Psychometric validation of the French Multidimensional Chronic Asthenia Scale (MCAS) in a sample of 621 patients with chronic fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Psychometric validation of the Multidimensional Chronic Asthenia Scale (MCAS) was conducted in order to provide an effective tool for assessing the health-related quality of life of French-speaking patients with chronic asthenia (CA). METHODS: Items resulting from the initial formulation of the self-reported MCAS (along with other materials) were completed by French-speaking volunteers with inactive or active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD-I vs. IBD-A) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Responses from 621 participants (180 patients with IBD-A, 172 with IBD-I, 269 with CFS) collected in a single online survey were divided into three subsamples to test the construct validity of the MCAS (Step 1, N = 240), to confirm its factorial structure (Step 2, N = 204) and to explore its convergent-discriminant validity with the Fatigue Symptoms Inventory (FSI) and revised Piper Fatigue Scale (r-PFS, Step 3, N = 177). RESULTS: Steps 1 and 2 showed that, as expected, MCAS has four dimensions: feeling of constraint (FoC), physical (PC), life (LC) and interpersonal consequences (IC), which are also related to the duration of CA (i.e., the longer it lasts, the more the dimensions are impacted). The results further showed that the MCAS is sensitive enough to capture between-group differences, with the CFS group being the most impaired, followed by IBD-A and IBD-I. While convergent-discriminant validity between the 4 factors of MCAS and FSI and r-PFS, respectively, was satisfactory overall, Step 3 also pointed to some limitations that call for future research (e.g., shared variances between the PC and IC dimensions of MCAS and behavioral dimension of r-PFS). CONCLUSION: Despite these limitations, the MCAS clearly constitutes a promising tool for measuring quantitative differences (i.e., severity/intensity) in CA associated with various diseases, but also, and importantly, the clinically important differences in domains of its expression (i.e., qualitative differences).

Organizational Culture, Justice, Dehumanization and Affective Commitment in French Employees: A Serial Mediation Model.

The instrumentality of employees can be considered a common feature of the modern workplace. To investigate the influence of this instrumentalizing culture on organizational performance on the individual level, we tested whether perceived clan values (according to the Competing Values Framework) could explain affective commitment directly and indirectly through perceptions of organizational justice and organizational dehumanization in employees. Using the PROCESS macro, we tested a corresponding serial mediation model in a convenience sample of 306 French employees. Although employees who perceived a lack of clan values were less committed, the observed indirect effect was greater. Our findings highlight the role of perceived organizational culture in influencing affective commitment and how perceived justice and dehumanization may explain part of this relationship. This research also contradicts widespread beliefs stating dehumanizing strategies are universally beneficial in terms of organizational efficiency. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Workplace Attachment Style as Moderator of the Relationship Between Political Skills and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors.

A number of studies have demonstrated the role played by political skills on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Other research has also shown how the work environment can affect OCBs. However, no research has yet addressed the role that workplace attachment style plays in influencing employee OCBs. The present study aims to investigate the moderating role of workplace attachment style on the relationship between political skills and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs) using a cross-sectional design. The research was carried out with the participation of 185 French office workers. Research hypotheses were tested by means of three moderation models. The results show that political skills are positively related to OCB, and that secure and preoccupied workplace attachment styles moderate the relationship between political skills and OCB. These results therefore underline the importance of appropriate organizational environmental management in promoting OCBs.

The Mediating Role of Perceived Comfort between Workplace Attachment Style and Perceived Stress.

Past studies highlight the relevance of attachment theory to the study of workplace stress and the impact of employee assessments about the physical-spatial work environment on their health. This paper is one of a number of works studying the points of connection between Bowlby's attachment theory and the place attachment theory adopted by environmental psychologists. We proposed that a secure workplace attachment style would be negatively associated with perceived stress (and vice versa for insecure workplace attachment styles). Perceived comfort was hypothesized to mediate these effects. A convenience sample of French white-collar workers (N = 379) completed an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using the PROCESS macro. Both insecure workplace attachment styles (i.e., avoidant and preoccupied) were negatively associated with perceived comfort, which partially mediated their positive effect on perceived stress. The preventive influence of a secure workplace attachment on perceived stress was entirely mediated by its positive effect on perceived comfort. By setting different expectations regarding the work environment, workplace attachment styles could translate into a more or less stressful and comfortable employee experience. The more secure the bond employees internalize with their workplace, the more they might benefit from its comforts' restorative potential.

