Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct: Evidence from a large-scale network analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples.

AIMS: Negative and positive urgency are emotion-related impulsivity traits that are thought to be transdiagnostic factors in psychopathology. However, it has recently been claimed that these two traits are closely related to each other and that considering them separately might have limited conceptual and methodological value. The present study aimed to examine whether positive and negative urgency constructs constitute separate impulsivity traits. METHODS: In contrast to previous studies that have used latent variable approaches, this study employed an item-based network analysis conducted in two different samples: a large sample of non-clinical participants (N = 18,568) and a sample of clinical participants with psychiatric disorders (N = 385). RESULTS: The network analysis demonstrated that items denoting both positive and negative urgency cohere as a single cluster of items termed "general urgency" in both clinical and non-clinical samples, thereby suggesting that differentiating positive and negative urgency as separate constructs is not necessary. CONCLUSION: These findings have important implications for the conceptualization and assessment of urgency and, more broadly, for future research on impulsivity, personality, and psychopathology.

A Mixed-Method Study on Strategies in Everyday Personal Goals among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

INTRODUCTION: Although it is well known that preference for selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) strategies is associated with indicators of successful aging and well-being, very little is known about what predicts the use of SOC as goal management strategies in the daily lives of older adults. The present study investigates predictors of self-reported use of SOC strategies in community-dwelling adults. We expected selection and especially compensation to be higher in individuals with worse subjective health and cognitive performance. On the contrary, given that optimization is an anticipatory strategy to increase goal-relevant means in the absence of resource losses, we did not expect optimization to be related to either health or cognition. METHODS: We performed hierarchical regression to predict use of SOC strategies to achieve everyday personal goals (assessed qualitatively via semi-structured interviews exploring participants' personal goals) from subjective health and objective cognitive performance, controlling for age, apathy, and depression. RESULTS: Poorer self-rated health and worse cognitive performance positively predicted compensation as a goal management strategy (R2 = 20%), whereas self-rated health just failed to significantly predict selection rates. None of the variables of interest predicted optimization. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Whereas previous research suggests associations between reduced resources and decreased absolute frequency of compensation use, the present study found that poorer cognitive status and perceived health are both linked to increased reliance on compensation in order to preserve well-being. In line with their anticipatory nature, the use of optimization strategies was independent from health and cognitive resources in our sample. We discuss the absence of conclusive effects regarding selection in this study in light of the distinction between elective and loss-based selection.

Projecting the self in aging: an exploratory study of self-defining future projections.

The concept of "Self-Defining Future Projections" (SDFPs) has been recently introduced to better explore the link between future thinking and identity. To date, SDFPs have only been examined in young adults and it remains unknown how self-defining future thoughts evolve in aging. In this cross-sectional study, 43 young adults (age range = 19-28; mean age = 23.06) and 43 older adults (age range 60-80; mean age = 69.46) were asked to generate three SDFPs. Our results indicated that SDFPs were less specific in older adults compared to young adults, but there was no difference between the two groups concerning autobiographical reasoning. However, regarding subjective experience, older adults rated imagined future events as containing more sensory details and contextual information and reported a higher feeling of pre-experiencing the personal future. Additionally, older participants described future events that were more positive and less distant in the future, with fewer narratives about future achievements but more narratives describing leisure time, with a similar probability between the two groups that the event will occur in the future. Our study extends previous aging research and adds to the literature by better understanding how future event representations are formed in older adults.

Classification of postoperative behavior disturbances in preschool children: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Negative postoperative changes in children are frequent and have been described for decades. However, there is currently no theoretical framework, nor any consensual operational criteria for identifying them. This study aims at characterizing the many dimensions involved in postoperative behavioral disturbances in early childhood, using a qualitative analysis applied for the first time to these symptoms. METHOD: Fifty-seven parents of preschool children (1-5 years old; 38 boys), who underwent general anesthesia, were interviewed 10 days after surgery. Semi-structured interviews investigated behavioral disturbances classically described in preschool children. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts allied both deductive and inductive reasoning, and inductive coding was carried out using constant comparison method with dedicated qualitative software. RESULTS: Parents reported both positive and negative postoperative changes. Negative changes were classified in four main categories: (a) Externalizing and (b) Internalizing problems behaviors, (c) Feeding sleeping disruption and (d) Somatic problems, each comprising different sub-categories. Importantly within these categories, the symptoms distribution changed in 5 years old children, compared to younger children. Finally, our method allowed defining whether these (negative or positive) changes were significant or not, that is, the importance of postoperative behavioral changes. CONCLUSION: The results of this study highlight the heterogeneity of postoperative disturbances in preschool children. These results are of primary importance for the definition and measurement of postoperative behavioral disturbances.

