The phenomenon of immigration has led to an important increase in the number of social programmes and services for migrant populations in many European countries. However, some investigations have shown that the use of formal resources is extremely low in these groups. In contrast to the limited utilization of programmes and services, research in the field of social psychology has revealed that the primary source of help and support for immigrants is their own informal social network. After analysing the characteristics, advantages and limitations of formal and informal support systems, this paper presents a typology of social support interventions with migrant populations that integrates both types of support. Four levels are differentiated: dyadic interventions, social network interventions, mutual aid groups and community interventions. The development of programmes to strengthen the informal support system is emphasized as an alternative to integrating formal and informal resources in social work practice with migrant populations.

Assessment of teachers through student opinions has been the most used method to define the characteristics of teaching quality. There is no previous literature applying the Semantic Differential (SD) with this objective. SD can detect the attributes of the 'ideal teacher', and find the evaluative, emotional or affective components linked to this concept. In this work, we analyse the factorial structure of a SD scale, to test the hypothesis of the existence of EPA factors, usually found in research directed to different objects of attitude. The most relevant dimensions of the 'ideal teacher' show similar profiles to those dimensions obtained with other assessment procedures. This result confirms the adequacy of SD as an instrument to assess of quality teaching.

Introducción. El flujo o estado de flujo ha empezado a investigarse con estudiantes en cuanto a su relación con diversas variables académicas y motivacionales en diferentes entornos educativos. Esto conlleva la necesidad de más y mejores herramientas para la evaluación de este constructo en la población hispanohablante. El propósito de este estudio fue la validación de la versión en castellano de la Flourishing Scale (FS) en universitarios españoles y colombianos.Método. Formaron parte del estudio un total de 359 estudiantes, 152 de Bogotá (Colombia) y 207 de España, quienes respondieron a un cuestionario en línea. Se realizaron dos tipos de análisis estadísticos complementarios. Uno mediante el modelo Rasch, con el cual se analizó el ajuste de cada una de las preguntas, su dificultad y se estableció la adecuación del rango de la escala empleada en el cuestionario. El otro fue un análisis factorial confirmatorio con el cual se corroboró la dimensionalidad del constructo y su invarianza en las dos muestras empleadas mediante un análisis multigrupo.Resultados. Los resultados confirman la unidimensionalidad del constructo flujo medido con la FS, el cual fue invariante para las dos muestras. A través del modelo Rasch se obtuvieron buenos niveles de confiabilidad y evidencia de validez de la escala FS.Discusión. Las propiedades de la FS son satisfactorias, aunque puede ser recomendable la incorporación de nuevas preguntas con un mayor nivel de dificultad para personas con altos niveles de flujo. Finalmente, la reducción de la escala de respuesta a cuatro categorías podría aumentar la parsimonia de la escala y su funcionalidad.

The interest in the study of flourishing is due to the fact that it has been proven that it contributes to a good adjustment to the demands of the environment, relating to indicators of health and well-being. There are many researches that have tried to find out what dimensions make it up. The goal of this study is to validate the Spanish Version of The Flourishing Scale (FS), being the first time it is applied to Spanish parents of children with cancer. A total of 138 parents of children with cancer participated in a semi-structured interview. Through IBM SPSS and Winsteps descriptive analyzes and the internal consistency of the FS were calculated. Rasch analysis was used to study the dimensionality of the scale, the adjustment of each one of the items, the reliability values for the items and for the people, the validity of the construct, the functioning of the response categories, and the differential item functioning (DIF). The external construct validity of the FS was examined with associated measures. Results found that parents indicated a flourishing attitude (M = 3.85; sd = 0.63). We confirm that the FS maintains an adequate internal consistency and a unidimensional structure. We observed a good alignment between the question and the person's abilities as soon as a high reliability for the items. Although the sample is large enough to corroborate the difficulty hierarchy of the items, the construct validity could be improved by introducing items of moderate and high difficulty. On the other hand, the answer category 3 overlaps with the 2 and 4, so we propose possible solutions. Regarding a possible DIF, this exists in relation to “gender,” “level of education” and “by the situation with respect to treatment.” Finally, the convergent validity of the FS is demonstrated, there being a significant correlation with well-being, satisfaction with social support and coping. In general, the results show adequate psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the FS, so we recommend integrating it in psychosocial interventions aimed at parents of children with cancer, in order to provide them with resources to deal with the disease.

ResumenEl propósito de esta investigación es analizar las repercusiones psicosociales que genera el cáncer infantil en los progenitores. Para ello, se han estudiado variables ligadas a síntomas físicos y psicológicos y el papel del apoyo social percibido sobre la salud. La muestra está compuesta por 51 padres pertenecientes a una asociación de familias afectadas de Almería (España), que respondieron a un cuestionario semiestructurado enviado por correo postal. Aunque los progenitores manifiestan fundamentalmente síntomas de cansancio, dolores de cabeza y nerviosismo, no se observan valores especialmente negativos respecto a su salud percibida y su satisfacción con la vida. Existen relaciones significativas entre el estrés ante situaciones asociadas a la enfermedad y la salud y el bienestar de los participantes. El apoyo social percibido del núcleo familiar incide significativamente en la salud. Los análisis de regresión permiten contrastar la relevancia de las variables asociadas al estrés y el apoyo de la pareja y de los hijos sobre la percepción de síntomas y bienestar. Estos resultados destacan la importancia de seguir analizando los factores psicosociales que afectan a las familias afectadas con la finalidad de favorecer su adaptación a la enfermedad y minimizar el impacto que esta puede tener en la salud.AbstractThe purpose of this study is to analyze the psychosocial impact on parents generated by childhood cancer. An evaluation was carried out in variables related to physical and psychological symptoms, and the role of perceived social support in their health. The sample consisted of 51 parents that belonged to an association of affected families from Almeria (Spain), who answered a semi-structured questionnaire sent by post. Although these parents showed fatigue, headaches and nervousness, they did not particularly give negative scores for perceived health and satisfaction with life. There are significant differences between stressful situations related to this illness and health and well-being of participants. Perceived social support of the family unit has a significant impact on health. Regression analyses allow contrasting the relevance of the variables associated with stress and social support of the parents and children on the perception of symptoms and well-being. These results indicate the importance of continuing to analyze in depth the psychosocial factors that have an impact on the families affected, in order to facilitate their adaptation to the disease and minimize the impact it may have on health