Remedios González
University of Valencia. Spain
Family protection factors for emotional adjustment in childhood and adolescence
The family is the main socialization system in childhood and adolescence. Parents shape their children’s attitudes and behaviors and are especially influential during the early stages of life. The family’s continuous provision of care and support help the members’ emotional development throughout the life cycle. Adolescence is a period of change and, as such, implies a transformation in the bonds and in the way of interacting with the family. All this implies the search for one’s personality, the way to cope with difficulties and to regulate one’s emotions. Thus, if a normative adolescence can be a challenge to mental health and family support is a protective variable, when stressful life events appear that act as stressors, the family can play a crucial role. Along these lines, four experiences are presented that review different stressors in adolescence to evaluate the protective impact of the family on emotional adjustment in adolescence. First, the protective role of the family in emotional adjustment in adolescence will be addressed after a diagnosis of a chronic disease, such as bronchial asthma. Secondly, emotional adjustment will be treated following this perspective of the family as a protective element, proposing its impact on victimization and social exclusion in adolescence. Thirdly, in line with the above, the importance of family variables in intimate partner violence will be assessed at this developmental stage. And finally, in a more global way, the family will be considered a protective factor in mental health. In conclusion, the symposium will allow us to reflect on the importance of family aspects in the emotional adjustment of adolescence.
CV
Remedios González Barrón is Honorary Professor of the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatments of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Valencia, Spain. Her teaching has focused on child-adolescent clinical psychology. In the last decades, she has held different positions such as Vice Dean of Practicum, Coordinator of the Diploma in Speech Therapy, President of the Ibero-American Association for Psychological Diagnosis and Evaluation and Vice President, Director of its journal. She has also served on different commissions at the University. She has researched different themes of childhood and adolescence (emotions, prosocial behavior, school coexistence, hospitalization, intervention programs, among others), but also with the adult population (gender violence, postpartum depression, cognitive impairment, and sensory analysis, among others). Her objectives have focused on determining the risk profiles in the topics studied. The investigations have been financed by organizations through public calls. She has also collaborated with other national (University of the Basque Country, Autonomous University of Barcelona, UNED, etc.) and international institutions (University of Buenos Aires, University of Mexico, Pontifical University of Lima, University of Bolonia, University of Leiven, University of Berlin, among others). She has made presentations at national and international conferences and publications in relevant scientific journals, as well as educational and dissemination books and book chapters. Due to her experience and dedication, teaching and research at the University of Valencia has been widely recognized.