Reducing anger outbursts after a severe TBI: a single-case study.

Anger outbursts constitute a frequent behavioural issue after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and have a strong negative impact on the social outcomes resulting from the TBI. However, few studies have examined the efficacy of specific intervention strategies to reduce the frequency and intensity of anger outbursts. We therefore performed a single-case study on this topic by administering two successive and complementary psychological interventions with an AB design with maintenance (first intervention) and an AC design with maintenance plus a one-month follow-up (second intervention) to a patient with a severe TBI. Whereas the first intervention focused on improving the recognition and expression of basic emotions, the second consisted of a self-regulation programme, including various features such as psychoeducation about self-control strategies, relaxation and assertiveness training that aimed to establish adequate behaviours, which were further promoted by an implementation intentions strategy in the patient's daily life. The results indicated that all interventions resulted in a reduced frequency and intensity of anger outbursts, and the data upheld the specificity of these effects. In addition, a meta-analytic integration of the effects of both interventions on the outcomes indicated a medium effect size. Further research is needed on other patients who experience long-standing anger outbursts to examine whether the observed gains can be replicated, sustained on a longer-term basis and improved.

Reduced specificity and enhanced subjective experience of future thinking in ageing: the influence of avoidance and emotion-regulation strategies.

Future thinking in older adults is characterised by a lack of specificity of imagined events and by an equal or even higher subjective experience, compared to younger adults. We considered whether this lack of specificity stemmed partly from the avoidance of a somewhat disturbing future and then examined the extent to which certain types of emotion-regulation strategies, namely positive reappraisal and positive refocusing, contributed to the subjective experience of future thinking. Middle-aged and older adults completed an adapted version of the AMT, in which temporal distance and cue word valence were manipulated, thus resulting in future conditions assumed to represent varying degrees of discomfort. Results indicate that distant future and negative cues restricted both the specificity and the subjective experience of future thinking. In addition, the use of avoidance strategies predicted the nature of future thoughts in the context of a supposed uncomfortable future (i.e., a distant future induced by negative cues), although it followed quite different age-related patterns. Together with the findings that positive reappraisal and positive refocusing (to a lesser extent) contributed to the subjective experience of future thinking, this study indicates that how individuals imagine their personal future also relies on affect- and emotion-regulation strategies.

Temporal compression in episodic memory for real-life events.

Remembering an event typically takes less time than experiencing it, suggesting that episodic memory represents past experience in a temporally compressed way. Little is known, however, about how the continuous flow of real-life events is summarised in memory. Here we investigated the nature and determinants of temporal compression by directly comparing memory contents with the objective timing of events as measured by a wearable camera. We found that episodic memories consist of a succession of moments of prior experience that represent events with varying compression rates, such that the density of retrieved information is modulated by goal processing and perceptual changes. Furthermore, the results showed that temporal compression rates remain relatively stable over one week and increase after a one-month delay, particularly for goal-related events. These data shed new light on temporal compression in episodic memory and suggest that compression rates are adaptively modulated to maintain current goal-relevant information.

Patterns of source monitoring bias in incarcerated youths with and without conduct problems.

INTRODUCTION: Antisocial individuals present behaviours that violate the social norms and the rights of others. In the present study, we examine whether biases in monitoring the self-generated cognitive material might be linked to antisocial manifestations during adolescence. We further examine the association with psychopathic traits and conduct problems (CPs). METHODS: Sixty-five incarcerated adolescents (IAs; M age = 15.85, SD = 1.30) and 88 community adolescents (CAs; M age = 15.78, SD = 1.60) participated in our study. In the IA group, 28 adolescents presented CPs (M age = 16.06, SD = 1.41) and 19 did not meet the diagnostic criteria for CPs (M age = 15.97, SD = 1.20). Source monitoring was assessed through a speech-monitoring task, using items requiring different levels of cognitive effort; recognition and source-monitoring bias scores (internalising and externalising biases) were calculated. RESULTS: Between-group comparisons indicate greater overall biases and different patterns of biases in the source monitoring. IA participants manifest a greater externalising bias, whereas CA participants present a greater internalising bias. In addition, IA with CPs present different patterns of item recognition. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the two groups of adolescents present different types of source-monitoring bias for self-generated speech. In addition, the IAs with CPs present impairments in item recognition. Future studies may examine the developmental implications of self-monitoring biases in the perseverance of antisocial behaviours from adolescence to adulthood.

