BLOCK 01
Data, personality and affect
Baseline adolescent profile: sociodemographic data, personality, self-concept, mood and internet use.
About ASSMA · Public project information
ASSMA is a research project about high sensitivity and adolescent mental health.
Nationwide studyEthics CommitteeAggregated reporting
Target population
6th Primary to 4th ESO
Adolescents enrolled in schools.
Expected sample
Up to 6,000 participants
Including public, publicly funded and private schools.
Delivery
Brief school-based sessions
Expected reference: 4 sessions of about 30 minutes.
Why it exists
Origin.
Adolescence is a particularly sensitive stage for emotional well-being. Many mental health difficulties appear before age 14 (WHO, 2021) and often are not detected in time or properly understood in relation to the school, family and personal context.
ASSMA starts from the idea that sensory processing sensitivity is not a disorder, but a trait that may be associated with greater vulnerability or greater receptivity to support depending on the environment. The project seeks specific evidence in Spanish adolescent populations to better understand that relationship.
"The goal is not to detect faster. It is to better understand how sensitivity and context interact in adolescent mental health, and to return useful evidence to schools, families and professionals."
Object of study
What ASSMA studies.
The project combines a focus on the sensitivity trait with mental health indicators and contextual variables that are relevant in adolescent life.
BLOCK 02
Emotional well-being
Indicators of well-being and distress: anxiety, mood, strengths and difficulties, executive functions and quality of life.
BLOCK 03
Family, sensitivity and regulation
The high sensitivity trait together with family climate and functioning, emotional regulation and mobile phone use.
BLOCK 04
School, cognition and risk
School adjustment, everyday executive functioning and risk indicators, with an alert protocol directed to the guidance team.
Methodology
How it is applied.
ASSMA is designed as a nationwide study with school-aged adolescents. Expected participation includes public, publicly funded and private schools to gather a broad and diverse sample.
- Target population: students from 6th grade of Primary Education to 4th year of ESO.
- Expected sample: up to 6,000 participants.
- Data collection through several brief sessions at the school.
How it works in practice
An approach suited to the school context, with a clear structure compatible with school coordination.
01
Preparation
Coordination with leadership, educational teams and guidance staff, together with family information and authorisation management.
02
Delivery in brief sessions
The work plan includes several short sessions, with a reference of four sessions of about 30 minutes.
03
Results analysis
Patterns of relationship between sensitivity, mental health and risk and protective contexts are studied.
04
Reporting and transfer
Public reporting is framed in aggregate terms and oriented towards improving knowledge and educational practice.
4 × 30′
sesiones breves
Sessions distributed across several weeks, integrated into tutoring and coordinated with guidance staff.
Important limit: the platform is not presented as an automatic diagnostic system and does not replace professional assessment.
What it is and what it is not
It does
What ASSMA contributes.
- Generates evidence on how sensitivity and context influence adolescent mental health.
- Structures the school voluntary participation.
- Collects information in an organised and respectful way.
- Enables professional review and school-team interpretation.
- Returns aggregated results to the community.
- Supports prevention and continuous school improvement.
It does not
What ASSMA is not.
- It does not issue psychological or clinical diagnoses.
- It does not detect disorders automatically.
- It does not replace psychology or psychiatry professionals.
- It does not deliver individual results without professional review.
- It does not promise absolute legal compliance or clinical certification.
- It does not assess students without prior family authorisation.
Responsible use
Data with care.
Ethics, privacy and careful data handling.
Restricted access
Only people authorised by the school and the project access the information.
Aggregated results
Decisions are based on aggregated readings, not individual ones.
Professional review
Results are reviewed by professional teams before being reported.
Voluntary participation
No information is collected from a minor without family authorisation.
Información a familias
Families receive clear explanations before any session.
Pseudonymisation from the start
The research does not store names or emails: access is carried out using school codes and list numbers.
Coordination with the school
Data management is explicitly agreed with the school leadership.
Ethical approval
The study is submitted to a Research Ethics Committee and follows the GDPR and LOPDGDD.
Technical basis of the deployment
The platform relies on European cloud infrastructure and on security measures, access controls and backups aligned with the sensitivity of the project.
The technical documentation for the current environment places the deployment on OVHcloud in the European Economic Area and references the ENS and ISO 27001, as well as provider frameworks such as ISO 27017, 27018 and 27701 and compliance with the GDPR and LOPDGDD.
This statement describes the technical basis of the hosting and should not be read as a commercial promise or as the project own certification.
Expected value
What value it can provide.
ASSMA public value lies in generating useful evidence to better understand adolescence and guide educational and preventive decisions with a stronger empirical basis.
01
Schools
A better understanding of risk and protective factors and a stronger basis for educational guidance and prevention.
02
Families and professionals
A clearer and less stigmatising language for discussing sensitivity and emotional well-being in adolescence.
03
Research and collaboration
Data and learning that can inform future research, materials and institutional collaborations.
Team
Who is behind it.
The project brings together academic profiles and collaborators linked to psychology, education and digital environment development.
Moisés Betancort
University of La Laguna
María de la Luz Morales Botello
Universidad Europea de Madrid
Antonio Pérez Chacón
IDUE-UDIMA
Manuela Pérez-Chacón
IDUE-UDIMA
Maria Rosa González Guardia
University of La Laguna
Lorea Zubiaga
Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera
Darío A. Pérez González
Psicometrik & Universidad Europea de Canarias
Network
Collaborating organisations.
Universities and organisations linked to the project and its rollout.
◇ Voluntary participation
Want to know whether your school fits ASSMA?
Request information from the team. We explain the scope, permissions and how it fits into the school routine, with no obligation.
Explicit ethical frameworkGDPR and LOPDGDDProfessional review
Project email
moibemo@ull.edu.es