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ANUARIO DE PSICOLOGÍA CLÍNICA Y DE LA SALUD

ANNUARY OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

KWWSinstitucional.us.es/apcs

200, VOLUME 

Departament of Personality, Assesment and Psychological Treatments University of Seville

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology 4 (2008) Index Monographic articles Socio-demographic characteristics, migration experiences and mental health in a psychological support unit for immigrants. Salaberría, K., De Corral, P., Sánchez, A., Larrea, E. pp 5-13 Migration and psychopathology. Delgado, P.

pp 15-25

Sociological aspects of immigration in Spain. Impact and challenges. Pereda,C., Actis, W. y de Prada, M. A.

pp 27-32

Ten noteworthy references about immigration: A clinical psychology and health approach. Avargues, Mª L., Orellana, Mª C. pp 33-43

Regular articles Relationships between catastrophising in the face of pain and competition anxiety in sportspeople. Olmedilla, A., Ortega, E., Boladeras, A., Abenza, L., Esparza, F. pp 45-51 Correlations among occupational stress, burnout and psychopathological symptoms at Madrid’s area-9 outside hospital emergency care units. Bernaldo de Quirós, M., Labrador, F.J. pp 53-61 Heterosexual intercourse, use of the condom and intentional risky behaviour in 11th and 12th grade students. Aymerich, M., Planes M., Gras, M.E., Vila, I. pp 63-70

Theoretical article Emotional intelligence. A theoretical approach. Romero, M. A.

http://institucional.us.es/apcs

pp 71-74

2008, VOLUME 4

Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatments University of Seville

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology, 4 (2008) 5-13

Socio-demographic characteristics, migration experiences and mental health in a psychological support unit for immigrants Karmele Salaberría1,, Paz de Corral, Analía Sánchez & Estitxu Larrea Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológico Facultad de Psicología. Universidad del País Vasco (España)

ABSTRACT This descriptive study aims to find out about the social, demographic, migratory and psychopathological characteristics of a sample of 23 immigrants who received psychological treatment in a programme of psychological support for immigrants. The programme attempts to palliate the Ulysses syndrome, that is to say, the anxiety, depressive, somatic and confused state manifestations derived from migratory stress. The findings demonstrate the existence of a large number of women, mainly of Latin American origin, who are in an illegal situation and who suffer from high levels of psychopathology and psychological distress. These illegal immigrants show high levels of fright and fear and experience difficulties in getting by. Furthermore, they experience feelings of failure and vulnerability. Key words: immigrants, migratory distress, Ulysses syndrome, mental health, descriptive study.

INTRODUCTION Migration movements are part of the history of mankind. Yet, it is at the beginning of the twenty-first century that society comes up against the phenomenon of immigration on a global scale. According to the Official Association of Spanish Psychologists, the term immigrant is used to refer to all those foreign people who enter the national territory with the purpose of improving or changing a situation caused by political, religious or ethnic reasons (refugees or exiles), or economic reasons. Their intention is to escape persecution or to improve their quality of life within the framework of a job or one of family regrouping. (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos, 1994). According to the provisional preview published by the Administrative Register of the Spanish Statistical Institute (Padrón Municipal del Instituto Nacional de Estadística, www.ine.es) on 1 January 2008, out of the total number of people registered, 40.8 million are people with Spanish nationality and 5.22 million are foreigners. The proportion of foreign citizens is 11.3%. As for foreigners, 53.2% are men and 46.8% are women. The majority, 63.9%, are between 16 and 45 years old. Out of all the foreigners living in Spain, 2.1 million belong to the European Union-27, most of them are Rumanian, British and German. Among those coming from outside the European Union, Moroccans stand out, followed by the Ecuadorians 1

Karmele Salaberria Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológico. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad del País Vasco. Avda. de Tolosa, 70. 20018 San Sebastián. Teléfono: 943015635. Correo electrónico: [email protected]

and the Colombians. Citizens coming from South America amount to 29.5% of all the foreigners, with a greater number of women than men. According to the Basque Observatory of Immigration, 4.6% of the population in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country are foreigners, and in the province of Guipuzcoa the number amounts to 4.2% From a psychological point of view, migration involves facing three main tasks. First, mourning and missing all that was left behind in the country of origin (Salvador Sánchez, 2001); second, facing a variety of stressful survival situations (Hovey, 2001), and third, adapting into a new culture and creating a new identity (Villar, 2002). From the point of view of identity, immigration puts into doubt the long-term consciousness of self, the consistency between the self and the external world, and the reassertion of one’s identity in interaction with the environment, which is a challenge to coherence, trust and selfcontrol (Garza-Guerrero, 1974). Immigration puts into doubt the answers to the question “Who am I?”, which we all put to ourselves (Walsh, Shulman, Feldman and Maurer, 2005), since immigrants suffer from instability and a great many contradictions during their lives which lead them to rebuilding their sense of self and to creating new meanings (Mallona, 1999). According to Achotegui (2000) and GarcíaCampayo (2000), the migration process entails pain due to the loss of important elements in people’s lives, such as the loss of the social network (friends and family), of identity (the language, the culture, the land, the membership group), social status, the

Salaberría, De Corral, Sánchez & Larrea: Socio-demographic characteristics, migration experiences and mental health in a psychological support unit for immigrants

contact with the ethnic group and physical integrity (due to the physical risks associated with migration). This pain is characterised by the fact that it is non definitive and that it gets reawakened periodically. So, emigrating implies an acculturation process that has been studied from the perspective of social psychology and gives rise to four principal processes (Berry, 2001). These are derived, on the one hand, from the wish to relate to the new culture and, and on the other, from the wish to maintain the original identity and culture, namely, a) marginalisation or separation from the original culture and the receptive one; b) separation or maintenance of one’s own culture and avoidance of the receptive one; c) assimilation or abandonment of one’s own culture in favour of the receptive one, and d) integration or biculturalism or maintenance of one’s own identity and with a relationship with the receptive culture. The last process correlates with a better psychological state but it requires effort both from the immigrant and from the receptive country, which is not always ready to respect and create multiethnic identities and a multicultural society. Acculturation is a process of psychological and cultural change which takes place in groups and individuals and implies modifications in social structures, in institutions and in cultural practice. From an individual point of view, acculturation brings about changes in the behavioural repertoire of people (Berry 2005). In a recent study carried out with 182 immigrants residing in Spain (Ramos and León, 2007), the majority of the subjects in the sample tended to favour integration in the host society. That was their aspiration. The same results show in a study conducted in the Basque Autonomous Community in the year 2004, in which 74% of the immigrants chose integration (Basabe, Zlobina and Páez, 2004). According to Tizón (1994), in order to develop a satisfactory immigration process, a series of phases need to occur, namely, a first period of settlement, followed by one of adaptation, finally arriving at one of integration. Each one of the phases includes numerous and diverse tasks that the immigrants need to carry out. In the settlement phase they need to find and keep a job, find housing, fulfil economic and legal obligations (such as obtaining the necessary legal or administrative documents) here and with the family left behind in the country of origin (Alma, 1986). In order to face all these tasks, the main tool that immigrants count on is their physical and mental health and their psychological resources. Several studies have found that stress increases in immigrants within the first three and five years, especially due to the shortage of social support (Flaherty, Kohn, Levav and Birz, 1988), and later on, years after settlement, when family problems with children emerge (due to family regrouping or to a birth in the host country), when there are bad health conditions and when economic difficulties persist (Lerner, Kertes and Zilber, 2005); Pernice and Brook, 1996; Ritsner and Ponizovsky, 1999; Ritsner, Ponizovsky and Ginath, 1997). The study conducted by Martínez-Taboada, Arnoso and Elorriaga (2006) describes three stages in the migration process, first, one of acceptance during which the immigrants

