Les psychologues dans le champ de la santé mentale : les perspectives en promotion de la santé mentale positive

Literature findingsMental health promotion is still insufficiently known by psychologists and few of them work in this field, in part because it is based on public health concepts and data. Furthermore, its approach is focused on positive health – as opposed to deficit models – which proposes interventions consisting in developing human competencies and strengths as a means of preventing potential future mental illnesses.DiscussionThe present stake, in the field of mental health, thus requires a paradigmatic change in psychologists which would enable to move from mainly curative interventions to actions oriented towards individual and collectives’ potentialities. This article presents a synthesis of mental health determinants as well as national and international public policies aiming at developing health promotion.ConclusionIt concludes on how psychologist could become major actors in this field.     

Manual motor reaction while being absorbed into popular music

In three experiments, we investigated the behavioral consequences of being absorbed into music on performance in a concurrent task. We tested two competing hypotheses: Based on a cognitive load account, captivation of attention by the music and state absorption might slow down reactions in the decisional task. Alternatively, music could induce spontaneous motor activity, and being absorbed in music might result in a more autonomous, flow-driven behavior with quicker motor reactions. Participants performed a simple, visual, two-alternative forced-choice task while listening to popular musical excerpts. Subsequently, they rated their subjective experience using a short questionnaire. We presented music in four tempo categories (between 80 and 140 BPM) to account for a potential effect of tempo and an interaction between tempo and absorption. In Experiment 1, absorption was related to decreased reaction times (RTs) in the visual task. This effect was small, as expected in this setting, but replicable in Experiment 2. There was no effect of the music’s tempo on RTs but a tendency of mind wandering to relate to task performance. After slightly changing the study setting in Experiment 3, flow predicted decreased RTs, but absorption alone — as part of the flow construct — did not predict RTs. To sum up, we demonstrated that being absorbed in music can have the behavioral consequence of speeded manual reactions in specific task contexts, and people seem to integrate the music into an active, flow-driven and therefore enhanced performance. However, shown relations depend on task settings, and a systematic study of context is necessary to understand how induced states and their measurement contribute to the findings.     

What works in secondary schools? A systematic review of classroom-based body image programs

Governments, schools, and curriculum authorities are increasingly recognizing that body image during adolescence is a public health issue that warrants attention in the school setting. After 30 years of eating disorder prevention research, and given the current interest in this area, it seems timely to review the research on interventions to improve body image in schools. We reviewed universal-selective, classroom-based programs that have been conducted since the year 2000, among adolescents, and found 16 eligible intervention programs. Seven of these programs were effective in improving body image on at least one measure, from pre to post test, though effect sizes were small (d = 0.22–0.48). These effective programs were conducted among younger adolescents 12.33–13.62 years, and included activities focusing on media literacy, self esteem, and the influence of peers. Implications for school personnel and curriculum authorities are discussed, and we provide recommendations for a strategic approach to future research in this area.     

Because there was a cause for concern: An investigation into a word-specific prediction account of the implicit-causality effect

In Koornneef and Van Berkum's (2006) eye-tracking study of implicit causality (Caramazza, Grober, Garvey, & Yates, 1977), midsentence delays were observed in the processing of sentences such as “David blamed Linda because she _{(bias-congruent)}/he _{(bias-incongruent)} … ” when the pronoun following because was incongruent with the bias of the implicit-causality verb. The authors suggested that these immediate delays could be attributed to participants predicting a bias-congruent pronoun after because. According to this explanation, any other word placed after because should cause processing delays. The present investigation aimed to test this explanation by using sentences of the form “David blamed Linda because she _{(bias-congruent)}/he _{(bias-incongruent)}/there _{(bias-neutral)} … ”. Since significant immediate delays were observed in sentences containing a bias-incongruent pronoun (relative to a bias-congruent pronoun) but not in sentences containing there, the results of this study support an immediate integration effect but pose a problem to the word-specific prediction account of the implicit causality effect.     

The self: Your own worst enemy? A test of the self-invoking trigger hypothesis

The self-invoking trigger hypothesis was proposed by Wulf and Lewthwaite [Wulf, G., & Lewthwaite, R. (2010). Effortless motor learning? An external focus of attention enhances movement effectiveness and efficiency. In B. Bruya (Ed.), Effortless attention: A new perspective in attention and action (pp. 75–101). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press] as a mechanism underlying the robust effect of attentional focus on motor learning and performance. One component of this hypothesis, relevant beyond the attentional focus effect, suggests that causing individuals to access their self-schema will negatively impact their learning and performance of a motor skill. The purpose of the present two studies was to provide an initial test of the performance and learning aspects of the self-invoking trigger hypothesis by asking participants in one group to think about themselves between trial blocks—presumably activating their self-schema—to compare their performance and learning to that of a control group. In Experiment 1, participants performed 2 blocks of 10 trials on a throwing task. In one condition, participants were asked between blocks to think about their past throwing experience. While a control group maintained their performance across blocks, the self group's performance was degraded on the second block. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to practice a wiffleball hitting task on two separate days. Participants returned on a third day to perform retention and transfer tests without the self-activating manipulation. Results indicated that the self group learned the hitting task less effectively than the control group. The findings reported here provide initial support for the self-invoking trigger hypothesis.     

