Marilou Bruchon-Schweitzer

Psycho-social factors and coping strategies as predictors of chronic evolution and quality of life in patients with low back pain: A prospective study

Low back pain (LBP) is a major problem of public health. Chronic pain is the most difficult to treat and the most expensive. The way patients cope with their pain may influence its outcome.

THE BODY-IMAGE QUESTIONNAIRE: AN EXTENSION

The 19-item Body-Image Questionnaire, developed by our team and first published in this journal in 1987 by Bruchon-Schweitzer, was administered to 1,222 male and female French subjects. A principal component analysis of their responses yielded an axis we interpreted as a general Body Satisfaction dimension. The four-factor structure observed in 1987 was not replicated. Body Satisfaction was associated with sex, health, and with current and future emotional adjustment.

Short Form of Sarason's Social Support Questionnaire: French Adaptation and Validation

The original short form of Sarasons Social Support Questionnaire measures two dimensions of social support, availability and satisfaction. The factorial structure of the social support was assessed in a French sample along with the association between the dimensions of social support and personality traits such as Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Depression. A 6-item French version was administered to 648 subjects: 348 university freshmen (228 females, 120 males) and 304 unemployed men. A principal component analysis followed by oblique rotations was undertaken on each sample. This yielded two factors, Availability and Satisfaction. These results sustained the stability of the factorial structure from one culture to another. Validity and reliability were satisfactory. Moreover, these two dimensions were correlated with two personality scales (high extraversion, low depression). Such results agree with previous results establishing relations between social support and salutogenic dimensions of personality.

Dimensions of Cancer Locus of Control Scale as Predictors of Psychological Adjustment and Survival in Breast Cancer Patients

The Cancer Locus of Control Scale, to investigate specific beliefs of control in cancer patients, was validated previously with an English-speaking population. This study tested the construct and concurrent validity of a 17-item French version of the scale and explored its relations with psychological adjustment and with adaptation assessed two years later. In a sample of 157 women diagnosed with a first breast cancer, the French version was administered along with the Body Image Questionnaire, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Social Support Questionnaire, and the Ways of Coping Checklist. A factor analysis performed on scores identified the three original factors: internal causal attribution, control over the course of the illness, and religious control. Internal causal attribution was associated with high scores for state and trait anxiety, negative body image, emotion-focused coping, and problem-focused coping. Control over the course of the cancer was positively associated with scores on both problem- and emotion-focused coping. Religious control was negatively associated with perceived stress. Emotional adjustment and quality of life were assessed in 59 of the 157 breast cancer patients two years after diagnosis and original testing. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that internal causal attribution significantly predicted 38.1% of the variance in rated state anxiety. None of the dimensions of the Cancer Locus of Control Scale predicted the duration of survival measured two years later in 75 of the 157 patients.

Dimensionality of the Body-Image: The Body-Image Questionnaire

A body-image questionnaire was administered to 619 French subjects between the ages of 10 and 40 yr. A principal factor analysis of item correlations yielded four meaningful factors. Some of them are associated with personality traits of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, age, and sex.

FRENCH ADAPTATION OF THE WAYS OF COPING CHECKLIST

A short form (42 items) of the Ways of Coping Checklist was administered to 468 French men and women. A factor analysis of the responses yielded three factors, accounting for about 35% of the total variance, and named Problem-focused Coping, Emotion-focused Coping, and Social Support seeking. The first two dimensions are close to those generally described in the literature. Some interesting relationships of scores appeared between personality and coping, notably, between anxiety and emotion-focused coping.

Evaluation of a psychosocial intervention on social support, perceived control, coping strategies, emotional distress, and quality of life of breast cancer patients.

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate that a specific psychosocial intervention changes reactions to cancer and quality of life. This study was carried out on 66 patients with a first breast cancer. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: a specific intervention group (G1, 8 sessions) or a support group (G2, 8 sessions). A control group (G3) was composed of patients who refused to participate in psychological intervention. Social support, perceived control, repression of emotions, coping strategies, emotional distress, and quality of life were assessed one week before (T1) and at the end (T2) of the psychological intervention. Results showed that G1 did not have significantly modified quality of life or psychological scores. Patients of G2 had poorer emotional quality of life, use of internal causal attributions, and minimized their illness at T1 as compared to patients of G3. At Time 2 these differences were not observed.

Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Smoking Behaviour Questionnaire

We administered a 42-item smoking behaviour questionnaire to 150 adult smokers (75 men and 75 women), 18 to 70 years old (M = 37.1 yr., SD = 12.2). A principal component analysis of their responses followed by varimax rotation yielded four factors accounting for about 52% of the total variance: dependence, social integration, regulation of negative affect, and hedonism. Some sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics of the smokers predict these four dimensions. The predictors of each smoking dimension are quite different for male and female smokers.

A Construction and Validation of a Freshman Stress Questionnaire: An Exploratory Study

A stress questionnaire for freshmen was developed and administered to 1,102 French students at the beginning of the term (T1). A Principal Component Analysis of responses, followed by varimax and oblique rotations, yielded four factors accounting for 58% of the total variance. Factors were identified as academic stress, universitys dysfunctions, feelings of loneliness, and problems with close relations. Associations were observed between scores on these factors and on personal variables measured at the same time (T1), namely, neuroticism, self-esteem, and two coping strategies, as well as variables measured at the end of the term (T2), depressive symptoms, eating disorders, somatic symptoms, and life satisfaction.

Musical Expression and Body Expression

The present series of experiments used either musical excerpts which subjects listened to and then associated to verbal categories (Exp. I) or videotape recordings of body expression sequences which subjects watched and associated with the same verbal categories. These videotapes were recorded by “actors” under two conditions, (a) after the actors had listened to the musical excerpts (Exp. II) and (b) following the induction in actors of the verbal categories which had been associated to the excerpts in Exp. I (Exp. III). The results demonstrate a partial equivalence between the verbal categories associated with the music in Exp. I and those associated with the videotape recording of Exps. II and III. This partial equivalence of the verbal categories is explained by the existence of a bodily core to musical expression.