallel analysis and oblique rotation assessed internal structure; Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s test evaluated sampling adequacy. Reliability was estimated with McDonald’s omega. Measurement invariance for core dimensions (personal wellbeing, anxiety, physical activity) between countries was examined through nested multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (configural, metric and scalar). Results: Sampling adequacy was adequate (KMO = 0.850; p < 0.001). Parallel analysis and common-factor exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation identified seven interpretable factors: personal wellbeing, anxiety, physical activity, snacking, leisure screen use, social media use, and fruit and vegetable intake. The Personal Wellbeing Index and GAD-7 showed no cross-loadings and a moderate latent correlation, supporting discriminant validity; the AUDIT-C was retained as an independent validated scale scored with its original algorithm. Reliability (McDonald’s omega) was excellent for anxiety (ω = 0.929), wellbeing (ω = 0.922) and social media (ω = 0.920), and good for physical activity (ω = 0.859), leisure screens (ω = 0.795), fruit and vegetables (ω = 0.760) and snacking (ω = 0.753). Heterogeneous dietary and sleep indicators were treated as formative and not aggregated into summative scores.