manifest a need for a large amount of social assistance; second, one of social and work adaptation, and finally one of social autonomy. It is during the first stage, when the immigrants have spent less than five years in the host country, that the highest number of anxiety, somatic and depressive symptoms arise. From the point of view of mental health and during the first phase of settlement, the acculturation processes and the effort for adaptation increase stress and anxiety-depression symptomatology (Hovey and Magaña, 2000). In Spain there are a number of studies about the health of immigrants, such as the one by Jansá and García Olalla (2004), who point out in a study conducted in Barcelona in 1997 that 48% of immigrant men and 65.7% of immigrant women declared to be in a not too good, bad or very bad state of health. In the study carried out by Valiente, Sandín, Chorot, Santed and González de Rivera (1996) immigrants show a higher psychopathological level than non immigrants after having been evaluated by the SCL-90-R (Derogatis, 1983). These results are also evident in recent studies conducted in Germany, according to which immigrants suffer from anxiety more than the Germans and in addition do not resort to health institutions (Wittig, Lindert, Merbach and Brähler, 2008). Similar results come from studies conducted in Belgium (Levecque, Lodewyckx and Vranken, 2007), where the immigrants coming from Turkey and Morocco display more depression and anxiety symptoms than the European population. García-Campayo and Sanz (2002) point out that the most frequent problem that the immigrant population has to deal with, in the case of refugees and exiles, is post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as anxiety, depression, somatisation disorders and, in the most serious cases, schizophrenia and paranoia. Achotegui (2002, 2003) has made reference to the term Ulysses Syndrome to bring together the symptomatology of the immigrants characterised by depression, anxiety, confusion and somatisation disorders, such as headaches, abdominal pain, intense fatigue and sleep disorders. This symptomatology is directly related to the level of chronic, multiple and intense stress, the lack of social support, as well as the legal situation that immigrants need to cope with in order to move on. Other authors point out the possibility that immigrants manifest more adaptation problems (Matamala and Crespo, 2004) and higher rates of domestic violence and pathological gambling (Petry, Armentano, Kuoch, Norinth y Smith, 2003; Steele, Lemieux-Charles, Clark y Glazier, 2002). Several risk factors and health safe-guards have been detected which can help or hamper adaptation to the new culture and society. Thus, the greater the cultural distance, legal irregularity, dysfunctional characteristics of the family of origin, previous psychological disorders, low self esteem, physical health problems, the older the age, lower educational level, the lower the religious feeling and the lack of a of social support network all make it difficult to adapt to the new culture and society, and facilitate the appearance of psychological problems and disorders (García-Campayo and Sanz, 2002; Hovey and Magaña, 2000; Jarvis, Kirmayer, Weinfeld and Lasry, 2005; Martínez, García and Maya, 1999; Pumariega, Rothe and Pumariega, 2005; Scott and Scott, 1985).

6

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 4 (2008) 5-13

OBJECTIVES AND HIPOTHESES

The admission criteria for this study were the patient’s age, older than eighteen years old, their wish to voluntarily participate in the programme after having been informed about it, their capacity to fill in the questionnaires and a minimum communicative competence in Spanish. From the psychopathological point of view, it has been borne in mind that they should not suffer from a serious psychotic disorder, an addiction disorder, a serious affective disorder, an eating disorder or a serious chronic disease. According to the admission criteria, 23 subjects were evaluated and started to participate in the programme of psychological support for immigrants. All the participants were first generation immigrants. Among the 12 people who did not meet the admission criteria, three were referred to a general practitioner and one to Ekintza-Dasalud, the Guipuzcoa association of assistance to compulsive gamblers. The rest of the applicants were psychologically treated together with the subjects of this study, although their data were not included with those of the study sample.

The general objective of this study is to investigate the social, demographic, migratory and psychopathological characteristics of those first generation immigrants who turn to the programme of psychological assistance to immigrants provided by the School of Psychology at the University of the Basque Country. Furthermore, more specific objectives are set, such as to analyse and find out whether differences may arise depending on the fact that the immigrant is legal or illegal; and to find out which therapeutic objectives are established when they apply for psychological assistance. As for the study hypotheses, the following are established: 1) those immigrants who turn to the programme will do so especially during the first phase of settlement, that is to say, when their residence period amounts to less than five years; 2) immigrants will show higher levels of psychopathological symptoms than the general population, and 3) illegal immigrants will manifest more psychopathological symptoms and a higher level of stress than legal immigrants. This study is a part of a wider research project, now in progress, dealing with the efficiency of a cognitive-behaviour programme of psychological assistance to immigrants.

Design The research has made use of a descriptive cross study with one group of subjects who were evaluated before taking part in sessions of psychological support.

MÉTHOD Participants The sample is made up of 23 immigrants out of the total amount of 52 who applied for an appointment in the Programme of Psychological Support for Immigrants at the University of the Basque Country. All of them were residents in Guipúzcoa. The programme of psychological support for immigrants was disseminated among the institutions dealing with immigration, such as Cáritas, the Red Cross, SOS-Racism, HELDU, a legal consultancy of the Basque Government for immigrants, and social workers; as well as in phone booths. Table 1 shows the process of how the sample was obtained.

Evaluation measures a) Socio-demographic and migration variables An initial interview was carried out. The data obtained referred, first, to demographic variables and, second, to the migration variables analysed in this study, namely age, sex, marital status, housing, origin and date of departure, family situation, education, work and financial conditions, legal situation, and state of health, such as former psychiatric history, diseases and possession of the public health card. The interview was specifically elaborated for this study by bearing in mind the most relevant variables cited in studies on immigration and mental health.

Fifty-two immigrants got in touch with the psychological support programme from May 2007 to May 2008: • 9 people applied for an appointment but did not come to it. • 3 people came to ask for information about the programme. • 2 people did not complete the pre-treatment assessment • 2 people refused to participate in the programme after having been informed about it. • 1 person was not considered for the programme due to the impossibility of setting up appointments and attending them. • 12 people did not meet the admission criteria: 2 were illiterate 2 did not speak any Spanish 1 did not speak any Spanish and was a humanitarian refugee. 1 was a victim of harassment at work 3 were going through pathological grief 2 people made the voluntary decision to go back to their countries of origin. 1 person suffered from pathological gambling • 23 people were assessed and admitted according to the admission criteria. Table 1. Development of the sample collection process

b) Variables of migratory stress In order to measure the level of migratory stress, the Ulysses scale was used, which refers to extreme migration sorrow (Achotegui, 2005) and is used in the context of interviews. The scale is divided into eight sections which collect data about the level of stress that an immigrant may suffer from in different environments. Each item is valued between 0 and 3. These are the different sections: • The level of family stress (value 0-60) evaluates the existence of relatives, friends or institutions who are close enough to ask for help from, having left the children and elderly or ill parents in the country of origin, separation or divorce from partner, possible danger for the family in the country of origin, and so on. • The level of acculturative stress (value 0-24) evaluates the differences between the language, the culture, the land and the ethnic identity of the country of origin and the host country. • The level of failure (value 0-48) collects information about the legal situation, work, debts,

7

Salaberría, De Corral, Sánchez & Larrea: Socio-demographic characteristics, migration experiences and mental health in a psychological support unit for immigrants

expectations and possible return, the existence of diseases and disabilities or school difficulties of the children. • The level of survival (value 0-9) evaluates whether the immigrant has housing, is going hungry or has unattended health problems. • The level of fear (value 0-15) evaluates the situations of danger to life experienced during the migratory journey and in the country of origin. • The level of epidemiologic factors (value 0-6) evaluates the stress entailed by age and sex in the migratory process. • The level of other variables (value 0-9) collects information about child history, the decision to emigrate and the presence of psychological symptoms. • The level of vulnerability (value 0-18) collects information about the immigrant’s self-perception in relation to personality characteristics (shyness, dependency, mistrust, and so on.) The maximum score that can be obtained in the scale is 189. Between 0-30, the stress level is considered slight; from 30 to 60, moderate, and extreme if over 60.

immigrants, the San Sebastian Town Hall immigration social workers) and in phone booths between April and June 2007. During its distribution, book markers with an address and telephone number were given to the immigrants that they could call to ask for the assistance. When an immigrant called, he or she was given an appointment for the first interview during which the programme and its objectives were explained. They were also provided with information about the intervention programme and a letter of consent. If the immigrant agreed, the pre-treatment evaluation was carried out, which could take between two and three sessions to develop. The initial interview and the pre-treatment evaluation were carried out by a clinical psychologist with over ten year’s experience. FINDINGS Below are the findings related firstly, to social, demographic and migratory variables; secondly, to migratory stress variables, and thirdly, those referring to psychopathological and personality variables in relation to treatment Finally, a comparison of the variables under study is carried out between legal and illegal immigrants. In order to analyse the data, the statistical pack SSPS 14:0 was used.

c) Psychopathological variables, personality variables and treatment-related variables The scale SCL-90-R (Derogatis, 1983; Spanish version by González de Rivera, 2002) was used to evaluate the presence of general psychopathological symptoms. The scale consists of 90 items with five choices for response in a Likerttype scale which range between 0 (no) and 4 (a lot). The scale evaluates nine symptom dimensions, namely somatisation disorders, obsessioncompulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, fobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychotism. Furthermore, it offers three global rates which show the subject’s discomfort, namely the Global Severity Index (GSI), the Positive Symptom Total (PST) and the Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI). The internal consistency of the questionnaire ranges between 0,81 and 0,90, and the time stability ranges between 0,78 and 0,90. The objective of the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) is to evaluate the satisfaction that one person feels towards himself or herself. This instrument consists of 10 general items scoring 1 to 4 in a Likert-type scale. The value of the questionnaire is 10-40. The higher the score, the higher the self esteem. The test-retest reliability is 0,85 and the alfa quotient of internal consistency is 0,92. The scale of target behaviours (Echeburúa and Corral, 1987) is a self-report designed for patients to give a list of five behaviours that they would like to improve and that would provide important benefits to their everyday life. These five behaviours are measured according to their 1 to 10 degree of difficulty.

