Enjeux éthiques et surdités

Deafness is a particular handicap in that it belongs to medicine on one hand and on the other, it is a cultural object with a language, the sign language, a culture and a world of its own, the “the world of deafness”. This specific position generates ethical challenges that must be discovered in their complexity around three areas: genetic discoveries versus eugenics, early diagnosis in the maternity unit versus the iatrogenic announcement affecting the early relationships and the cochlear implant versus the parents enlightened consent. In the face of the urgency of the medical discourse, the ethical debate can trigger another temporality and another discourse for the deaf child and his parents by defending its clinical singularity…     

Les passions : aspects émotionnels et sociaux

Passion is defined as a strong inclination toward an activity that people love and in which they invest time and energy (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 85 [2003] 756–767). Whereas various studies investigated the motives that people allege for engaging in sharing emotions, no data exist about motives for sharing passion. As passions have a strong emotional component and as emotions are virtually always socially shared (e.g. Rimé, B., Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Zech, E., & Philippot, P. (1998). Social Sharing of Emotion : New Evidence and New Questions. In W. Stroebe and M. Hewstone (Eds.), European Review of Social Psychology (Vol. 9., pp. 145–189). Chichester : Wiley), we hypothesized that passionate people would strongly incline in sharing their passion with people around them. A first study examined the link between passion and emotion and showed that the more the activity was invested by passion, the more emotions are intense and positive. In a second study, we considered the relations between passion and social sharing and concluded that the social sharing of passion does not result solely from the emotional component of the shared passion. A third study explored alleged motives for sharing passion and revealed that the more the target is amateur, the larger the sharing is. Motives alleged by respondents for sharing their passion varied broadly as a function of target type. Exchange, learning, pleasure and affiliation motivate social sharing with other amateurs; promotion, information and proselytism are the most salient motives for sharing with the non connoisseur; ego-defence, activity justification, interest in other's opinion and proselytism dominate when addressing critic persons.     

Les attitudes des élèves envers l’école élémentaire et leur évaluation

Two revised versions of the scale “I Like School” of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), were developed in France upon junior high school pupils and upon fourth and fifth grade level pupils (Psychol Psychométrie 15 (1994) 44–64; Can J Behav Sci 35 (2003b) 50–55). This study presents a validation of an adaptation of these versions of the scale to French elementary school pupils, intitled “Échelle des attitudes des élèves envers l’école élémentaire” (ÉAÉE). Four factors still arise, with an improvement of their internal consistency. Fifth factor is also controlled, named “Funny school, distraction place”. The results indicate acceptable fidelity (internal consistency and test–retest reliability), allow to identify the personal factors, which determine the attitudes towards school and support the convergent validity of the scale.     

Influences professionnelles et personnelles du climat scolaire chez les enseignants et les élèves

This research was designed to assess the impact of the school climate on teachers’ and pupils’ stress, satisfaction, violence perceptions, and physical health. Data were obtained by mean of a questionnaire which was responded by 59 teachers and 316 pupils from two Swiss high schools. The results shown that school climate predicts for teachers and pupils higher satisfaction, and lower violence perceptions. Moreover, for schoolboys and schoolgirls, a good school climate predicts lower level of stress and better school results. These data suggest that the atmosphere of a school plays a crucial role for teachers’ and pupils’ professional and personal attitudes.     

La photo-expression : un outil pour accompagner le patient en éducation thérapeutique et pour évaluer son évolution

IntroductionIn therapeutic patient education (TPE), photoexpression is often used by psychologists in order to work on patients’ perceptions and experiences, especially in group workshops.AimThe aim of this study was to explore diabetic patients’ discourse during two photoexpression group workshops at the beginning and the end of a TPE program.MethodSeventeen patients took part in this study. A lexicometric analysis was performed on their discourse during the two group workshops (Alceste® software).ResultsFor the first workshop, the analysis yielded two classes: the place of diabete in daily life as well as psychic and social functioning. For the second workshop, the analysis also yielded two classes: self-management and adjustement, as well as program experience and return back home.ConclusionThe results show an increase in adaptation skills and particularly in self-efficacy, motivation, positive emotions, perhaps illness acceptance. Photoexpression shows to be a very interesting tool in TPE to accompagny patients but also evaluate their discourse evolution during a TPE program.     

