Emotion regulation is a known predictor for psychopathology and a target for treatment. A growing body of literature has examined the role of beliefs about emotions (BEs) in the emotion regulation process, yet the relationship between the two has yet to be systematically evaluated. A systematic review was conducted across five databases and 22 studies that assessed the relationship between BEs and emotion regulation were identified. The findings generally revealed a positive relationship between beliefs about the controllability and goodness of emotions and emotion regulation. There was strong evidence that beliefs about controllability were consistently associated with ‘active’ emotion regulatory strategies. This outcome has important implications for targeting change in therapy. However, further investigation is needed to establish consistent patterns regarding beliefs about the goodness of emotion and emotion regulation using longitudinal designs.

Les données de la littérature scientifique mettent en évidence des déficits des fonctions exécutives et émotionnelles chez les patients souffrants d’addictions (Bechara et al., 2001). Ces déficits pourraient jouer un rôle majeur dans l’installation de la maladie et dans la rechute (Bechara et al., 2005). En particulier, en ce qui concerne les troubles liés à l’usage de l’alcool, de nombreuses données viennent mettre en évidence un continuum d’altérations cérébrales qui peuvent entraîner des déficits neuropsychologiques et notamment altérer le fonctionnement exécutif, la mémoire épisodique et la métamémoire, les compétences visuospatiales mais aussi les capacités psychomotrices ou émotionnelles (Le Berre et al., 2012 ; Pitel et al., 2007). Un certain nombre de travaux récents ont ouvert la voie à des approches thérapeutiques à l’aide de la remédiation cognitive portant sur les fonctions exécutives (Rupp et al., 2012). Toutefois, ces travaux restent encore du domaine de la recherche et les applications pratiques demeurent limitées. Par ailleurs, peu d’auteurs se sont penchés sur une approche thérapeutique intégrant la correction des déficits émotionnels, fréquents dans les addictions, ou bien le développement d’alternatives fonctionnelles, en association à la réhabilitation des fonctions exécutives. Nous proposons dans cette session thématique de dresser un état des lieux sur la remédiation cognitive dans le domaine des addictions ; il s’agira tout d’abord de mettre en évidence les altérations cognitives fréquemment retrouvées dans les trouble liés à l’usage de substance en particulier l’alcool (H. Beaunieux, Caen) puis de présenter une revue de la littérature sur les éléments de dépistage et les facteurs évolutifs et pronostics liés à ces altérations (P. Perney, Nîmes) et enfin de proposer des stratégies de prises en charge à partir des données de l’expérimentation et de la pratique clinique (G. Brousse, Clermont-Ferrand).

Les conduites à risque à l’adolescence ont des conséquences inquiétantes sur le plan psychosocial et psychopathologique. Ce travail consiste à tester les relations entre tempérament et développement cognitivo-émotionnel comme facteurs de vulnérabilité dans les conduites à risque sur un échantillon de 109 adolescents suivis au niveau du service de pédopsychiatrie de l’hôpital Errazi, Annaba durant la période allant de 2007–2012. Les outils utilisés sont les questionnaires de personnalité, l’échelle de niveau de conscience émotionnelle, l’échelle de surveillance du risque pour les jeunes. Les analyses standardisées ont montré que ces conduites à risque sont plus fréquentes chez les adolescents présentant des troubles du développement cognitivo-émotionnel. Le sexe masculin est plus atteint avec un sexe-ratio de 1,61 ; que 61,77 % sont des fumeurs, 67 % consomment du cannabis, 46 % abusent des médicaments psychotropes ; 28 % ont des idées de suicide et 6,34 % ont eu le premier rapport sexuel avant l’âge de 13 ans.