Social, demographic and migratory variables The social and demographic characteristics of the sample are described in Tables 2 and 3. The sample consists mainly of women (87%) who have an average age of 30, an average Gender Women: 20 (87%) Men: 3 (13%) Age (range 18-47) M 30.26 TD 8.53 Number of children (range 0-4) M 1.39 TD 1.155 Debt (range 0-€9000) M 1320.43 TD 2347.71 Months away from heir homeland (range 5-72) M 28.22 TD 20.68 Table 2. Sociodemographic variables and migratory variables. Marital status Married With a partner Divorced Widow(er) Single a Children No Yes Children here No Yes Childless Education Primary Secondary Vocational training University Working in Home service/care of elderly people or children Cleaning Hotel or catering trade/business Unemployed Incomes Less than €1000 a month

Procedure The programme of psychological support for immigrants was distributed among the institutions that directly deal with this population (SOSRacism,Cáritas, the Red Cross, HELDU, the legal consultancy of the Basque Government, for

8

9 (39,1%) 3 (13%) 2 (8,7%) 1 (4,3%) 8 (34,8%) 7 (30,4%) 16 (69,6%) 10 (43,5%) 6 (26,1%) 7 (30,4%) 4 (17,4%) 10 (43,5%) 5 (21,7%) 4 (17,4%)

13 (56,5%) 2 (8,7%) 2 (8,7%) 6 (26,1%) 21 (91,3%)

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 4 (2008) 5-13

More than € 1000 a month 2 (8,7%) Housing Flat shared by several people 12 (52,2%) Flat assistance (Cáritas, Red Cross) 2 (8,7%) Family unit 4 (17,4%) Internal 5 (21,7%) Sharing a room 2 people 6 (26,1%) 3 people s 1 (4,3%) Parents and children 2 (8,7%) Not sharing a room with anybody 14 (60,9%) Psychiatric antecedents No 20 (87%) Yes 3 (13%) Victim of maltreatment or abuse in the country of origin No 17 (73,9%) Sí 6 (26,1%) Victim of physical aggression in the host country No 19 (82,6%) Yes 4 (17,4%) Tabla 3. Variables sociodemográficas y migratorias

these circumstances, 10 people (62.5% of those with children) do not have their children here with them, but they reside in their countries of origin with other relatives, usually maternal grandparents. People with secondary education predominate (43.5%). 56.5% of them mainly do domestic service and take care of elderly people. There is also a percentage of people in the psychological support programme who are unemployed (26.1%). The income of the majority of them amounts to less than €1.000 a month. In general terms, the participants share a flat (52.2%) and 21.7% live in, as they take care of elderly people who very often depend on them. The great majority of cases (87%) do not have psychiatric antecedents. In the remaining 13%, the antecedents are related to teenage depression. In addition to this, 26.1% of the samples suffered maltreatment or sexual abuse during their childhood or teens or during their relationship with partners in the countries of origin. Out of the subjects who came to the programme, 17.4% have suffered some physical aggression coming from their partners or from some other relative here in Spain. The majority of the subjects do not take any medication, except for 17.4% who take painkillers for headaches and, occasionally, sleeping pills. From the legal perspective, the majority of the subjects in the sample (14 people; 60.9%) do not have residence or work permits, and out of the people who do have them, in no case is it permanent. Yet, 78.6% of the samples are registered and, out of them, 16 people (69.6%) have a public health card and thus, they have access to the public health system.

number of 1.39 children, who have been nearly two and a half years away from their countries of origin, and who, when attending the programme, had an average debt of €1.320 with the wide range of between €0 and €.9.000. The reason for leaving their countries is mainly economic, that is to say, searching to improve their lives and those of their families. They turn to the programme during the first phase, the settlement phase, during the first three years after having left their countries. Except for one person from Mali (Africa), the rest of the subjects in the sample come from Latin America. The majority come from Honduras (6 people; 26.1%) and Colombia (5 people; 21.7%), and are followed by people from Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru (two people from each country; 8.7%). Finally, there are people from Chile, Cuba and Venezuela (one person from each country). Half the participants are married (39.1%) or have partners (13%) and only one person is the partner of a Basque. Single people make up 34.8% of the sample. Sixteen people (69.6%) have children. In

Stress migratory variables Below is Table 4, which shows the scores obtained by the 23 subjects of the sample in the Ulysses stress migratory scale. The stress degree of the sample is moderate-high, since this is the way a score higher than 60 is regarded. This score points out that the degree of stress that immigrants face is very high.

Ulysses scale Total (range 0-189)

M 64,78 23,04 7,22 16,85 1,83 2,65 1,52 6,26 5,91

Scale of family stress (range 0-60) Scale of acculturative stress (rango 0-24) Scale of failure (rango 0-48) Scale of survival (rango 0-9) Scale of fear (0-15) Scale of epidemiologic factors (0-6) Scale of other variables (0-9) Scale of vulnerability (0-18)

DT 14,56 range 40-94 4,31 range 15-29 3,01 range 2-15 5,51 range 4-26 2,30 range 0-7 1,69 range 0-6 1,23 range 0-4 1,95 range 3-9 3,76 range 0-13

Table 4. Migratory stress

in the Self-Esteem Scale and in the Target Behaviour Scale. According to the SCL-90-R scale, the degree of psychological upset in the sample is very high. With respect to the yardstick for the general population, the percentiles of the sample are above the 95th percentile in all subscales except for the somatisation disorder scale and the PSDI, in which they are very high as well. Therefore, the sample is characterized by high levels of depression,

As a consequence, the possible suffering from psychological symptoms is very high. The family scale, which measures the distance from the loved ones, and the scale of failure, which shows the difficulties the immigrant has to get through, also show moderately high scores. Psychopathological variables, personality variables and treatment-related variables The next Table shows scores in the SCL-90-R Scale,

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Salaberría, De Corral, Sánchez & Larrea: Socio-demographic characteristics, migration experiences and mental health in a psychological support unit for immigrants

SCALES Escala SCL-90-R GSI PST PSDI Somatization disorder Obsession-compulsion Interpersonal sensitivity Depression Anxiety Hostility Phobic anxiety Paranoid ideation Psychotic Self-esteem scale (rango 10-40) Target behaviour scale(rango5-50)

M

• Feel

DT

• •

1,61 0,47 61,82 13,01 2,34 0,47 1,51 0,87 1,61 0,62 1,85 0,67 2,38 0,54 1,65 0,60 1,32 1 1,04 0,87 1,60 0,58 1,03 0,54 27,7 4,28 41,1 7,77

• • • • • • • • •

Table 5. Psychopathological variables, personality variables and treatment-related variables

Table 6. Examples of target behaviours to work on during the programme.

interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, worries and psychological suffering. In the Self-Esteem Scale the scores appear at a moderate level and in the Target Behaviour Scale they show a high level of difficulty. Table 6 briefly shows some of the target behaviours pointed out by the subjects in the sample to work on during the sessions of the psychological support programme. Generally speaking, the target behaviours are related to the symptomatology defined in the Ulysses syndrome, above all to anxiety, depression and confusion. Furthermore, other aspects are included, such as the improvement of social relationships, the reduction of anger and perfectionism, and the achievement of vital objectives, such as having access to education and legalising their situation. Variables SCL-90-R Phobic anxiety Self esteem

stronger, less fearful and able to cope with problematic situations. Acquire more self confidence and better self esteem. Deal with fewer worries and focus on subjects in greater detail. Manage anxiety and nervousness. Manage shyness and embarrassment. Cope with sadness, boost spirits and feel less guilty. Reduce perfectionism. Improve personal relationships with partner, family and society. Enter into and take part in conversations. Know how to say no, defend rights and make requests. Avoid shouting, cope with anger and frustration. Be able to study. Be able to have legal papers, that is to say, work and residence permits.

Comparisons between legal and illegal immigrants A comparison was carried out between legal immigrants (nine people) and illegal immigrants (14 people), that is to say, between those with residence and work permits and those who do not have one in any of the variables included in the study, by means of the t-test for independent samples and the chi-square test. Table 7 shows the variables with statistically significant differences or with differences in the tendency. As the table shows, legal immigrants have been away from their countries for a longer time (about three years) and tend to enjoy better degrees of self esteem. Legal (N=9) M DT

Illegal (N=14) M DT

0,64 30

1,32 26,46

0,99 3,55

71,36

13,55

0,46 4,83

Migratory stress Ulysses scale Total

54,56

9,58

Scale of failure Scale of survival Scale of fear Vulnerability Months away from their countries

13,33 0,56 1,56 3,44 38,22

5,59 1,13 1,50 1,50 24,15

18,29 4,68 2,64 2,53 3,36 1,44 7,50 3,95 21,79 15,84

t

2,12* -1,87+ 3,22 ** 2,29 * 2,69 * 2,86 ** 3,46 ** -1,98 +

+Tendency * p .05). Regular use of a condom

Males % (n)

Females % (n)

Total % (n)

25.3(93)

I always use a condom

68.1(49)

63.4(64)

65.3(113)

29.1(60)

31.1(115)

I do not always use a condom

31.9(23)

36.6(37)

34.7(60)

100(206)

100(368)

TOTAL

100(72)

100(101)

100(173)

Do not answer = 5 Table 1. Distribution of participants according to the number of partners with whom they have had full sexual intercourse

Do not answer = 8 Table 3 . Frequency and regularity in the use of a condom in full sexual intercourse.

