Introduction: In terms of vulnerability, children and adolescents externalize restrictions to regular access to services, basic rights, low perception of risks and deficient accompaniment by caregivers in family spaces, leading to the probability of exploring other contexts little encouraging positive reinforcement, leaving participants at greater disposition of social vulnerability. Objective: to develop life skills in children and youth who experience social difficulties and attend a Foundation in Pereira. Materials and methods: qualitative study with an action-participatory research approach, where the participants retained an active role in the process to determine the most deficient life skills and through interventions proceeded to positive transformations. Data collection was carried out through a semi-structured interview with individual children and adolescents between 5 and 20 years of age, providing support from the disciplinary point of view with the theory of Nola J. Pender regarding the creation of healthy behaviors as risk minimizing mechanisms. Results: The participants were able to see in the intervention spaces components favoring change, the attraction towards the use of spaces of affective harmony allowed them to leave chaotic worlds, developing self-reflexivity and positive strategies in skills that allow them to live in society in a harmonious way. Conclusions: the approach to childhood and youth requires the alignment and extension of strategies to family environments.

Keywords: life skills, infants, youth, social vulnerability

Life skills training is designed to promote the application and strengthening of socioemotional skills in a cultural and social environment in a manner appropriate to personal growth and progress that allow the person a harmonious performance in their different areas, health care, caution against danger and the defense of the rights of children and youth are closely linked to the positive contributions that can generate in the construction of personalities and maturation of positive behaviors.¹

Social fragility is linked to circumstances of risk and adversity that immediately or in the long term prevent the individual from achieving wellbeing in terms of existence and quality of life in socio-historical, territorial and culturally specific contexts. An individual who enjoys a healthy family environment, which incorporated principles, values, positive guidelines, may have less risk compared to the one who did not have a family source of significant contributions to be in society, leaves him/her to dispositions of risk situations that make him/her vulnerable to acquire unfavorable behaviors.²

During the year 2020 in Colombia 5,043 people were found in street situations, being 84.9% men and 15.1% women in comparison with the year 2021 6,248 street dwellers were detected following with predominance of men in 87.6% and women 12.4%; minors are part of the group of people with social vulnerability, some claim to have chosen this path due to lack of opportunities, economic difficulties, family conflicts, consumption of psychoactive substances, relationship with dominant peers, destructive and need for experimentation.³

Lifestyles, socio-environmental determinants and acquired behaviors have a significant impact on health, as well as on morbidity and mortality indicators, as documented by the United Nations. It is estimated that around 1.2 million children and adolescents die due to preventable causes, including traffic accidents, self-harm, violence, respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted diseases and substance abuse. Some young people cite a variety of reasons for engaging in these unhealthy behaviors, including the pursuit of pleasurable experiences, ingrained habits that are difficult to break, and peer pressure. It is essential to understand that child health care settings, led by nursing professionals, should actively involve families, who are the main social actors interacting with children, with the aim of transcending from theoretical understanding to concrete practice, thus promoting the acquisition of healthy behavior patterns that are sustainable over time. This will allow children to achieve an optimal transition to adolescence and adulthood.⁴

Children and adolescents need tools that allow them to make good decisions, but more than that, they need to be surrounded by societies that contribute to their own construction.

In Colombia, a situation of extreme vulnerability is evident in relation to oppressive poverty, especially among the population of homeless children who have been abandoned. These children are forced to spend their nights on the streets of large cities, facing a reality devoid of shelter and support. Poverty pushes them to take on work responsibilities to contribute to the basic needs of their families, leaving their access to education on the back burner. Unfortunately, this situation also exposes them to serious forms of sexual exploitation, being victims of degrading practices including child pornography, sexual abuse, sadistic violence and prostitution.⁵

In 2018, 3,254 minors were registered, 70% of whom came from families with low economic possibilities. In addition, it was found that 99% of child abuse cases were committed by adults with emotional and sexual problems; unfortunately, it was also reported that 321 children died due to malnutrition. In terms of child exploitation and child labor, approximately 869,000 children and young people between 5 and 17 years of age are involved in this practice.⁶ The above is a reflection of the need to build, transform and give life opportunities to children and adolescents so that they do not continue to be subjects of social vulnerability. 

