Encephale
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Review
[Caregiver burden in relatives of persons with schizophrenia: an overview of measure instruments].
The high prevalence and chronic evolution of schizophrenia are responsible for a major social cost. The adverse consequences of such psychiatric disorders for relatives have been studied since the early 1950s, when psychiatric institutions began discharging patients into the community. According to Treudley (1946) "burden on the family" refers to the consequences for those in close contact with a severely disturbed psychiatric patient. ⋯ The instrument should be developed from the caregiver's point of view and be derived from qualitative interviews with relatives of patients suffering from schizophrenia. It's responsiveness should be documented before inclusion in clinical trials or evaluation of psychoeducational programs. We are now working with the National Union of Friends and Families of Patients to validate an instrument in french language.
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The increasing prevalence of the agitation states in the emergency department (ED) is a problem little studied on the epidemiological plan. ⋯ The management of the agitated patients in the ED requires the placing of protocols and of specific trainings as well as of adapted premises. The major prevalence of attacks imposes realization of epidemiological studies and the priority placing of a coherent politics, considering the potential and often real gravity of these behavioural problems.
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The Verona Service Satisfaction Scale-French version (13) was translated and adapted from the Italian version of Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (27). The VSSS makes it possible to evaluate the satisfaction of people with serious mental illness with respect to the services. The original VSSS-54 contained 7 dimensions: 1) Overall satisfaction, 2) Professionals' skills and behaviour, 3) Information, 4) Access to services, 5) Services efficacy, 6) Relatives' involvement and 7) Types of interventions. According to factorial analyses carried out by Ruggeri et al., the dimensions Information and Access to services were aggregated. However, no factorial analysis was carried out in order to verify the six dimension-structure of the VSSS. From an international perspective, the study entitled "The European Psychiatric Services: Inputs linked to Outcome Domains and Needs (EPSILON)" achieved the standardisation of different questionnaires in several languages (2). A new version of the VSSS entitled "Verona Service Satisfaction Scale-European version" (VSSS-EU) was developed and is now available in the following languages: Italian, Danish, German, English and Spanish. In order to compare in different countries the satisfaction of people with serious mental illness with respect to services, we undertook from 1998 to ascertain the psychometrical properties of the French version of the VSSS. (13). Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) was carried out on the six dimension-structure of the VSSS-54F: 1) Overall satisfaction, 2) Professionals' skills and behaviour, 3) Information and Access to services, 4) Services efficacy, 5) Relatives involvement and 6) Types of interventions. For each dimension, consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha) was computed in order to bring forth additional psychometrical properties of the VSSS-54F. ⋯ This study confirms with some adjustments the factorial structure of the VSSS. The results indicate five dimensions (25 items): Psychiatrists/Psychologists' skills and behaviour, Nursing staff/social workers' skills and behaviour, Information and access to services, Services efficacy, Relatives' involvement. Even if the Type of interventions dimension was not retained in the model, we suggest preserving it for eventual clinical evaluation based on each item. We also suggest, for future studies, the adaptation of the VSSS-54F to the European version, VSSS-EU. Indeed, the results of our study sustain the European version because the VSSS-EU is more focused since it separates the skills and behaviour of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers (e.g. items 3a and 3b or items 22a and 22b). The next step in the validation process would be to measure Inter-rater and test-retest reliability as well as concurrent, convergent and discriminant validity of the VSSS-EU. Furthermore, a multicultural comparison of the VSSS-EU would be required if the instrument is used for interesting comparisons of survey.
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Anxiety sensitivity represents a stimulus-outcome expectancy that reflects individual differences in the propensity to experience fear in response to one's arousal-related bodily sensations. It refers to the fear of anxiety-related symptoms that are based on beliefs that such sensations have negative somatic, social or psychological consequences. Anxiety sensitivity occupies an important place in theory and research on panic and related interoceptive fear disorders. ⋯ This finding is consistent with research that indicates that women generally report more intense fears and men less intense fears, and that they differ in levels of overall anxiety sensitivity specifically (29). This preliminary report was the first attempt to examine the construct of anxiety sensitivity using the ASI-R in a French university students. It can serve as a reference point for future research.
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Perfectionism is a dimension which has been studied very little as a separate entity. It is not even considered as a nosological factor. No classification of the medical sciences underlines its importance other than to speak of a personality trait, of an aspect, or of a parameter. ⋯ In conclusion, providing some modifications according to semantics, the choice of a four factor solution allows for confirmation of the original structure of MPS and for internal consistency. The different components of MPS vary according to gender: SOP and more OOP discriminate men and women; SPP allows for differentiating women with failure. A structural model enhances the role of perfectionism in the cognitive and behavioural contexts; for instance it clarifies its action on fear of failure and success rates according to gender.