Use of condoms Table 2 shows the distribution of youths who have had full sexual intercourse according to whether or not they have used condoms as a contraceptive with their current partner or, if applicable, with their last partner. It can be seen that condoms are the most widespread contraceptive method used by sexually active 11th and 12th graders, as it is chosen by nine out of ten youths. No significant gender differences can be observed as for the use of the condom versus other contraceptive methods (χ2 (1)= .05; p > .05). Contraceptive method

Males % (n)

Females % (n)

Total % (n)

Condom

92.9(78)

91.2(103)

91.9(181)

Other methods

7.1(6)

8.8(10)

8.1(16)

TOTAL

100(84)

100(113)

100(197)

Behavioural intention in face of heterosexual intercourse without protection Table 4 shows the distribution of the participants according to gender and to their behavioural intention in a situation of intimacy and arousal in which a condom with a casual partner is not available (Story 1) and with a recent steady partner (Story 2). It is worth pointing out that, in both situations, over 50% of the teenagers choose to continue with the sexual relationship but they do not go so far as penetration. With a casual partner (Story 1), 8.2% of the youths opt for choices that entail a risk of pregnancy or STD infection. Significant gender differences can be seen (χ2 (1) = 13.65; p < .0001). The number of males that would jeopardise their health (14.8%) is higher than the number of females (3%). In the case of a recent steady partner (Story 2), the percentage of youths ready to jeopardise their health rises to 22.6%. Significant gender differences can be seen too (χ2 (1) = 6.33; p < .05), the percentage of males (29.2%) again being higher than that of females (17.2%). When comparing reported intended behaviour with a casual partner (Story 1) or recent steady partner (Story 2), McNemar’s test shows significant differences between both situations (χ2 (1) = 39.01; p < .0001), as the intention to carry out safe behaviour diminishes with recent steady partners.

Do not answer = 11 Table 2 . Use of condoms as the preferred contraceptive method in full sexual intercourse according to gender.

As for the systematic use of condoms, Table 3 shows the distribution of the gender related answers. Out of the 181 youths who state using the condom as a preferred contraceptive method (see table 2), 34.7% declare that they have not always used it systematically in all their sexual relationships. Intentional behaviour in face of a situation of sexual intercourse without a condom

Casual partner (Story 1) Males (n)

%

Recent steady partner (Story 2)

Females% (n)

Total (n)

%

Males (n)

%

Females% (n)

Total (n)

%

Riskless behaviour I would not proceed: I’d rather leave it for another day

16.7(27)

32.8(67)

25.7(94)

18(29)

21.7(44)

20.1(73)

I would proceed without penetration

68.5(111)

64.2(131)

66.1(242)

52.8(85)

61.1(124)

57.4(209)

I would proceed with penetration without ejaculation

8(13)

1.5(3)

4.4(16)

12.4(20)

10.3(21)

11.3(41)

I would proceed penetration

3.1(5)

1(2)

1.9(7)

3.1(5)

1.5(3)

2.2(8)

Risky behaviour

only

with

anal

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Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 4 (2008) 63-70

I would proceed

3.7(6)

.5(1)

1.9(7)

13.7(22)

5.4(11)

9.1(33)

TOTAL

100(162)

100(204)

100(366)

100(161)

100(203)

100(364)

*

Do not answer = 7

Do not answer = 9

Table 4. Intended behaviour in face of a situation of sexual intercourse without a condom with a casual partner (Story 1) and with a recent steady partner (Story 2).

who would run risks rises. In face of intercourse without a condom with a recent steady partner (Story 2), it can also be seen that as the number of partners increases, proportionally fewer youths decide not to continue with intercourse. Among those who have never had sexual intercourse or who have only had one partner, very few (5.5% and 4.3% respectively) would go ahead with the risk. However, out of those who have had intercourse with two or more partners, 17.1% would run risks (Table 5).

As for the relationship between the number of sexual partners and the intended behaviour, significant differences can be noticed both in case of a casual partner (χ2 (4) = 20.02; p < .0001) and in case of a recent steady partner (χ2 (4) = 24.59; p < .0001). When it concerns sexual intercourse without a condom with a casual partner (Story 1), as the number of partners increases, the number of youths who would not continue with the intercourse diminishes. In consequence, the number of those, Casual partner (Story 1)

% (n)

I would proceed without risk % (n)

I would proceed in spite of the risk % (n)

None

32.5(53)

61.9(101)

5.5(9)

One

25.8(24)

69.9(65)

Two or more

17.1(20)

TOTAL

100(97)

Number of partners in sexual intercourse

I would not proceed

Recent steady partner (Story 2)

% (n)

I would Proceed without risk % (n)

I would proceed in spite of the risk % (n)

43.7(163 )

27.2(44)

59.3(96)

13.6(22)

100(162)

4.3(4)

24.9(93)

17.6(16)

61.5(56)

20.9(19)

100(91)

65.8(77)

17.1(20)

31.4(117 )

12.1(14)

51.7(60)

32.2(42)

100(116)

100(243)

100(33)

100(373)

100(74)

100(212)

100(83)

100(369)

Total

I would not proceed

% (n)

Do not answer = 0

Total % (n)

Do not answer = 4

Tabla 5. Number of partners with whom they have had full sexual intercourse and intended behaviour without a condom

significant gender differences in the variables mentioned. The changes observed can be considered both positive and negative. To begin with, greater equality between male and female teenagers sexual behaviour is desirable, but it is also worth pointing out that in this case the tendency to equality brings about a higher number of females who expose themselves to risky sexual behaviour. Even though the use of condoms is high in both genders, its systematic use gets reduced to a third in both males and females. As Guerrero et al. point out, the problem of teenage sex is not that teenagers are sexually active, but that they may not be prepared or adequately counselled about responsible sexual behaviour. The unsystematic use of condoms may not result from lack of information or availability of the prophylactics, since, according to the findings from this study, more than 90% of sexually active youths report using it as the main protection method. Some other research studies also confirm that the condom is reported by teenagers to be the most efficient method to prevent STD and unwanted pregnancy (Espadalé et al., 2005). This makes us think about the adequacy of the sexual education initiatives carried out over the last few decades. They seem to have been very effective in terms of disseminating information and increasing knowledge (WHO, 2006), but their usefulness is not so clear in relation to promoting self

DISCUSSION Self reported heterosexual behaviour The findings show a high number of sexually active students in the sample under study. Over half of the participants report having had full sexual intercourse and more than half of the participants who have a partner have already had more than one. In addition to this, the condom is the main contraceptive method, as nine out of ten sexually active youths report using it in spite of the fact that only six out of ten report its systematic use. No differences are found in relation to gender when heterosexual behaviour is self reported, specifically, when dealing with experience in full sexual intercourse, with the number of sexual partners or with the use of condoms. The studies conducted in Spain at the end of the 1990s by Lameiras and Frailde (1997) and by Planes et al. (2000) found that among sexually active university students, the males had had sexual relationships with two or more partners more frequently than the females. Later studies which were also carried out with Spanish university students (Lameiras et al., 2002) first found some gender significant comparison as for sexual activity and more systematic use of the condom. Finally, the results obtained in this study, which was carried out with younger teenagers, also find that there are no

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Aymerich, Planes, Gras, & Vila: Heterosexual intercourse, use of the condom and intentional risky behaviour in 11th and 12th grade students

control or negotiation abilities, or in relation to a responsible use of condoms in situations of sexual intimacy.