Can an external device create and trigger intention in a patient with a severe brain injury?

Goal-directed behaviour (GDB), the capacity that allows us to control our environment according to our desires and needs, requires different stages from initial intention to goal achievement. Although GDB is frequently disrupted after acquired brain injury, few studies have addressed the remediation of reduced GDB in patients with severe brain injury. The present study aimed to raise this question in RZ, a patient with severe brain injury who presented a serious reduction in GDB related to difficulties in creating an intention from internal determinants and in selecting an action plan, as well as to memory and attentional impairments. Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of an intervention programme to create and trigger a specific intention in RZ. More specifically, this programme consisted in written prompts, first accompanied by an alarm provided by his mobile phone, but gradually reduced until only the alarm remained, which was implemented in order to improve RZ's attendance at workshop sessions. Results showed that RZ's attendance rate at the workshop sessions increased, indicating that the use of an external device allowed us to create and trigger intention in a patient with severe cognitive impairments.

Intensity and memory characteristics of near-death experiences.

Memories of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) seem to be very detailed and stable over time. At present, there is still no satisfactory explanation for the NDEs' rich phenomenology. Here we compared phenomenological characteristics of NDE memories with the reported experience's intensity. We included 152 individuals with a self-reported "classical" NDE (i.e. occurring in life-threatening conditions). All participants completed a mailed questionnaire that included a measure of phenomenological characteristics of memories (the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire; MCQ) and a measure of NDE's intensity (the Greyson NDE scale). Greyson NDE scale total score was positively correlated with MCQ total score, suggesting that participants who described more intense NDEs also reported more phenomenological memory characteristics of NDE. Using MCQ items, our study also showed that NDE's intensity is associated in particular with sensory details, personal importance and reactivation frequency variables.

A database of body-only computer-generated pictures of women for body-image studies: Development and preliminary validation.

The body-shape-related stimuli used in most body-image studies have several limitations (e.g., a lack of pilot validation procedures and the use of non-body-shape-related control/neutral stimuli). We therefore developed a database of 61 computer-generated body-only pictures of women, wherein bodies were methodically manipulated in terms of fatness versus thinness. Eighty-two young women assessed the pictures' attractiveness, beauty, harmony (valence ratings), and body shape (assessed on a thinness/fatness axis), providing normative data for valence and body shape ratings. First, stimuli manipulated for fatness versus thinness conveyed comparable emotional intensities regarding the valence and body shape ratings. Second, different subcategories of stimuli were obtained on the basis of variations in body shape and valence judgments. Fat and thin bodies were distributed into several subcategories depending on their valence ratings, and a subcategory containing stimuli that were neutral in terms of valence and body shape was identified. Interestingly, at a descriptive level, the thinness/fatness manipulations of the bodies were in a curvilinear relationship with the valence ratings: Thin bodies were not only judged as positive, but also as negative when their estimated body mass indexes (BMIs) decreased too much. Finally, convergent validity was assessed by exploring the impacts of body-image-related variables (BMI, thin-ideal internalization, and body dissatisfaction) on participants' judgments of the bodies. Valence judgments, but not body shape judgments, were influenced by the participants' levels of thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction. Participants' BMIs did not significantly influence their judgments. Given these findings, this database contains relevant material that can be used in various fields, primarily for studies of body-image disturbance or eating disorders.

Procrastination, consideration of future consequences, and episodic future thinking.

Despite the intrinsic temporal nature of procrastination, little research has examined the link between this form of self-regulatory failure and the consideration of future consequences, and no study has addressed the link between procrastination and episodic future thinking. The aim of the present study was to explore these relationships. Participants were asked to project themselves into possible future events and to rate the amount of sensory-perceptual details and autonoetic consciousness associated with their representations. They were also asked to complete questionnaires that assessed procrastination, the consideration of future consequences, and negative affect. Results showed that both the consideration of future consequences and episodic future thinking were associated with procrastination, and in particular with procrastination-related decision making abilities and procrastination-related motivational dispositions, respectively.

Psychological Factors Involved in Sexual Desire, Sexual Activity, and Sexual Satisfaction: A Multi-factorial Perspective.