It has also been shown that children and young people who experience neglect and/or sexual, emotional or physical abuse always experience changes in all stages of their integral development that differentiate them from children who have not experienced such adolescent abuse Condition.⁷ Children who experience situations of unprotection have a painful imprint throughout their lives and few achieve profitable strengthening spaces that allow them to grow as people, professionals and workers.

According to the above rationale, this study crystallizes and solidifies in the need to promote life skills, accompanied by the principles, care and psychosocial support required by children and adolescents throughout their life course, this implies involving in the performance areas of the population spaces that are used and granted as a mechanism for growth, which strengthens each person in skills to be immersed in society although there are unfavorable moments,  Since life experiences generate knowledge among participants and life learning, we sought to found spaces taking into account that the institution included a population of children and adolescents who were with multiple risks and had not yet been intervened by public and private entities, were prioritized for their great impact to generate life skills in children and adolescents with social vulnerability who attend a foundation.

To develop life skills in children and youth who experience social difficulties and attend a foundation in Pereira.

Specific objectives

1. Characterize the children and adolescents attending the foundation by identifying biological, psychological and social risks.
2. Identify life skills strategies for children and adolescents with social vulnerability.
3. To compare the appropriation of life skills in children and adolescents attending a foundation.

Qualitative study with a participatory action research (PAR) approach where life skills were studied in the population of children and adolescents living in situations of social vulnerability, initially a preliminary analysis was made of the skills most in need of change, proceeding to playful-educational workshop-type interventions. At the end of the meetings, information was collected through a semi-structured interview technique on an individual basis, with the support of field agendas, contributing aspects observed in the process, as well as relevant aspects that were not taken into account in the interviews.

The technique of analysis and sample collection was directed by means of the following methodological phases:

Diagnosis

This moment allowed the situational knowledge of the context, origin and evolution of the problematic situation based on existing documentation and spaces of approach with representatives of organizations, families, youth, children, facilitating group reflections that oriented towards the need to strengthen life skills in the target population.

Programming

Openness to all available information and points of view through qualitative and participatory methods, this moment was achieved through field work (individual interviews with children and youth) the free expression of the different points of view of each participant, recording relevant emerging aspects in each group meeting.

Observation

The workshop-type interventions facilitated the perception of realities experienced by children and adolescents in vulnerable situations; in the group meetings we proceeded to allow expressions of the different opinions, reflections and interpretations of the facilitated moments, capturing each aspect of non-verbal communication, thus allowing to alternate the information with the data collected in the semi-structured interviews.

3Reflection or evaluation

This phase made it possible to analyze, interpret and organize the data around the problem situation initially posed using a content analysis, which allowed coding, categorizing and consolidating the information, taking into account the reflective actions and own transformations that occurred throughout the meetings.²⁰ The target population was children and youth from 5 to 20 years of age in conditions of social vulnerability attending a foundation in Pereira, the population groups were approached separately as follows: from 6 to 11 years of age in childhood and from 12 to 18 years of age in adolescence; the participants were linked to the foundation in search of social networks, listening, company, food, and healthy spaces. 

For the selection of the sample, priority was given to participants chosen by the foundation with greater biological, emotional and social risk. The total number of participants in the study was 25 who met the following inclusion criteria: minors attending the foundation with parental consent, sexually diverse population, participants in situations of social vulnerability (street, abandonment, sexual exploitation, consumption, child exploitation, mistreatment, lack of protection).With respect to the exclusion criteria, those who dropped out of the process, those who did not attend workshops sequentially and those who presented alterations in the mental sphere with difficulties in concentration, communication, verbal expression did not participate in the study.

To begin the process of collecting information, obtaining and processing each of the data, the informed consent form was filled out by the target population, and in the case of minors, the respective consent was obtained with prior authorization from the foundation's guardians and/or parents. In the first meetings, the participants of the study were characterized, and sequential workshop-type meetings were held, taking into account the themes previously constructed in the booklet: "life skills, learning to live with conscience and from conscience", the instrument provided a step-by-step description and didactically argued the contents and themes necessary to advance in the development of practices within the families.