mind the possible bias of social desirability associated to data collection by means of self reports. Furthermore, we need to point out that the study sample is rather small and has been intentionally selected among public “Bachillerato” schools. So the findings have to be regarded in relation to the sample under study and not to try and generalize it to the whole group of 11th and 12th grade students. All in all, the data obtained raise a series of points that could be of interest for teenage sexual education programmes. First of all, it is worth bearing in mind that more than half the post-obligatory secondary education students have already had full heterosexual intercourse and practically a third reports having experienced behaviours that are risky for their health. Therefore, giving information about the importance of using a condom in sexual intercourse with penetration is not enough. It is fundamental to insist that its use should be systematic. Over the last few years, sexual education initiatives have mainly focused their efforts in spreading reliable and rigorous information about anatomy, physiology, hygiene, and sexual and reproductive health, which have undoubtedly provided valuable and necessary knowledge. Thanks to it, today’s teenagers are aware that unprotected sexual intercourse may lead to pregnancy, infection of human papillomavirus, AIDS or other STDs. They also know that condoms are an efficient measure to prevent such risks (Beiztegui, 2006) and that they can be purchased at a chemist’s, in supermarkets or in the privacy of the vending machines. We can make a very positive assessment of all this development but also making it clear that it is not enough. According to Beiztegui (2006), information is important, but thinking that it is the only variable that directly leads to having safe sex implies knowing nothing of the world of emotions, thoughts or abilities necessary to perform healthy behaviour. It is necessary to improve, from the knowledge of what with, how and why to act safely during sexual intercourse, up to initiatives focused on the development of self control, respect, reciprocity, responsibility and, all things considered, on the psycho-affective dimension that undoubtedly shape the complex nature of human sexuality. The teenage tendency to show themselves more prone to skipping the use of a condom with a recent steady partner than with a casual one is one more important fact to bear in mind. Given the characteristic brevity and variety of sexual partners during this stage of youth, sexual education programmes should emphasise the risks of serial monogamy without protection and on the false feeling of safety that it often brings about. The results also indicate that having had sexual intercourse with no more than one partner is related to more conservative and safer sexual intended behaviour. All of this reinforces the relevance of the ABC sexual prevention programmes (ABC standing for abstinence, faithfulness and condoms), which are characterised in part by putting special emphasis on delaying initiation in sexual intercourse with penetration for as long as possible, whether vaginal, anal or oral, on being faithful to the steady partner and on always using a condom in case of sex with

Intended behaviour in face of heterosexual intercourse without protection The intended behaviour manifested by the participants in face of sexual intercourse without protection is for sex without penetration in more than half of the males and the females. These results may be considered from two points of view. First, they deserve positive assessment in as much as they show that a high percentage of teenagers would proceed with the sexual encounter with the choice of alternatives safe for their health, whether by means of abstinence, masturbation or sexual stimulation with the partner without penetration. This intended behaviour is well oriented, since it aims at enjoying sexual possibilities in a pleasant and safe way. However, these percentages need to be considered in the light of the possibility that some youths who have reported being ready to continue without penetration may mistakenly think that fellatio is included in the safe-sex category, as some studies have found. (Cornell and HalpernFelsher, 2006; Planes et al., 2006). In addition to this, we also need to point out that there is still a group of 11th and 12th grade students who would be ready to proceed with sexual intercourse without any protection, running the risk of serious diseases or exposing themselves to a possible undesired pregnancy. Another aspect to draw attention to is the greater intended risky behaviour with recent steady partners in contrast to casual partners and of males versus females. These findings are in full agreement with the results of studies conducted among Spanish university students in the last decade (Lameiras et al., 2002; Planes et al., 2006; Planes et al., 2000). Our findings also corroborate that teenage relationships are not usually long lasting. To be precise, more than half of the 16 to 19 year old sexually active teenagers report that they are already having a relationship with a second, third or fourth partner, with the risk that this represents if they are not systematic in their use of condoms. As a matter of fact, serial monogamy (having monogamous relationships with a succession of partners) may confer false security in relation to STD transmission (Planes et al., 1999). According to what the findings show, it seems to be clear that having had no previous sexual relationships or having had them with only one partner is related to more conservative and healthier intended behaviour, whereas having had sex with more than one partner is related to a tendency to consummate sexual intercourse, whether without risk or in spite of it. This may be due to a number of reasons, namely because the more conservative youths with greater self control are those who opt for not yet having intercourse with penetration or for having it with only one partner, or because the beginning of full sexual intercourse with a number of partners favours some relaxation in following protection rules, in favour of passion or momentarily improvisation. Finally, we need to point out some limitations to this study. First, we need to bear in

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perspectiva del sida. Boletín informativo del Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Madrid: INEBase

penetration (Barnett and Parkhurst, 2005). With all of this, we need to bear in mind that teenage sexual education programmes influence a group characterised by a degree of maturity and self control whose development is still at an incipient stage. It is evident that by increasing their knowledge we only partially contribute to forging their development. For this reason, the importance of psycho-sexual or, rather, sexual-affective education, is undeniable. From the field of psychology of health we should advocate and favour a sexual education of teenagers which is oriented to their comprehensive personal development, with special attention to their emotional, behavioural and social dimensions. Only in this way shall we really help young people enjoy and understand their sexuality in a mature, satisfactory and responsible way.

LaBrie, J., Earleywine, M., Schiffman, J., Pedersen, E. y Marriot Ch. (2005). Effects of alcohol, expectancies, and partner type on condom use in college males: Event-Level analyses. The Journal of Sex Research, 42 (3), 259-266. Lameiras, M. (1997). Sexualidad y salud en jóvenes universitarios/as: Actitudes, actividad sexual y percepción de riesgo de la transmisión del VIH. Cuadernos de Medicina Psicosomática, 42-43:46-61 Lameiras, M. y Failde, J.M. (1997). Sexualidad y salud en jóvenes universitarios/as: actitudes, actividad sexual y percepción de riesgo de la transmisión heterosexual del VIH. Sexuality and health in university men and women: Attitudes, sexual activity and perception of the risk of heterosexual transmission of HIV. Análisis y Modificación de Conducta, 23 (93), 27-63.

REFERENCES Barnett, T. y Parkhurst, J. (2005). HIV/AIDS: Sex, abstinence and behaviour change. The Lancet Infectious Disseases, 5, 590-593.

Lameiras, M., Rodríguez, R. y Dafonte, S. (2002). Evolución del la percepción de riesgo de la transmisión heterosexual del VIH en universitarios/as españoles/las. Psicothema, 14 (2), 255-261.

Bayés, R., Pastells, S. y Tuldrá, A. (1995). Percepción de riesgo de transmisión del virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) en estudiantes universitarios. Cuadernos de Medicina Psicosomática, 33, 22-27.

Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Dirección General de Salud Pública y Secretaría sobre el Plan Nacional sobre el Sida y Instituto de Salud Carlos III. (2005). Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual. Resultados 2003. Evolución 1995-2003. Recuperado 2 de Mayo de 2007, de http://cne.isciii.es /htdocs/sida/its.pdf

Beiztegui, J.L. (2006). Hacia una nueva educación contraceptiva y sexual: reflexiones en torno a la eficacia de la pedagogía contraceptiva actual en las relaciones eróticas de nuestros jóvenes. Revista de Juventud- Adolescencia y comportamiento de género, 73, 59-67.

Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. (2006). La interrupción voluntaria del embarazo y los métodos anticonceptivos en jóvenes. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo.

Berer, M. (2006). Dual protection: more needed than practised or understood. Reproductive Health Matters, 14 (28), 162-170. Castillo, G. (2000). El adolescente y sus retos. La aventura de hacerse mayor. Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide.

Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales. (2004). Informe de la juventud en España 2004. Condiciones de vida y situaciones de los jóvenes. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales.

Cornell, J. y Halpern-Felsher, B. (2006). Adolescents tell us why teens have oral sex. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38 (3), 299-301.

Moreno, M.C., Muñoz, M.V., Pérez, P. y Sánchez, I. (2002). Los adolescentes españoles y su salud. Un análisis en chicos y chicas de 11 a 17 años. Resumen del estudio “Health Behavior in School Aged Children” (HBSC-2002). Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo.

Espadalé, E., Planes, M. y Gras, M.E. (2005). Percepción del riesgo de transmisión sexual del VIJ en estudiantes de Bachillerato. Psiquis, 26 (1), 2832.

Observatorio de Salud de la Mujer. (2005). Interrupción voluntaria del embarazo en población adolescente y juventud temprana. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo.

Guerrero, M.D., Guerrero, M.; García-Jiménez, E. y Moreno, A. (2008). Conocimiento de los adolescentes sobre salud sexual en tres institutos de educación secundaria valencianos. Revista Pediátrica de Atención Primaria, 10, 433-442. Hocking, J., Turk, D. y Ellinger, A. (1999). The effects of partner insistence of condom usage on perceptions of the partner, the relationship and the experience. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 355-269

Organización Mundial de la Salud. (2006). Preventing HIV/AIDS in young people. World Health Organitations Technical Report Series nº 938. Recuperado 15 de Febrero de 2009, de http://www.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp

Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (2004). Salud y hábitos sexuales. Las conductas sexuales desde la

Planes, M., Gómez, A.B., Gras, M.E., Font-Mayolas, S., Cunill, M., Aymerich, M. y Soto, P. (2006).

