SPAIN

The importance of support networks for adolescent mental health

The study was conducted by Rey Juan Carlos University and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, together with Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universitat Jaume I, Alberto Hurtado University, and Universitat de Girona

Universitat Jaume I

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

The project aims to study the mental health of adolescents aged 14 to 17 living in Spain and to analyse which support networks are important at this stage. To do so, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were combined, yielding several samples: a representative sample of 806 adolescents nationwide and an additional sample of 228 LGTBI+ adolescents for the survey and 44 LGTBQI+ participants in discussion groups.

The results show that 11.2% of adolescents in the overall sample report feeling very or quite unhappy, and 38.8% indicate that they have experienced loneliness regularly in the past year. Regarding depression, 14% would be experiencing severe episodes, and 6.6% would be in very severe episodes.

Additionally, the study finds that 15.7% of respondents report having attempted suicide, 19.8% have considered it, and 29.3% have engaged in self-harming behaviours in the past year, of which 10.5% report thinking about it frequently.

The study was conducted by Rey Juan Carlos University and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, together with Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universitat Jaume I, Alberto Hurtado University, and Universitat de Girona. It is supported by the Social Observatory of the «La Caixa» Foundation.

view more 

Credit: Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

The project aims to study the mental health of adolescents aged 14 to 17 living in Spain and to analyse which support networks are important at this stage. To do so, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were combined, yielding several samples: a representative sample of 806 adolescents nationwide and an additional sample of 228 LGTBI+ adolescents for the survey and 44 LGTBQI+ participants in discussion groups.

The results show that 11.2% of adolescents in the overall sample report feeling very or quite unhappy, and 38.8% indicate that they have experienced loneliness regularly in the past year. Regarding depression, 14% would be experiencing severe episodes, and 6.6% would be in very severe episodes.

Additionally, the study finds that 15.7% of respondents report having attempted suicide, 19.8% have considered it, and 29.3% have engaged in self-harming behaviours in the past year, of which 10.5% report thinking about it frequently.

The study also aimed to compare cisgender heterosexual adolescents with LGTBI+ adolescents and observed higher rates of harassment in the latter group. Results indicate that higher perceived violence and lower family, school and peer support are associated with increased depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and unwanted loneliness, and consequently with lower perceived happiness among adolescents.

"We found that LGTBI+ adolescents have significantly less connection with family and the school environment. Family rejection, peer bullying and microaggressions are associated with higher psychological distress in LGTBI+ adolescents", explains Yolanda Pastor, lead researcher of the study and professor in the Department of Psychology at URJC.

Researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya participated in this project, along with experts from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universitat Jaume I, Alberto Hurtado University, and Universitat de Girona. The project was developed thanks to the support of the Social Observatory of the La Caixa Foundation through the Flash 2023 call (Social, school and family connectedness and mental health in adolescence and vulnerability in LGTB).

Support Networks in Adolescence

The main conclusions of the research emphaside the importance of support networks within the family, school environment, and peer group during adolescence as essential elements for good mental health.

One of the most important actors is the family. Family connectedness refers to the sense of belonging, affection, care, appreciation, and respect received and perceived from family members. It is essential because it provides a safe space that fosters the well-being of young people.

The second key connection refers to the school and students’ perception of whether adults and peers in the school care not only about their learning and academic results but also about their personal experiences and well-being.

"Family and school support are the most influential factors, generating resilience and protection against peer violence and other adversities that sometimes occur", highlights the URJC researcher.

This study also underscores that peer relationships are crucial during adolescence, as they act as protective factors against adversity. Healthy connections strengthen well-being and help adolescents cope with experiences of exclusion, especially when safe and inclusive spaces are created.

References:

Salud mental y redes de apoyo en la adolescencia: miradas desde la diversidad sexual y de género

La conexión entre la escuela, la familia y los iguales como factores protectores de la depresión y el riesgo de suicidio en adolescencia

---

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1547759 

Method of Research

Survey

Article Title

School, family, and peer connectedness as protective factors for depression and suicide risk in Spanish adolescents

 

Tracking plastic in the deep sea: how the Levant Basin (East Mediterranean) became a sink for packaging waste

A new study reveals how plastic bags aren't just polluting our beaches but also their sinking mechanisms to the deepest parts of the Mediterranean deep sea

Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research

X
BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Left: Deep-sea research cruise conducted in 2022. Right: Onboard sampling activities and field observations during the expedition

view more 

Credit: 2022 deep-sea cruise group

A groundbreaking new study has uncovered the Levant Basin as one of the world's most concentrated graveyards for plastic packaging and the mechanisms that help the plastic sink down to the seafloor.