Empathie,contagion émotionnelle et coupure par rapport aux émotions : validation d’un test pour repérer et aider des élèves à risque

Our previous research on the prevention of violent behaviors in the school environment led to an investigation of the capacities of students in terms of emotion sharing and regulation. In a previous critical and historical study, we defined empathy in relation to other concepts such as sympathy, personal distress, emotional contagion and what we propose to call “splitting with emotions”. To put into effect this distinction, we designed a test with three components (Coupure/splitting with emotions-Empathie/empathy Contagion/emotional contagion, CEC), the validation of which we present here. Five groups of pupils (total 761) were studied with ages ranging from eight to 17 years and coming from France, Switzerland and Canada. These studies evaluated our CEC test with regard to the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) and other scales measuring self-esteem, anxiety, depression, social skills, delinquency and student school achievements. Answers were compared with regards to sex, major school discipline and school results. Empathy is slightly but significantly correlated with school success. Contrary to suggestions in previous studies, however, this cannot be attributed more to female subjects. “Splitting with emotions” is more developed in male subjects and “emotional contagion” is more developed in female students. It is the “splitting with emotions” component which appears to constitute an indirect indicator of the risks of developing violent behaviors.     

Premières étapes de construction et de validation d’une échelle de spiritualité explicite areligieuse

Although spirituality and religion have often been used in an undifferentiated way in the literature, the existence of an areligious spirituality beyond the question of religious belief. The objective of our study was to construct and validate a scale of areligious spirituality applicable to the university student. The unidimensional structure of the scale was revealed in an exploratory study carried out with 263 students. This structure was also exhibited in a confirmatory study concerning 259 students. The internal coherence was satisfactory. Multi-group analyses showed that the model works equally well for men and women and for members and non-members of a religious order. Finally a high score on the scale of areligious spirituality is associated with a strong satisfaction with life. This preliminary research highlights the good psychometric properties of the Explicit Scale of Areligious Spirituality (ESAS) and seems to be a good investigative tool for all researchers and professionals interested in the subject of spirituality.     

Distorsions cognitives et pratique de jeu de hasard et d’argent : état de la question

Cognitive distorsions are inherent to any gambling situation whatever the level of commitment of the gambler. Irrational beliefs lead the subject to overestimate his share of control over the game's outcome to the detriment of chance. Knowing the objective probability to win and having good numeric capacities of reasoning does not prevent the gamblers from developing these false beliefs. According to the concept of double switching proposed by Ladouceur and Sévigny (2005), irrational beliefs would coexist with objective knowledges on the game and would bustle in situation of gambling. The progress and the outcome of the game influence the development and the maintenance of cognitive distorsions, which influences the subject's practice of gambling. Pathological gambling, repeated and persistent gambling behavior, is characterized in particular by the presence of cognitive distortions, leading the subject to maintain, even to increase his gambling practice. Indeed, if cognitive distorsions are present in any situation of gambling, it seems nevertheless that it is more frequent and more intense in problem and pathological gamblers. Cognitive distorsions, in particular illusion of control, thus lead to a more important practice of gambling and a financial risk-taking, favoring the installation and the preservation of problem gambling. Certain factors seem to influence cognitive distorsions. There is a gender effect: women would present fewer irrational beliefs than men. Depression, anxiety and stress would also favor the development of these beliefs in situation of gambling. Several methods exist to estimate cognitive distorsions in gamblers. The first researches are based on assessment made by others (observation and analysis of gambler's verbalizations). Afterward, several self-report scales were created. At the moment, none of these scales has been validated in French language. The identification of gambling related cognitive distortions permit to elaborate adapted modes of treatment. So, the cognitive therapy suggests identifying and restructuring the beliefs to bring the subject to change his gambling behavior. In spite of the current knowledge on cognitive distorsions, certain questions remain open, in particular about the implication of theses beliefs in games implying a part of strategy, in which the subject has effectively a certain control over the game.     

Confort des élèves et performance du bâtiment scolaire

Schools today are designed above all as educational tools and do not always take sufficient account of the physical parameters that are nevertheless environmental factors that have an impact on the capacity to read and concentrate. The aim of our study is to compare the comfort perceived by children in two schools, one with traditional design, the other with a modern design. Two types of tool were used: (a) an analytical study of the plans of the two schools, and (b) a survey using questionnaires completed by 232 elementary school children (8-10 years old). We discuss the results showing that the children in the school with a modern design had higher scores on the “Disturbance” dimension, and on “Privacy”.     

