Catherine Bortolon

Efficacy of theory-based interventions to promote physical activity. A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Implementing theory-based interventions is an effective way to influence physical activity (PA) behaviour in the population. This meta-analysis aimed to (1) determine the global effect of theory-based randomised controlled trials dedicated to the promotion of PA among adults, (2) measure the actual efficacy of interventions against their theoretical objectives and (3) compare the efficacy of single- versus combined-theory interventions. A systematic search through databases and review articles was carried out. Our results show that theory-based interventions (k = 82) significantly impact the PA behaviour of participants (d = 0.31, 95% CI [0.24, 0.37]). While moderation analyses revealed no efficacy difference between theories, interventions based on a single theory (d = 0.35; 95% CI [0.26, 0.43]) reported a higher impact on PA behaviour than those based on a combination of theories (d = 0.21; 95% CI [0.11, 0.32]). In spite of the global positive effect of theory-based interventions on PA behaviour, further research is required to better identify the specificities, overlaps or complementarities of the components of interventions based on relevant theories.

Face recognition in schizophrenia disorder: A comprehensive review of behavioral, neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies.

Facial emotion processing has been extensively studied in schizophrenia patients while general face processing has received less attention. The already published reviews do not address the current scientific literature in a complete manner. Therefore, here we tried to answer some questions that remain to be clarified, particularly: are the non-emotional aspects of facial processing in fact impaired in schizophrenia patients? At the behavioral level, our key conclusions are that visual perception deficit in schizophrenia patients: are not specific to faces; are most often present when the cognitive (e.g. attention) and perceptual demands of the tasks are important; and seems to worsen with the illness chronification. Although, currently evidence suggests impaired second order configural processing, more studies are necessary to determine whether or not holistic processing is impaired in schizophrenia patients. Neural and neurophysiological evidence suggests impaired earlier levels of visual processing, which might involve the deficits in interaction of the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways impacting on further processing. These deficits seem to be present even before the disorder out-set. Although evidence suggests that this deficit may be not specific to faces, further evidence on this question is necessary, in particularly more ecological studies including context and body processing.

Early maladaptive schemas predict positive symptomatology in schizophrenia: A cross-sectional study

Recent literature has shown the role of social factors, such as childhood negative experiences and attachment styles, in the genesis of psychotic symptoms. So far, despite this association with childhood negative experiences and a wide range of psychiatric disorders, no study has yet attempted to assess early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) in patients with schizophrenia as primary diagnosis. A sample of 48 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 44 control participants answered the schema questionnaire short forms French validation, and were assessed with the positive and negative syndrome scale as well as a scale of depression symptomatology. Results showed that, after controlling for depression, patients with schizophrenia achieved higher scores than control subjects on six EMSs. The EMSs were associated with positive, but not negative, symptomatology. After controlling for depression, only the Mistrust/Abuse schema was a significant predictor of positive symptoms accounting for a small portion (12.4%) of the variance. The results highlight the importance of focusing not only on the schizophrenic symptoms but also on the person and his or her subjective development of self. Therefore, these results suggest that Youngs schema theory may be applied to schizophrenic patients.

Self-reported psychotic-like experiences in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder versus schizophrenia patients: characteristics and moderation role of trait anxiety.

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) have been found to manifest themselves on a continuum spanning both the general and clinical populations. Despite robust evidence that anxiety disorders are associated with increased risk of PLEs, little is known about their characteristics in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Therefore, this study aimed to explore the phenomenological similarities and differences of PLEs in OCD versus schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, and to test the impact of distress symptomatology on PLEs in OCD patients. The survey included the Peter et al. Delusion Inventory, the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and measures of severity of OCD and schizophrenia symptoms. Considering the clinical groups as a whole, few differences were found for both delusions and hallucination-like experiences. Nevertheless, after controlling for emotional distress differences between OCD and schizophrenia patients in some PLEs became significant. Moreover, obsessive symptoms moderated by anxiety trait predicted levels of delusion-like experiences in OCD patients. This study highlights PLEs are also present in OCD patients, in particularly in presence of higher emotional distress and that anxiety trait plays a relevant role in the development and maintenance of delusion-like experiences in OCD patients.

Projecting the self into the future in individuals with schizophrenia: a preliminary cross-sectional study.

The ability to project oneself into the future contributes to development and maintenance of a coherent sense of identity. If recent research has revealed that schizophrenia is associated with difficulties envisioning the future, little is known about patients’ future self-representations. In this study, 27 participants with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls were asked to simulate mental representations of plausible and highly significant future events (self-defining future projections, SDFPs) that they anticipate to happen in their personal future. Main results showed that schizophrenia patients had difficulties in reflecting on the broader meaning and implications of imagined future events. In addition, and contrary to our hypothesis, a large majority of SDFPs in schizophrenia patients were positive events, including achievements, relationship, and leisure contents. Interestingly, patients and controls did not differ on the perceived probability that these events will occur in the future. Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients have an exaggerated positive perception of their future selves. Together, these findings lend support to the idea that past and future self-defining representations have both similar and distinct characteristics in schizophrenia.