This study explored the role of psychological trait factors in sexual desire and sexual activity. In particular, it investigated how these factors may contribute to maintaining a balance between motivational aspects and self-control abilities, as both have been considered important in relation to adaptive sexuality. Moreover, the study explored the relationship between sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction. Participants completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual activity (with a partner, alone), sexual satisfaction, approach and avoidance motivation, attachment, self-control, sensation seeking, and mindfulness. Cluster analyses, based on participants' level of sexual desire and sexual activity, highlighted three distinct profiles for each gender related to different types of psychological functioning: (a) participants with high dyadic sexual desire and activity were the most sexually satisfied, showed optimal psychological functioning, and were characterized by a balance between motivational tendencies to seek positive rewards and self-control abilities (high approach motivation, secure attachment, high self-control, high mindfulness); (b) participants with high dyadic and solitary sexual desire and activity were moderately satisfied and showed a type of psychological functioning predominantly characterized by impulsivity (an overly high motivation to obtain rewards in women, and low self-control in men); (c) participants with low dyadic sexual desire and activity were the least sexually satisfied and were characterized by high motivation to avoid negative consequences and low self-control (high avoidance motivation, insecure attachment, and poor mindfulness). These results shed further light on how fundamental psychological factors contribute to explain the individual variability in sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction.

Projecting the self into the future in individuals with schizophrenia: a preliminary cross-sectional study.

The ability to project oneself into the future contributes to development and maintenance of a coherent sense of identity. If recent research has revealed that schizophrenia is associated with difficulties envisioning the future, little is known about patients' future self-representations. In this study, 27 participants with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls were asked to simulate mental representations of plausible and highly significant future events (self-defining future projections, SDFPs) that they anticipate to happen in their personal future. Main results showed that schizophrenia patients had difficulties in reflecting on the broader meaning and implications of imagined future events. In addition, and contrary to our hypothesis, a large majority of SDFPs in schizophrenia patients were positive events, including achievements, relationship, and leisure contents. Interestingly, patients and controls did not differ on the perceived probability that these events will occur in the future. Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients have an exaggerated positive perception of their future selves. Together, these findings lend support to the idea that past and future self-defining representations have both similar and distinct characteristics in schizophrenia.

Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and stress sensitivity mediate the relation between adverse life events and attenuated positive psychotic symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: There is now solid evidence for a relation between adverse life events (ALE) and psychotic symptoms in patients with psychosis and in the general population. A recent study has shown that this relation may be partially mediated by stress sensitivity, suggesting the influence of other factors. The aim of this study was to assess the mediation effect of emotion regulation strategies and stress sensitivity in the relation between ALE and attenuated positive psychotic symptoms (APPS) in the general population. METHODS: Hundred and twelve healthy volunteers were evaluated with measures of APPS, emotion regulation strategies, ALE and stress sensitivity. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that the relation between ALE, hallucination and delusion proneness was completely mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, but not by stress sensitivity. However, in addition to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, stress sensitivity demonstrated a mediation effect between ALE and attenuated positive psychotic positive symptoms when positive psychotic symptoms were grouped together. CONCLUSIONS: There are probably several possible trajectories leading to the formation of positive psychotic symptoms and the results of the present study reveal that one such trajectory may involve the maladaptive regulation of negative emotions alongside a certain general vulnerability after experiencing ALE.

Self-imagination can enhance memory in individuals with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has demonstrated that self-referential strategies can be applied to improve memory in various memory- impaired populations. However, little is known regarding the relative effectiveness of self-referential strategies in schizophrenia patients. The main aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new self-referential strategy known as self- imagination (SI) on a free recall task. METHODS: Twenty schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy controls intentionally encoded words under five instructions: superficial processing, semantic processing, semantic self-referential processing, episodic self-referential processing and semantic self- imagining. Other measures included depression, psychotic symptoms and cognitive measures. RESULTS: We found a SI effect in memory as self- imagining resulted in better performance in memory retrieval than semantic and superficial encoding in schizophrenia patients. The memory boost for self-referenced information in comparison to semantic processing was not found for other self-referential strategies. In addition no relationship between clinical variables and free recall performances was found. In controls, the SI condition did not result in better performance. The three self-referential strategies yielded better free recall than both superficial and semantic encoding. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of the clinical utility of self-imagining as a mnemonic strategy in schizophrenia patients.