A total of 14 recreational-educational workshops were held, addressing emotional, cognitive and social skills. Participants acquired basic knowledge and coping strategies in empathy management, expression and management of emotions, stress and tension management, self-knowledge, decision making, creative and critical thinking, assertive communication, interpersonal relationships and finally problem and conflict management. At the end of the meetings after 4 months of interventions, we proceeded to the application of individual semi-structured interviews where the expressions, reflections and improvisations in the meetings allowed the development of the conversation with fluency in a natural way and with authentic expressions, this process was carried out until saturation of information after two or three meetings with each participant.

After each meeting, the interview was quickly transcribed, which allowed us to keep in mind the details and non-verbal communication reflected in the field agenda; the transcriptions allowed us to recognize, analyze and describe the data in greater detail. Finally, for the analysis of information, a data coding system was developed by reviewing and identifying themes based on the patterns of responses, where a permanent review and reduction of data was carried out, selecting the most valuable points.

For the development of the research with human beings, the ethical principles governed under resolution 8430 of 1993 were taken into account: respect for people by recognizing the autonomy of individuals in decision making when voluntarily participating in the research; beneficence, included by the obligation to increase the benefits and decrease the adverse impacts on the participants and justice: establishing that the benefits and risks must be distributed equitably among all groups of participants, which avoids the exploitation of vulnerable people.⁸ The Declaration of Helsinki, WMA - The World Medical Association 2014⁹ adds informed consent in a voluntary and non-coerced manner, to ensure understanding of the risks and benefits of the study.

The most significant results of the study are summarized below, grouped into themes and sub-themes in response to the specific objectives:           

Characterization of the children and adolescents attending the foundation, identifying biological, psychological and social risks

The study population consisted of 25 people, 52% of the study participants were children between 5 and 11 years of age; the remaining 48% were adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age. Of the total population, 16 females and 9 males were impacted, finding as the main reason for low male participation the insufficient permanence in spaces and decreased adherence to follow the rules. Of the total number of participants, 18 lived in low socioeconomic strata, the environments were tenements, hotels and day residences; the specificity of the contexts was based on the location in vulnerable areas of the city leaving visible some social scourges such as people under the influence of psychoactive substances in the streets, spaces dedicated to sex work, large areas reserved for recycling and people in extreme poverty living in destitution.

Regarding the presence of family support network, differences with parents were evident in 9 study participants, mainly in adolescence, due to the fact that 6 young people were grouped in communal families where housing, food and economic support were shared. Separation from their family of origin forced them to operate in social settings to support themselves, essentially considering sex work as their main source of livelihood. The children lived in families formed by mother and father, although 6 of the infants described experiences directed towards mistreatment by their stepfather, the girls performed housework while their parents worked, so it was evident the mentality of adult responsibilities aimed at the care of younger siblings, corrective behaviors in situations where they wanted to lead tasks, these moments left visible a limited enjoyment of moments of the infant's life course.

Other aspects of the characterization of the children and young people expressed made it possible to visualize the risks they experienced when their mothers changed partners frequently. Four children revealed having been victims of groping and when they tried to make it visible, there was no support or credibility on the part of their mothers. In adolescents, the behaviors were present more frequently, attributing the situation as a reason for abandoning the family and fleeing in search of a "safe haven"; this aspect made it possible to delve into the symbolism for the 3 adolescents who expressed this situation, revealing valuable meanings that left them unprotected and available for experiences in contexts of greater vulnerability:

P2: "I left to feel safer, but no one takes care of me, living outside the house is worse, it's like living on the street".

Other expressions provided by P6 were: "I ran away so that this man would not rape me, but with my friend it was worse, I ended up more involved with her, consuming and living off work in the street with other men and even old women".

Finally, P11 said: "no teach, the street is very hard, in the street you are nothing, they humiliate you, they kick you, they touch you, in the street you are considered trash, I got so low that in order to live and consume I spent my time in those (moments of silence) I could only work in that (she looked down at the floor), people don't give other work, in the street it was worse for me".

