Isabel M. Bernedo

• Ph.D.
• Associate Proffesor at University of Malaga

This study explores the views of foster families and social workers, and often-overlooked parents of foster children on the benefits and drawbacks of visits. It also values changes in families’ perspectives after participating in a positive parenting program to improve visits quality. Findings from pre-post- semistructured interviews revealed littl...

The aim of the article is to explore the tensions and dilemmas that arise when bottom-up projects involving young people are placed within policy- and administratively driven institutions. The tensions and dilemmas are illustrated through three cases. The first case illustrates the colliding interests that can arise when institutions seem unable to...

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la situación de los acogimientos en familia ajena con visitas entre el acogido y su familia biológica en las provincias de Málaga, Granada y Jaén; y examinar la evolución de dichas visitas y posibles variables asociadas. Los participantes fueron 212 menores, 140 madres y 155 padres biológicos, y 156 familias...

El confinamiento por la pandemia de COVID-19 tuvo un gran impacto en el microsistema familiar, principal contexto de desarrollo, socialización y apoyo para sus miembros. Esta investigación descriptiva busca analizar las preocupaciones, las fuentes de conflicto y los recursos de afrontamiento percibidos como necesarios durante tal confinamiento en f...

Este estudio examina el apoyo social percibido por los progenitores y las familias acogedoras que participaron en la aplicación piloto de un programa psicoeducativo para mejorar la calidad de las visitas que tienen lugar durante el acogimiento familiar entre los niños acogidos y sus familiares. Se llevó a cabo una investigación cualitativa a través...

This study explores whether the frequency and diversity of behaviours observed during contact visits may be used as indicators of visit quality. We observed 20 contact visits and quantified the frequency and diversity of behaviours for both parent and child, classified as positive or negative with respect to the child's well‐being. Quality of visit...

La mayoría de los niños y jóvenes que se encuentran en acogimiento familiar mantienen visitas con sus familiares, con el principal objetivo de mantener las relaciones y la vinculación afectiva con su familia de origen. Las visitas son un espacio único para trabajar con la familia del niño y promover cambios, no solo en ellas, sino también generando...

Despite the important impact that contact with birth parents during non-kinship foster care can have on a child's well-being, there are few psychoeducational programs aimed at improving the quality of visits. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perceptions of changes in birth parents who have completed the first program of this kind to be...

Las investigaciones muestran mayor presencia de dificultades académicas en niños y niñas en acogimiento familiar que en la población general. No obstante, son escasos los protocolos oficiales de detección y las propuestas de intervención específicas. Este estudio identificó las necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo (NEAE) en menores acogidos/a...

The description of the project can be found in Spanish at: https://www.uma.es/relaciones-internacionales/noticias/lema-learning-marginsl-/ And at the following URL you can find the website of the project, with more detailed information in English, Danish, Swedish and Spanish: www.lema.nu ---- ---- La descripción del proyecto se puede encontrar en...

https://journals.copmadrid.org/psed/art/psed2022a6 The positive parenting approach has highlighted the importance of supporting families to perform the functions associated with their parental role and to improve children’s well-being. The aims of this study were to identify and describe the characteristics of family support programmes in Spain, a...

La falta de oportunidades que encuentran los jóvenes migrantes que viajan a España sin sus familias, choca con los sueños que les impulsan a arriesgar sus vidas cruzando desde África hacia Europa. Uno de los grandes retos que tiene hoy la acción socioeducativa que se desarrolla con este colectivo es promover sistemas de apoyo e inclusión que no los...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown have had a far-reaching impact across all levels of society. In Spain, severe restrictions were placed on people’s mobility, and leaving the home was only possible under special circumstances. This study analyzes the impact of lockdown on the family context of foster and non-foster families, focusing...

The lockdown imposed as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic has placed unprecedented stress on families. The family is a key system in relation to child development, and when birth families are unable to meet their child's needs, foster carers become an important source of support in their development. The Double ABC‐X Model of family stress and adap...

El programa Las visitas: un espacio de desarrollo familiar se enmarca dentro del proyecto de investigación “Aplicación de un programa de intervención psicoeducativa para mejorar las visitas entre los niños acogidos y sus familias biológicas” financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Es un proyecto I+D de Fomento de la Investigación...

Objective To identify situations and behaviors occurring during contact visits that are likely to have an impact on a foster child's well‐being. Background It has been argued that contact visits between foster children and birth parents can help to maintain attachment bonds and support the child's development. However, contact continues to be a su...

Following changes to our country's child protection legislation in 2015, adoptees in Spain have the possibility of post‐adoption contact with their birth families. This review aims to provide social workers with a resource to guide their decision‐making by evaluating both the benefits and risks associated with open adoption. Of the 26 studies revie...