Unravelling socio-motor biomarkers in schizophrenia

We present novel, low-cost and non-invasive potential diagnostic biomarkers of schizophrenia. They are based on the ‘mirror-game’, a coordination task in which two partners are asked to mimic each other’s hand movements. In particular, we use the patient’s solo movement, recorded in the absence of a partner, and motion recorded during interaction with an artificial agent, a computer avatar or a humanoid robot. In order to discriminate between the patients and controls, we employ statistical learning techniques, which we apply to nonverbal synchrony and neuromotor features derived from the participants’ movement data. The proposed classifier has 93% accuracy and 100% specificity. Our results provide evidence that statistical learning techniques, nonverbal movement coordination and neuromotor characteristics could form the foundation of decision support tools aiding clinicians in cases of diagnostic uncertainty.Mirror game test could detect schizophreniaA new test of movement and social interaction could detect markers of schizophrenia, and help to diagnose and manage the condition. In an effort to establish reliable indicators of schizophrenia, Piotr Slowinski at the University of Exeter, UK and colleagues developed a test that could detect deficits in movement and social interactions, both characteristics of the disorder. They asked people to perform movements alone, and to mirror the movements of a computer avatar or a humanoid robot. Automated analysis of the movements allowed to distinguish people with schizophrenia from healthy participants with accuracy and specificity slightly better than clinical interviews and comparable to test based on much more expensive neuroimaging methods. The technique could help with diagnosis of schizophrenia and to monitor patients’ responses to treatment, but needs to be tested in clinical trials before being applied in clincal practice.

Multidimensional model of apathy in older adults using partial least squares—path modeling

Apathy defined as a mental state characterized by a lack of goal-directed behavior is prevalent and associated with poor functioning in older adults. The main objective of this study was to identify factors contributing to the distinct dimensions of apathy (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) in older adults without dementia. One hundred and fifty participants (mean age, 80.42) completed self-rated questionnaires assessing apathy, emotional distress, anticipatory pleasure, motivational systems, physical functioning, quality of life, and cognitive functioning. Data were analyzed using partial least squares variance-based structural equation modeling in order to examine factors contributing to the three different dimensions of apathy in our sample. Overall, the different facets of apathy were associated with cognitive functioning, anticipatory pleasure, sensitivity to reward, and physical functioning, but the contribution of these different factors to the three dimensions of apathy differed significantly. More specifically, the impact of anticipatory pleasure and physical functioning was stronger for the cognitive than for emotional apathy. Conversely, the impact of sensibility to reward, although small, was slightly stronger on emotional apathy. Regarding behavioral apathy, again we found similar latent variables except for the cognitive functioning whose impact was not statistically significant. Our results highlight the need to take into account various mechanisms involved in the different facets of apathy in older adults without dementia, including not only cognitive factors but also motivational variables and aspects related to physical disability. Clinical implications are discussed.

Self-Face Recognition in Schizophrenia: An Eye-Tracking Study

Self-face recognition has been shown to be impaired in schizophrenia (SZ), according to studies using behavioral tasks implicating cognitive demands. Here, we employed an eye-tracking methodology, which is a relevant tool to understand impairments in self-face recognition deficits in SZ because it provides a natural, continuous and online record of face processing. Moreover, it allows collecting the most relevant and informative features each individual looks at during the self-face recognition. These advantages are especially relevant considering the fundamental role played by the patterns of visual exploration on face processing. Thus, this paper aims to investigate self-face recognition deficits in SZ using eye-tracking methodology. Visual scan paths were monitored in 20 patients with SZ and 20 healthy controls. Self, famous, and unknown faces were morphed in steps of 20%. Location, number, and duration of fixations on relevant areas were recorded with an eye-tracking system. Participants performed a passive exploration task (no specific instruction was provided), followed by an active decision making task (individuals were explicitly requested to recognize the different faces). Results showed that patients with SZ had fewer and longer fixations compared to controls. Nevertheless, both groups focused their attention on relevant facial features in a similar way. No significant difference was found between groups when participants were requested to recognize the faces (active task). In conclusion, using an eye tracking methodology and two tasks with low levels of cognitive demands, our results suggest that patients with SZ are able to: (1) explore faces and focus on relevant features of the face in a similar way as controls; and (2) recognize their own face.

Do patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease present an own-age bias in face recognition?

Face perception depends both on the face and on the individual who perceives it. Some factors such as gender, ethnicity or age may influence face perception processing. For instance, recognition memory for faces of ones own age group is often superior to memory for other-age group faces. This bias is known as the Own-Age-Bias (OAB). OAB has been extensively studied in healthy subjects. However, to our knowledge, no article has been published on elder adults suffering from Alzheimer Disease (AD). Therefore, the present research aimed at studying the OAB in patients with AD in comparison with healthy old adults and healthy young adults. Sixty participants were included: 20 young adults, 20 healthy old adults, and 20 elder patients who met NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for probable AD. Participants performed an age estimation task followed by a face recognition task. Indeed, for each photograph, subjects were asked to say if the face looked young or old and to give a yes/no judgment of familiarity (after an encoding phase). Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing their frequency of contact with young and old adults. Although estimates of sensitivity indicated no age bias in AD patients, when memory bias was corrected according to their performance we found evidence in favor of an OAB in this group. Both healthy groups presented an OAB, in particular when the corrected memory bias was considered. However, no significant correlations were found between their frequency of contact with young/older people and the number of correctly identified faces, false alarms, sensitivity and corrected memory bias. Therefore, although AD patients present a deficit in face-memory, they still present memory bias towards same-age group faces when their difficulties in face memory are controlled.

Cancer‐related fatigue in breast cancer patients after surgery: a multicomponent model using partial least squares—path modeling

The aim of this study is to examine factors contributing to cancer‐related fatigue (CRF) in breast cancer patients who have undergone surgery.