The study, led by the PhD student Xing-Yu Li and Prof Revital Bookman from the University of Haifa, and Dr Yael Segal from Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR), was recently published in Marine Pollution Bulletin and shows for the first time how the southeastern Mediterranean’s Levant Basin hosts some of the highest recorded deep-sea densities of plastic litter. “We used trawls to survey the seafloor and we mainly found plastic bags and packaging that dominate the debris.” says Xing-Yu Li, the leading author of the paper. “We were then curious to understand how the lightweight material, the plastic debris, are transported offshore and sink to the seafloor. We kept asking, what information can each recovered item really tell us?”, continues Xing-yu, “and to answer that we used a multi-marker analysis. In the multi-marker approach anything that is found on a piece of plastic is an evidence. We extracted as many evidnece as possible from every piece of waste, more than many previous studies, to build a fuller, more detailed view of the bottom waste.”

The multi-marker approach is a new framework that can link items such as the size, color, integrity, shape of the collected debris, polymer/additives (e.g., CaCO3), and surface attachments (for example biofilm, tar, minerals) to buoyancy behavior and depth patterns across a large dataset. This novel integrative approach takes the so far “counting” approach (i.e. counting the number of collected plastic debris) to a whole new level of mechanism-oriented evidence for tracing the debris source, offshore export and deep deposition of thin-film plastic packaging. It is the first time that a research evaluated the buoyancy of microplastic collected from the deep sea.

Research findings reveal that the Levant Basin in the southeastern Mediterranean is a major global hotspot for plastic pollution, with extremely high seafloor concentrations of plastic bags and packaging. Furthermore, a “hot belt” of accumulation was found at the edge of the continental shelf (200 m), while the bathyal plain (>1000 m) acts as a final sink due to high pressure and sedimentation. Plastic bags and packaging were mostly polyethylene, some containing CaCO₃ additives that sink closer to shore, while deeper basin plastics lacked such ballast and showed limited biofilm growth due to oligotrophic conditions. Instead, adhesion of sediments, shells, and especially tar enhanced their sinking and stability on the seabed. Although many PBPs could regain buoyancy if disturbed, resuspension is limited, making the deep basin a unique repository for this waste. Sources include land-based inputs (notably Egypt, Israel, and Turkey) and in the deep basin shipping disposals.  Fisheries contribute, surprisingly, little probably due to strict Israeli regulations.

"It’s fascinating in the worst possible way,” says Prof Revital Bookman, “The eastern Mediterranean is quietly turning into a deep-sea landfill. Plastics that we use for only a few minutes are ending up trapped for centuries, threatening deep marine ecosystems we barely understand."

Dr Yael Segal says that “As the head of the national monitoring program, I see firsthand how plastic pollution is impacting the entire sea environment: beaches, water, sea bottom, and even local turtle populations.” According to the monitoring findings, plastic debris at the sea bottom are known worldwide yet the mechanism was not known. “For years in our monitoring reports we have reported a high concentration of plastic debris in this area. It was an unsolved mystery as we know that plastic debris should remain floating on the sea surface. Now we have a deep understanding of how it happens. The Eastern Mediterranean is the most polluted area in the world, and we must take action for the sake of the next generation.”

While plastic packaging constitutes the majority of global plastic usage, there are emerging evidence that plastic films are transported offshore and ultimately accumulate at depth. As a result, they carry significant implications for the health of benthic habitats and for establishing accurate regional plastic mass balances. Furthermore, the observed interaction between plastic debris and tar residues may prompt a reassessment of the fate and transformation pathways of marine pollutants. “This previously overlooked dynamic necessitates a broader perspective on pollution processes in marine environments”. Says Prof Bookman.” Without systematic deep-sea accounting, we risk underestimating the true environmental footprint of plastic pollution and misallocating mitigation efforts by neglecting offshore and deep-sea sinks. In this context, coordinated basin-wide monitoring and management across countries that share the sea, including Egypt and Turkey, are essential for designing integrated strategies that address transboundary pollution and improve mitigation efficiency”.

Plastic packaging retrieved from the seafloor at depths of 200–1300 m, with identifiable barcodes enabling source attribution

Credit

Xing-yu Li

Top: Benthic plastic bags with adhered tar, cut into standardized shapes for analysis. Bottom: Binocular microscope images showing surface morphology of the corresponding samples

Credit

SedLab, university of Haifa.