This study aims at comparing the nature and processes of contact between children in foster care and their birth families; the relationship between the existence and quality of contact and foster carers’ burden; and the relationship between the existence or not of contact and the existence of reunification plans. Following a quantitative approach,...

La presente investigación busca conocer la percepción del alumnado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria sobre su contexto familiar y, concretamente, si este difiere entre quienes repiten curso y los que no lo hacen. Han participado 296 estudiantes, presentándose un perfil sociodemográfico de ambos grupos, destacando en el de repetidores una mayor di...

This study analyzes the opinions of foster families and social workers regarding the benefits and problems associated with contact visits. Data were gathered through two focus groups, comprising social workers and foster carers, respectively. Both groups agreed that visits were useful for maintaining foster children’s attachment to their birth fami...

This study aims to give voice to parents and gather their views about contact visits in foster care. Participants were 23 birth families who had contact visits with 35 children in non-kinship foster care. Semistructured individual interviews were conducted in order to explore two key aspects: the parents’ opinions regarding the contact visits and t...

Este trabajo presenta un estudio realizado en la Universidad de Málaga en el que se analiza el conocimiento y la predisposición del alumnado ante el acogimiento familiar. Para la recogida de información se usó un cuestionario, respondido por 460 universitarios, y una entrevista semiestructurada, en la que participaron 9. Los resultados evidencian l...

In Spain research has been conducted into the outcomes of foster care, although there is a need for further analysis, especially as regards the variables associated with placement disruption. In 2008 (T1) was collated information on all foster placements that were registered in three Spanish provinces. In 2014 (T2), data were gathered by reviewing...

The aim of this study was to analyse the levels of burden and satisfaction among foster families in Spain, as well as the relationships between these variables and characteristics of the foster children and their carers. Participants were 86 foster families (comprising 71 foster fathers and 86 foster mothers) and the 104 children who they were fost...

Background Few studies have analysed the effects of the parenting style used by foster carers on children's behaviour problems. This study examines the role played by the quality of the emotional relationship with foster carers and the kind of discipline they use as regard internalizing and externalizing problems among foster children.Methods Parti...

Various studies have analyzed the variables that influence the outcome of family foster care. The research aimed to determine whether distinct profiles of foster placements can be identified on the basis of key variables, seeking at the same time to define a predictive function for the success or failure of foster care. Participants were the foster...

It has been argued that contact visits between foster children and birth parents can help maintain attachment bonds and support the child's development. However, some research suggests that such visits can be detrimental. This study analyses the characteristics of contact visits and examines children's perceptions of the emotional relationship they...

This study analyzed foster carers’ and teachers’ assessments of behavior problems and impulsivity/inattention in 104 children in foster care (56 boys and 48 girls). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Conners Parent Rating Scale-Revised were completed by foster parents, while the Teacher’s Report Form (TRF) and the Conners scale were comple...

Inmerso en el acogimiento familiar se considera primordial el mantenimiento de los vínculos entre acogidos y sus padres biológicos. Este trabajo reflexiona sobre la necesidad de estudiar el papel y la intervención con las familias biológicas en el acogimiento familiar. Además de una aproximación a esta temática, se exponen algunos resultados deriva...

The main aim of this study was to identify the factors which are related to the greatest emotional and behavioral problems among children in the context of a foster family. Participants were 104 non-relative foster children and their respective foster families. A structural equation model was designed and tested in order to identify an explanatory...

Although several variables have been reported to be associated with behavioural problems in foster children, few studies have sought to establish more precisely the extent to which these variables may explain problematic behaviour. The main aim of this study is to determine the extent to which certain variables may predict behavioural problems show...

The aims of this research were to analyze: a) the affective relationships showed by families involved in foster care, from the perspectives of both caregivers and foster children; b) the type of discipline used by the caregivers involved; and c) these variables' relationships with some characteristics of the children. Participants were 104 children...

Los objetivos de este estudio fueron analizar: a) las relaciones afectivas en los acogimientos con familia ajena, desde la perspectiva de los acogedores y de los acogidos; b) el tipo de disciplina empleada por los acogedores; y c) las relaciones de estas variables con algunas características de los niños. Los participantes fueron 104 menores (56 ni...

This study analyzed teachers' assessments of behavior problems in 97 children in foster care (54 boys and 43 girls) compared to a gender- and age-matched control group consisting of 97 classmates. The Teacher Report Form (TRF) was applied. The results show that although most of the foster children were within the normal range on the TRF total probl...

