Sophie Berjot

Clinical stress assessment using a visual analogue scale

BACKGROUND Clinicians increasingly require short, efficient methods for assessing distress, both in applied research and clinical settings. Most of the available questionnaires are unsuitable for busy clinical settings. The visual analogue scale (VAS) is widely but empirically used to assess perceived stress. AIMS To provide evidence on two of the psychometric properties of the VAS: its discriminative sensitivity (capacity to highlight a difference between groups) and its interconcept validity (the relationship between VAS stress assessment and the assessment of different, but similar concepts). METHODS Employees attending occupational health centres were randomly selected and completed the VAS and also either the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) or the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Analyses of variance were performed to study group effects (age, sex, marital status, parental status, occupational status) on stress scores (PSS and VAS). RESULTS In total, 763 employees participated of whom 501 completed the PSS and 262 the HADS. P-values obtained for the effects of sex, age and occupational status were lower with the VAS than with the PSS. Correlations between the VAS and the anxiety subscale, depression subscale and total score of the HADS were 0.66, 0.45 and 0.65, respectively. Other tools used to assess aspects of psychological distress are known to have similar correlations. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide evidence that the VAS is at least as discriminating as a questionnaire when it comes to highlighting differences in stress levels between two groups, and the observed correlations with related constructs support its construct validity.

Psychometric properties of the French versions of the Perceived Stress Scale

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the French versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and to compare the appropriateness of the three versions of this scale (14 items, 10 items, or 4 items) in a sample of workers.Materials and MethodsFive hundred and one workers were randomly selected in several occupational health care centers of the North of France during 2010. Participants completed a questionnaire including demographic variables and the PSS. The psychometric properties of this scale were analyzed: internal consistency, factorial structure, and discriminative sensibility.ResultsFor the PSS-14 and PSS-10, the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) provided a two-factor structure, corresponding to the positively and negatively worded items. Those two factors were significantly correlated (r = 0.43 and 0.50, respectively). For the PSS-4, the EFA yielded a one-factor structure. The reliability was high for all three versions of the PSS (Cronbach’s α values ranged from 0.73 to 0.84). The results concerning the effects of age, gender, marital, parental and occupational statuses showed that the 10-item version had the best discriminative sensibility.ConclusionsThe findings confirmed satisfactory psychometric properties of all the three French versions of the PSS. We recommend the use of the PSS-10 in research settings because of its good psychometric properties.

A motivational model of performance in the sport domain

Abstract The aim of the present study was to propose and test a motivational model of sport performance based on the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997). Tennis players completed the French version of the Sport Motivation Scale (Brière et al., 1995) at the beginning of the season. Two years later, they completed the same instrument and also a questionnaire designed to assess their perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Their performances during three seasons were obtained via the French Tennis Federation. First, the present results reveal that self-determined motivation has a positive impact on sport performance both during one and two seasons. The results also provide support for the mediating role of psychological need satisfaction in the relationship between sport performance and athletes’ motivation. Results are discussed in light of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

Stress and Coping with Discrimination and Stigmatization

The aim of this article is to briefly review the literature on stigmatization and more generally identity threats, to focus more specifically of the way people appraise and cope with those threatening situations. Based on the transactional model of stress and coping of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), we propose a model of coping with identity threats that takes into accounts the principle characteristic of stigma, its devaluing aspect. We present a model with specific antecedents, a refined appraisal phase and a new classification of coping strategies based on the motives that may be elicited by the threatening situation, those of protecting and/or enhancing the personal and/or social identity.

The Role of Autonomy Support and Motivation in the Prediction of Interest and Dropout Intentions in Sport and Education Settings

Based on the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997), the purpose of the present research was to propose and test a model that posits that individuals’ perceptions of autonomy support from their supervisor in an activity (e.g., coach, teacher) and their global autonomous motivation jointly promote their autonomous (contextual) motivation toward the activity. In turn, contextual autonomous motivation positively predicts interest in the activity, whereas it negatively predicts intentions to drop out of the activity. In Study 1, the model was tested with a sample of 206 competitive athletes registered in the French Skiing Federation. In Study 2, a short longitudinal design was used, and the sample was composed of 206 French high school students (128 female, 78 male). Results from structural equation modeling analyses supported the hypothesized model. These results provided support for the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997). The implications of the findings and future research avenues are discussed in light of the hierarchical model and self-determination theory.