[Neurobiological, psychological and sociological approach to sexual desire and sexual satisfaction]. / Une approche neurobiologique, psychologique et sociologique du désir sexuel et de la satisfaction sexuelle.

In the last years, University Fund Maurice Chalumeau (FUMC) launched a dynamic of research designed to promote scientific excellence and the development of Sexology with particular interest regarding sexual desire. The FUMC has supported a research project entitled "Neurobiological, psychological and sociological approach to sexual desire and sexual satisfaction". This project, sampled on 600 people (300 men and 300 women) aged between 25 and 46 years, was structured around three studies: a broad sociological study and two more specific ones, focused on some psychological mechanisms and neurobiological factors involved in sexual desire. The results show how the secondary socialization, personal expectations, beliefs and values in sexuality, sexual motivations, body image, as well as the neurobiological foundations and visual patterns, are of vital importance in the dynamics of sexual desire.

Psychometric properties of the French translation of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF) in non-clinical adults.

A decrease in the level of engagement in activities ("behavioral activation") is usually observed in major depressive disorder. Because behavioral treatments of depression aim to counteract that mechanism, assessing changes in behavioral activation during treatment is of great interest. Therefore, Manos et al. (2011) developed a scale that assesses these changes, which was called the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF). The aim of this study is to present a French version of this scale and to discuss its psychometric properties. The BADS-SF was translated into French, and 504 non-clinical adults completed an online survey that was composed of that scale and convergent measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed in two independent samples, and a two-factor solution was recommended, which references two functions of the engagement in activities (i.e., "activation" and "avoidance"). The results showed high levels of internal consistency and satisfying scores in terms of skewness and kurtosis. Moreover, relationships with measures of depression and behavioral systems indicated a good convergent validity. Therefore, the French BADS-SF can be seen as a reliable and valid instrument.

Apathetic symptom presentations in patients with severe traumatic brain injury: Assessment, heterogeneity and relationships with psychosocial functioning and caregivers' burden.

OBJECTIVES: Apathy is frequently described following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and defined on the basis of three dimensions (emotional blunting, lack of initiative, lack of interest), which are commonly assessed by the Apathy Inventory (AI). The aims were (1) to explore the psychometric properties of this scale in the TBI population and the relationships between the dimensions; and (2) to determine whether sub-groups of patients differing with respect to the three AI dimensions could be identified and to examine their differences on psychosocial functioning and caregivers' burden. PARTICIPANTS AND MEASURES: Close relatives of 68 patients with severe TBI were given the AI and two questionnaires to assess their subjective burden and patients' changes in psychosocial functioning. RESULTS: The scores distribution and the sensitivity of each sub-scale showed that the AI can be used as a screening tool in the TBI population. Four clusters were identified: one group with high scores on each dimension, one group with low scores on each dimension, one group with high emotional blunting alone and another with elevated lack of initiative/interest. The high apathetic group and the lack of initiative/interest group were associated with poorer psychosocial functioning and the high apathetic group was related to subjective burden. CONCLUSIONS: These results shed new light on the concept of apathy in patients with TBI and underline the necessity to take into account the various profiles of symptoms of apathy.

Association between impulsivity, emotional/behavioural hyperactivation and functional outcome one year after severe traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To examine impulsivity changes after a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to explore the relationships between impulsivity dimensions (urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking), emotional/behavioural hyperactivation and 12-month outcome. METHODS: Measures of emotional/behavioural hyperactivation and functional outcome were administered to 60 patients with severe TBI 12 months after the trauma. A scale designed to assess impulsivity changes after TBI was completed by the patients' significant others at the same time. RESULTS: Scores on urgency and lack of perseverance were higher after the trauma, whereas the score on sensation seeking was lower and the score on lack of premeditation remained stable. Urgency was the only dimension of impulsivity related to both emotional/behavioural hyperactivation and functional outcome. The relationship between urgency and functional outcome was mediated by emotional/behavioural hyperactivation, suggesting that a high level of urgency results in emotional/behavioural hyperactivation, which in turn impacts functional outcome. Lack of perseverance was significantly associated with functional outcome, indicating that the higher the lack of perseverance, the lower the functional outcome. CONCLUSION: The results contribute to a better understanding of the 12-month outcome in patients with severe TBI. They also open interesting perspectives on management strategies for implementing targeted psychological interventions to decrease impulsive manifestations.