Psychological processes leading to activation or avoidance: Protective and vulnerability factors to depression

Kinderman (2005, 2013) elaborated a psychological model of mental ill-health according to which biological, social and circumstantial factors lead to mental disorders through their conjoint effects on psychological processes (PP). Our research adopted the same framework. It focused on PP which characterize depression. More precisely, since inactivity (also conceptualized as behavioural avoidance) is one of the main feature of depression, the present research focused on PP which influence the behavioural avoidance (vulnerability factor to depression) and the behavioural activation (protective factor for depression). Three main aims were pursued: To investigate the influence of the biased PP on the behavioural avoidance. To find the PP which have a positive influence on the behavioural activation. To present an integration of our results with Kinderman’s model. Four hundred seventy-seven community adults (358 women, 119 men; x ̅ age = 34.25, SD = 11.85) completed an online survey assessing PP (negative repetitive thoughts, emotion regulation strategies, environmental rewards, self-image, inhibition/approach), avoidance, activation and depression. Since several questionnaires were used to assess each PP, factorial scores were computed for each one. Overall, confirmatory factor analyses highlighted that avoidance is positively linked to ruminations, negative emotion regulation strategies and poor environmental rewards and that activation is positively linked to positive self-image and high environmental satisfaction. Results will also be discussed according to the sex. According to their influence on both avoidance and activation, the environmental reward and the emotion regulation strategies appear to be important variables to work on during the treatment of depression

Self-defining memories and self-concept clarity: A comparative study of depressed patients, bipolar patients and healthy subjects

Depressed and bipolar patients suffer from autobiographical memory (AM) deficits. For instance, depressed patients present an overgeneralisation and a mood congruence biases. Indeed, these patients seem to have difficulties to recall specific and positive memories. The present study focusses on a particular kind of memories: the self-defining memories (SDMs). SDMs are highly pertinent for self-building: they help to define in the most clearly way our perception of ourselves. Because SDMs have not been studied a lot since yet in these two disorders, our goal is to assess the impact of general AM biases on SDMs. Then, the present study pursues two main aims: 1) To assess SDM’s characteristics, 2) To assess the relationship between SDM and self-concept clarity. To reach our objective, depressed and bipolar patients are compared to healthy subjects. Participants are asked to complete SDMs exercises that are recalling six important events which happened in their life. These SDMs are assessed on four variables: specificity, impact, meaning making, contain. Self-concept clarity and mood are also assessed. Until now, 17 depressed patients, 16 bipolar patients and 18 healthy controls participate in this study. Preliminary results do not highlight difference between our groups on specificity. Marginal effects appear for meaning making with healthy subjects recalling more meaning making events. Results show that depressed patients present a mood congruence. The final results will be presented during the convention, as data-collection is on-going and will end in April. Experimental and clinical implications of our results will be discussed

Les innovations technologiques au service de la santé

peer reviewe

Se relaxer via la réalité virtuelle ? Validation et évaluation de nouveaux environnements virtuels

peer reviewe

Quels effets du relevé des activités chez les personnes dépressives ? Une étude comparative

peer reviewedLe relevé des activités – une stratégie de « self-monitoring » - est un des outils principaux de l’activation comportementale, prise en charge empiriquement validée de la dépression. Le « self-monitoring » peut mener à un effet de réactivité, c’est-à-dire un changement bénéfique du comportement observé suite au relevé dudit comportement. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’effet du relevé des activités (RAct) – notamment sur la dépression et l’évitement - lorsqu’il est utilisé seul. Pour ce faire, il a été comparé à l’effet d’un relevé alimentaire (RAli). Il était attendu que le RAct mène à des effets plus bénéfiques sur les variables mesurées que le RAli. Trente adultes dépressifs ont été répartis aléatoirement dans les deux conditions et ont complété trois semaines de relevé. Les résultats ont montré des effets de réactivité sur l’humeur et l’évitement, peu importe le type de relevé complété. Les implications cliniques de ces résultats seront discutées