The reverse buffering effect of workplace attachment style on the relationship between workplace bullying and work engagement.

Using the Job Demands-Resources model, this study investigates workplace attachment styles as predictors of work engagement and moderators of the well-established disengaging effect of workplace bullying. As a personal resource, we hypothesized that secure workplace attachment would foster work engagement, whereas both types of insecure workplace attachment (i.e., avoidant and preoccupied) would do the opposite. Previous work also led us to expect the relationship between workplace bullying and engagement to be stronger when targets expect it to act as job resource (i.e., secure workplace attachment) and weaker when their working model is consistent with workplace aggression-i.e., reverse buffering effects. Using the PROCESS macro, we tested these hypotheses in a convenience sample of French office employees (N = 472) who completed an online survey. Secure workplace attachment was associated with higher work engagement while insecure workplace attachment and bullying perceptions related negatively with work engagement. Supporting our hypotheses, feeling exposed to workplace bullying was most associated with disengagement in employees with a secure workplace attachment style and less so in others. Far from recommending insecure bonds as protection, our results rather highlight the need to prevent all forms of workplace aggression, thereby allowing employees to rely on their work environment as a job resource.

Workplace Aesthetic Appreciation and Exhaustion in a COVID-19 Vaccination Center: The Role of Positive Affects and Interest in Art.

BACKGROUND: Recently, workers employed in vaccination points around the world have been subjected to very high workloads to counter the progress of the COVID-19 epidemic. This workload has a negative effect on their well-being. Environmental psychology studies have shown how the physical characteristics of the workplace environment can influence employees' well-being. Furthermore, studies in the psychology of art show how art can improve the health of individuals. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to test a moderated mediation model to verify how appreciation of workplace aesthetics can impact the level of exhaustion of staff working in a vaccination center, the mediating role of positive and negative affects, and the moderating role of interest in art. METHODS: Data were collected from a sample of 274 workers (physicians, nurses, reception, and administrative staff) working in the same vaccination center in Italy. Participants answered a self-report questionnaire during a rest break. We used a cross-sectional design. RESULTS: The results show that appreciation of workplace aesthetics impacts employees' level of exhaustion. This relationship is mediated by positive and negative affects, and interest in art moderates the relationship between positive affects and exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the central role of workplace aesthetics in influencing healthcare workers' well-being, and how interest in art can reduce exhaustion levels. Practical implications of the results are discussed.

The Moderation of Perceived Comfort and Relations with Patients in the Relationship between Secure Workplace Attachment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Elderly Facilities Staff.

This study focuses on caregivers who work in residential facilities (RFs) for the elderly, and specifically on their organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in relation to their interaction respectively with the overall context (workplace attachment dimension), the spatial-physical environment (perceived environmental comfort), and the social environment (relationship with patients). A sample of health care workers (medical or health care specialists, nurses, and office employees, n = 129) compiled a self-report paper-pencil questionnaire, which included scales measuring the study variables. The research hypotheses included secure workplace attachment style as independent variable, OCBs as the dependent variable, and perceived comfort and relations with patients as moderators. Results showed that both secure workplace attachment and perceived comfort promote OCBs, but the latter counts especially as a compensation of an insecure workplace attachment. As expected, difficult relationships with patients hinder the relationship between secure workplace attachment style and OCBs. In sum, our study highlights the importance of the joint consideration of the psychological, social, and environmental dimensions for fostering positive behaviors in caregivers employed in elderly care settings.

The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to get vaccinated. The serial mediation roles of existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs.

Today, we witness the progress toward global COVID-19 vaccinations organized by countries worldwide. Experts say a mass vaccination plan is the only effective antidote against the spread of SARS-COV-2. However, a part of the world population refuses vaccination. The present study aimed to understand the impact of some individual variables on the intention to get vaccinated. Through a serial mediation model, we tested the influence of fear of COVID-19 on the intention to get vaccinated and the serial mediating effect of existential anxiety and conspiracy beliefs. Via a cross-sectional design this research was conducted with the participation of 223 French adults (Female: 69.5%; Male: 30.5%; M age = 30.26, SD = 13.24; range: 18-75 years) who responded to an online survey. The results showed a positive relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to get vaccinated; however, when this fear was associated with high levels of existential anxiety through conspiracy beliefs, the intention to get vaccinated decreased. Our findings were in line with Terror Management Health Model, which states that, in facing health threats, humans may strive to reduce their own perceived vulnerability not only by engaging in healthy behaviors but also denying or avoiding death anxiety, as anti-vaxxers do.