Theme 2: Identification of life skills strategies in a population of socially vulnerable children and adolescents

Emotional skills: one of the variables that was especially relevant was the expression of emotions, since the participants contained experiences generating negative agglomerations to the point of reacting impulsively in situations with which they felt identified. Aggressive and offensive expressions in the lexicon were a constant in their lives so that in the encounters they did not achieve positive connections, as they gained confidence in spaces they showed greater authenticity; adolescent participants elucidated the presence of these behaviors in family and educational contexts more frequently, leaving visible the repressive mechanisms to which they were subjected and that did not allow them to flow in other spaces since they felt and expressed them as imposing mechanisms in front of the rules and limits. Similarly, a study showed in a relevant way valuable considerations regarding the influence of the family context on adolescents since they implicitly influence the demonstration of emotional skills in an authentic way,¹⁰ which allows visualizing the role of the family in the upbringing and generation of positive actions from early childhood to youth. Some of the teenagers' locutions were:

P8: "look teach, I'm at home just to sleep, I can't stand my mom, or anyone else, they want to control my life and judge me, they spend their time criticizing me and I'm fed up with that, so much so that I'd rather wake up in the street than be there with that nonsense", those fights with my mom are every day, she wants to control me, but I don't let her, she already gave me a bad example.

P22: "Look, my friend, I live alone in a room and I pay for my own things, I work at my job since I left home so that no one can control my life, I don't like to be invaded, and I don't let anyone take over my space, I don't even have friends so that they don't interfere in my life".

As regards empathy, there were limited demonstrations of tolerance and solidarity when sharing group spaces; in childhood, discriminatory, offensive and exclusionary expressions were relevant, with pretensions of dominating other peers in order to separate other boys and girls from spaces for growth. The adolescent population showed behaviors of greater cruelty, some expressions were inclined towards the need to dominate others and others, mainly when it came to "mark territory" with peers of the same sex, the foul, ruthless, cold, offensive, threatening language visualized the conditioned application of acceptance spaces in their contexts and other scenarios of social performance.

With respect to stress and tension management, their initial analysis showed the need for constant reinforcement due to the fact that being immersed in risk has led them to be closely linked to the poly-consumption of psychoactive substances - PAS, being the first alternative in the face of problematic situations that generate negative feelings such as nervousness, anguish, sadness, affliction and uncertainty. The low tolerance to frustration in school and work environments in the youth population led them to dark spaces with wide availability to drugs, street experiences and labor exploitation. The population under 11 years of age who were in permanent contact with young people immersed in risk made visible the possibility of exemplifying the actions of their siblings, peers, or close relatives, since their worlds revolved around thinking and behaving according to the responsibilities of adults, childhood was forgotten, their moment of life was not part of their thoughts. Some authentic narratives were:

P4: "I get stressed and a plom helps me to clear my mind, let's say that when I have problems the first thing I do is consume to forget about everything".

P7: "I take care of my siblings, I cook for them, I control their going out in the street, when they don't pay attention to me I take a leash and hit them, my mother doesn't even notice, they stress me out because they don't pay attention to me".

Social skills

Significant difficulties were found for effective communication not only with peers, but also with family members and staff of the foundation, adolescents generated conversations favoring denigrating behaviors, provocative and destructive lexicon, following rules to minimize behaviors showed poor resonance so that gesticulation or nonverbal communication was exposed as a mechanism to express disagreements, displeasure and disagreements with what was agreed in the different family, group and individual spaces. Human relationships were greatly weakened by the exposure and low acceptance to intrude in risky places, and if peers disagreed with the participation in exploration sites where they felt vulnerable, they were rejected and not taken into account to the point of generating rivalries among the group of adolescents.

P4: "Look, I can't stand that old woman, she's a bitch, she brings and takes and when she realized that we were visiting the bridges she told the cucho and we were sanctioned; we gave her a beating so that she would leave us alone".

In relation to the mechanisms mentioned for the solution of problems and conflicts, there was evidence of great deterioration, since the first step taken within the homes to remedy them was abandonment; adolescents left their families from the age of approximately 14 years; 3 participants experienced "difficult" situations when they were approached by control agencies wandering the vulnerable streets of the city and were taken to protection homes in search of processes to redefine their lives, although the need of the young people was focused on other situations and they ended up looking for a way to escape. In relation to the children, the expressions were directed to being victims of mistreatment within the families when they showed disagreement, some narrations of this population group were:

P3: "My mother beat us so much that the lady of the tenement called the police on us and we spent a few months in family welfare, she would arrive drunk, sometimes with men and because we didn't let her sleep she would beat us".

P10: "my stepfather gives me money and tells me not to tell my mother, he tells me that I am very pretty and that I am too old, sometimes he tells me to lie down next to him to watch television, my mother used to hit me for that, but now she sees it as normal, she says that he is very good to us and that we have to put up with him to support us".

