Professor Russell Barkley, one of the most well-known authors worldwide for his contributions in the field of ADHD, visited the conference today to participate in a live conversation. In the meeting held with the participants, he has discussed his explanatory model of ADHD and has answered questions from the audience.

The expert has noted that we psychologists rely too much on test results, and ADHD has to do with functionality in the normal life of people, beyond attention or executive functions. In his speech he has also highlighted that the diagnosis of ADHD must be based on several pillars: symptoms, cognitive tests, but mainly on the ecological measurement of the dysfunctions that motivate the evaluation.

The privilege of having Dr. Barkley at this event is now available in the “On Demand” section.

Dr. Echeburúa addressed today the question Is Internet abuse an addictive disorder? The professor of the University of the Basque Country has explained that adolescents can present different types of relationships with the Internet, and that normal, abusive or addictive consumption can occur. The most recent data indicate that among young people between 14 and 18 years old, 18% abuse the Internet and between 2-3% really present an addiction. Prof. Echeburúa has described internet addiction as a silent epidemic that does not generate social rejection and over which there are very lax controls. Finally, he has highlighted the frequent comorbidity between internet addiction and other disorders such as depression, social phobia or the abusive use of alcohol and other drugs. According to the expert, Internet use is generally healthy and only a minority abuse and can develop an addiction, so early detection is key.

Today, the defense of finalist posters competing for some of the awards of the congress has been held. Thirty papers were submitted to the three modalities. For the EDICIONES PIRÁMIDE Award for young researcher, the finalists are: “Mother-adolescent conflict discussion: adolescents’ positive cognitive emotion regulation predicts heart trajectories in state space” by Josep Roman ( Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias de la Salud, Balearic Islands, Spain), “Temperament and Character Traits of Female Eating Disorder Patients With(out) Non-Suicidal Self-Injury” by Tinne Buelens (KU of Leuven, Belgium), and “¿Influyen los estilos parentales en las competencias emocionales de los adolescentes?" by Selene Valero (University of Valencia, Spain).

For the award to the best applied research, the candidates are: “Taller psicoeducativo de prevención de la adicción a las redes sociales en un grupo de adolescentes” by Ainara Muñoz (University Jaume I and University of Valencia, Spain), “Conducta suicida y autolesión adolescente: estudio de caso”, by Elena Huguet from the Clinica en Equilibrio Mental (Madrid, Spain) and “Influencia del confinamiento por el COVID-19 en un Trastorno Negativista Desafiante” by Ines Santos (Clinica en Equilibrio Mental, Madrid, Spain).

Finally, for the Award for the best international research, the finalists works are: “The role of mothers’ motives for healthy eating on feeding practices and children’s eating style”, by Nora Roman (University of Budapest, Hungary), “Frequency of sleep problems and psychological distress: the mediating role of coping motives and problematic marijuana use among marijuana users” by Veronica Vidal-Arenas (University Jaume I from Castellón, Spain), and “Relations between maternal interactive behaviour and preterm infant’s stress systems regulation” by Vanessa Moutinho (University of Minho, University Institute of Lisbon, and University of Warwick, Portugal).

The awards committee was formed by Dr. Maria Balle, Dr. Pablo Vallejo, and Dr. José Antonio Piqueras. The work defense can be viewed in the "On Demand" section. Tomorrow the winners will be announced in the closing ceremony of the congress.