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This study investigated whether a social-emotional learning program, implemented over a one-year period, could lead to gains in social-emotional competencies and to a reduction in internalizing and externalizing problems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the program analyzed how students (boys vs. girls) with varying levels of social-emotional competencies and externalizing and internalizing problems, and from different socioeconomic backgrounds, were differently affected. The program was applied to 358 Portuguese third- and fourth-grade students (51.4% boys, M age = 8.56; SD = 0.82). Self-report (students) and hetero-report (teachers) questionnaires were administered before and after the intervention. Linear mixed-effects models were computed to test intervention impacts. Significant intervention gains were noted in social-emotional learning competencies, namely emotional knowledge, social competence, peer relations, self-management, and academic behavior, and in externalizing (social problems) and internalizing (anxiety) problems. No effects were found in aggressiveness. Students with lower social-emotional competencies and higher externalizing and internalizing problems at baseline profited more from the program. Gender moderated both emotional knowledge and social problems, and socioeconomic status only moderated social problems. Findings highlight the effectiveness of this social-emotional learning program, especially for students facing initial challenges. Recommendations for future research, acknowledging limitations and strengths, are discussed.

Objectives: The Personal Social Capital Scale 16 (PSCS-16) is a self-report measure used to assess social capital, as a social determinant of health. To guarantee validated measures of this construct, the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the PSCS-16 were studied., Methods: The PSCS-16 comprises 16 items, organized in two scales: bonding and bridging social capital. A convenience sample of 280 participants was collected through an online survey. For construct validity, we used confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent and discriminant validity through the average variance extracted (AVE) and correlations. For reliability, we used: The Spearman-Brown split-half and the omega hierarchical coefficient. Correlations were made between the PSCS-16 and socio-demographic variables., Results: A first-order model depicting two oblique factors was supported, suggesting the use of the two scales. Evidence of convergent validity was achieved: acceptable AVE and associations between social capital and emotional self-disclosure. For discriminant validity, the AVE values surpassed the squared correlation between bonding and bridging, and associations with sexual health were found to be absent. Reliability was good. Additional correlations: A positive association between the education level and bridging social capital and participants with an immigrant status having more bridging social capital., Conclusions: Preliminary findings support the Portuguese version of PSCS-16 as suitable to evaluate social capital. Contributions are highlighted: the need to study correlates of social capital, particularly crossing migrations, social capital and mental health; and confirming the structure found by measuring its invariance., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Purpose: This study aimed to describe parents' preferences regarding their role in treatment decision-making when a child has cancer and examines whether their preferences were related to parents sociodemographic characteristics (sex and education level), patients' characteristics (age group and treatment status), and healthcare context features (parents' perception of family-centered care)., Methods: Two hundred and twenty-eight parents of children/adolescents with cancer were recruited from two Portuguese pediatric oncology wards. Participants provided sociodemographic and clinical information. The Control Preferences Scale for Pediatrics was used to assess the parents' preferred role in treatment decision-making. The Measure of Process of Care assessed the parents' perception of family-centered care (family-centered services and providing general information subscales)., Results: Results showed that parents preferred a passive-collaborative role (45.2%), followed by collaborative (27.2%), passive (21.0%), and active-collaborative (6.6%). None preferred an active role. Chi-square test showed that the group of parents preferring a passive role had a lower proportion of more-educated parents, compared to those preferring active-collaborative or collaborative roles. Additionally, groups did not proportionally differ according to the parents' sex, patients' age, and treatment status. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that parents preferring an active-collaborative role reported lower mean scores on family-centered services compared to those preferring passive-collaborative and passive roles. Finally, no significant differences were found concerning providing general information., Conclusions: This study's findings may guide professionals in identifying parents' preferences regarding their participation in treatment decision-making process. Mapping their preferences may support professionals in promoting desirable levels of parental involvement in decisions in pediatric oncology context.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot study of a parental school-based intervention to promote healthy eating behaviours in young children., Design: A quasi-experimental longitudinal design with three conditions (complete intervention (CIG), minimal intervention (MIG), control (CG)), with repeated measures at baseline, immediately after the intervention, 6 months and 1 year after intervention., Setting: Fourteen public and state-funded kindergartens near Lisbon, Portugal., Subjects: Parents (n 349) of 3- to 6-year-old children assigned to the three conditions completed the baseline protocol. The 'Red Apple' intervention included four parental group sessions about young children's growth, nutritional guidelines and positive parental feeding strategies, which was combined with adult-child activities at home and in the classroom, and newsletters (CIG). MIG included only a single nutritional counselling session, whereas the CG had no intervention. At the end, thirty-eight, twenty-six and fifty-four parents in the CIG, MIG and CG, respectively, had completed all evaluation components. Data regarding parental perception of children's weight, self-efficacy, nutritional knowledge, feeding strategies, eating behaviours and BMI were collected at the four assessment moments., Results: The CIG showed improvements in children's healthy food intake, compared with the MIG and CG. Parental self-efficacy regarding the regulation of children's eating behaviours decreased in the CG but not in both intervention groups., Conclusions: Considering the low dosage of the intervention, the results obtained were positive. Future studies should offer additional solutions to overcome barriers to parents' participation.

The nature of the turnover process calls for the study of more complex relationships among variables beyond simple bivariate or multiple associations between predictors and turnover intentions. The present article aims to examine the predictive value of job demands and resources in the explanation of nurses' intention to leave the organization and to test the mediating roles of professional burnout and engagement in these relationships, within a Portuguese nursing population. The research models were tested within the scope of the Registered Nurse Forecasting project. Data included the self-report questionnaires of 2,235 Portuguese nurses from 31 hospitals, collected through stratified random sampling procedures. The statistical analyses of the structural models showed that nurses' participation in hospital affairs, a job resource at the work organization level, was the only significant predictor of nurses´ intention to leave the organization (β = -.45, p < .001). Analyses of the mediation models revealed that the emotional exhaustion symptoms of burnout (β = -.11, p < .001) and job engagement feelings (β = -.15, p < .001) were both significant mediators between nurses' decisional involvement and their intentions to leave the organization. Results suggest that including nurses in decision-making processes regarding their professional practice policy and environment, and improving nurses' professional well-being are two crucial strategies to reduce nurses' turnover intentions.

This study examines social and moral norms towards the intention to comply with hand hygiene among Portuguese medical students from 1st and 6th years (N = 175; 121 from the 1st year, 54 from the 6th year). The study extended the theory of planned behaviour theoretical principles and hypothesised that both subjective and moral norms will be the best predictors of 1st and 6th year medical students' intention to comply with hand hygiene; however, these predictors ability to explain intention variance will change according to medical students' school year. Results indicated that the subjective norm, whose referent focuses on professors, is a relevant predictor of 1st year medical students' intention, while the subjective norm that emphasises the relevance of colleagues predicts the intentions of medical students from the 6th year. In terms of the moral norm, 6th year students' intention is better predicted by a norm that interferes with compliance; whereas intentions from 1st year students are better predicted by a norm that favours compliance. Implications of the findings highlight the importance of role models and mentors as key factors in teaching hand hygiene in medical undergraduate curricula.