Journal

Marine Pollution Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118492 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Article Title

Unveiling the levant basin as a unique sink for plastic bags and packaging through comprehensive multi-marker analysis

Nanoplastics detection chip revolutionizes plastic pollution monitoring

A first-of-its-kind method that’s cheap, portable and powerful in detecting harmful nanoplastics particles has been developed by an international consortium of researchers, with far-reaching implications for global health and environmental science

University of Melbourne

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A first-of-its-kind method that’s cheap, portable and powerful in detecting harmful nanoplastics particles has been developed by an international consortium of researchers, with far-reaching implications for global health and environmental science. 

While the dangers of microplastics are widely recognised, smaller nanoplastics are more insidious, infiltrating food, water, and even human organs, and detecting them has been difficult and expensive. 

Described in a paper published today in Nature Photonics, researchers at the University of Melbourne and the University of Stuttgart in Germany have developed a novel “optical sieve” to cost-effectively detect, classify and count nanoplastic particles in real-world environments. 

Dr Lukas Wesemann, who led the Australian arm of the research at the University of Melbourne, said the innovation is able to expose the extent of nanoplastics pollution that can persist for centuries, and provides hope for scalable monitoring of this global environmental and health crisis.  

“Until now, detecting and sizing plastic particles with diameters below a micrometre – one millionth of a metre – has relied on costly tools such as scanning electron microscopes, and been nearly impossible outside advanced laboratories, leaving us blind to their true impact,” Dr Wesemann said. 

“Our novel optical sieve is an array of tiny cavities of varying sizes in a gallium arsenide microchip.” 

When a liquid containing nanoplastics is poured over the sieve, each plastic particle is captured in a void of matching size, sorting them into categories down to a diameter of 200 nanometres. 

“Crucially, it requires only an optical microscope and a basic camera to observe distinct colour changes to light reflecting off the sieve, which allows us to detect and count the sorted particles,” Dr Wesemann said. 

University of Melbourne Associate Professor Brad Clarke and co-author said the invention could make pollution monitoring far more affordable, accessible and mobile. 

“Understanding the numbers and size distribution of nanoplastics is crucial to assess their impact on global health, and aquatic and soil ecosystems,” he said. 

“Unlike microplastics, smaller nanoplastics can cross biological barriers – including the blood-brain barrier – and accumulate in body tissues, raising profound health concerns of toxic exposure.” 

The researchers validated the technique using lake water mixed with nanoplastics, with future testing potentially including identifying nanoplastics in blood samples. 

“In contrast to existing methods like dynamic light scattering, our new method does not require separating the plastics from biological matter,” Dr Wesemann said.  

The researchers are exploring scaling the innovation into a commercially available environmental testing solution. 

The team included scientists from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems and Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants in the School of Chemistry. 

The research was supported by funding, including from the Australian Research Council, European Research Council, the Australia–Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme (Universities Australia-DAAD), the University of Stuttgart and the University of Melbourne. 

---

Journal

Nature Photonics

DOI

10.1038/s41566-025-01733-x 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Optical sieve for nanoplastic detection, sizing and counting

Article Publication Date

8-Sep-2025

 

Hybridization between species has been crucial to the survival of Europe’s most threatened seabird

Hybrids can introduce genetic diversity and adaptive potential

University of Barcelona

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus, above) and the Mediterranean shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan, a below) are two shearwater taxa that are genetically similar despite displaying morphological and migratory differences. The new study shows that these two taxa have undergone recurrent episodes of divergence and hybridization during the Pleistocene glacial and interglacial cycles, respectively. This serves as a key example of how hybridization can help preserve genetic diversity and evolutionary potential in threatened taxa.

view more 

Credit: Víctor París

When individuals from two different species interbreed, hybrid organisms may emerge that display characteristics from both genetic lineages. While hybridization is a common natural phenomenon, it is often seen as a challenge in biodiversity conservation. Now, a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reveals that hybridization between the Mediterranean shearwater and the Balearic shearwater — a seabird at critical risk of extinction — has been decisive in maintaining genetic diversity and facilitating the survival of the most threatened seabird in Europe.

With doctoral student Guillem Izquierdo-Arànega as the main driving force, the research was led by professors Julio Rozas, Marta Riutort and Jacob González-Solís from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio), along with Joan Ferrer Obiol from the University of Milan (Italy). Cristian Cuevas-Caballé, recently awarded his PhD at the UB, is also a co-author of the article, along with other experts.

