Evaluation of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to treat chronic insomnia

IntroductionAs having positive effects on reducing distress and symptoms associated with different mental and physical disorders, many studies have focused on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.ObjectiveIt is suggested that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could help reducing insomnia by focusing on certain cognitive factors associated to insomnia.MethodA pre-experimental, pre-test protocol with a post-test and three month follow-up was used to measure the effect of a group intervention of eight sessions and 12 participants.ResultsThe intervention had a positive effect on participants’ subjective evaluation regarding their sleep and the gains were maintained after three months. However, after the intervention, no significant effect was found on the objective measures of sleep. Two factors associated to the maintenance of insomnia, such as dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep and mental control strategies were improved following treatment and these improvements were maintained during the follow-up.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy might be an interesting addition in the treatment of insomnia, given that it focuses on certain cognitive factors that contribute to the maintenance of insomnia.     

L’anormalité du dommage : une notion juridique stabilisée ?

Medical liability, in accordance with liability law, is traditionally based on the triad of operative event, causal link and damage. The emergence of systems of no-fault liability gave rise to the concept of abnormal damage, which is a necessary condition for liability. In terms of medical liability, in 1958 the administrative courts ruled that this criterion was necessary in order to compensate medical damage in situations of liability for alleged misconduct, then from 1990 in situations of no-fault liability. This condition was extended to compensate medical hazard from 1993. The Court of Cassation refused to adopt a no-fault liability system, leading to unequal treatment. Thus, the law of March 4, 2002 created a system which, in situations of no-fault liability, allowed national solidarity to be engaged in the event of abnormal damage. However, the legislation did not clearly set out the character of this abnormality, and jurisprudential hesitation over this criterion has made compensation uncertain. In 2014, the administrative and judicial courts clarified their jurisprudence by adopting a more specific definition of this criterion of abnormality. However, a very restrictive view taken of this criterion means that many victims now risk being excluded from the scope of compensation. As such, this jurisprudential stability is perhaps but temporary.     

Théorie de l’autodétermination et modèle multimodal d’engagement : un pairage prometteur pour mieux comprendre les liens entre motivation et engagement scolaires chez des étudiants universitaires

Introduction

Psychological mechanisms associated with academic motivation and academic commitment constitute promising targets for the understanding of the undergraduate students’ well being, during a particularly critical adulthood developmental period in terms of identity formation and vulnerability to psychopathologies.

Le burnout chez les infirmières en cancérologie : Une approche contextuelle du modèle exigences-contrôle-soutien

The current investigation, studying the burnout among oncology nurses, was guided by the Demand Control Support model (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). However, in accordance with scholars claiming for a context-specificity in occupational stress research, we first conducted 3 semi-structured focus groups to identify the specific sources of demands, control and support experienced by oncology nurses. The scale established from this analysis, (as well the other study variables), had been answered by 144 oncology nurses. Factorial analyses revealed 4 latent factors: “job demands”, “patient demands”, “support” and “control”. Then, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that job demands, control and support predicted significant proportions of burnout, in particular emotional exhaustion. We also observed a moderator effect of social support. Furthermore, the situation-specific stressors, that is, those relating to difficult relationships with patients, made significant contributions to burnout, supporting the claim of augmenting the components of the Demand Control Support model with stressors that are more situation- specific.     

L'identification des enfants à haut potentiel : Quelles perspectives pour l'approche psychométrique ?

The identification of gifted children is a paradoxical issue in the scientific literature. This topic is largely underrepresented, in spite of the complexity of the questions it raises. The concept of identification of giftedness is a multifaceted topic. From a theoretical point of view, the definitions of giftedness diverge. From a methodological point of view, the domains of measurement, the techniques of evaluation and the criteria used are also extremely variable. The limits of the “traditional” psychometric approach to giftedness are presented starting from the example of the WISC. Several questions are addressed: the value of the identification threshold, the relevance of available norms and psychometric qualities of this test. Finally, prospects offered by Item Response Models to renew the psychometric approach to the identification of giftedness are considered.     

