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Attribution License (This first supplemental issue on Interpersonal Relationships: Vulnerability and Coping reports and discusses research on different situations in which individuals and families living in vulnerable contexts may count on interpersonal relationships to help to provide resources to cope with these situations. These papers have been produced by Brazilian authors from several states investigating different topics.
This issue aims at contributing to understand different contexts of vulnerability individuals and families face in developing countries and how interpersonal relationships may contribute to build better life conditions and help this population to cope with different issues. The papers discuss not only the vulnerability of these populations but also the potential support they may find in their social environment.
The articles cover different contexts of social vulnerability in South America, especially Brazil, and Central America, including mainly children, women, elders, and people with physical disabilities and health problems and couples dealing with divorce. Contexts are diverse, including families, institutional shelters, schools and hospitals. These articles will depict the vulnerable contexts and the contribution of personal relationships to cope with these situations.
These papers have been presented at the last two meetings of the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP), in 2014 and 2016, in Brazil, by members of the research group Family, Developmental Processes and Health Promotion, from several Brazilian states. The participation of the research group in the national meeting resulted from the evaluation and approval of a proposal by the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology. The research group also constituted an editorial team, formed by Agnaldo Garcia, Janari da Silva Pedroso, and Júlia Sursis Nobre Ferro Bucher-Maluschke, to select the final articles to be included in this issue.