Burnout Among Occupational Physicians: A Threat to Occupational Health Systems?—A Nationwide Cross-sectional Survey

OBJECTIVES Burnout among occupational health physicians in France was measured in a nationwide cross-sectional survey. The relationships between each dimension of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of low personal accomplishment) and stress level, identity threat, and job characteristics were analysed. METHODS E-mails were sent out to all occupational physicians working in France by the French Ministry of Labour, inviting them to fill out an online questionnaire. This questionnaire included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Primary Appraisal of Identity scale. Job characteristics were measured with survey-specific questions. RESULTS Of the 5010 occupational physicians who were potentially contacted, 1670 (33%) completed the online questionnaire. The estimated prevalence of burnout was 11.8%, twice as high as in a sample of French general practitioners (5%). The main characteristic of the burnout pattern was feelings of very low personal accomplishment (63.9%). Job characteristics were only weakly correlated with burnout, but stress level and identity threat were correlated with all three dimensions of burnout. The perceived stress was the main risk factor for emotional exhaustion and identity threat for feelings of low personal accomplishment. CONCLUSIONS The health status of occupational physicians is important for both the individual physicians and for the occupational health system. Occupational physicians are unwell, and we probably need to change the way we currently cope with burnout. This is not only a stress-induced syndrome, resulting from high workloads, but a low self-esteem-induced syndrome, too.

Appraising Stigmatization and Discrimination: Construction and Validation of a Questionnaire Assessing Threat and Challenge Appraisals to Personal and Social Identity

Building on research on identity and stress, the Primary Appraisal of Identity Threat scale was developed to assess situational appraisals of identity threats in terms of threats and challenges to personal and social identity. Study 1 tested the structure of the questionnaire: 230 participants with physical disabilities completed the 20 items of the Primary Appraisal of Identity Threat scale and a self-esteem measure. The aim of Study 2 was to replicate the structure with a heterogeneous sample facing discrimination and to validate the instrument by studying the relationships between scale scores and measures of personal and collective self-esteem, perceptions and attributions of discrimination, and suffering in connection with discrimination. The aim of Study 3 was to determine how women answered the questionnaire after their personal or social identity had been threatened versus not threatened. Across studies, findings were consistent with theory-based expectations.

Cognitive Appraisals of Stereotype Threat

Using the cognitive appraisal conceptualisation of the transactional model of stress, the goal was to assess how victims of stereotype threat respond to this situation in terms of primary appraisals (threat/challenge) and to investigate whether those appraisals may mediate the relation between stereotype threat and performance. Results show that, while participants from North Africa living in France did appraise the situation more as a threat and less as a challenge, only challenge appraisal mediated between stereotype threat and performance.

Trait self-esteem and claimed self-handicapping motives in sports situations

Abstract We examined the relationship between physical self-esteem and claimed self-handicapping among athletes by taking motives into consideration. In Study 1, 99 athletes were asked to report their tendency to engage in claimed self-handicapping for self-protective and self-enhancement motives (trait measures). Low self-esteem athletes reported a higher tendency to engage in claimed self-handicapping for these two motives compared with high self-esteem athletes. Neither low nor high self-esteem athletes reported a preference for one motive over the other. In Study 2, 107 athletes participated in a test that was ostensibly designed to assess high physical abilities – and thus to encourage self-handicapping for self-enhancement motives (success-meaningful condition) – or to assess low physical abilities, and thus to encourage self-handicapping for self-protective motives (failure-meaningful condition). Before starting the test, athletes were given the opportunity to claim handicaps that could impair their performance. Low self-esteem athletes claimed more handicaps than high self-esteem athletes in both conditions. Findings suggest that low physical self-esteem athletes engage more in claimed handicapping regardless of motives, relative to high physical self-esteem athletes.

Effects of Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling Styles on Situational Self-Determined Motivation: Some Unexpected Results of the Commitment Procedure

Distinct and simultaneous effects of autonomy-supportive and controlling styles, usually considered as mutually exclusive, on situational self-determined motivation are tested. In Study 1, economics students (N = 100; 57 men, 43 women; M age = 21.5 yr.) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions (high vs. low) of autonomy supportive and / or controlling behaviors during a task. Results supported the independence of those constructs. An unexpected effect in regards to Self-determination Theory was found in the Low autonomy – High control condition in which self-determined motivation was observed. The interpretation for this specific condition, an effect due to the attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance triggered by the commitment procedure, was tested. In Study 2, sport students (N = 80, 44 men, 36 women; M age = 19.2 yr.) were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: No commitment, Commitment plus self-affirmation, and Commitment without self-affirmation. Results supported Study 1s interpretation: motivation was lower when participants were recruited without a commitment procedure or when they were invited to self-affirm than when participants recruited with a commitment procedure.