L’apathie est définie comme un manque de motivation qui impacte les dimensions cognitives, émotionnelles et comportementales du quotidien. Les comportements orientés vers un but (c.-à-d., l’obtention de toute forme de satisfaction élémentaire (nourriture par exemple) et la persévération à l’effort), les cognitions (prise d’initiative, stratégies d’adaptation telles que la flexibilité mentale et l’inhibition des conduites inadéquates) et l’état émotionnel associé (activation du système d’éveil et d’excitation) sont réduits voire même absents dans les cas extrêmes. La sensation de vacuité ressentie par l’entourage peut prendre le masque du rejet de la part du proche aidant/compagnon, d’un désinvestissement de la part du médecin ou bien même de l’oubli dans les institutions. L’apathie étant associée à l’assombrissement du pronostic et à une qualité de vie altérée dans différentes maladies neuropsychiatriques, une approche transnosographique apporterait-elle des évidences permettant de suspecter un déficit commun ? Ce symposium se déroulera en trois parties : au cours de la première, le Pr Dujardin présentera les données générales autour du concept d’apathie (notamment les définitions et les données épidémiologiques) puis seront traités de façon plus spécifiques (physiopathologies, outils d’évaluations et stratégies thérapeutiques) l’apathie dans les maladies psychiatriques dont la dépression et la schizophrénie et dans les maladies dégénératives dont les maladies d’Alzheimer et de Parkinson. L’objectif est de pouvoir soumettre aux auditeurs un modèle intégratif correspondant aux troubles évoqués.

Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterised by the removal of one's hair, causing hair loss. Phenomenological research on TTM has investigated its associated behavioural and affective factors. Few studies have investigated the possible role of cognitions and beliefs, despite emerging support for cognitive therapies in treating this disorder. This study aimed to explore and describe the cognitions and beliefs that contribute to the onset and maintenance of hairpulling in TTM. Eight women with TTM participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews to explore their experience of cognitions and beliefs before, during and after typical hairpulling episodes. Interviews were analysed using the qualitative method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Six superordinate themes of beliefs were identified as important: negative self-beliefs, control beliefs, beliefs about coping, beliefs about negative emotions, permission-giving beliefs, and perfectionism. These preliminary findings suggest that cognitions may play an important role in TTM phenomenology. Future quantitative research on the role of cognitions and beliefs in TTM in larger samples has the potential to advance cognitive-behavioural models and treatments of this poorly understood disorder.

Background: The personality disorders are commonly comorbid with the eating disorders. Personality disorder pathology is often suggested to impair the treatment of axis 1 disorders, including the eating disorders. Aims: This study examined whether personality disorder cognitions reduce the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for eating disorders, in terms of treatment dropout and change in eating disorder attitudes in the early stages of treatment. Method: Participants were individuals with a diagnosed eating disorder, presenting for individual outpatient CBT. They completed measures of personality disorder cognitions and eating disorder attitudes at sessions one and six of CBT. Drop-out rates prior to session six were recorded. Results: CBT had a relatively rapid onset of action, with a significant reduction in eating disorder attitudes over the first six sessions. Eating disorder attitudes were most strongly associated with cognitions related to anxiety-based personality disorders (avoidant, obsessive-compulsive and dependent). Individuals who dropped out of treatment prematurely had significantly higher levels of dependent personality disorder cognitions than those who remained in treatment. For those who remained in treatment, higher levels of avoidant, histrionic and borderline personality disorder cognitions were associated with a greater change in global eating disorder attitudes. Conclusions: CBT's action and retention of patients might be improved by consideration of such personality disorder cognitions when formulating and treating the eating disorders.

Given the lack of research in clinically depressed elders, and drawing on an integrative perspective, this study examined predictions of three prominent psychological models of depression (cognitive, learned helplessness, and psychodynamic theory) in a sample of elderly depressed patients. The hypothesized specificity to depression and stability of representative psychological characteristics were evaluated by comparing levels of 25 clinically depressed elders, 20 nondepressed psychiatric controls and 28 nondepressed medical controls, at hospitalization (Tl), discharge (T2) and five months later (T3). Also, the relative contribution of theory-based variables to depression severity at discharge and at follow-up was explored. While elderly depressed patients showed, overall, significantly higher levels of maladaptive cognitions, biased attributions, and selected depressogenic personality traits than medical controls, these variables did not discriminate among depressives and psychiatric controls, with the exception of negative automatic thinking, and pessimistic attributions in females. Positive attributional style and hedonism did not discriminate among subject groups. Support was found for the stability, in the depressed group, of purportedly traitlike characteristics through hospitalization to follow-up. Multiple regression analyses indicated that initial symptomatology level was the strongest predictor of both discharge and follow-up depression severity, whereas selected variables from each theoretical model contributed marginally, depending on the time of assessment.