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Cambios en las percepciones de riesgo frente al SIDA de los estudiantes universitarios durante la última década. Cuadernos de Medicina Psicosomática y Psiquiatría de Enlace, 76/77, 39-45. Planes, M., Gras, M.E., Soto, J. y Font-Mayolas, S. (1999). Transmisión heterosexual del VIH y monogamia serial en estudiantes universitarios Psiquis, 20(6), 167-269. Planes, M., Gras, M.E., Soto, J. y Font-Mayolas, S. (2000). Percepción de riesgo y comportamientos heterosexuales relacionados con la prevención del sida en jóvenes universitarios. Análisis y Modificación de Conducta, 26 (107), 365-389. Registro de Interrupción Voluntaria del Embarazo, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Dirección General de Salud Pública y el Observatorio de Salud de la Mujer (2006). La interrupción voluntaria del embarazo y métodos anticonceptivos en jóvenes. Recuperado 2 de Mayo de 2007, de http://www.msc.es/novedades/docs/interrupcion2006. pdf Salgado, E. (2006) Presentación de la campaña institucional del Ministerio de Sanidad para promover la salud sexual entre adolescentes y jóvenes. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. Seoane, L. (2002). Evaluación cualitativa de una campaña de promoción del uso del preservativo en la población adolescente y juvenil de la comunidad de Madrid. Revista Española de Salud Pública, 76, 509516. Van Empelen, P. y Kok, G. (2006). Condom use in steady and casual sexual relationships: Planning, preparation and willingness to take risks among adolescents.. Psychology & Health, 21 (2), 165-181. Williams, S., Doyle, T., Pittman, L., Weiss, L. Fisher, D. y Fisher, W. (1998). Roleplayed safer sex skills of heterosexual college students influenced by both personal and partner factors. AIDS and Behavior, 2(3), 177-187.

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Emotional intelligence. A theoretical approach M.A. Romero B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Patient Health Promotion and Support ABSTRACT This work sets out to emphasise the importance of Emotional Intelligence at the present time, from a theoretical point of view. To this end, some of the most relevant contributions made by authors who have worked in this field over the last decade, are presented. The importance that this field entails in the life of an individual is underlined and it becomes clear throughout all these works that to encourage emotional intelligence is to promote good health, thanks to putting into practice emotional competencies. Key words: emotional intelligence; health; emotional competencies.

INTRODUCTION The term emotional state has been a constant both in the permanent observation of people that I have treated for many years and in the relationship between their mood and the diseases that they have suffered from. Some time ago, after having read the book by D. Servan-Schreiber (2004) Healing without Freud or Prozac, also known as The Instinct to Heal, in the USA and Canada, I could corroborate what I had been feeling without any scientific basis whatsoever. As a psychiatrist, he questioned the contempt for traditional medicines that had been instilled into him during his years as a student. He shared with his readers one of the greatest discoveries in recent decades, namely the existence of an emotional brain which is independent from the neocortex, and whose control encompasses both psychological well-being and the functioning of the heart, blood pressure, hormones, the digestive system and the immune system. In my particular case, the content of this book encouraged my interest in emotional intelligence. Theories and Approaches to Emotional Intelligence (EI) The origins of the term emotional intelligence (IE) date back to 1990, when Peter Salovey, from the University of Yale, and John Mayer, from the University of New Hampshire, published an article entitled “Emotional Intelligence” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990) and this created great interest in the idea. Salovey and Mayer are the real coiners of the term, which they define as the ability to accurately perceive, evaluate and express emotions; the ability to have access to and/or to generate

feelings which make thinking easier; the ability to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and the ability to manage emotions by promoting emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer and Salovey, 1997, p. 4). Their contributions can be regarded as a starting point from which a great number of studies on emotional intelligence have been developed and it is also important to acknowledge the USA as the most advanced country in this line of research. The theoretical model used by Mayer and Salovey regards EI as a genuine type of intelligence (Extremera y Fernández Berrocal, 2003) based on the adaptive use of emotions in our cognition in such a way that the individual is able to solve problems and adapt effectively to the environment. This conceptualisation emphasises the role of the emotional processing of information and adopts a more cognitive approach, which makes it different from other considerations, such as that of the mixed model (Bar-on, 2000; Goleman, 1998), which define emotional intelligence as a set of personality traits. That is the case of the interest shown by Profesor McClelland, from the University of Harvard, who in the 1960s, attempted to analyze the determiners of professional success and, some years later, in his paper “Testing for competence rather than for intelligence” affirmed that school marks, academic knowledge and intelligence quotient do not predict better performance (McClelland, 1973). He wanted to show that “competencies” or personal characteristics are what people who perform better put into play.. He died in 1998 but not without beforehand sharing his knowledge and scientific evidence accumulated over more than thirty years. Personal success has traditionally and fundamentally been related to a person’s intelligence

Romero: La Inteligencia Emocional: abordaje teórico

quotient. However, this assertion is nowadays being substituted by proof that less than 20% of success is related to IQ and the remaining 80% corresponds to other more important factors. This is the line of thought in which the contributions by Howard Gardner, a psychologist from the Harvard School of Education, can be placed. According to his work, Frames of Mind (1983), the IQ theory would lose the dominant position it had held since from the First World War. Gardner is fundamentally known for his theory of multiple intelligences and points out that there is not only one intelligence in the human being, but a diversity of intelligences, which mark the potentials and significant traits of each individual laid out by means of a number of strengths and weaknesses in a whole series of expanding scenarios of intelligence. For Gardner, natural intelligence is not a substratum identical to all individuals, but a unique biopsychological basis made up of multiple potentialities which do not always unfold as a consequence of a standardised education which does not distinguish the differentiating nuances of the individual. Out of the seven types of intelligence that make a difference, it is worth pointing out, on the one hand, interpersonal intelligence, defined as the ability to understand others (how they act, what motivates them, how to relate or cooperate with them satisfactorily); and on the other hand, intrapersonal intelligence, understood as the capacity to form a rigorous and truthful idea of oneself and the ability to use that idea to effectively operate in one’s own life. In the same line are the contributions of psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman, who emphasises the relevance of emotional intelligence over IQ to achieve both professional and personal success (Goleman, 1996, 1998). Goleman suggests a model conceptualised as a “theory of execution” of emotional competences which are applied to the work and business world. The competences that he refers to are fundamentally the following: 1. self-awareness; 2. self-control and 3. motivation. In this way, he identifies IE with traits closely related to personality. Goleman (1998) agrees with the idea that, even though knowledge, experience and IQ have an importance as threshold requirements, they are these emotional competences that actually determine higher results. He points out that success in life mostly depends on emotional intelligence and that its development is possible from childhood up to the age of retirement. Even though Goleman’s intention was to arouse interest in the educational world, he could not imagine that the publication of his next book in 1998, Working with Emotional Intelligence, would arouse the interest of the business world, which would acknowledge his work and repeatedly requested him to explain and present his theoretical approach. In 2006 Goleman published Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, where he gathers together the latest discoveries of neuroscience after 1995, through which he hopes to contribute to building a society which encourages those issues that really matter. Looking for the origins of ‘social neuroscience’, he discovered that a scientific conference on this theme was held in 2003, and that

the ‘prophets’ of this new science as he himself calls them, are John Cacioppo and Gary Berntson. Among the discoveries it is worth drawing attention to the ‘mirror neurons’, which register the movements and feelings of others and which immediately predispose us to imitate the same movements and to show the same feelings. The neuroplasticity of the brain explains the role of relationships in the brain’s remodelling, it is the repetition of experiences which shape the form, size, number of neurons and even the brain’s synaptic connections. Goleman sets out to respond to questions such as “how can relationships protect us from illnesses”, and alerts us to research that reveals that “just the fact of thinking of a group that we hate provokes repressed anger”, in such a way that the body gets flooded by stress related hormones, blood pressure increases and the efficiency of the immune system decreases. The antidote for this situation is forgiveness, since forgiveness inverts this biological reaction and reduces the number of these hormones, blood pressure, suffering and depression. He speaks of toxic relationships being a risk factor for illness and even for death, and whose influence on heart diseases is important. Within the framework of emotional intelligence applied to the world of work and more specifically related to leadership is a collaborator of Goleman’s, Richard Boyatzis, a professor in the Department of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University, and an expert in the field of Organisational Behaviour. For these authors, to lead is an ‘emotional task’ in the sense that the leader needs not only to worry about their employees accomplishing an aim, that is, an end, but also that this should take place by means of positive human relationships (the means), (Goleman, McKee and Boyatxis, 2003) From the analysis of almost four thousand managers from all kinds of organisations, they show that emotions are the key for motivation and that being sensitive to them is an essential task for a leader. One of the terms in their model is ‘resonance’ or the ability to inspire others energy, passion and enthusiasm. Resonance is the indispensable success factor in a leader, and has the advantage that it can be learnt. The ‘resonant leader’ is the one who makes you feel valued and who inspires the feelings and the sensation of belonging to a team. (Goleman, McKee and Boyatzis, ibid.) Their work reveals scientific evidence that shows that the emotional competences of a leader have an enormous impact on the effectiveness and results of an organisation. The business world, which had underestimated emotions as it regarded them as an obstacle for the performance of organisations, is precisely the one which currently finds it necessary to admit the benefits of ‘primal’ leadership, which is an essential way for a leader to manage the relation with him/herself and with others. At the same time, they recognize that the emotional states of a leader have a profound effect on their subordinates. The emotions of others can affect us to such an extent that they can even modify our hormone rate, cardiovascular functions, the sleep cycle and