Optimisme comparatif dans le milieu professionnel : l'influence de la fréquence et de la gravité sur la perception des risques d'accident du travail

The aim of this study is to test if people express comparative optimism when they evaluate their risk of being confronted to various work accidents compared to their colleagues. We also test the assumption according to which individuals are as much more optimistic as the event is threatening. Thus, an accident which is serious and probable (and consequently more threatening) should generate a maximum of comparative optimism. Our population is composed by employees of a mirror manufacture company. The latter evaluated their personal risk and that of one of their colleagues to be confronted with a severe /rare, severe/frequent, non severe/rare or non severe/frequent accident. Our results reveal the presence of an optimistic bias and this particularly for the severe and frequent accident. These data are discussed in terms of defensive bias and self esteem maintenance.     

Rapports au travail, contrôle et santé dans les centres de gestion de la relation-client

The main objective of the present research was to analysis the organizational work and health in call centre. In facts, it proves that this specific professional activity produces so much effects on the level call centre agents (violence, perceived stress, perceived health, musculoskeletal disorder symptoms, intention to quit, satisfaction), that at the organizational level (turnover, lower quality, lowers performances). So, the evolution of the career, the organizational support, the participation in the decisions or the type of management produce a positive effects at the same time, on the worker and the organization (job satisfaction, implication, better real or perceived performances well-being, job involvement, better quality of life, lower turnover or absenteeism…). Lastly, we propose a model of analysis of strain at the work which integrates emotional exhaustion and the depersonalization.     

No one here gets out alive: the Bluebeard story in therapy and in the culture

In this paper, the Bluebeard story is used to highlight mechanisms underlying an individual analytic case and some cultural phenomena from a Jungian perspective. I describe a patient whose psyche was dissociated into a tormenting monstrous figure and a regressed childish self, which Kalsched explains as activation of the archetypal defence system. As her analyst, I had to survive attacks of the patient's persecuting inner object, which she related to Bluebeard as a representation of relentless murderousness. At the cultural level, Bluebeard pertains to the concept of the totalitarian object (Sebek 1996) and to the pole of grandiosity of the Russian cultural complex.     

Maternal and infant characteristics connected to shared pleasure in dyadic interaction

The aim of the study was to analyze which maternal factors (depressive symptoms, effect of life events, maternal sensitivity and structuring) and infant characteristics (temperament, social withdrawal symptoms, interactive behavior, genotype, gender) contribute to shared pleasure (SP) in parent–infant interaction. Participants were 113 mother–infant dyads. The mothers filled in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and the Life Events Questionnaire. The dyads were videotaped in a free-play situation, and the videos were analyzed using the Alarm Distress Baby Scale and the Emotional Availability Scales. The infants were genotyped for four genes involved in emotion regulation. The occurrence and duration of SP (SP-MD) in mother–infant interactions were analyzed from the videotapes. Higher maternal sensitivity and depressive symptoms, better infant responsiveness, and the infant having the GG variant of the gene tryptophan hydroxylase isoform 2 (TPH2) -307 were associated with the occurrence of SP. Lower level depressive symptoms, better maternal structuring, and greater infant involvement were associated with the longer duration of SP. Those dyads where the mother and infant were best able to read each other's positive cues and to respond to them were more likely to experience mutual positive affect, as seen in SP.     

Look to Norway: Serving new families and infants in a multiethnic population

Despite recognition that immigrant women face significant health challenges, addressing the healthcare needs of immigrants is a source of debate in the United States. Lack of adequate healthcare for immigrants is recognized as a social justice issue, and other countries have incorporated immigrants into their healthcare services. Oslo, the fastest growing capital in Europe, is rapidly shifting to a heterogeneous society prompting organizational action and change. The New Families Program serves first-time mothers and their infants in an Oslo district serving 53% minorities from 142 countries. Anchored in salutogenic theory, the program aims to support the parent–child relationship, children's development and social adaptation, and to prevent stress-related outcomes. Formative research has informed the successful program development and implementation within the existing maternal and child healthcare service. Implications for addressing maternal and child health needs of an immigrant population are presented.