Cyril Tarquinio

Bullying among students and its consequences on health

Violence among students at school is an ever-growing problem. Bullying can be defined as all forms of repeated physical or mental violence performed by an individual on another person who is not capable of defending him/herself (Roland & Idsoe, 2001). The three studies conducted here reveal some of the characteristics and implications of this type of aggression. Whether the attacker (s) or the attacked, all protagonists in a bullying episode suffer the consequences of this behavior. Study 1 showed that students who were both victims and bullies had the lowest self-concepts in all areas studied. Victims exhibited inferior self-concepts to bullies, who in turn obtained lower scores than students not involved in bullying at all. Study 2 showed, as expected, that the group of bully/victims reported more psychosomatic problems than all other groups. In addition, there was a positive link between behavioral problems and the onset of psychosomatic disorders. Study 3, which was mainly exploratory, looked at the traumatic impact of bullying and the emergence of addictive behavior. Children who had vivid memories of being the victim of an aggressive act manifested a high level of post-traumatic stress, although no link was observed between post-traumatic stress and the type of aggression (physical, verbal, or relational). A dependency relationship was found between post-traumatic stress and substance use. The results of these studies suggest that the many complexities of the different protagonists of bullying should be taken into account in view of developing servicing that is geared to each individual.RésuméLes agressions entre élèves en milieu scolaire constituent un problème grandissant. Le bullying peut être défini comme toutes formes de violences physiques ou mentales répétées, effectuées par un individu sur une personne qui n’est pas capable de se défendre elle-même (Roland & Idsoe, 2001). Trois études révèlent partiellement les tenants et les aboutissants de cette violence. Qu ’ils soient victimes ou agresseurs, les différents protagonistes en subissent les conséquences. L’étude I montre que les élèves simultanément victimes et agresseurs ont l’expression du concept de soi la plus faible, et ce, dans différents domaines. On constate également que les victimes manifestent des concepts de soi inférieurs aux agresseurs, qui eux-mêmes, obtiennent des scores inférieurs à ceux du groupe contrôle. L’étude 2, conformément à nos attentes, montre que les victimes/agresseurs rapportent les atteintes psychosomatiques les plus élevées. En outre nous pouvons observer un lien positif entre la manifestation de troubles du comportement et l’apparition de troubles psychosomatiques. L’étude 3, principalement exploratoire, s’intéresse à l’impact traumatique du bullying et à l’émergence de conduites additives. Ainsi, les enfants affirmant avoir vécu une (ou des) agression(s) les ayant particulièrement marquée(s) manifestent un niveau élevé de stress post-traumatique. Cependant, nous ne trouvons pas de lien entre ce dernier et le type d’agression subie (physique, verbal ou relationnel). En outre, un rapport de dépendance apparaît entre le stress post traumatique et la consommation de toxiques. Les résultats de ces études suggèrent de tenir compte des différents protagonistes du bullying dans toute leur complexité afin de définir avec précisions les directions à emprunter dans le cadre d’une prise en charge.

Psychosocial predictors of medication adherence among persons living with HIV.

Background: Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), many have learned to live with HIV as a chronic illness. Adherence to medical regimens is extremely important for HIV patients. Purpose: To examine the extent to which medication adherence among HIV patients is related to social and psychological variables. Method: Data were gathered among 127 HIV patients (aged from 18 & #x2013;65 years) recruited at their quarterly consultation at Metz Hospital (France). Subjects completed a self-report adherence to medication scale, the Illness PerceptionQuestionnaire (IPQ), the Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire (BMQ), a French Value System Scale, a treatment satisfaction scale, and sociodemographic measures. Results: Analyses revealed significant associations between adherence and patients’ beliefs about treatment, satisfaction with treatment, confidence in the physician, some values (“other people, ” “god and children”), and duration of treatment and illness. Conclusion: The data suggest that patients’ beliefs about treatment are formed to a certain degree in the patients’ relationship with the physician. Furthermore, adherence seems to be related to personal values.

Effects of the self-schema on perception of space at work

Abstract The purpose of this research is to show that a persons self-schema can affect his or her perception of reality at work. Results show that significant differences in environmental perception and workspace evaluation exist between people with a self-schema of professional failure and those with a self-schema of professional success. The findings suggest that the self-schema filters information about the environment in two directions, affecting how people assess their work environment, and also how they see themselves on the basis of the attributes and functioning of their work environment. The study has interesting implications for a better understanding of the complexity of the person–environment relationship in the workplace.

Chronic Pain and PTSD: Evolving Views on Their Comorbidity

PURPOSE This paper presents a literature review of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its link to chronic pain. DESIGN AND METHODS Twenty-four papers are reviewed (included research and reviews), with the goal of improving and updating our understanding on this issue and its theoretical and clinical repercussions. FINDINGS The tight interdependence of symptoms that can be observed in both PTSD and chronic pain syndromes lends support to the idea that these disorders both constitute a reactive disorder. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Various forms of therapy and treatment focus on PTSD, but chronic pain symptoms must also be assessed.

