Les comportements de résolution de problèmes et l'engagement émotionnel excessif chez les couples dans la prédiction de la sévérité du trouble panique avec agoraphobie et de son traitement

Le trouble panique avec agoraphobie (TPA) touche près de 2 pour cent de la population annuellement. Plusieurs facteurs de risque sont répertoriés et parmi eux nous trouvons les stresseurs interpersonnels et particulièrement les problèmes conjugaux. Les traitements psychologiques et pharmacologiques ne sont pas toujours efficaces. Vingt-cinq pourcent des individus souffrant de trouble panique avec agoraphobie ne répondent pas aux antidépresseurs et 26 à 40 pour cent ne s'améliorent pas significativement suite à une thérapie cognitivo-comportementale. Dans l'objectif de mieux comprendre les facteurs conjugaux qui peuvent influencer l'évolution de ce trouble, la présente thèse explore les liens entre d'une part les patrons d'interaction conjugale observables dans une situation de résolution de problème et d'autre part la sévérité du TPA avant le traitement et la réponse au traitement psychologique. Les résultats des analyses tirées de l'observation de 65 couples dont l'un des conjoints est atteint de TPA, indiquent que la présence de patrons d'interaction négatifs, avant toute intervention psychothérapique, est liée à une symptomatologie plus sévère et qu'elle prédit une plus faible réponse au traitement psychologique. La présence de patrons d'interaction positifs est liée à une symptomatologie moins sévère, mais n'a pu prédire la réponse au traitement. Par ailleurs, on observe que l'amélioration de la symptomatologie après le traitement est liée à une détérioration des patrons d'interaction du conjoint sans TPA. Les résultats sont discutés dans les deux articles qui forment cette thèse. Un modèle théorique global de compréhension des patrons de comportements pathogènes et dyadiques des couples dont l'un des conjoints souffre de TPA est proposé au dernier chapitre du présent ouvrage. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Trouble panique, Agoraphobie, Relations conjugales, Relations interpersonnelles, Couples, Observations comportementales, Expression des émotions, Thérapie cognitive et comportementale, Entraînement à la communication et à la résolution de problèmes

PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE CONTAINING CRUSHED LIMESTONE AS TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF NATURAL SAND AND RECYCLED ENGINE OIL

The rapid growth in the construction industry at the global level has made concrete the most widely used construction material throughout the world. Accordingly, the consumption of natural sand which is one the main raw material constituent of concrete is continuously growing. The demand for river sand is highly increasing due to its scarcity in the market. Manufactured sand produced by crushed rock is being considered as an appropriate alternative to replace river sand in concrete. In recent years, there is a growing interest in the use of crushed sand obtained from limestone quarries in some countries where river sand is not widely available”. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of total replacement of the natural sand by fine aggregates obtained from crushed limestone. However, it needs more research on the crushed stone fine aggregates to reveal its engineering properties prior to utilization in concrete. Another objective of this study is to study the effect of using the waste engine oil as partial replacement of water reducing admixture. The use of waste engine oil in concrete is beneficial for the environment. It is to be noted that some countries are recycling this used oil but others are throwing it in the sea and harming the marine life. In this paper, different combinations and grading of fine lime stone and coarse aggregates were tried in order to attain the optimal proportion that provide an acceptable concrete performance in terms of workability and compressive strength. Also, different percentages of admixture replacement ranging from zero to one hundred percent of the used engine oil were tried in the selected optimal mixture proportion. The final selected proportion using engine oil and crushed limestone could be considered as an economical solution and friendly environmental concrete product

Social support and symptom severity among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder or panic disorder with agoraphobia: A systematic review

Panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD/A) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are characterized by major behavioral dysruptions that may affect patients’ social and marital functioning. The disorders’ impact on interpersonal relationships may also affect the quality of support patients receive from their social network. The main goal of this systematic review is to determine the association between social or marital support and symptom severity among adults with PD/A or OCD. A systematic search of databases was executed and provided 35 eligible articles. Results from OCD studies indicated a negative association between marital adjustment and symptom severity, and a positive association between accommodation from relatives and symptom severity. However, results were inconclusive for negative forms of social support (e.g. criticism, hostility). Results from PD/A studies indicated a negative association between perceived social support and symptom severity. Also, results from studies using an observational measure of marital adjustment indicated a negative association between quality of support from the spouse and PD/A severity. However, results were inconclusive for perceived marital adjustment and symptom severity. In conclusion, this systematic review generally suggests a major role of social and marital support in PD/A and OCD symptomatology. However, given diversity of results and methods used in studies, more are needed to clarify the links between support and symptom severity among patients with PD/A and OCD

The Role of Expectations in Treatment Outcome and Symptom Development in Anxiety Disorders

For more than 60 years, researchers have been interested in determining the impact of expectations on treatment outcome. Earlier studies mostly focused on two types of expectations: prognostic and process expectations. Aims: To review how four different types of expectations (prognostic, process, anxiety expectancy and anxiety sensitivity) contribute to psychotherapy outcome, and to the development of clinical disorders, especially anxiety. Conclusions: First, the role of process and prognostic expectancies in clinical disorders and psychotherapy outcome should be clarified by addressing the methodological flaws of the earlier expectancy studies. Second, studies, especially those on anxiety disorders, may benefit from evaluating the four different types of expectations to determine their relative impact on outcome, and on the development and maintenance of these disorders. Third, possible links with other clinical disorders should be further explored. Finally, expectancies should be assessed prior to treatment and after several sessions to determine the extent to which the treatment\u27s failure in modifying initial low expectancies contribute to a poor outcome

Risk of bias from inclusion of patients who already have diagnosis of or are undergoing treatment for depression in diagnostic accuracy studies of screening tools for depression: systematic review

Objectives To investigate the proportion of original studies included in systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the diagnostic accuracy of screening tools for depression that appropriately exclude patients who already have a diagnosis of or are receiving treatment for depression and to determine whether these systematic reviews and meta-analyses evaluate possible bias from the inclusion of such patients

New directions for patient-centred care in scleroderma : the Scleroderma Patient-centred Intervention Network (SPIN)

Systemic sclerosis (SSc), or scleroderma, is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disorder characterised by thickening and fibrosis of the skin and by the involvement of internal organs such as the lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and heart. Because there is no cure, feasibly-implemented and easily accessible evidence-based interventions to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are needed. Due to a lack of evidence, however, specific recommendations have not been made regarding non-pharmacological interventions (e.g. behavioural/psychological, educational, physical/occupational therapy) to improve HRQoL in SSc. The Scleroderma Patient-centred Intervention Network (SPIN) was recently organised to address this gap. SPIN is comprised of patient representatives, clinicians, and researchers from Canada, the USA, and Europe. The goal of SPIN, as described in this article, is to develop, test, and disseminate a set of accessible interventions designed to complement standard care in order to improve HRQoL outcomes in SSc.The initial organisational meeting for SPIN was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Meetings, Planning, and Dissemination grant to B.D. Thombs (KPE-109130), Sclerodermie Quebec, and the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec. SPIN receives finding support from the Sclemderma Society of Ontario, the Scleroderma Society of Canada, and Sclerodermie Quebec. B.D. Thombs and M. Hudson are supported by New Investigator awards from the CIHR, and Etablissement de Jeunes Chercheurs awards from the Fonds de la Recherche en Sante Quebec (FRSQ). M. Baron is the director of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group, which receives grant folding from the CIHR, the Scleroderma Society of Canada and its provincial chapters, Scleroderma Society of Ontario, Sclerodermie Quebec, and the Ontario Arthritis Society, and educational grants from Actelion Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. M.D. Mayes and S. Assassi are supported by the NIH/NIAMS Scleroderma Center of Research Translation grant no. P50-AR054144. S.J. Motivala is supported by an NIH career development grant (K23 AG027860) and the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology. D. Khanna is supported by a NIH/NIAMS K23 AR053858-04) and NIH/NIAMS U01 AR057936A, the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research Grant (AR052177), and has served as a consultant or on speakers bureau for Actelion, BMS, Gilead, Pfizer, and United Therapeutics