Baptista, João Pedro
Rivas-de-Roca, Rubén https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5842-4533
Gradim, Anabela
Pérez-Curiel, Concha
Article History
Received: 12 September 2024
Accepted: 3 April 2025
First Online: 24 April 2025
Competing interests
: The authors declare no competing interests.
: This study adhered to the ethical guidelines and research policies of the University of Beira Interior (UBI), which align with the highest international standards for academic integrity and responsible research. At UBI, these ethical principles are not merely recommendations but mandatory requirements for all research involving human participants. The study was conducted using the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, which ensures the protection of participants’ rights, dignity, and confidentiality. Among the regulations followed, we strictly adhered to the Academic Integrity Code of UBI, issued in 2018 (), and the Regulation for Performing Research Surveys, issued in 2022 (). Our research was carried out in a classroom, where participation is voluntary, non-invasive and does not represent a risk to participants. Therefore, our study did not require formal ethical approval according to these institutional guidelines.
: All participants were fully informed about the objectives, methodology and confidentiality measures of the study before their voluntary participation. The informed consent process took place on 08-05-2023, before data collection, and was documented in the survey itself, which was sent as supporting material.