Does Attentional Style Moderate the Relationship between Time Perspective and Social Network Addiction? A Cross-Sectional Study on a Sample of Social Networking Sites Users.

The present study investigates the role of attentional style as a moderator variable between temporal perspective and social network addiction, since little is known about users' cognitive variables involved in this kind of addictive behavior. To achieve this goal, a sample of 186 volunteers and anonymous social networking sites users (M = 34%; F = 66%; Mage = 22.54 years; SD = 3.94; range: 18 ÷ 45 years) participated in a cross-sectional study. All participants filled out self-report instruments measuring temporal perspective, internal vs. external attentional style, and social network addiction. The results align with the previous literature and show that present fatalistic and past negative time orientations are associated with social network addiction, whereas the future is a negative precursor. Moreover, a four-step hierarchical regression analysis showed that internal attentional style is a significant moderator of the relationship between high levels of temporal perspective and a high level of social network addiction. This result suggests that social network-addicted users are oriented toward internal stimuli such as their intrusive thoughts or feelings and that social network addiction is similar to obsessive compulsive disorders, depression, or anxiety. Despite its limitations, the present study could contribute to the efforts of clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, teachers, and all those who seek to combat social network addiction in developing treatment programs to reduce its harmful effects.

Neuroticism and Fear of COVID-19. The Interplay Between Boredom, Fantasy Engagement, and Perceived Control Over Time.

The Italian government adopted measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection from March 9, 2020, to May 4, 2020 and imposed a phase of social distancing and self-isolation to all adult citizens. Although justified and necessary, psychologists question the impact of this process of COVID-19 isolation on the mental health of the population. Hence, this paper investigated the relationship between neuroticism, boredom, fantasy engagement, perceived control over time, and the fear of COVID-19. Specifically, we performed a cross-sectional study aimed at testing an integrative moderated mediation model. Our model assigned the boredom to the mediation role and both the fantasy engagement and perceived control of time to the role of moderators in the relationship between neuroticism and the fear of COVID-19. A sample of 301 subjects, mainly women (68.8%), aged between 18 and 57 years (M age = 22.12 years; SD = 6.29), participated in a survey conducted in the 1st-week lockdown phase 2 in Italy from May 7 to 18, 2020. Results suggested that neuroticism is crucial in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with literature showing high neurotic people having greater emotional reactivity and scarce resources to manage stress. We also found that people with high neuroticism tend to feel bored, and the relationship between neuroticism and boredom seems enhanced if one is involved in negative fantasies. Therefore, this result could also explain the positive effect between boredom and fear of COVID-19 we found in the current study. However, our data show that perceived control over time moderates the association between boredom and fear toward COVID-19. Having a high perceived control over time allows people to reduce boredom's effect on fear of COVID-19. In conclusion, we retain that psychological treatment programs could improve the individuals' perceived control over time to modulate anxiety toward the fear of COVID-19 and promote psychological well-being.

Toward Further Understanding of Crohn's Disease-Related Fatigue: The Role of Depression and Emotional Processing.

Because the relationship between Crohn's Disease (CD) activity and CD-related fatigue remains poorly understood, this study investigated the role of underlying psychological processes (depression, anxiety, and emotional processing). It was expected that the relationship between CD activity and CD-related fatigue would be mediated by depression and anxiety and also by a deficit in emotional processing. This prediction was tested in 110 CD patients who completed self-reported questionnaires assessing fatigue (FSS), clinical activity of Crohn's Disease (HBAI), psychological suffering (HADS), and emotional processing (EPS-25). A path analysis showed both direct and indirect effects in the relationship between CD activity and CD-related fatigue, accounting for 33% of the variance. One indirect effect on the experience of fatigue was depression, but there was no effect of anxiety. These preliminary results confirmed that disease activity induces an increase in depressive symptoms, which in turn leads to an increase in the level of fatigue. The most novel result of the present study is that emotional processing had an indirect effect on the relationship between CD and CD-related fatigue: when the disease was more active, patients exhibited greater disruption of emotional processing, which in turn led to greater fatigue. These results did not reveal any association between depression and emotional processing. In conclusion, this work highlights the role of emotional processing in CD-related fatigue and the importance of taking this factor into account in order to manage this condition better.