Cognitive skills

The participants showed great need for support in relation to self-concept, the need to look good physically, to dress and look attractive to society, to accept and normalize the risk behaviors adopted, to the point of longing for moments of contact where they ended up being sexual objects for the "clients"; in their thoughts there was no space to value their lives, their bodies, even to stop groping moments that generated less risk to their own health. The adolescents expressed:

P5: "I work hard and I work well, I like what I do, it gives me money to support myself and I help my mother with the services, and the clients are looking for me, I have a client who gives me more money to be with him without a condom".

On the other hand, decision-making skills revealed the continuous permissiveness of risk situations and social experimentation; the more "hooked" they became with drugs, the more risky decisions they made for their lives; adolescent’s generated permissive situations of sexual exploitation, child labor, street life and pimping. On the other hand, boys and girls did not show clarity in favorable expressions in this regard, despite being immersed in contexts of multiple social risks, the significant and authoritative person within their families managed to exercise control over their lives.

Theme 3: Comparison of the appropriation of life skills in children and adolescents attending a foundation

Evolving social skills in childhood and adolescence

There were significant changes from the beginning of the interactions in 12 participants in relation to emotional expression after the intervention sessions. The infants accepted group moments where participants differentiated themselves from their circle, respecting and accepting the expressions of others, enriching friendships and emotional connections that led to harmonious spaces in other environments. In childhood there were moments that encouraged empathy, knowing the differences and needs of others, allowing them to put aside their personal opinions and sympathize with the environment; in experiential exercises, the children showed solidarity with the shyness of others and showed support in simple situations that were exposed. In spite of continuing to live in conditions of social vulnerability, values such as trust, mutual support, sensitivity, attachment and progressive respect were rescued. The following are some of the most favorable representations: 

P10: "I didn't like working with everyone, I was lazy because they are very reticent, especially the men, with my friends I felt better, but now in the workshops I have learned to work with everyone, we complement each other because some have very good ideas and others need more of my support".

With regard to the evolution of empathy in adolescents, it allowed for greater caution to be shown during interactions, flowing in an understanding manner, showing respect for the opinions of peers. In this way, positive changes are observed in 7 participants of the study, feeling, respecting and supporting the perspective of others, leaving aside their own needs and being compassionate with that of others. Despite the conditions of social fragility, desires to reduce risk behavior were verbalized in the spaces, thus encouraging favorable behaviors leading the adolescent to the path of social reintegration.¹¹

This section is documented in a study conducted in Medellín with adolescents and young people belonging to the criminal responsibility system, where vital skills such as empathy were fostered while they were in captivity.

On the other hand, young people continued to be influenced by their peers in relation to expressions tending to aggressive and offensive verbal and gesticular communication, however, as they gained confidence in the spaces they were allowed to be authentic, reconciling norms and leading them to the use of positive language that made them empowered by gradually demonstrating differences, transcending what they learned to family and educational contexts where repressive mechanisms continued to tend to the use of imposing rules but their reactions generated spaces for reflection. Similarly, a study shows the relevance of considering the influence of the family context in adolescents, since these are implicit in the demonstration of emotional skills in an authentic way.²¹

Some youth demonstrations achieved expressions of change such as:

P5: "look, teacher, I wanted to eat people with my eyes, I was angry with so much sluttiness and at home it was no different, but the truth is that being surrounded by you who are professionals and treat you so well has made me change, I take a deep breath so as not to hurt you with what I say and yes, those ugly, skinny, skinny girls with veins are like that because of how low they are and the truth is that we have to support each other to get ahead".

The externalization of emotions in young people showed special relevance, as they gained moments of occupation of free time in the foundation, they managed to contain moments of explosive discharge to the point of minimizing impulsive actions, it was possible to generate changes in 5 of the adolescents attending the workshops, and their authentic expressions were:

P4: "I thought I wouldn't change even if I had to, and the truth is that every week I long for us to see each other because I have several ideas in my brain that they give us, I have already had several moments at home with my mother who nags and fucks me, but I don't let myself get hooked".