The new research emphasizes that hybridization should be considered in conservation and management plans, especially at a time when human pressure on biodiversity is accelerating the decline and extinction of life forms across the planet. In the specific case of shearwaters, there is also an urgent need to reduce the accidental bycatch of seabirds in fishing gear to prevent the future extinction of these iconic species.

The Balearic shearwater: an extinction foretold?
​​​​​​​
The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), a taxon endemic to the Balearic Islands, is critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Its breeding area is limited to the Balearic Islands, it has a low reproductive rate, and suffers high additional mortality due to accidental bycatch in longline fisheries. Several simulations suggest that it could become extinct in the coming decades if urgent action is not taken.
​​​​​​​
The new study investigates the dynamics of hybridization between the Balearic shearwater and the Mediterranean shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) and its effect on the genomic diversity of the Balearic shearwater — a poorly studied issue that has limited conservation strategies. These two genetically close lineages have undergone recurrent episodes of divergence and hybridization during the Pleistocene glacial cycles, creating a geographical gradient of hybridization and genetic differentiation from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Pityusic Islands (Ibiza and Formentera). The study also finds that the Menorca population is genetically closer to the yelkouan lineage than to the mauretanicus.

“Inter-species gene flow has played a major role in the evolutionary history of the two species. Repeated hybridization episodes between the Balearic shearwater and its sister lineage, the Mediterranean shearwater, have allowed for gene exchange involved in adaptation to their natural habitat,” explains Professor Julio Rozas, head of the Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Group at the UB and a member of the Bioinformatics Barcelona (BIB) association.

Hybridization fuels evolutionary potential

Although hybridization was once seen as a problem in conservation management due to the potential impact of non-adaptive genetic variants, this view is increasingly being challenged. The new study offers a benchmark example of the evolutionary importance of hybridization in protecting a critically endangered flagship species.

“Hybrids can introduce genetic diversity and adaptive potential, thereby benefiting small and threatened populations. Using simulations to predict the population dynamics of the Balearic shearwater, we show the value of preserving hybrid populations to avoid problems stemming from inbreeding (increased homozygosity, reduced genetic diversity, etc.). Hybridization may counteract these effects through natural genetic rescue, helping prevent a population from reaching extinction thresholds,” explain researchers Guillem Izquierdo-Arànega and Joan Ferrer Obiol. “The evolutionary history of these shearwaters also exemplifies how hybridization can be critical for maintaining genetic diversity in threatened taxa.”

Avoiding bycatch in fishing equipment

Actions focused solely on preserving genetic diversity are not enough to ensure the survival of the Balearic shearwater, warn experts. Beyond conservation measures, current demographic projections suggest the species could become extinct within the next hundred years.

As Professor Jacob González-Solís, head of the UB-IRBio Seabird Ecology Group, explains, “longline fishing is a highly selective technique, but it occasionally catches individuals of all three endemic shearwater species in the Mediterranean, amounting to thousands of birds each year. This phenomenon has been known for decades, and there are effective measures that can completely eliminate this accidental bycatch — all that’s missing is the political will to implement them.”

Earth BioGenome Project

In this context, it’s important to highlight that the genome of the Balearic shearwater — the first obtained under the Catalan Initiative for the Earth BioGenome Project (CBP) — was sequenced and annotated in the Rozas and Riutort laboratories. This initiative, which began within the Catalan Society of Biology, a branch of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), is supported by the IEC through the Biogenome–IEC project, funded by the Catalan Government. It is co-chaired by Marta Riutort (UB-IRBio) and forms a network of experts with the mission to sequence reference genomes of eukaryotic species found in Catalan-speaking regions.

As Marta Riutort explains, “this study shows that reference genomes have become a crucial tool in biodiversity conservation efforts. Having a well-annotated genome of the Balearic shearwater was key for conducting analyses on hybridization with its sister taxon and identifying the affected genomic regions, as well as for conducting population-level genomic studies that reveal the past history of the two lineages and allow us to model their future under different protection scenarios.”
​​​​​​​
“At the CBP, this encourages us to continue our efforts to increase the number of reference genomes and, most importantly, to promote this kind of research, which should contribute decisively to improving the state of our environment.”

The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is a critically endangered seabird. It is endemic to the Balearic Islands and one of Europe’s most threatened species. Fully understanding its biology and the threats it faces is essential for its survival.

Credit

Kirk Zufelt

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2427223122 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Pervasive and recurrent hybridisation prevents inbreeding depression in Europe’s most threatened seabird