Anne Congard

Motives for the social sharing of an emotional experience

Previous studies demonstrated that people socially share both their positive and negative emotional experiences. This article reports two studies aimed to clarify and assess the motives underlying this human propensity to share emotions. A large number of motives were collected from 182 participants (Study 1). A content analysis resulted in 8 categories of motives; 72 representative items were retained to create a Social Sharing Motives Scale (SSMS). The final structure of the SSMS, tested with 719 respondents, includes 39 items organized into 7 factors, namely “clarification and meaning,” “rehearsing,” “venting,” “arousing empathy/attention,” “informing and/or warning,” “assistance/support and comfort/consolation,” and “advice and solutions” (Study 2). This scale will usefully contribute to the investigation of the role played by interpersonal processes in emotional regulation.

The subjective experience of young women with non-metastatic breast cancer: the Young Women with Breast Cancer Inventory

BackgroundThe subjective experience of young women with breast cancer has some particular features linked to the impact of the disease and its treatment on their age-related issues (e.g. desire for a child, couple relationship, career management). Despite these specific concerns, no questionnaire currently targets the young breast cancer patient’s quality of life, subjective experience or common problems when facing cancer. This study presents the psychometric validation of an inventory that aimed to measure the impact of breast cancer on the quality of life of young women (<45 years of age) with non-metastatic disease.Methods546 women aged <45 years when diagnosed with a non-metastatic breast cancer were recruited in 27 French cancer research and treatment centers. They answered a self-reported questionnaire created from verbatim collected by non-directive interviews carried out with 69 patients in a first qualitative study. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were conducted in order to obtain the final structure of the scale. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity with quality of life questionnaires currently used (QLQ-C30 and the QLQ-BR23 module) were then assessed.ResultsThe YW-BCI36 contains 36 items and highlights 8 factors: 1) feeling of couple cohesion, 2) negative affectivity and apprehension about the future, 3) management of child(ren) and of everyday life, 4) sharing with close relatives, 5) body image and sexuality, 6) financial difficulties, 7) deterioration of relationships with close relatives, and 8) career management. Psychometric analyses indicated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.76 to 0.91) and temporal reliability (Bravais-Pearson correlations ranging from 0.66 to 0.85). As expected, there were quite strong correlations between the YW-BCI36 and the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 scores (r ranging from 0.20 to −0.66), indicating adequate concurrent validity.ConclusionsThe YW-BCI36 was confirmed as a valid scale for evaluating the subjective experience of breast cancer in young women. This instrument could help to identify the problems of these women more precisely, in order to respond to them better by an optimal care management. This scale may improve the medical, psychological and social care of breast cancer patients.

Assessing the Structural and Psychometric Properties of a New Personality Measure for Use With Military Personnel in the French Armed Forces

We evaluated the measurement properties of a new personality scale for use with military personnel in the French Navy (N = 1,266). Principal components analyses indicated a five-factor structure assessing emotional stability, ascendancy, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Each factor comprised two facets that included 7 items per facet for a total of 70 items. Reliability analyses indicate that the factors and corresponding facets were internally consistent and temporally stable. Validity analyses indicate that the TAMI-P was significantly correlated with comparable measures of personality—correlations ranged from .53 to .68 with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Big Five Questionnaire.

A network approach to affect regulation dynamics and personality trait-induced variations: Extraversion and neuroticism moderate reciprocal influences between affect and affect regulation strategies

The objectives of the present study were twofold. First, we tested a new approach to affect regulation dynamics, conceptualized as a network made up of the reciprocal influences that affect and affect regulation strategies constantly exert on each other. Second, we attempted to gain a better understanding of these dynamics by examining how they vary according to broad personality traits. To this end, we adopted an experience sampling method, involving five daily assessments over a 2–week period. In each assessment, participants indicated their current affective experience and the way they had implemented five well–known affect regulation strategies (i.e. appreciation, positive reappraisal, distraction, expressive suppression, and rumination) since the previous assessment. At the sample level, the network of affect regulation dynamics was characterized by positive feedback loops between positive affect and so–called broad–minded strategies, and between negative affect and narrow–minded strategies. The form of this network varied according to levels of extraversion and neuroticism. Our findings are discussed in light of current knowledge about personality and affect regulation. Copyright