The aim of this research is to identify the severity and type of behavioural problems found in a sample of 181 Spanish adolescents, aged 11 and 18, who have been, or still are in the protective system and to provide give up-to-date figures about behavioural problem situations of children are living under protective measures, and to determine the ex...

En este estudio se pretende identifi car la presencia, gravedad y tipo de problemas de conducta utilizando el Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), que presenta una muestra de 181 adolescentes españoles (11-18 años) procedentes del sistema de protección, así como conocer si existen diferencias en problemas de conducta, según el tipo de acogimiento en qu...

Research shows that on kinship foster care the caregivers receive less support, than other kind of foster care. This research analysed 54 grandparents with custody of their grandchildren to determine what support they were receiving. The mean age was 65.9 for the grandfathers and 63.6 for grandmother. In total, they were caring for 70 adolescents w...

Family foster care is a measure of protection little studied in our country. The aim of this research is to analyse the situation of children in foster care and to evaluate the quality of the visits between children with biological parents. The participants were 95 children, 72 biological families and 69 foster families. The instrument used was the...

This research analyses the behavioural problems of adolescents in relation with affection and the form grandparents apply their rules. The sample was composed of 70 adolescents (39 girls and 31 boys, with a mean age of 13.7), and their 54 custody grandparents (36 maternal and 18 paternal). The instruments used were: the Affect Scale and the Rules a...

This research analyzes, for the first time using a Spanish sample, the behavioral problems of adolescents in the custody of their grandparents. The sample consisted of 68 adolescents (31 boys and 37 girls, with a mean age of 13.7 years) in the custody of 54 grandparents with an average age of 65.9 years for the grandfathers, and 63.6 years for the...

The aim of this research was to analyse the relationships between foster grandparents and their adolescent grandchildren. The sample consisted of 54 grandparents from Malaga (Spain), with a mean age of 65.9 for grandfathers and 63.6 for grandmothers, who foster 70 adolescents, 31 boys and 39 girls, with ages ranging between 11 and 17. The majority...

Although parental socialization styles have been investigated in recent years, little research has been carried out on the issue of parental styles in adoptive families. The aim of this research is to analyse parental styles both from the point of view of the parents and of adopted and non-adopted adolescents, taking as covariables the adolescents'...

Las estrategias de socialización parentales han sido poco investigadas en familias adoptivas. Este trabajo analiza la percepción de las estrategias de socialización de los padres y de los hijos adolescentes adoptados y no adoptados, utilizando como covariables el sexo y la edad de los adolescentes. La muestra está formada por 55 adolescentes adopta...

The aim of this research is to analyse the conflicts rate from the point of view of parents and adopted and non-adopted adolescents. 55 adopted adolescents and their adoptive parents; and 402 non-adopted adolescents and their parents (n=258) answered Questionnaire Conflicts by Motrico, Fuentes y Bersabé (2001). The results showed significant differ...

En: Análisis y modificación de conducta Valencia 2004, v. 30, n.133 ; p. 663-691 Los problemas de conducta de los niños y niñas adoptados es un tema muy frecuente en la investigación internacional aunque en España no existe ningún trabajo que analice ésta variable en éste tipo de población. En este artículo se presentan los problemas de conducta de...

Este trabajo analiza el grado de conflicto entre padres e hijos/as teniendo en cuenta tanto la percepción de los propios padres como la de los adolescentes adoptados y no adoptados. 55 adolescentes adoptados y sus padres; y 402 adolescentes no adoptados y sus padres (n= 258) contestaron al Cuestionario de Conflictos de Motrico, Fuentes y Bersabé (2...

En: Psicothema Oviedo 2007, v. 19, n.4 ; p. 597-602 Las estrategias de socialización parentales han sido poco investigadas en familias adoptivas. Este trabajo analiza la percepción de las estrategias de socialización de los padres y de los hijos adolescentes adoptados y no adoptados, utilizando como covariables el sexo y la edad de los adolescentes...

Este estudio se plantea describir y analizar las relaciones familiares de los adolescentes acogidos por sus abuelos/as con los distintos miembros del sistema familiar (con los abuelos/as acogedores, con los padres, con los hermanos y con otros familiares); la manifestación de afecto y comunicación y de crítica y rechazo de los abuelos/as hacia sus...

Los estudios sobre la necesidad de apoyo con familia extensa han puesto de manifiesto que estos acogimientos se caracterizan por recibir menos apoyo que otros tipos de acogimiento. Se ha llevado a cabo un estudio con 54 abuelos acogedores, con una media de edad de 65.9 años para los abuelos y de 63.6 años para las abuelas, que tienen acogidos a 70...