These two initiatives to promote emotional wellbeing in adolescents, led by UJA professor Luis Joaquín García, have contributed to improving the emotional wellbeing of nearly 2,000 adolescents throughout Spain.
10/11/2022.- The researchers of the Department of Psychology of the University of Jaen (UJA) and the Network for the Promotion of Health and Emotional Wellbeing in Young People (PROEM Network), Manuel Vivas and David Jimenez have presented the results of the PROCARE and DAREMOS initiatives to the Directorate General of Childhood, Adolescence and Youth of the Ministry of Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality of the Andalusian Regional Government. The meeting, held in Seville, was attended by the Director General, Francisco José Mora, and the Head of the Prevention and Family Support Service, Pilar Hidalgo.
UJA researchers have developed the benefits obtained with the implementation of these two projects to promote emotional wellbeing in young people. On the one hand, DAREMOS, a pioneering worldwide interdisciplinary initiative focused on the early identification of adolescents at high risk of developing emotional problems through the contributions of epigenetics and language analysis. On the other hand, PROCARE, the first transdiagnostic initiative of selective prevention at international level that has demonstrated its efficacy in the intervention of adolescents at risk (PROCARE+) and at high risk (PROCARE-I) of developing emotional problems such as anxiety or depression.
“Through DAREMOS and PROCARE, we have helped close to 2,000 adolescents. Its implementation has allowed us to identify at-risk or high-risk youth early on and reduce emotional distress and the risk of developing a future emotional problem. In addition, it increases quality of life, resilience or emotional strength, and the ability to manage intense emotions,” says David Jiménez.
“Based on our experience, we have conveyed to the Directorate General for Children, Adolescents and Youth the need to invest urgently in promoting the mental health of young people. To this end, we propose the DAREMOS and PROCARE initiatives and we insist on the importance of interdisciplinary training for educators, health professionals, youth professionals, families and young people themselves so that they can detect risk factors before problems evolve and address them early, along the lines of prevention,” says Manuel Vivas.
For his part, Francisco J. Mora expressed his interest in the mental health situation of Andalusians, as well as the commitment of the Andalusian Regional Government to seek the necessary means to improve prevention in child and youth mental health, based on the information provided by the PROEM Network. In turn, Pilar Hidalgo has presented her work as a member of the working team of the Third Plan for Children and Youth of Andalusia 2023-2027. A document that serves as a diagnosis on childhood and adolescence and aims to establish the objectives and key measures for the next four years in the Andalusian community.
The PROEM Network, led by the professor of the University of Jaen, Luis Joaquin Garcia, and representatives of the Directorate General for Children, Adolescents and Youth have agreed to explore new ways of collaboration to work together to promote the health and emotional well-being of Andalusian adolescents.
This meeting is part of the dissemination phase to institutions of DAREMOS, which has had the participation of researchers from the UJA and the Institute of Biomedical Research of Malaga (IBIMA), in collaboration with Yotta Code, spin off of the UJA; and PROCARE, which has had professionals from the Department of Psychology of the UJA, the University Rovira i Virgili, the University Miguel Hernández of Elche and the University of Miami (USA).
The Youth Institute (INJUVE) of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, the Spanish Association of Mutual Help against Social Phobia and Anxiety Disorders (AMTAES), the Confederation of Organizations of Psychopedagogy and Guidance of Spain (COPOE), the Youth group of the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Bisexual, Intersex and more (FELGTBI+) and the Youth Council of Spain are part of the External Advisory Board of both projects.
The DAREMOS project (1260378) has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía; while the PROCARE project (PID 2019-111138RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) has been funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
