Exploring the Instrumental and Emotional Supports for Sustainability and Social Participation

Abstract

The prevalence of instrumental and emotional support received was investigated, and several psychosocial characteristics were studied in a Spanish population of all ages (10–85 years) and different social groups, by using an 88-item online questionnaire, with a total of 2013 respondents. Participants reported on the instrumental and emotional supports they receive, and on a set of psychosocial variables (emotion management, motivation, self-efficacy, social and communication skills, and social support), as well as their sociodemographic data; all of which were considered as contributions to a sustainable world. Instrumental and emotional supports for sustainability were significantly less prevalent among older participants, men, people with low educational levels, low autonomy levels, retired individuals, and those with a low-income level. Older and female participants were able to manage their own and other peoples’ emotions significantly more frequently. Participant motivation was less prevalent among the participants with low autonomy levels and low-income levels. Younger participants with low autonomy levels were significantly less able to perform activities related to their self-efficacy. Extreme age groups, those with higher educational levels, singles, and those living alone, reported feeling lonely more often. These results help identify sociocultural characteristics of adults with low social participation, which is critical for developing useful strategies to promote community engagement and related benefits for older adults.

Gender Differences in Coping and Psychological Adaptation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Given the high degree of distress and constantly changing infor-mation landscape in the early days of the pandemic, the use of this coping strategy may have caused frustration and exacerbated men's anxiety. In addition, research has shown that women are more likely to seek out emotional support than men [62,63], so men who went against this gendered tendency during the pandemic may have been experiencing increased levels of distress. Future research on the comparative effectiveness of acceptance versus other coping strategies in response to pandemic-related stress for men and women would provide further information for the creation of effective prevention and intervention programs that target gender differences in the presentation of anxiety symptoms and disorders.…”

Digital Competence, Validation and Differential Patterns between Spanish and Portuguese Areas as Assessed from the Latest PISA Report as a Pathway to Sustainable Education and Social Concerns

“…Thus, both intra-and intergenerational equity measures are postulated here as a major key to the development of countries [77]. However, it should be noted that events such as globalization, crises related to immigration, war, capitalism or negative prejudices towards certain social groups have a negative impact on societies in terms of the sustainability of countries [78].…”

“…From these ideas, therefore, we can glimpse an idea of education that can be taught in any curricular area, and to which ICTs are postulated as a resource that can ensure its implementation. See the works that evaluate sustainability in virtual education [73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80]. We must not fall into the error of maintaining the same traditional education system without encouraging improvements in learning, so we must commit to learning in which ICTs are accompanied by pedagogical approaches focused on innovation and quality [81].…”