[Mindfulness-based therapeutic approaches: benefits for individuals suffering from pain]. / Approches thérapeutiques basées sur la pleine conscience (mindfulness): utilité pour le traitement de la douleur.

Chronic diseases and their associated biopsychosocial adjustements tax the limits of modern conventional medicine, with the need then to turn towards new resources. Among these, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a therapeutic approach developed more than 30 years ago. Designed as an adjuvant to medical care, in particular in the case of chronic pain which is the scope of our article, MBSR is usually provided in group format and based on a meditative practice. Simple, brief and cost-limited, MBSR can potentially be offered to a wide variety of chronic diseases and is part of participatory medicine. After having presented this approach, several results from studies confirming the legitimacy of MBSR as a nonreligious and nonesoteric scientific approach for the treatment of various diseases will be reported.

Effects of expertise on football betting.

BACKGROUND: Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in the world, including Europe. It is associated with important betting activities. A common belief, widely spread among those who participate in gambling activities, is that knowledge and expertise on football lead to better prediction skills for match outcomes. If unfounded, however, this belief should be considered as a form of "illusion of control." The aim of this study was to examine whether football experts are better than nonexperts at predicting football match scores. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-eight persons took part in the study: 21.3% as football experts, 54.3% as laypersons (non-initiated to football), and 24.4% as football amateurs. They predicted the scores of the first 10 matches of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Logistic regressions were carried out to assess the link between the accuracy of the forecasted scores and the expertise of the participants (expert, amateur, layperson), controlling for age and gender. RESULTS: The variables assessed did not predict the accuracy of scoring prognosis (R2 ranged from 1% to 6%). CONCLUSIONS: Expertise, age, and gender did not appear to have an impact on the accuracy of the football match prognoses. Therefore, the belief that football expertise improves betting skills is no more than a cognitive distortion called the "illusion of control." Gamblers may benefit from psychological interventions that target the illusion of control related to their believed links between betting skills and football expertise. Public health policies may need to consider the phenomenon in order to prevent problem gambling related to football betting.

Depression relapse prophylaxis with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: replication and extension in the Swiss health care system.

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a group intervention that integrates elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with components of mindfulness training to prevent depressive relapse. The efficacy of MBCT compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU), shown in two randomized controlled trials indicates a significant decrease in 1-year relapse rates for patients with at least three past depressive episodes. The present study is the first independent replication trial comparing MBCT+TAU to TAU alone across both language and culture (Swiss health care system). METHODS: Sixty unmedicated patients in remission from recurrent depression (>or=3 episodes) were randomly assigned to MBCT+TAU or TAU. Relapse rate and time to relapse were measured over a 60 week observation period. The frequency of mindfulness practices during the study was also evaluated. RESULTS: Over a 14-month prospective follow-up period, time to relapse was significantly longer with MBCT+TAU than TAU alone (median 204 and 69 days, respectively), although both groups relapsed at similar rates. Analyses of homework adherence revealed that following treatment termination, the frequency of brief and informal mindfulness practice remained unchanged over 14 months, whereas the use of longer formal meditation decreased over time. LIMITATIONS: Relapse monitoring was 14months in duration and prospective reporting of mindfulness practice would have yielded more precise frequency estimates compared to the retrospective methods we utilized. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are required to determine which patient characteristics, beyond the number of past depressive episodes, may predict differential benefits from this therapeutic approach.