Raising the Bar: Improving Methodological Rigour in Cognitive Alcohol Research

Background and Aims: A range of experimental paradigms claim to measure the cognitive processes underpinning alcohol use, suggesting that heightened attentional bias, greater approach tendencies and reduced cue-specific inhibitory control are important drivers of consumption. This paper identifies methodological shortcomings within this broad domain of research and exemplifies them in studies focused specifically on alcohol-related attentional bias. Argument and analysis: We highlight five main methodological issues: (i) the use of inappropriately matched control stimuli; (ii) opacity of stimulus selection and validation procedures; (iii) a credence in noisy measures; (iv) a reliance on unreliable tasks; and (v) variability in design and analysis. This is evidenced through a review of alcohol-related attentional bias (64 empirical articles, 68 tasks), which reveals the following: only 53% of tasks use appropriately matched control stimuli; as few as 38% report their stimulus selection and 19% their validation procedures; less than 28% used indices capable of disambiguating attentional processes; 22% assess reliability; and under 2% of studies were pre-registered. Conclusions: Well-matched and validated experimental stimuli, the development of reliable cognitive tasks and explicit assessment of their psychometric properties, and careful consideration of behavioural indices and their analysis will improve the methodological rigour of cognitive alcohol research. Open science principles can facilitate replication and reproducibility in alcohol research

Les psychologues dans le champ de la santé mentale : les perspectives en promotion de la santé mentale positive

International audienc

Les psychologues dans le champ de la santé mentale : les perspectives en promotion de la santé mentale positive

International audienceIntroductionLa promotion de la santé mentale est encore assez peu connue des psychologues et insuffisamment portée par ceux-ci, notamment parce qu’elle s’appuie sur des concepts et des données issues de la Santé Publique. De plus, elle est portée par une approche dite « positive » de la santé — qui se distingue des modèles de déficits — dont le type d’intervention consiste à mobiliser le potentiel humain en amont afin d’éviter l’apparition d’un éventuel trouble psychiatrique.DiscussionL’enjeu actuel en matière de santé mentale implique ainsi un changement de paradigme chez les psychologues permettant de passer d’une action majoritairement curative à une action orientée vers les potentialités individuelles et collectives, les objectifs de ces deux champs étant complémentaires. Cet article présente une synthèse de déterminants de la santé mentale et de politiques publiques nationales et internationales ayant pour objet de favoriser la promotion de la santé.ConclusionL’article conclut sur la manière dont les psychologues pourraient devenir des acteurs essentiels de ce champ jusqu’à présent sous-investi par la profession

Les psychologues dans le champ de la santé mentale : les perspectives en promotion de la santé mentale positive

International audienceIntroductionLa promotion de la santé mentale est encore assez peu connue des psychologues et insuffisamment portée par ceux-ci, notamment parce qu’elle s’appuie sur des concepts et des données issues de la Santé Publique. De plus, elle est portée par une approche dite « positive » de la santé — qui se distingue des modèles de déficits — dont le type d’intervention consiste à mobiliser le potentiel humain en amont afin d’éviter l’apparition d’un éventuel trouble psychiatrique.DiscussionL’enjeu actuel en matière de santé mentale implique ainsi un changement de paradigme chez les psychologues permettant de passer d’une action majoritairement curative à une action orientée vers les potentialités individuelles et collectives, les objectifs de ces deux champs étant complémentaires. Cet article présente une synthèse de déterminants de la santé mentale et de politiques publiques nationales et internationales ayant pour objet de favoriser la promotion de la santé.ConclusionL’article conclut sur la manière dont les psychologues pourraient devenir des acteurs essentiels de ce champ jusqu’à présent sous-investi par la profession

Les psychologues dans le champ de la santé mentale : les perspectives en promotion de la santé mentale positive

International audienc

Treatment in hospital for alcohol-dependent patients decreases attentional bias

Valentin Flaudias,1,2 Georges Brousse,1,2 Ingrid De Chazeron,1,2 François Planche,2 Julien Brun,2 Pierre-Michel Llorca1,2 1Clermont Université, EA 7280 NPsy-Sydo, Clermont-Ferrand, France; 2Pôle Psychiatrie B, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, Clermont-Ferrand, France Background and objectives: Previous studies in alcohol-dependent patients have shown an attentional bias (AB) under related substance cues, which can lead to relapse. This AB can be evaluated by the alcohol Stroop test (AST). The AST is a modified Stroop task in which participants have to name the color of an alcohol-related word or a neutral word. AB is the response-time difference between these two types of words. The goal of the current study was to examine modification of AB during specialized hospitalization for alcohol dependence, with the suppression of a training bias that could be present in within-subject design. Methods: Individuals with alcohol-dependence disorders (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition) and admitted for withdrawal in the addiction unit of the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand (test group, n = 42) and persons with no alcohol or psychiatric disorder (control group, n = 16), recruited among colleagues and friends of the staff, performed the AST. A subgroup of the test group performed the AST in admission (admission group, n = 19), and another subgroup undertook the test immediately before discharge (discharge group, n = 23). Results: Results showed an AB only for patients seen at admission (F[1,55] = 3.283, P = 0.075). Moreover, we observed that the AB in the admission group (mean = 34 ms, standard deviation [SD] = 70.06) was greater than the AB in the control group (mean = 23 ms, SD = 93.42), itself greater than the AB in the discharge group (mean = −12 ms, SD = 93.55) (t[55] = −1.71; P = 0.09). Conclusion: Although the results are preliminary, the present study provides evidence for changes in the AB during alcohol-addiction treatment and for the value of these methods to diminish AB during detoxification. Keywords: alcohol Stroop test, addiction, attentional bia

Meditation, Cognitive Flexibility and Well-Being

A number of previous studies have suggested that mindfulness meditation can enhance cognitive performance. Although both western empirical findings and Buddhist psychological theory have emphasised a role for cognitive flexibility in the development and maintenance of mental health, few studies have specifically focused on flexibility in relation to mindfulness. The present study used a range of objective, behavioural measures to assess cognitive flexibility in 41 individuals before and after a 6-day intensive Vipassana (mindfulness) retreat. Subjective assessments of mindfulness, positive functioning and well-being were also taken. A comparably sized control group of students and government employees was given the same pre- and post-test measures. In contrast to our expectations and to previous reports, there were no significant changes in cognitive performance, over and above practice-related improvements also shown by the control group. Retreat participants did, however, register positive improvements on the subjective measures. We discuss possible limitations with our experimental design and highlight important issues that may assist future studies aiming to assess effects of mindfulness in the cognitive domain