According to the results found in the emotional skills, there is a correlation between the management of emotions, feelings and the way of externalizing them, rescuing in the participants the use of spaces of trust that facilitated the authentic expression and the habit of regulating their emotions. When contrasted with the literature, the above confirms what was mentioned in a study on emotional education, resilience and high social vulnerability, where they managed to improve the expression and regulation of emotions in adolescents through workshops, based on competencies for life.¹²

It is worth highlighting the need for changes from their close support network since the negative reinforcement that symbolizes the situation of vulnerability by being in contact with dysfunctional family contexts does not allow them to advance positively in the integration of emotional skills, preventing moments of negative expressions such as anger, impulsivity, fear and sadness, since the spaces revolved around rejection, questioning and criticism; The activities achieved the identification, expression, management and control of both negative and positive emotions and feelings in the participants, findings emphatically described in previous studies.¹³ Therefore, the expressions made it necessary to transfer these spaces to family environments where both adolescents and children could find refuge, understanding and support.

Manifestations in the management of social skills in children and youth

In relation to assertive communication, a meritorious decrease was observed in 7 participants with respect to denigrating behaviors, aggressive and destructive vocabulary; gesticulation as a non-verbal communication mechanism showed a stagnation due to the normative mechanisms that were generated in the spaces, although the moments of verbal restraint were gained as the interventions progressed. According to a study on assertive communication in adolescents conducted in a foster home in Bolivia in 2022, it was evidenced that, due to the context, some "maladaptive" behaviors related to rules and aggression, are assumed as essential for survival, so the person tends to have aggressive lexicon and degrading behaviors,¹⁴ as devices of self-authority and respect in the most dangerous contexts.

With respect to the children, a demure vocabulary was contemplated, in the approaches they achieved authentic expressions, and three children improved the use of foul and offensive terms that were becoming smaller in the spaces of interaction and daily coexistence. The boys and girls joined the affirmative communication strategies proposed as the meetings progressed:

P3: "In my house it is normal to hear neighbors and all the people treat each other with rude words, as we are alone, one gossips and those words stick, but as we come here to the foundation we no longer keep ourselves involved in that gossip and the truth is that we have improved, even I did not hug or say that I wanted to and now I do it with my mother, at school also with two friends and here at the foundation with the cucho".

On the other hand, one of the skills that showed the greatest need for continuous work was problem and conflict management, showing an impulsive approach, due to the fact that adolescence is dominated by risky, experimental and confrontational behaviors, demonstrating immaturity when faced with the solution of difficult moments; it was usual to find in most adolescents the practice of risky behaviors as escape mechanisms in situations where they could not achieve control. As for the infants, there was greater distrust when making decisions, and the need for support from adults when facing situations in which they had to explore resolution techniques was notorious.

Social skills achieved significant advances in the population of children and adolescents demonstrated by spaces of greater correlation and connection with others, leaving aside barriers, progressively respecting others and getting to know aspects of different personalities; this was possible by stimulating in group environments moments of active listening, respect for peers and diverse opinions. Of the total population approached, 14 participants made significant progress in the process, revealed spaces of healthy coexistence with peers and tuned in to moments of teamwork with participants with whom there was no communication or affinity. Similar to the findings described, a research called "resilience, interpersonal skills, behavioral problems and emotional symptomatology in vulnerable Colombian adolescents, showed the effectiveness of a program to help young people to improve relationships and reduce behavioral problems and emotional symptoms.¹⁵ Consequently, supervision, accompaniment, attachment and family role are favorable factors that the studies made evident in the face of the gaps and risk conditions that children and adolescents assume when they lack protective families and close networks that are poorly influenced in a positive way.

Emergence of cognitive skills in children and adolescents

Positive responses to self-knowledge were evidenced in the population under study, they expressed in a fluid manner important features of themselves such as:  Self-worth, self-esteem, self-control in progress mainly regarding self-identity, The changes showed in 6 adolescents greater awareness of risk behaviors adopted identifying themselves as resilient people; this aspect allowed visualizing the need to continue advancing in the promotion of strategies with underprivileged populations towards the strengthening in self-concept, self-esteem including the positive connection with the social fabric, where they are located by their own decision in contexts that make them face to make better decisions when facing situations that previously generated incitement to them. This finding was contrasted with a study on self-esteem in adolescence: analysis and intervention strategies, where the authors pointed out the importance of strengthening self-esteem and self-concept as an influential factor in the formation of adolescents and in their adaptation to the environment and society.²²

In relation to the expressions and experiences with the infant population, positive skills aimed at self-care are evidenced, the girls maintain "vain" behaviors and in both genders the demonstrations of self-love were unscathed. Some manifestations of the adolescents allowed us to elucidate this finding:

P11: "I am very grateful to you and the foundation because I felt and saw myself as refractory because of the consumption, I didn't eat, I didn't take care of myself, I didn't bathe for several days... but since you have been coming I feel more recovered, I don't hang up my clothes, I eat better and I am even sleeping at night".

