L’entretien motivationnel,une nouvelle « panacée » dans la prise en charge de patients toxicodépendants ? Une revue de littérature

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a therapeutic style well established in the field of treatment of substance disorders. It is defined as “a client-centered, directive method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving client ambivalence” (Miller, W.R., Rollnick, S., 2002. Motivational interviewing: preparing people for change. The Guilford Press, New York, p. 25). After a brief theoretical introduction, this article proposes a review of efficacy and efficiency studies on motivational interviewing for substance abuse. Despite the growing evidence indicating that MI is effective, few studies have examined how MI exerts its effects (search for “active ingredients”). Some hypotheses about its mode of action are reviewed.     

Adults' age-related differences in adaptivity of strategy choices: evidence from computational estimation

Four experiments document adults' age-related changes in computational estimation performance and in adaptivity of strategy choices (i.e., the ability to choose the most precise strategy on each trial). Young and older adults were asked to provide estimates of 2-by-2-digit multiplication problems (e.g., 43 x 78) under varying conditions of speed and accuracy emphasis. The main findings showed that (a) older adults provided less accurate estimates and took more time to estimate, especially on the most difficult problems or when using harder strategies; (b) young and older adults had similar strategy preferences; and (c) older adults chose estimation strategies less adaptively than young adults. Implications of these findings for understanding strategic changes during adulthood in a wide variety of cognitive domains are discussed.     

Beyond Appearances: Citizenship Tests in Canada and the UK

Citizenship tests are increasingly used by national governments as part of their naturalization procedures. Several analysts suggest that citizenship tests are indicative of a converging trend toward civic integration, especially in Europe. The reform of the Canadian citizenship test in 2009?C2010 represents an opportunity to examine the mobilization of tests in different national context. Are citizenship tests necessary the central tools of civic integration policies? In order to answer this question, this article first argues that it is crucial to understand citizenship tests as public policy instruments. Using the approach developed by Pierre Lascoumes and Patrick LeGalès, the article compares the emergence and characteristics of the citizenship tests implemented by Canada and the United Kingdom. Stemming from this analysis, this article demonstrates that the two citizenship tests are different instruments despite their similar appearances. The Canadian test remains, despite the reform, an instrument to promote naturalization and integration. In contrast, in addition to promoting civic integration, the British test is also an instrument of immigration control.     

Enacted Ebola Stigma and Health-related Quality of Life in Post Ebola Epidemic: A Psychosocial Mediation Framework Through Social Support,Self-Efficacy,and Coping

Applied Research in Quality of Life - On-site experiences and reports have shown that the multiple outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) resulted in...     

Interaction Effects between Maternal Lifetime Depressive/Anxiety Disorders and Correlates of Children��s Externalizing Symptoms

We investigated the interaction effects between mother??s lifetime depressive/anxiety disorders and psychosocial correlates of 6 to 11 year-old children??s self-reported externalizing symptoms in the Quebec Child Mental Health Survey. A representative subsample of 1,490 Quebec children aged 6 to 11 years was selected from the original sample. We conducted multiple linear regression analyses using externalizing symptoms as reported by children through the Dominic questionnaire and multiple child, family and socioeconomic characteristics. Two variables interacted significantly with mother??s lifetime depressive/anxiety disorders to predict 6 to 11 year-old children??s self-reported externalizing symptoms: physical/sexual abuse and mother??s caring behaviours. Results underline the main contribution of mother-child relationship and stressful events in the association between mother??s lifetime depressive/anxiety disorders and children??s externalizing symptoms. It is suggested to develop preventive intervention programs oriented towards children of lifetime depressed/anxious parents who also report parent-child relational difficulties.     

Externalizing problems and problematic sexual behaviors: same etiology?

The study sought to determine whether maltreatment subtypes, family sexuality, and personal characteristics predicted and distinguished child problematic sexual behaviors (PSB) and externalizing problems (EP). Participants were families of 188 children, 6–11 years old, referred by child welfare services in four Quebec districts. Caregivers completed interviews and questionnaires. Results suggested that family environment and maltreatment subtypes had partially different impacts on PSB and EP. When EP and gender were controlled, younger children in a sexualized family environment and those verbally victimized were more likely to exhibit PSB. When PSB and gender were controlled, verbal abuse and neglect emerged as predictors of EP. Potential implications for child PSB research and interventions are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:358–370, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Applying the choice/no‐choice methodology: the case of children’s strategy use in spelling

The present study illustrates the usefulness of the choice/no‐choice method to investigate age‐related changes in children’s strategies. This method enables independent assessments of strategy use and execution. It is applied in children’s spelling strategies. Third‐ and fifth‐grade children were asked to write down words using a dictionary or not (choice condition). Then, they were successively required to spell words using each strategy (no‐choice condition). Performance showed that (a) strategy choices and accuracy differed in younger and older children, (b) strategy effectiveness was the strongest predictor of children’s strategy use, and (c) having the choice resulted in higher level of spelling accuracy (especially in older children) than having no choice. We discuss the implications of these results on how the choice/no‐choice method can be useful for understanding and investigating children’s strategy choices in spelling and other cognitive domains.     

The Time-Course of Metaphor Comprehension: An Event-Related Potential Study

ERPs were recorded while subjects were reading short familiar metaphors (e.g., Those fighters are lions), unfamiliar metaphors (Those apprentices are lions), or literal control sentences (Those animals are lions) presented in isolation or preceded by either an irrelevant or relevant context (e.g., They are not idiotic: . . . .” vs. “They are not cowardly: Those fighters are lions”). The terminal word of metaphors elicited larger N400 components than did the terminal word of literal sentences (Experiment 1) suggesting that the (incongruous) literal meaning of metaphors was indeed accessed at some point during comprehension. The analysis of the 600–1000 and 1000–1400 latency bands (Late Positive Components) revealed no significant difference between metaphors and literal sentences. The manipulation of metaphor difficulty (Experiments 2 and 3) also failed to reveal any late effect specifically linked to metaphorical processing. Finally, an effect of the preceding sentence context was found in Experiments 3 and 4, as early as 300 ms following the terminal word onset. Overall, these results support a context-dependent account of metaphor comprehension stating that when contextually relevant, the metaphorical meaning is the only one accessed.