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Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 4 (2008) 71-74

even the immune system. In part, our emotional stability depends on others. If people are physically close, emotional contagion may take place even in the absence of verbal contact. Those who work together, therefore, inevitably end up capturing and sharing the feelings of other people. It seems that mood ends up determining efficiency at work. It takes hours for the stress hormones which are secreted into the blood flow to reabsorb themselves. Hence, an argument with a boss may plunge us into tension and worry for hours. As a matter of fact, the negative influence of a boss can generate more stress than other work related factors. Boyatzis points to laughter as the way to measure the degree of connection between the hearts and minds of the members of a team. From the neurological point of view, laughter is the shortest distance between two people, as their limbic systems immediately get into tune, which he says does not have anything to do with ‘jokes’.

almost automatically irrational? Fortunately, science is in a position to answer these questions. It tells us that we have been victims of an emotional or neuronal highjacking, which is related to the limbic system and, more specifically, to the amygdala. Emotions are inherent to the human being and put us constantly at the risk of losing control. The good news is that there are emotional competences that can be learnt and practised in order to avoid such awkward situations. Paul Ekman, a Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco and an expert on the physiology of emotions, was a pioneer in the study of facial expressions in the 1950s. At that time, scientists used to think that expressions and gestures were learnt socially and varied from one culture to another. Ekman (1980) carried out intercultural studies with members of an isolated tribe in New Guinea and his findings showed that, even though the expression of genuine emotions is automatic and innate, people can actually adhere to manifestation rules which are culturally determined and, furthermore, exert some control over their emotional expression. He admitted that his findings made him change his mind, as the universality of emotions had been demonstrated. In his book Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life, Ekman reveals all that he has learnt about emotions over forty years. He points out that emotions make up the motivation for most of our actions. He discloses that any type of emotion can be enjoyed and that there are even people who enjoy negative emotions. Hence, for example, there are some people who like feeling angry or do not feel uncomfortable whilst feeling afraid. He also points out that recognising an emotion is not the same as understanding its origins, and that it can be more harmful to draw hurried conclusions from someone’s sadness than not noticing that they are sad (Ekman, 2003). Finally, he makes us aware that recognising emotions can have both a constructive use and a destructive one. Lastly, also framed within a biologicist approach, it is worth mentioning Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist from the University of Iowa and Prince of Asturias Award winner in 2005. His studies have revealed the brain areas which exert a decisive influence on human behaviour, particularly on emotional processes and the elaboration of feelings, as well as giving a better understanding of the cerebral bases of language and memory. According to Damasio, the problem that we are now facing is how to spread scientific knowledge among the public in general, especially among educators and politicians, as people need to understand the importance of learning about emotions. In order to address social conflict, it is necessary to understand social emotions. To this end an institute to study this issue was established in Southern California. Damasio points out that there are not two categories of people, namely one group of good people and another group of bad people, but the human being is capable of the very best and the very

The biologicist dimension of emotional intelligence The mind is not only cognitive or only emotional. It is both things and many more. An issue essential to neurobiology is establishing how the brain processes emotional information. Joseph LeDoux, a neurophysiology researcher in the of the Center for Neural Science at the University of New York, made important discoveries about the physiology of the brain in the 1980s. In his work The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life (LeDoux, 1996) he reveals the prominent role of the amygdala as the nucleus of the limbic system as well as the importance of its role in the emotional brain. Contrary to common belief, awareness of a feeling is not necessary in order to produce an emotional response, given the fact that an emotional response implies unconscious mechanisms (LeDoux, 1995, 2000). The cognitive elements of emotions are mediated by pathways which put the amygdala in contact with the cortex, where the most developed areas of the brain are situated. Unconscious responses depend on subcortical structures of the nervous system. It is necessary to remember that until now neuroscience had held that the signals emitted by the sensory organs were routed through the thalamus, the neocortex, the limbic system and the efferent pathways. What LeDoux found out was the existence of a shorter secondary pathway that directly connects the thalamus and the amygdala. It is sort of a “bridge” that allows the amygdala to directly receive signals from the senses and to emit a response before the signals are registered by the neocortex. This route accounts for the great power emotions have to override reason, which gives rise to “emotional highjacking.” In order to understand this concept it is important to reflect a little. If we make a small effort, we can all remember when we last lost control and “exploded” either with our child, a relative, a friend or with a patient. When we later unemotionally analyse what had happened, we are surprised and even ask ourselves how we could say or do such an outrageous thing, what could have happened to bring about such behaviour. All in all, what is it that happens to the human being to become so easily and

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Romero: La Inteligencia Emocional: abordaje teórico

Gardner, H. (1993) Inteligencias múltiples: la teoría en la práctica. Barcelona: Paidós

worst. For example, someone who is able to love and take care of a baby is also able to throw it into the rubbish bin. The objective of a good education is to organize the emotions in such a way as to foster the good ones and eliminate the worst. That is to say, the issue deals with fostering positive emotions to the detriment of the negative to the point that they are neutralised, given the fact that, as human beings, we have both types. (Damasio, 2005).

Goleman, D. (1995). La inteligencia emocional. Barcelona: Kairós Goleman, D. (1998). La práctica de la inteligencia emocional. Barcelona: Kairós. Goleman, D. (2006) Barcelona: Kairós

CONCLUSION The explanation of some theories and approaches to emotional intelligence has made it possible to fulfil the aim of sharing them with professionals of psychology and, above all, of summarising them for those who have not yet had the opportunity to know about this theme. With this a number of conclusive ideas can be arrived at. Firstly, emotional intelligence does not mean the triumph of reason over feeling. It is rather an intersection of both. Secondly, it is undoubtedly necessary to encourage research in this field because of its important role in all contexts and because of its repercussions both on the individual himself and on others. Finally, it should be said that promoting its development, its dissemination and its application on a day by day basis could lead to an improvement in public health.

LeDoux, J.E. (1996) El Barcelona: Ariel

social.

cerebro emocional.

LeDoux, J.E. (2000).Emotions circuits in the brain. Annual Review Neuroscience, 23 (155-184). Mayer, J.D. y Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds). Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Educators (p. 3-31) Nueva York: Basic Books. Mayer, J., Salovey, P. y Caruso, D. (2000). Emotional intelligence as Zeitgeist, as personality, and as mental ability. En R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of emotional intelligence (pp. 92-117). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Bar-On, R. (2000). Emotional and social intelligence: Insights from the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). En R. Bar-On y J.D.A. Parker (Eds.). The handbook of emotional intelligence: Theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace. (pp. 363-387). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass Inc.

McClelland, D. (1973) Medir la competencia en vez de la inteligencia. Barcelona: Debolsillo. Pérez, N. y Castejón, J.L. (2006). Relación entre la inteligencia emocional y el cociente intelectual con el rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios. Revista electrónica de Motivación y Emoción, 4, 22.

Boyatzis, R.E. (1999). Self-directed change and learning as a necesary meta-competency for success and effectiveness in the 21st century. En R. Sims & J.G. Veres (Eds.), Keys to employee success in the coming decades (pp. 15-32). Westport: Greenwood.

Salovey, P. y Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211.

Cacioppo, J. T., Berstson, G.G. (2004) Essays in social neuroscience. Cambridge. MA: MT Press error de

inteligencia

Goleman, D., McKee, A. y Boyatzis, R.E. (2003) El líder resonante crea más. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés

REFERENCIAS

Damasio, A. (2005) El Barcelona: Editorial crítica.

La

Descartes.

Ekman, P. (1980). The face of man. En Expressions of universal emotions in a New Guinea Village. Garland STMP Press. New York. Extremera, N. y Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2003). La inteligencia emocional: Métodos de Evaluación en el Aula. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación. Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books (traducción castellano, Estructuras de la mente. La teoría de las inteligencias múltiples. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1987, última edición, 2001.