P24: "Girls, I was so skinny that I didn't even look at myself in the mirror, I was scared when I took a bath, it was just bones, but now I am more refined, definitely coming here to the foundation has changed me, I know I need more, but at least I don't go to the pots to look for vice".

With respect to decision making, positive changes were demonstrated in the adolescents; behaviors influenced by peers were questionable even in the intervention spaces; likewise, the exemplification of actions of the close social network was already cause for reflection and less acceptance, since they gradually began to be aware of the precipice to which entering risky situations was leading them.  Similar to the findings of the study, research was found on life skills with prevalence in decision making, in which participants were conditioned by their social environment when deciding,¹⁶ therefore establishing positive family and social connections generates in adolescents and infants the path towards the construction of skills that allow them to be functional, enter areas accepting changes, new experiences and with possibilities of rejecting situations that are demeaning to human beings.

Finally, with respect to cognitive skills in adolescents living on the street and immersed in multiple risk behaviors, a singular breakup experience was identified that has left a significant mark in the lives of the participants, marking a before and an after; the report of experiences that immersed them in precarious conditions could have influenced the participants to develop a pessimistic view of the future, making it difficult to overcome unfavorable situations. Therefore, it is important to highlight that the factors learned during these experiences can have a considerable influence on the persistence of the street living situation, Cardozo Pachón MF, et al.,¹⁷ so the approach and management should consider incessant guidelines that show in a period of time significant changes as a socially functional person.

On the contrary, with a smaller group of adolescents approached, it was widely evidenced that the self-perspective was affected, since their negative position on the world was based on the constant moments of social stigmatization and humiliation; the negative view on oneself showed evident deterioration in front of the low perception of self-care, self-worth and self-esteem, this aspect when contrasted with the existing literature showed great relevance since even without social vulnerability, behaviors harmful to self-care are observed.¹⁸ However, as participants surrounded themselves with healthy spaces, they flourished and incorporated by exemplification healthy behaviors in favor of their own hygiene and self-care aimed at promoting sexual health. Finally, with respect to the negative vision of the future, we found continuity in the vehement thoughts directly related to drugs, their whole world revolved around consumption, even as the only mechanism to cope with tensions and stress, this finding is supported by the existing literature due to the adverse effects that drugs can cause in a brain still developing where it is evident that the more contact with substances, Similarly, it is evidenced by a study on the consumption of psychoactive substances, which, the minors opted for their consumption as a way to evade reality, anxiety and as a buffer for their personal, family or social problems, leading to increased consumption, which is why, there is an increase in unfavorable behaviors for the integral development of the person.¹⁹

Children and adolescents require educational approach spaces where they are included in programs that allow them to resignify their lives idealizing benevolent environments for a healthy and harmonious development; it is necessary to extend the transformation of social and emotional skills to the families of origin since it is the beginning of many risk behaviors from childhood and throughout adolescence.

The identification of skills applied in the lives of children and young people evidenced the need to generate spaces that involve creative thinking, when the population felt productive and with contributions in close environments, achieving moments of openness to great possibilities for the management of tensions and stress, positive decision making and healthy interpersonal relationships. The approach to knowledge in life skills became necessary since the population was continuously exposed in other environments allowing the normalization of behaviors that denigrate the human being.

Finally, healthy interactive spaces are necessary to facilitate the transformation process of the population group under study, where the more positive contacts, the greater the contribution to individual, family and social performance. This aspect supports the need to take into account the law of childhood and adolescence regarding the comprehensive care of children, it is necessary to facilitate growth contexts where, in coordination with other disciplines, it is possible to guarantee their rights, providing scenarios that allow them the satisfaction and enjoyment of the moments of their life course.

None.

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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