Le rôle de la stigmatisation dans la symptomatologie dépressive de femmes françaises en surpoids ou en situation d’obésité

IntroductionDespite the high prevalence of depressive symptoms among women being overweight or having obesity, the role of stigma and causal attributions in the expression of these symptoms in French women has been largely under-explored to date.ObjectiveThe aim of this research is to study the role of internalized stigmatization, stigmatizing experiences and causal attribution in the intensity of depressive symptoms in overweight and obese French women.MethodThese four variables were measured in 160 French women being overweight or having obesity.ResultsOur analyses highlight positive correlations between stigmatizing experiences, internalized stigmatization and depressive symptomatology. It is important to note that stigmatizing experiences seem to play a more preponderant role than internalized stigmatization in the expression of depressive symptoms.ConclusionFor women with significant depressive symptoms, it appears essential to integrate interventions aimed at reducing their level of stigma. Moreover, from a preventive perspective, it also seems essential to promote campaigns in France aimed at reducing the stigmatization in this population.     

Prevalence and Predictors of Background Television Among Infants and Toddlers from Low-Income Homes

TV use could be detrimental to children’s development because it may displace enriching activities like shared reading and caregiver-child interaction or disrupt children’s interactions with the adults in their lives by distracting both parties. Some prior research has shown that demographic factors (maternal education, siblings) and maternal mental health (depression risk and parenting stress) may predict household TV, but findings are mixed. Household TV is defined here as whether or how much the TV is on in the home. In the current study, we examine the following research questions: (a) what is the prevalence of household TV (i.e., whether or how much the TV is on) in the homes of infants and toddlers in a sample of families from low-income homes? and (b) do demographic characteristics (i.e., maternal education level and presence of siblings in the home), and maternal mental health (i.e., depression risk and parenting stress) predict household TV (i.e., whether or how much the TV is on)? Mothers (N = 220) reported on their household TV, education level, siblings in the home, depression risk, and parenting stress when children were four to seven months of age and again at 15–19 months of age. Results showed a high level of household TV, especially during infancy. Furthermore, education level, but not siblings, depression risk, or parenting stress, was related to household TV during infancy and toddlerhood. These findings are discussed in relation to prior research and the potential for informing future interventions or education efforts.     

Perceived dyadic coping,anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life of women diagnosed with fibromyalgia

Women diagnosed with fibromyalgia face a wide range of challenges impacting multiple aspects of their lives, such as their relationship with their partner. This study aims to examine how women diagnosed with fibromyalgia manage stress in their own couple and to investigate the role of dyadic coping in anxiety and depression symptoms, and in life satisfaction. Seventy-three women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 73 matched women filled questionnaires to examine dyadic coping, anxiety and depression symptoms, and life satisfaction. Results show that women diagnosed with fibromyalgia perceived themselves and their partner as using more negative dyadic coping, more delegated dyadic coping and less common dyadic coping. Moreover, negative dyadic coping predicted higher anxiety symptoms and poorer life satisfaction. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of dyadic stress management in understanding psychological adjustment better in women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the need to develop better-adapted interventions to support them effectively.     

Tobacco Use Predicts Treatment Dropout and Outcome in an Acute,Transdiagnostic Psychiatric Treatment Setting

Tobacco use is consistently associated with greater levels of depression and anxiety, broadly, and preliminary evidence suggests that current tobacco use is a significant predictor of dropout from psychiatric treatment. The current study extends past work to examine the impact of tobacco use on treatment dropout and outcomes in an acute psychiatric treatment setting. Upon intake to a partial hospitalization program (PHP), patients completed a battery of measures assessing sociodemographic characteristics, current tobacco use, depression and generalized anxiety, and substance use. Patients at the PHP also completed measures assessing levels of depression and generalized anxiety again upon discharge from the program. In line with hypotheses, current tobacco use was a significant predictor of dropout from treatment at the PHP. Importantly, this relationship remained significant when statistically controlling for demographic variables and psychiatric and substance use severity (such as number of previous inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations and degree of alcohol or drug problems). Results from the current study indicate that tobacco use is a significant risk factor for treatment dropout. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to determine the mechanism underlying this link between tobacco use and treatment dropout for people receiving intensive psychiatric care.     

PARENTAL CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY,DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS,AND PARENTING QUALITY: EFFECTS ON TODDLER SELF‐REGULATION IN CHILD WELFARE SERVICES INVOLVED FAMILIES

Parents who are involved with child welfare services (CWSI) often have a history of childhood adversity and depressive symptoms. Both affect parenting quality, which in turn influences child adaptive functioning. We tested a model of the relations between parental depression and child regulatory outcomes first proposed by K. Lyons‐Ruth, R. Wolfe, A. Lyubchik, and R. Steingard (2002). We hypothesized that both parental depression and parenting quality mediate the effects of parental early adversity on offspring regulatory outcomes. Participants were 123 CWSI parents and their toddlers assessed three times over a period of 6 months. At Time 1, parents reported on their childhood adversity and current depressive symptoms. At Time 2, parents’ sensitivity to their child's distress and nondistress cues was rated from a videotaped teaching task. At Time 3, observers rated children's emotional regulation, orientation/engagement, and secure base behavior. The results of a path model partly supported the hypotheses. Parent childhood adversity was associated with current depressive symptoms, which in turn related to parent sensitivity to child distress, but not nondistress. Sensitivity to distress also predicted secure base behavior. Depression directly predicted orientation/engagement, also predicted by sensitivity to nondistress. Sensitivity to distress predicted emotion regulation and orientation/engagement. Results are discussed in terms of intervention approaches for CWSI families.     

MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN HEAD START: INDIRECT EFFECTS THROUGH PARENTING

The present study used a large, nationally representative sample of Head Start children (N=3,349) from the Family and Child Experiences Survey of 2009 (FACES) to examine associations among maternal depression (measured when children were ?36 months old) and children's executive function (EF) and behavior problems (measured when children were ?48 months old). Preliminary analyses revealed that 36% of mothers in the sample had clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, a path analysis with demographic controls showed a mediation effect that was significant and quite specific; mother‐reported warmth (and not mother–child reading) mediated the path between maternal depression, children's EF, and behavior problems. Findings provide empirical support for a family process model in which warm, sensitive parenting supports children's emerging self‐regulation and reduces the likelihood of early onset behavior problems in families in which children are exposed to maternal depression.     

Impacts des conditions de vie durant le confinement sur les personnes souffrant de maladies psychiatriques

IntroductionIndividuals with psychiatric disorders have been the focus of vigilance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this retrospective study was to estimate the influence of the living conditions of these people, on the evolution of their mood during the first lockdown in spring 2020 in France.MethodA questionnaire was proposed to 86 patients with psychiatric illnesses followed in ambulatory care, in order to evaluate their living conditions, their psychological resources and their perception of the health crisis. Patients responded to scales designed to assess perceived changes in anxiety and depressive symptoms during confinement. Analyses of variance and comparison of means were performed in order to study the variables that were significantly explanatory on the evolution of the disorders.ResultsA majority of patients reported stability of anxiety and depression symptoms during confinement. Alterations in lifestyle, such as an increase in sleep disturbance and smoking, had an effect on anxiety or depression. Occupational activities such as self-care, sports or outings influenced symptomatology. The ability to build on past experiences or to project positively into the future had an effect on symptomatology.DiscussionThese data highlight the specificities of the constraints encountered in lockdown by individuals previously suffering from psychiatric illnesses. Our results point out resources to be considered in adjusting the care modalities of these patients.     

Assessing the Impact of Relative Social Position and Absolute Community Resources on Depression and Obesity Among Smokers

We tested two competing hypotheses-relative social position and community resources-in regards to their effect on two co-occurring health problems (depression, and obesity) in a sample of smokers participating in an online smoking cessation intervention. Income and education data at the zip code level from the 2000 Census was linked with individual level data. Logistic regression models were used for each co-occurring problem to determine how each SES variable (individually and interactively) was associated with the presence of co-occurring health problems. We found that lower individual education was related to poorer health for all outcomes (Depression: OR = 1.25; Obesity: OR = 1.24; Both: OR = 1.46), lower community education was only related to obesity (OR = 1.20). Lower individual income was related to higher rates of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.64) and both health problems (OR = 1.55); a significant interaction of individual and community income (Wald = 6.13, p < .05) revealed that high income individuals were less likely to be depressed if they lived in lower-income communities and became more likely to be so as community income increased. Relative social position was confirmed for depression, whereas community resources were prominent only for obesity. Higher individual education most consistently predicted positive health outcomes, making it a potentially powerful target to reduce health disparities.     

Visual-Verbal Self/Other-Referential Processing Task: Direct vs. indirect assessment, valence, and experiential correlates

This study evaluated a new methodology for assessing valenced Self-Referential Processing (SRP) in comparison with Other-Referential Processing (ORP). Participants viewed pictures of themselves during certain trials and same-gender strangers during others, intermixed between valenced words. Participants internally-rehearsed the words “I am” or “He/she is” when presented with the respective pictures and read the valenced words, thereby associating the self/other with positivity/negativity on different trials. Participants self-monitored their affective response, and their degree of attention and/or rate of internal speech/reading speed was measured indirectly via button-press response time (RT). Results in 91 young adults demonstrated a self-positivity bias in survey ratings, stronger affective responses during SRP than ORP, slower RT during SRP than ORP, and slower RT during positive than negative valence. Difference scores between SRP of negative- vs. positive-valence trials, and between SRP vs. ORP of negative-valence trials, were correlated among survey ratings, affective responses, and RT. Finally, content analyses of phenomenological reports showed that task conditions differentially provoked a number of socioemotional experiences during both SRP and ORP (e.g., jealousy-envy, sympathy-pity, good will/pride). We discuss potential applications of the task in the study of personality and individual differences.     

Mindfulness and emotional distress: The role of negatively biased cognition

Mindfulness is a receptive attention to and awareness of events and experiences as they occur. A substantial body of literature supports the usefulness of mindfulness-based approaches for preventing or reducing emotional distress (e.g., depression and anxiety). However, mechanisms by which mindfulness produces these benefits are still being explored. Cognitive theories of emotional disorder implicate negatively biased cognition as a primary source of distress, and the theoretical literature on mindfulness suggests that it may reduce biased thoughts and judgments. Thus, the present research tested a mediation model in which less negatively biased cognition explains the inverse relation between mindfulness and emotional distress. Participants completed multiple standardized measures of trait mindfulness, negatively biased cognition, and emotional distress. The proposed relations between these constructs then were examined using structural equation modeling. Support was found for a partial mediation model, and possible alternative models were ruled out. These findings highlight a previously unidentified cognitive mechanism to explain the relation between mindfulness and reduced emotional distress. Specifically, mindfulness may reduce negative, maladaptive cognitive styles, which in turn may reduce predisposition to emotional disorders.