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Norms of publication

Norms for the publication of papers in Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology General: The Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology is a journal published by the Department of Personality and Psychological Assessment and Treatment of the University of Seville (Spain), that tries to compile all those scientific contributions of the area of Clinical and Health Psychology that may be of interest for professionals and scientists dedicated to the study of human behaviour. Therefore, the journal would like to accept and publish empirical papers on any relevant aspect related to the field of Personality and Psychological Assessment and Treatment, as well as theoretical contributions, clinical cases, comments on researches, books’ reviews or any other type of work that may be relevant and / or of great contribution and impact for our scientific field. Papers sent to the journal are to be original and unpublished. Therefore, all papers already published or submitted at the same time to another journal will not be admitted. Once papers are accepted, authors will transfer copyright to the Department of Personality and Psychological Assessment and Treatment of the University of Seville (Spain) which is the publisher and may print and reproduce in any manner and by any means all papers submitted and accepted. Opinions and information contained in papers are exclusive responsibility of the authors. Likewise, all persons subscribing a paper are understood to have given their agreement for the evaluation and spreading of the same. All published papers will follow the accepted guidelines of ethics and professional deontology. General Norms for submission, structure and presentation: Original papers are to be sent to the Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology per common post (annexing original and three copies) as well as per email (including all the related files in a compatible word processor and specifying the title of the attached file(s) as well as the name of the word processor in the email). This last means is to be used with the purpose of shortening the procedure for publication in case the paper is finally admitted. Papers are to be sent to the following address: Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad de Sevilla C/ Camilo José Cela s/n 41018 – SEVILLA (SPAIN) The journal’s email is :[email protected] Once the original paper is received, a confirmation will be sent as soon as possible to the main author of such paper. Papers shall have a maximum length of 25 – 35 pages (see exceptions in paragraphs corresponding to specific norms for theoretical papers and clinical cases) written in double space (size DIN A-4), without indentations or page breaks, pages printed only one face and consecutively numbered. Articles are to be written in English or Spanish. Spanish versions will be traduced into English if accepted for publication. The first page of every submitted article is to contain the following: Title of the paper in English and Spanish. Name and Surname of authors and degree or professional or academic qualification. Full address, including phone and email, of the author with whom the journal is to be in contact. The second page is to contain the abstract of the paper in English, which will have a maximum length of 175 words (each section – objectives, methods, results, etc. – is to be mentioned), together with the key words (maximum 5). The third page is to include a Spanish abstract and the corresponding key words. The fourth page is to again contain the title of the article, without the names of the authors, and the text is to be developed. The structure or sections to be included in the papers are specified in the specific norms for each type of publication: empirical (see paragraph 14), theoretical (see paragraphs 15 to 17) or clinical cases (see paragraphs 18 to 21).



 Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology

Tables and illustrations (graphics, figures, etc.) contained in papers are to be submitted separately, each one in a different page, correlatively numbered and together with a header containing the number and title of the same allowing the clear identification of its content. The desired and approximate place for tables and / or illustrations is to be indicated in the text. Tables are to be simple and in accordance with the norms and styles of APA and are not to include vertical lines. All quotations appearing in the paper are to be present in the list of references and all references are to be quoted in the text. Quotations are to be inserted in the text (never as footnote). Authors’ surnames are to be written in lower-case with the exception of the first letter. Initials of names are not to be specified unless necessary in order to distinguish two authors with the same surname (Example: J.M. Zarit y Zarit, 1982). If the author’s surname is part of the narration, only the year of publication of the article is to be included between brackets (example: According to Olesen (1991) three different types of sensory afferents in migraines can be distinguished…). If the surname and publication date are not part of the narrative, both elements are to be included between brackets, separated by a comma. (Example: Three different sensory afferents in migraines can be distinguished (Olesen, 1991)…) If a paper has two authors, both surnames are to be quoted every time the reference appears in the text (ex: Folkman and Moskowitz (2004) reviewed the situation of the investigation of the confrontation strategies…). If a paper has three, four or five authors, all of them are to be quoted the first time the reference appears in the text, and, in the following quotations of the same paper, only the surname of the first author followed by the phrase “et all” and the year of publication are to be written (for ex: Rodríguez, Terol, López and Pastor (1992) adapted the questionnaire…As mentioned before, Rodríguez et al. (1992) adapted the questionnaire…). If a paper has six or more authors, then only the surname of the first author is to be mentioned followed by the phrase “et all” together with the date of publication, as from the first quotation in the text. If two or more works by different authors are quoted in a same reference, they will be written alphabetically, surnames and respective publication dates separated by a semicolon within the same brackets (for example:…it is absurd to dissociate the confronting strategies from the personality of the person using them ((Bouchard, 2003; Bouchard, Guillemette and Landry-Léger, 2004; David and Suls, 1999; Ferguson, 2001; Vollrath and Torgersen, 2000)…). If there are several quotations of the same author, the surname and publication dates of the different works are to be written separated by commas and followed by a letter if being from the same year (for example:…as stated by McAdams (1995, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c)…) The list of bibliographic references is to appear in a new page, at the end of the paper, in alphabetical order by the authors’ surnames and initials. The second line of each entry of the list is to be indented in five spaces (one indentation). The titles of books or journals are to be written in italics and, in the case of journals, the italics are to cover not only the title but up to the number of the issue (including the commas before and after the issue number). Only one space is to be left after every punctuation mark. For example: Aspinwall, L. G., and Taylor, S. E. (1997). A stitch in time: self-regulation and proactive coping. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 417-436. Lazarus, R. S. (2000). Estrés y emoción. Manejo e implicaciones en nuestra salud. Bilbao: Descleé de Brower. (Orig., 1996). The format of periodic publications is to be the following: Author, Y. Y. (year). Title of Article. Title of journal, issue, number, pages. For example: Amirkhan, J. H. (1990). A factor analytically derived measure of coping: the Coping Strategy Indicator. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59 (5), 1066-1074. The format of non-periodical publications is to be: Author, Y. Y. (year). Title of the work. Place of Publication: Publisher. For example: Miró, J. (2003). Dolor crónico. Procedimientos de evaluación e intervención psicológica. Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer. In the case of chapters of books, the format is to be: Author, Y. Y. (year). Title of the quoted work. Directors, Publishers, Compilers or Coordinators (Dir., Pub., Comp. or Coord.), Title of the Book (pages). Place of Publication: Publisher. Sánchez-Cánovas, J. (1991). Evaluación de las estrategias de afrontamiento. En G. Buela-Casal y V. E. Caballo (Eds.), Manual de Psicología Clínica Aplicada (pp 247-270). Madrid: Siglo XXI. References to lectures are to have the following format: Author(s) followed by the year and month between brackets, the title of the lecture in italics, name of the conference and city where celebrated. For example:



 Norms of publication

Beixo, A. (2003, mayo). Personalidad y afrontamiento de enfermedades crónicas. Comunicación presentada en el III Congreso Internacional de Psicología de la Salud, Sevilla, España. References to electronic resources have to provide, at least, the title of the resource, date of publication or date of access and the address (URL) of the Web resource. If possible, the author of the resource is to appear as well. The basic format is to be: Author of the webpage. (Publication date or date of review of the page, if available). Title of the webpage or place. Recovered on(Date of Access), from (URL-address). For example: Sanzol. J. (2001). Soledad en el anciano. Recovered on May 12 of 2004, from http://www.personal.uv.es/sanzol. In case of doubt on any other rule for publication not contemplated above, the guidelines established in the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001) are to be followed. Specific Norms for empirical works: Articles of this section are to be relevant contributions in the field of Clinical and Health Psychology. They will follow the logical order and a clear and structured presentation according to the following order: Introduction and Justification of the work. Objectives and hypothesis Method: participants; design, variables and control conditions; materials and / or instruments and procedure. Results Discussion Conclusions References Specific Norms for theoretical works: The Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology gathers theoretical articles from different points of view (cognitive, dynamic, behavioural, systemic, etc.) that represent important contributions on the different contemplated contents. Articles in this section are to contain, as well as the others, a logical order and a clear and structured presentation. They are to express a justification for the relevance of the subject dealt with (in the introduction) and an express practical contribution so that the professional may obtain a reference of the application nature (independently from the theoretical line) of the subject to be treated (in the discussion of the same). The maximum length of the entire work is to be of 10 pages and the structure is to be the following: Introduction and thesis (aspect to be expound or defended) Discussion Conclusions (short and clearly delimited). References (maximum 20). Specific norms for the exposition of clinical cases: In this section, the description of one or more clinical cases is to be collected, which presume a contribution and / or important repercussion to the knowledge of the analyzed process, due to their peculiarities. Articles in this section, besides following a logical order and clear presentation, may follow these structures: Theoretical Background Participants Processes for Assessment Treatment Results References

Or:

a) Introduction b) Description of the clinical case(s) c) Discussion d) References

Maximum length of the work is to be 5–20 pages and bibliographic references are not to exceed 20.



Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology

In the description of cases, no real name or initials of the patients with whom the research for publication has been performed are to be mentioned. Review and Publication of Works: Works meeting the requirements mentioned above will be anonymously reviewed by experts on the subject, who will inform the direction of the journal of the valuation and possible modifications to be made to the same. Such valuation will be sent by the direction to the author within a maximum period of three months. Once the article has been valuated, modified (if applicable), reviewed and definitely accepted, the publication of the article is to be determined by the direction and the main author is to be informed of the date and issue where the article is to be published. In any case, the final decision for publication of an article is responsibility of the direction of the journal. Accepted articles not appearing in the last issue of the journal, are to be published in the next editions, and, in the meantime, they will be kept in the list of accepted articles pending publication. Articles not meeting the established norms or not accepted for publication will neither be submitted to review nor given back to the authors, although the reasons for their exclusions are to be notified. In any case, the journal reserves the right to introduce modifications appropriate for the fulfilment of the established norms. The delivery of an article to the Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology assumes the acceptance of all the above mentioned norms by the authors of the submitted original work.