Psychometric Aspects of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire: Implications for Clinical Assessment and Research.

The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) is a self-report measure that assesses self-criticism and dependency, 2 personality traits that confer vulnerability to depression (Blatt, 2004 ). Over several decades, different, shortened versions of the DEQ have been constructed to offer an alternative to the complex scoring procedure of the original DEQ. This study explores the factor structure as well as the construct and convergent validity of the DEQ by comparing a clinical and nonclinical sample. We also compared the original DEQ with 5 shortened versions. There were 621 participants (358 university students and 263 outpatients). Fit indexes for models of the original DEQ did not meet minimum fit criteria. Moreover, the only versions with satisfactory fit were the Theoretical Depressive Experiences Questionnaire-21 (TDEQ-21) and the Theoretical Depressive Experiences Questionnaire-12 (TDEQ-12), which also showed acceptable construct and convergent validity. Finally, the diagnostic and clinical applicability of the DEQ is discussed.

The Dimensions of Facebook Addiction as Measured by Facebook Addiction Italian Questionnaire and Their Relationships with Individual Differences.

The studies reported analyze the factorial structure of Facebook Addiction Italian Questionnaire (FAIQ), a variant of 20-item Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). In Study 1, we tested FAIQ psychometric properties using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In Study 2, we performed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the FAIQ factorial structure identified through EFA. Results from CFA confirm the presence of a four-factor model accounting for 58 percent of total variance, plus a general higher order factor that best fits the data. Further relationships between FAIQ factor scores, personality, and Facebook usage have been explored.

Three-factor structure of adult attachment in the workplace: comparison of British, French, and Italian samples.

The goal was to compare three-factor and two-factor solutions and construct validity of the Adult Attachment in the Workplace (AAW) questionnaire. Participants were 660 volunteers from three countries (France, Italy, and Great Britain). The two-factor model of Neustadt, Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham (2006) and the three-factor theoretical model of Collins and Read (1990) were compared. Construct validity was assessed by calculating correlations among the two- and three-factor AAW, the Workplace Attachment Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. The three-factor structure differentiated between the three attachment styles, i.e., secure, preoccupied, and avoidant. There were moderate, significant correlations between AAW, workplace attachment, and affective commitment. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor structure fit the data better. Furthermore, the AAW, the Workplace Attachment Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale can be considered independent. In line with previous empirical evidence, a further distinction is noted between avoidant and preoccupied styles in the workplace.

Personality variables as predictors of Facebook usage.

This study investigates the role of personality factors as predictors of Facebook usage. Data concerning Facebook usage and personality factors from 654 Facebook users were gathered using a web survey. Using path analysis, the results showed Openness was a predictor of Facebook early adoption, Conscientiousness with sparing use, Extraversion with long sessions and abundant friendships, and Neuroticism with high frequency of sessions. The possible role of Agreeableness in predicting low session frequency and friendships needs further validation.

Obesity and interpersonal problems: an analysis with the interpersonal circumplex.

UNLABELLED: This study examines the interpersonal problems profiles of obese individuals by cluster analysing the interpersonal problems circumplex scores of participants. The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Short Circumplex (IIP-32) was completed by 368 treatment-seeking obese individuals. These data were cluster analysed, and groups of obese subjects defined by varying interpersonal problems were compared with regard to psychological distress, self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, quality of life and binge behaviours. Cluster analyses of the IIP-32 resulted in four clusters, which occupied two quadrants of the interpersonal circumplex. Several differences in body mass index, psychological distress, quality of life and body dissatisfaction emerged across the four interpersonal groups. Although obese individuals reported elevated interpersonal distress, these subjects are not homogeneous with regard to interpersonal problems. Psychiatric co-morbidity and psychological distress may explain these interpersonal differences. These findings underscore the importance for clinicians to assess carefully patients' interpersonal functioning, especially with respect to treatment-seeking obese patients. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Research has not consistently specified the types of interpersonal problems most frequently experienced by treatment-seeking obese individuals. Most obese individuals share a friendly-dominant interpersonal style. This research supports the importance of measuring and targeting interpersonal variables in the design and evaluation of obesity treatment programmes.