Evaluating complex interventions: Perspectives and issues for health behaviour change interventions

Objective: Health behaviour change interventions (HBCIs), used in health education, health promotion, patient education and psychotherapy areas, are considered complex interventions. The objective of this article is to discuss the value and limitations of using randomised clinical trials (RCTs) to asses HBCIs. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted to identify the main challenges of using RCTs for evaluating HBCIs. The issues were illustrated by case studies selected from research conducted by our multidisciplinary team. Results: In complex interventions, effects are produced not only by the intervention, but are strongly linked to context. Issues relating to transferability of results are therefore critical, and require adjustments to the RCT model. Sampling bias, biases related to the experimental conditions and biases due to the absence of double-blindness were examined and illustrated by case studies. Conclusion: The results underline the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. They call for adapted or alternative evaluation models that overcome the limitations of RCTs.

The self-schema and addictive behaviors: Studies of alcoholic patients

This study deals with the sociocognitive organization of the self-schema in alcoholic patients. It was aimed at understanding how the self-schema takes shape within the framework of social judgments known to be determinants of personality. Alcoholic subjects were interviewed twice, once during their first consultation for treatment and then again four months later after completion of treatment. Our approach was derived directly from the methodology used by Markus (1977) and Clemmey & Nicassio (1997) in their studies on the self-schema. The subjects had to perform three tasks that required manipulating personality traits with positive and negative connotations (a self-description task in which decision time was measured, an autobiographical task, and a recall task). The results of the first interview showed that 1. in their self-descriptions, alcoholics took more time than control subjects both to accept positive traits and to reject negative ones; 2. unlike control subjects, alcoholics considered more neg...

Early Psychological Preventive Intervention For Workplace Violence: A Randomized Controlled Explorative and Comparative Study Between EMDR-Recent Event and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

This randomized controlled trial study aims to investigate the efficacy of an early psychological intervention called EMDR-RE compared to Critical Incident Stress Debriefing on 60 victims of workplace violence, which were divided into three groups: ‘EMDR-RE’ (n = 19), ‘CISD’ (n = 23), and ‘delayed EMDR-RE’ (n = 18). EMDR-RE and CISD took place 48 hours after the event, whilst third intervention was delayed by an additional 48 hours. Results showed that after 3 months PCLS and SUDS scores were significantly lower with EMDR-RE and delayed EMDR-RE compared to CISD. After 48 hours and 3 months, none of the EMDR-RE-treated victims showed PTSD symptoms.

Scholastic achievement, academic self-schemata, and normative clearsightedness

This study based directly on Markus’s (1977) paradigm demonstrates the greater prevalence of an academic success self-schema in high academic achievers and of an academic failure self-schema in low academic achievers. The results also suggest that this achievementbased schema is modulated by clearsightedness (Py & Somat, 1991) in both good and poor students. Because more clearsighted individuals are probably better able to assess the arbitrariness of the reinforcement systems applied to their performance, they do not build the same schemata as less clearsighted individuals do.RésuméDirectement inspiré du paradigme proposé par Markus (1977), la recherche présentée dans cet article démontre l’existence d’un schéma de soi relatif à la réussite scolaire davantage observé chez les sujets obtenant les meilleures performances scolaires; les élèves les plus faibles paraissant plus proches d’un schéma relatif à l’échec. Les résultats obtenus suggèrent que cette appartenance schématique déterminée par les performances scolaires est modulée par la clairvoyance (Py et Somat, 1991) des bons comme des mauvais élèves. Les individus les plus clairvoyants étant probablement plus à même d’estimer le caractère arbitraire des renforcements dont ils sont l’objet ne structurent pas leur appartenance schématique de manière identique aux individus les moins clairvoyants.

Benefits of Immediate EMDR vs. Eclectic Therapy Intervention for Victims of Physical Violence and Accidents at the Workplace: A Pilot Study

This study focuses on 34 victims of aggression at the workplace, less than 48 hours following the incident of aggression. We compared victims who received an EMDR emergency protocol (URG-EMDR; n = 19) that we developed with those who received a method of intervention called eclectic therapy (n = 15). The results show that URG-EMDR therapy, provided within 48 hours, resulted in a greater decrease in perceived stress and a lower PCL-S score than eclectic therapy did. The scores were lower in both groups after 24 hours, and after 3 months, the drop was significantly greater among the victims treated with the URG-EMDR protocol; none of the EMDR-treated patients exhibited symptoms of posttraumatic stress.

Treating Chronic Pain with CBT after a Stomach Cancer: What Strategies Can Be Used?

Dear Editor, We write to make some comments and pertinent observations regarding a recent case report. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) [1] defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” The IASPs definition highlights the multidimensional and subjective nature of pain, a complex experience that is unique to each individual. Operant behavior therapy for chronic pain is guided by the original operant conditioning principles proposed by Skinner [2] and refined by Fordyce [3] to be applicable to pain management. In this model, conditioned behaviors occur as a product of learning the consequences of engaging in the given behavior. Cognitive restructuring entails recognition of current maladaptive cognitions the patient is engaging in, challenging of the identified negative cognitions, and reformulation of thoughts to generate balanced, adaptive alternative thoughts. Research [4] has found cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to be an effective treatment for chronic pain and its sequelae as marked by significant changes in various domains when compared with wait-list control conditions. A meta-analysis [5] of 52 published studies compared CBT to habitual treatment control conditions and active control conditions at various …