The family is the vital source of peace and comfort, love and intimacy. But the family can also be a place of conflict, difference, gap and distance in terms of values ​​and patterns of behavior between children and parents. Virtual social networks are a new generation of social networking space that at the end of the first decade of the 21st century have changed the ways of communic...

Background: There is still a question of whether online friendship predicts changes in face-to-face friendship (Reduction Hypothesis) or face-to-face friendship predicts changes in online friendship (Compensation Hypothesis) during adolescence. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare these two hypotheses to determine which comes first: online friendship or offline friendship. Method...

For any simple graph H, let σ(H,n) be the minimum m so that for any realizable degree sequence π = (d1, d2, . . . , dn) with sum of degrees at least m, there exists an n-vertex graph G witnessing π that contains H as a weak subgraph. Let Fk denote the friendship graph on 2k+1 vertices, that is, the graph of k triangles intersecting in a single vertex. In this paper, for n sufficiently large, σ(...

OBJECTIVE To characterize dyadic and general friendships of youth with spina bifida (SB). METHODS Families of youth with SB recruited a peer to participate; 106 dyads participated. Youth with SB and peers completed questionnaires and interviews regarding characteristics of the dyadic friendship and each individual's general friendships. RESULTS Youth with SB and their peers were similar in ...

The increasingly booming online social networks promote the development of online health forum. People tend to solve kinds of health issues through the Internet. However, it is still unclear what the main characteristics of friendship networks are and how the users’ attribution affect the friendship ties establishment in the online health forum. This study uses the Exponential Random Graph Mode...

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between involvement in bullying behaviors and school, family, and peer factors. Health Behavior in School Age Children survey questionnaire was used. Of the students surveyed, 20% were both bully and victim, 11% were bully, and 21% were victim. Being male, poor parental support, and poor monitoring by the father were found to be risk factor...

Aknowledgements To Prof. Doutor Manuel Teixeira, supervisor of this thesis, for the opportunity of doing research in oncology, for all the support during the development of this work and for being available all the time. To Dra. Ana Peixoto, co-supervisor of this thesis, for all the knowledge, ideas and great support provided. Thank you for all the motivation given during this last year. To all...