Gouvernance et éthique cliniques : deux outils complémentaires pour une meilleure coordination des soins et des traitements

“Governance”, “ethics” and “clinical” three words for a same goal: protect the human health. “Corporate governance” must be associated with the new theory of the firm, for which the theory of asymmetric information provides the foundations. Indeed problems of information represent a fundamental change in the prevailing paradigm within economics; they are central to understanding political economy. “Clinical governance”, promoted by the UK government, constitutes an overarching mechanism designed to improve clinical quality in the National Health Service. To the medical establishment, it is a means to improve the quality of medical practice through clinical guidelines. To make a significant impact on the improvement of healthcare quality, the principles of clinical governance must produce synergy by involving professionals in the modernization of the organization. To obtain excellence in heath care, collective actions and shared decision making were essential. In this context, Clinical ethics consultations could provide a structured approach to decision making that could assist heath professional to resolve conflicts or ethical problems that arise in the care of particular patients.     

La famille face aux violences extrafamiliales : émotions et victimisation dans la narration de parents et enfants en UMJ

The traumatic impact linked to the revelation of an assault, at the time of the announcement of the abuse, but also in the daily life of the family, disrupts the family system. This study aims to compare the perception of the parent and his child when the child has been the victim of a sexual, psychological and/or physical extra-family assault, particularly around emotions, guilt and the victimization experience. The exploratory research approach is through the qualitative analysis of the content of interviews conducted with parents and children received by the Medico-Judiciary Unit (UMJ) and the Youth Victims Reception Unit. (UAJV). Our results show the presence of a strong emotional state in parents that results in anger, as well as a difficulty in naming emotions in their children. Children have difficulty to express their emotions, but everyday life seems less difficult than parents. Despite the limitations due to the small sample and the conditions for data collection, recommendations for clinical treatment of families are proposed.     

Intelligence artificielle et médecine : quelles règles éthiques et juridiques pour une IA responsable ?

Combining AI and medicine means talking about the medicine of the future, but even more about improving the quality of care. Its fields of application: predictive medicine, precision medicine, decision support, prevention, computer-assisted surgery, robotic support for the elderly, etc. are all related concerns: the possibility of maintaining human contact with the patient, the explicability of the algorithm - the collection of health data - and the improvement of the health care system. AI applications are already improving the quality of care. Its deployment at the heart of the medicine of the future is in constant evolution. To be acceptable and legitimate, the decisions of any algorithm must be understood and therefore explained. Only a good understanding of the diagnoses and therapies proposed by the AI application will allow doctors to discuss with their patients and to explain the possible alternatives. In the opposite case, the doctor risks to dismiss the use of algorithms because he will not be able to justify the decisions which will pose problems in terms of liability research in particular.     

Adaptation et validation francophone d’une échelle de la spiritualité au travail

Most researchers working on the thematic of workplace spirituality recognize the importance of its relationships with individual and organizational performance. However, no scale for assessing it has been translated and validated in a French-speaking context. Therefore, this study aims to validate the adaptation of the “Workplace spirituality” scale. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were carried out on all data collected from 623 participants working in France. The results revealed a five-factor solution: “Transcendence”, “Alignment with the organization values”, “Mindfulness”, “Compassion” and “Meaningful work”, as well as satisfactory psychometric qualities. The discussion presents the reasons why the French version is valid and identifies some of the limitations of this study.     

Construction et validation d’une échelle de satisfaction envers le lycée

Socioeducational contexts are frequently marked out as linked with pupils’ success at school. However, these contexts are often studied for their effects, therefore little researches are made on the pupils’ perceptions. The objective of this study is to build and validate a scale measuring pupils’ satisfaction towards high school. Three main factors and their subdimensions have been controlled in an exploratory study with 232 pupils. This structure of the scale has been reinforced in a cross-validation, during a confirmatory study with 542 high school students. The internal consistency of satisfaction’s dimensions, their predictive qualities and the adequacy of the measurement model give evidence of high psychometric qualities of this scale.