Reducing depression in 9–10 year old children in low SES schools: A longitudinal universal randomized controlled trial

The Aussie Optimism: Positive Thinking Skills Program (AOP-PTS) is an innovative curriculum-based mental health promotion program based on cognitive and behavioural strategies. The program is aimed at preventing depressive and anxiety symptoms and disorders in middle primary school children aged 9–10 years. Students from 22 low SES primary schools (N = 910) were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group and assessed at baseline, post-test, 6 months and 18 months. The intervention group received the program implemented by teachers and the control group received their regular Health Education curriculum. Students completed questionnaires on depression, anxiety, and attribution style. At risk students were further assessed with the computerised Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents. Parents reported on their children's externalising and internalising problems at home. Children in the intervention condition reported a significant pre-post reduction in depressive symptoms, and there was a significant pre-post reduction in parent-reported emotional difficulties which was maintained at 6 month follow-up; no changes were evident in the control group. Both groups showed significant improvements in child-reported anxiety and attribution style, and significant improvements in parent-reported pro-social behaviours. For both groups, there were no significant post-baseline changes in incidence and recovery rates for depression, anxiety, or internalising symptoms. These findings suggest that AOP-PTS has the potential to treat depressive symptomatology in the immediate term but the effects were not sustained. There is also evidence of improved emotional resilience up to 6 months following the program. Further follow-up to investigate longer term effects is needed.     

Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) and Elementary School Aged Children’s Aggression: Results from a Cluster Randomized Trial

This study reports on aggressive outcomes from a cluster randomized trial of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. Fourteen elementary schools were randomly assigned to intervention or control condition and third grade students were followed through the fifth grade. Teacher and self-reports of student aggression, conduct problems, delinquency, acting out problems, and social information processing (SIP) variables were collected. Linear change for each of the SIP variables was noted with control students demonstrating increased normative beliefs about aggression, increased aggressive social problem solving, increased hostile attribution bias, and increased aggressive interpersonal negotiation strategies over time while PATHS students remained relatively stable. Teachers reported significant curvilinear change in student aggression, conduct problems, and acting out behavior problems; all favoring PATHS students.     

Coalitional Capacities and Environmental Strategies to Prevent Underage Drinking

Coalitions are the most common platform for implementing community-level environmental strategies (ES), such as media, policy, or enforcement for substance use prevention. The current study examines the associations between two types of coalition capacity (general and innovation-specific) and ES implementation efforts and outputs within 14 intervention communities over a three-year period. Efforts refer to the amount of energy exerted to implement an ES while outputs refer to the materials produced through these efforts. Quantitative measures of capacity were provided by coalition key informants and expert-raters. Additionally, Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) provided proactively to improve the implementation of ES was also examined. Greater general capacity, as rated by a coalition informant, was associated with more ES policy effort. Both expert-rated general and innovation-specific capacity, however, were associated with greater ES outputs. Study results also found that community coalitions that endorsed weaker mobilization, structure and task leadership, (measures of general capacity), utilized more TTA compared to those who perceived their coalition as having greater capacity. Moreover, communities that utilized more TTA resources reported a greater number of successful policy changes. The study supports the need to consider both general and innovation-specific capacity for ES implementation and offers promising preliminary findings regarding the role of TTA for improving coalitions’ capacity to facilitate policy change.     

Applying the Creating Lasting Family Connections Marriage Enhancement Program to Marriages Affected by Prison Reentry

Divorce proportions are currently high in the US and they are even higher among those who are incarcerated with substance abuse problems. Although much research has examined marital interventions, only two studies have examined marital interventions with prison populations. There is some empirical evidence that incarcerated couples benefit from traditional marital therapy (O'Farrell and Fals‐Stewart, 1999, Addictions: A comprehensive guidebook, New York, Oxford University Press). An adaptation of the evidence‐based Creating Lasting Family Connections program was implemented with 144 married couples, where one spouse was incarcerated, in a southern state with particularly high divorce and incarceration proportions. Results suggested that married men exposed to the program had larger improvements in some relationship skills relative to a convenience sample of men not so exposed. Both husbands and wives exposed to the program exhibited similar and significant increases in relationship skills. The results were comparable to a Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program adaptation for inmates. The implications of the findings for prevention practitioners are discussed.     

The influence of implicit theories and message frame on the persuasiveness of disease prevention and detection advocacies

This research investigates the effectiveness of health message framing (gain/loss) depending on the nature of advocacy (prevention/detection) and respondents’ implicit theories (entity/incremental). Three experiments demonstrate that for detection advocacies, incremental theorists are more persuaded by loss frames. For prevention advocacies, incremental theorists are more persuaded by gain frames. For both advocacies (detection and prevention), entity theorists are not differentially influenced by frame. However, entity theorists are message advocacy sensitive such that they are more persuaded by prevention than detection advocacies, regardless of the message frame. These results are robust for measured as well as manipulated implicit theories and for different health contexts.