Risques psychosociaux au travail : le rôle modérateur des stratégies de coping

Resume Il est aujourd’hui admis que la sante et le bien-etre au travail sont favorises a la fois par des caracteristiques organisationnelles (Dupret, Bocerean, Teherani, & Feltrin, 2012) mais aussi par des caracteristiques individuelles comme les strategies d’ajustement face au stress (Truchot & Fisher, 2002). Cette recherche a ainsi pour objectif d’etudier l’interaction entre les caracteristiques organisationnelles et les strategies de coping dans l’apparition des situations de risques psychosociaux. Cette etude a ete realisee aupres de 427 employes dans le cadre d’un audit des RPS. Les analyses (test de Sobel et modelisation sous LISREL) montrent que l’effet de certaines variables organisationnelles sur la sante percue et le vecu professionnel sont moderees par les niveaux d’utilisation des strategies de coping.

The self-reported perceptions of the repercussions of the disease and its treatments on daily life for young women with breast cancer and their partners

Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to compare the self-reported perceptions of the repercussions of the disease and its treatments and emotional distress in young women with breast cancer and their partners. Design: Cross-sectional study using self-reported questionnaires. Sample: 491 couples in which women were aged <45 years when diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer in four different groups of treatment: during chemotherapy with or without Trastuzumab; under Trastuzumab with or without hormone therapy; during hormone therapy; and during the follow-up period. Methods: Patients and partners completed a questionnaire assessing their self-reported perceptions of the disease and treatments (Patient YW-BCI and Partner YW-BCI for the partners) and their emotional distress (CESD; STAI). Findings: Patients reported more difficulties than partners in the management of child(ren) and everyday life, body image and sexuality, negative affectivity about the disease and apprehension about the future, career management, and finances. While the difficulties were generally more marked in the chemotherapy and Trastuzumab groups than in the hormone therapy and follow-up groups, the negative affectivity about the disease and apprehension about the future was high in all four groups, especially in patients. The partners reported more difficulties in sharing with close relatives, and even more in those groups reflecting the latest treatment phases. No difference appeared between patients and partners in couple cohesion and deterioration of relationships with relatives. Partners were less anxious than patients but as depressed as them. Conclusions: Difficulties of patients and partners seem particularly severe in the early care pathway, maybe reflecting better adjustment in women under surveillance and their partners. A longitudinal study will substantiate this finding and enable a better identification of some explanatory processes of these differences and similarities in the daily self-reported repercussions of the disease throughout the cancer care pathway. Implications for psychosocial oncology: It seems important to support young women with breast cancer and their partners, as our results evidence distress in both and differences according to the type of treatment the woman is currently receiving. Healthcare providers need consistent methods to identify and respond to couples’ distress and reduce significant disparities in support.

Rumination and Mindlessness Processes: Trajectories of Change in a 42-Day Mindfulness-Based Intervention

This preliminary study aimed to understand the effects of an autonomous mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on mindlessness propensities: rumination, automatic pilot functioning, and attentional distractibility. The ecological momentary assessment was completed by community participants assigned to two nonrandomized groups: an experimental group (n = 45) that practiced 20-minute daily mindfulness meditation for 42 days and a control group (n = 44) that was on the waiting list for the MBI. All participants completed a self-assessment on rumination and mindlessness propensities twice a day. The MBI led to a favorable gradual decrease in automatic pilot functioning and attentional distractibility. Rumination evolved in three stages: a rapid decrease during the first week, a stabilization phase between the 10th and 30th days, and an additional decrease after 30 days of practice. This innovative study provides a promising perspective regarding rumination, automatic pilot functioning, and attentional distractibility dynamic trajectories over the course of an MBI.

Reactive or proactive? Age differences in the use of affective regulation strategies.

We examined age-related differences in the reactive and proactive use of affect regulation strategies. We collected data from 209 participants 13–80 years of age, using an experience sampling method. The most interesting finding was that, as hypothesized, compared with those under 20, adults 20 and over used the 2 strategies we focused on (i.e., problem solving and positive reappraisal) more intensely and in a reactive manner. By contrast, from the age of about 55 upward, adults were characterized by a more intensely proactive use of these strategies. Results are discussed in the light of age differences in motivation.