Background: There is little consensus as to whether agoraphobic avoidance in panic disorder is characterized by a prominence of particular symptoms and interpretations of those symptoms. Aims: We sought to clarify the relationship between symptoms and agoraphobic avoidance and to establish whether catastrophic interpretations of symptoms mediate any such relationships. Method: The Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire and Mobility Inventory were administered to 117 patients with panic disorder who were attending an outpatient anxiety disorders clinic. Results: Medium to large associations were found between most symptoms and agoraphobic avoidance and between particular symptoms and the corresponding symptom interpretation items. Some interpretations of symptoms were found to mediate relationships between symptoms and agoraphobic avoidance. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the catastrophic misinterpretation model of panic disorder can to some extent be invoked to explain the extent of agoraphobic avoidance, but that there may also be other pathways leading from symptoms to agoraphobia.

Over-involved parenting is commonly hypothesized to be a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders in childhood. This parenting style may result from parental attempts to prevent child distress based on expectations that the child will be unable to cope in a challenging situation. Naturalistic studies are limited in their ability to disentangle the overlapping contribution of child and parent factors in driving parental behaviours. To overcome this difficulty, an experimental study was conducted in which parental expectations of child distress were manipulated and the effects on parent behaviour and child mood were assessed. Fifty-two children (aged 7 – 11 years) and their primary caregiver participated. Parents were allocated to either a “positive” or a “negative” expectation group. Observations were made of the children and their parents interacting whilst completing a difficult anagram task. Parents given negative expectations of their child's response displayed higher levels of involvement. No differences were found on indices of child mood and behaviour and possible explanations for this are considered. The findings are consistent with suggestions that increased parental involvement may be a “natural” reaction to enhanced perceptions of child vulnerability and an attempt to avoid child distress.

Consistent with cognitive-behavioural formulations of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), recent research has supported the association between obsessive-compulsive phenomena, specific dysfunctional beliefs and negative affective states. However, such research has not been conducted across sufficiently different cultural contexts using the same measures in comparable samples. In the present study, university psychology students from Australia and Italy completed questionnaire measures of obsessive-compulsive phenomena, inflated responsibility, perfectionism, guilt, depression, and anxiety. Australian and Italian cultures can be seen to differ in a number of ways that could impact on the pattern of expected interrelations between these measures. Similarities in the factor structure and psychometric properties of the measures were apparent across the two cultural contexts, suggesting the appropriateness of cross-cultural comparisons in the pattern of intercorrelations. Significant interrelations were found between the measure of obsessive-compulsive phenomena, dysfunctional beliefs and negative affect in both cultural contexts. While there were some differences in the specific patterns of interrelations, these were few in number and, generally, could be explained by sociocultural factors or stereotypes, although the overall pattern of intercorrelations was stronger for the Australian cohort. The results suggest that cognitive-behavioural formulations of OCD can be generalized across these two different cultural contexts, although idiosyncratic cultural factors may need to be considered in developing cognitive-behavioural treatments.

This study explored whether obsessive-compulsive (OC) and depressive phenomena share common cognitive personality vulnerabilities. Specifically, the study examined the relationship of OC phenomena to sociotropy, autonomy and aspects of perfectionism, which traditionally have been associated with depression. A non-clinical sample of 152 subjects, mostly undergraduate university students, completed four questionnaires. Results indicated a significant relationship between depression and OC variables, with both relating significantly to autonomy, sociotropy and socially prescribed perfectionism. Correlations between OC phenomena and these cognitive personality styles were still significant after controlling for depression. Sociotropy and socially prescribed perfectionism predicted unique OC variance. Depression also predicted unique OC variance, controlling for the cognitive personality styles. It was concluded that OC and depressive phenomena share vulnerability centred on desires for approval. It was also recognized that depression-specific processes account for some of the covariability between depression and OC phenomena. Therefore, it was suggested that treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder may improve by attending to the reduction of depressive phenomena and to the modification of beliefs related to social-approval.