Adolescence is a psychologically vulnerable stage in which problems of emotional adjustment and psychological well-being can appear. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship and comparison of emotional deficits and resources among adolescents with or without specific learning disabilities. We evaluated 80 students distributed into two groups: 40 adolescents with specific learning disabilities and 40 normative adolescents matched with the previous group in terms of age, sex, and school year. The study variables are internalising problems (anxiety and depression), externalising problems (aggression, anger control, defiant behaviour, and antisocial behaviour), and personal resources (self-esteem, social competence and integration, and awareness of problems), evaluated by means of the SENA test. The results indicate a positive relationship between externalising and internalising problems and a negative relationship between the latter and some personal resources in both groups. We also found that adolescents with specific learning disabilities displayed more internalising and externalising symptoms than their peers, greater awareness of their emotional difficulties, and lower self-esteem and social integration and competence. The findings highlight the need for preventive interventions that promote the psychological well-being and mental health of adolescents within the school setting at an early age.

Introduction: The spillover effect is the psychological overflow due to daily stress in one context and the transfer of its consequences to another close environment. The aim is to explore the spillover effect in conflicts within the family, on the one hand, and school with peers on the other hand, as an inferred measure of daily stress according to the literature.Method: The study consisted of a sample of 208 6-year-old students and their families. A methodology based on daily report records was used, by means of two ad hoc checklists with simultaneous measurements, for 2 consecutive weeks and 3 academic years, for both family and school contexts. A repeated measures design, together with a nonparametric statistical data analysis with Friedman’s test and contrast measures, was used.Results: Daily stress shows significant differences in the family setting throughout the week (χ ² = 32.44; p = 0.000) and at different times of the day (χ ² = 29.65; p = 0.000). In the school setting, differences were found across the different days of the week (χ ² = 36.96; p = 0.000). Spillover effect has been discovered between conflicts at home in the evening and conflicts at school. At the same time, conflicts at school are related to conflicts at home from Wednesday onward.Discussion: The results suggest further research on daily stress through the interrelation of the different contexts, as well as the impact that moments of conflict may have on the psychological and emotional development of the child.

Background: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are a set of chronic or recurrent gastrointestinal symptoms (GS) with great psychobiological complexity. The appearance of FGIDs harms quality of life and drains medical resources. Methods: Psychometric properties of the Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Scale (GSSS) based on Rome IV criteria were examined in a sample of 1247 individuals with typical development. Observations were randomly divided into two subsets, namely, subsample 1 (n = 624) and subsample 2 (n = 623). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed with data from subsample 1, whilst confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed with data from subsample 2. Internal consistency of the scale was assessed for the whole dataset according to ordinal alpha, whilst four-week reliability was measured according to the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Measurement invariance as a function of sex was also examined, and discriminant–convergent validity of the GSSS was examined through hypothesis testing. Results: EFA revealed a two-factor structure with a moderate percentage of explained variance (51.3%), whilst CFA exhibited an excellent fit of the data to the model. A one-factor CFA model demonstrated an acceptable but slightly lower fit. Internal consistency was moderate and test–retest reliability was deemed adequate. Metric invariance was demonstrated as a function of sex. Hypothesis testing demonstrated strong convergent–discriminant validity with measures of sensory sensitivity, obsessive–compulsive symptoms, and pain. Conclusions: The GSSS is a tool with acceptable and promising psychometric properties when administered to neurotypical adolescents and young adults. The self-report GSSS may promote better understanding of GS involvement in the gut microbiota–brain axis in the general population.

Las funciones ejecutivas son un conjunto de habilidades cognitivas de orden superior que permiten la adaptación al entorno social. De ellas, se desprende la concepción ligada a los procesos de aprendizaje y aquellas competencias de tipo contextual que facilitan la integración a la sociedad en la que vivimos. Partiendo de la base de las características diferenciales de las personas diagnosticadas por presentar Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA), entre las que se encuentran alteraciones en los procesos ejecutivos y limitaciones en la adaptación relacional y, por ende, social; se presenta un análisis de cómo las variables contextuales y conductuales pueden afectar; ya sea dificultar o potenciar, las citadas funciones ejecutivas en niños y niñas menores de 6 años. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo estudiar la prevalencia y análisis de variables contextuales en la primera infancia en menores con TEA. La muestra seleccionada está compuesta por 83 menores diagnosticados de TEA, de ambos géneros y con edades comprendidas entre los dos y los seis años que acuden a un centro de atención temprana público de la provincia de Málaga. El instrumento utilizado para el análisis de las funciones ejecutivas ha sido Evaluación conductual de la función ejecutiva (BRIEF-P) y para la recogida de información contextual se utilizó una entrevista semiestructurada de elaboración ad hoc. La información recopilada se extrajo de los familiares que normalmente acompañan al menor al tratamiento en el centro. Los resultados encontrados sugieren diferencias en las variables contextuales asociadas al menor con TEA y diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre grupos que relacionan la carga ambiental recibida y los niveles de competencia ejecutiva. Se concluye que parte de las diferencias en perfiles neurocognitivos en el TEA se pueden explicar por las competencias contextuales las cuales afectan significativamente a la evolución adecuada de las funciones ejecutivas, pudiendo explicar parte de las disfunciones conductuales, cognitivas y socioafectivas propias de este trastorno.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are characterized by chronic or recurrent gastrointestinal symptoms (GS) that are not explained by structural or biochemical abnormalities. FGIDs are related to lower quality of life, increased demands on medical resources, and greater somatization and emotional instability. Furthermore, GS appears to be an indicator of dysbiosis in gut-microbiota, affecting the gut-microbiota-brain relationship. To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a new instrument called the Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Scale (GSSS) using a web-based survey in a sample of neurotypical children and adolescents from Spain. Instrument development and validation processes were applied to the GSSS following its administration as part of an online survey. The sample included 1242 neurotypical children and adolescents. The mean age of participants was 13.95 years, with a standard deviation of 1.37 years. Overall, 13.8% suffered infectious diarrhea, 12.6% suffered abdominal pain, 5% suffered dyspepsia and 2.6% suffered gastro-esophageal reflux. A single-factor model produced good fit indices. Furthermore, internal consistency and test-retest reliability outcomes were acceptable. The GSSS was found to have acceptable metric measurement invariance. Significant correlations with other instruments were produced and were of expected direction and magnitude, confirming scale validity for hypothesis testing.     Conclusions: The GSSS shows promising psychometric properties for assessing GS in neurotypical Spanish adolescents and children. What is Known:• To the best of our knowledge, instruments assessing the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in children and adolescents are still too few. What is New:• The GSSS shows promising psychometric properties for assessing GS in neurotypical adolescents and children. The GSSS may help improve understanding of GS involvement in the gut-brain microbiota axis in children and adolescents.