This interdisciplinary initiative provides a series of free materials aimed at improving the skills of workers in these sectors to help adolescents at risk of emotional problems.
09/10/2024.- Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Jaén (UJA) have developed a set of practical tools for the emotional support of adolescents, aimed at educational, health and youth professionals, as well as young people themselves. Its objective is to provide a series of free materials aimed at improving the skills of workers in these sectors when helping the adolescent population at risk of suffering emotional problems.
This initiative arises within the framework of the PROADEMO project (‘PROmocionAnDo the health and EMOtional well-being of adolescents in the educational sector, health and society’), which has presented these materials in the framework of the commemoration this Thursday, October 10 of the World Mental Health Day. The presentation was made by the Vice Rector of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the UJA, Mª Victoria López; the Professor of Psychology of the UJA and main responsible of PROADEMO, Luis Joaquín García; and the UJA researchers and members of PROADEMO, Lourdes Espinosa and José Antonio Muela.
In her speech, Mª Victoria López stressed the usefulness of these materials to offer educators, health and youth workers, as well as society in general, “useful resources to emotionally support adolescents who are at risk of suffering emotional problems”. Similarly, he highlighted the commitment of the UJA with the care of the mental health of young people and the place of reference that the institution occupies in the field of research and knowledge transfer on child and adolescent mental health.
For his part, Luis Joaquín García pointed out that there is currently a high prevalence of emotional problems such as anxiety and depression among people between 12 and 18 years of age. In this sense, he emphasized that “PROADEMO aims to increase the knowledge about health and emotional wellbeing of professionals who are in direct contact with adolescents”.
Specifically, the materials consist of a three-session emotional training guide for professionals, a 22-chapter practical tools guide for professionals, complemented by a triage tool to classify the seriousness and urgency of the most frequent incidents they may face in their interaction with young people, and a series of informative videos aimed at the adolescents themselves to promote their resilience and increase their emotional literacy. In turn, PROADEMO offers classroom or online training courses to transfer this knowledge.
These materials, which can be downloaded for free from the project website, have been co-generated by an interdisciplinary group of specialists in Psychology, Anthropology and Journalism, including Luis Joaquín García, José Antonio Muela and Lourdes Espinosa, together with researchers Jesús Sánchez, David Jiménez, Manuel Vivas, Álvaro Muela and Adelina Ocaña.
In the elaboration and edition of this kit, the PROADEMO project has had the collaboration and support of an External Advisory Board composed of entities such as: the Spanish Youth Institute (INJUVE), attached to the Ministry of Youth and Children, the Spanish Youth Council (CJE), the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA), the Princess of Girona Foundation (FPdGi), the Integral Health group of the FELGTBI+, the Asociación Española de Ayuda Mutua contra Fobia Social y Trastornos de Ansiedad (AMTAES), the Confederación de Organizaciones de Psicopedagogía y Orientación de España (COPOE), the Asociación Andaluza de Técnicos de la Juventud (AATJ) and the Asociación Asturiana para la atención y el cuidado de la infancia (ASACI).
PROADEMO is a project PDC2022-133401-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the State Research Agency and the European Union through the “Next Generation EU” funds within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan).
