Traduction et validation de la version française de l’échelle d’impulsivité non conformité de Chapman

Introduction

Impulsive traits are key characteristics in a lot of psychiatric disorders and are part of the “normal” behaviour spectrum. Although impulsivity is a controversial concept, some questionnaires have focused on its “dysfunctional” aspect. The Barratt Impulsive Scale (BIS-10) is the scale the most used to explore impulsiveness, but it does not explore antisocial or nonconform behaviour. The Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale (INCS) is a questionnaire of 51 items that measures the impulsivity and nonconformism. The INCS reflects “failure to internalize societal norms, lack of empathy for the pain of others, and an unrestrained yielding to impulse and self-gratification” and was originally designed to assess psychosis proneness. It has been validated in the USA, but has not yet been validated in France. Interestingly, although it was not predictive of psychosis, high scorers on INCS exceeded controls on depression, and on rates of substance abuse. Furthermore, participants scoring high on hypomanic personality scale and INCS were found to have an especially heightened risk for bipolar disorders.

Objective

To translate and determine reliability and validity of the French version of the Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale in young adults by comparison with the BIS.

Method

Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale has been back-translated into French, and filled out by 237 students (males: 104; females: 133; mean age: 20.4 [range 19–25]). BIS-10 was used for convergent validity. Each participant completed the two scales. Reliability and validity of the French form of INCS were assessed with the internal consistency (coefficient alpha of Cronbach and the split half reliability) and the convergent validity.

Results

In the French version of the INCS, the 51 items have high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81 and split half reliability = 0.80). Concerning the BIS, internal reliability is good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.72 and split half reliability = 0.66).Moreover, Pearson's r of the INCS/BIS is statistically significant (0.65) and underlines the concomitant validity of the INCS with the BIS.

Conclusion

The psychometric properties of the French version of the INCS are very similar to those of the English version. Hence, the INCS could provide a way to explore the two related dimensions: impulsivity and nonconformism.     

Validation de la version française de l’échelle de contrôle de Levenson (IPC), influence de variables démographiques et de la personnalité

We have examined the internal validity of the Levenson’s locus of control scale (IPC, Internal, Powerful others and Chances), translated by Loas et al. (1994). The impact of different demographic variables on the Levenson’s locus of control scales was assessed. We also studied the relation between the IPC scales and the NEO PI R, personality inventory that measures the “big five”. A large sample (n=200) of subjects of different age, gender and profession and a sample of Swiss students (n=161) responding anonymously were used. The reliability of the IPC scale is acceptable. The analysis of the impact of the demographic variables show that gender and level of education have an influence on the I (Intern) scale. Age, gender, level of education and profession have an impact on the P (Powerful others) scale. The analysis of the relationship between locus of control and personality showed that there was a negative correlation between I (Intern) and Neuroticism and a positive correlation between I and Extraversion and Consciousness. The P (Powerful others) scale correlate positively with Neuroticism and negatively with Openness and Agreability. The C scale (Chance) correlate positively with Neuroticism. Our study also gives the researchers and the practitioner a reference score table according to the gender, the age, the level of education and the profession.     

Adaptation française de l’échelle Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire

Objectives

This research proposes a French adaptation of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) (Démétrovics et al., 2008) for young adults.

Methods

The translation and adaptation followed the major steps recommended by Vallerand (1989), which mean a work of face validity with a back translation, a psychometric study with exploratory, confirmatory and fidelity analyses. This research included four studies with a total of 484 subjects.

Results

Component Principal Analysis (CPA) shows that the French adaptation of the PIUQ is composed of 12 items. Confirmatory factorial analysis in studies 3 and 4 shows a satisfactory indicator and confirms a structure of four dimensions. Correlations between the score of the PIUQ-F-12 and the anxiety, in one hand and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), on the other hand, is meaningful and positive what reinforces the validity of this tool.

Conclusion

This questionnaire (PIUQ-F-12) will be able to assess the presence of the problematic use of the Internet in a population of teenagers or young adults. With its short number of items, it can be quickly used at intake to support the evaluation. It will be as interesting to test this tool for a Problematic Internet Use screening in a clinical setting.     

CFTMEA 2000 : nouvelle version de la Classification française des troubles mentaux de l’enfant et de l’adolescent

The CFTMEA 2000 is the fourth version of the french classification. The authors did not change the principles or the uses of the previous version, but introduced various changes in axis I, as well as equivalencies with the ICD-10; an axis I appears for babies (0-3 years). The axis II categories remain inchanged for somatic factors as well as environmental ones.     

Validation de l’échelle d’insight Q8 et évaluation de la conscience de la maladie chez 121 patients hospitalisés en psychiatrie

Insight (awareness of disorder) is an important domain for research and practice in psychiatry. Several instruments to measure insight are currently used. We present here a short scale (8 items with open question) applied to a sample of 121 psychiatric inpatients which permitted to validate this questionnaire and to demonstrate its easiness and rapidity. This insight Q8 scale shows that insight is higher in free hospitalization (compared to compulsary hospitalization), in mood disorders (compared to schizophrenia), in dépression (compared to schizophrenia and mania), in married patients (compared to widowed and single patients), in case of good cognitive functions (MMSE score) and antecedents of attempted suicide. Awareness must be taken into account in all major mental disorders. Therapeutic alliance, treatment compliance, prognosis and risk of relapes depend largely on this dimension.     

Proposition pour une échelle d’évaluation du risque de répétition d’accidents chez l’adolescent

When confronted with situations of repeated accidents among teenagers, organicist physicians (emergency physicians, orthopaedists and general practitioners) need tools to discern sub-jacent psychopathological problems such as depression and anxiety. We have elaborated an Evaluation Scale of Risk Behaviour of the Teenager (ECRA) and we have compared its results to those obtained with different recognized scales currently in use in psychiatry. We have observed that teenagers with antecedents of accidents have scores that are far higher than those of first accident teenagers, notably in the depression, anxiety and impulsivity scales as well as in the ECRA. The ECRA is quite efficient in distinguishing teenagers without antecedents of accidents from those having had repeated accidents. This simple and rapid scale could be used as a tool by organicist physicians for detection but also for prevention as they are the first to be confronted with young people.     

Normalisation d’une batterie d’évaluation de l’imagerie mentale visuelle et de la perception visuelle

Introduction

The relationship between visual perception and visual mental imagery are at the center of a lively theoretical debate between those postulating common neurocognitive processes between perception and imagery and those who emphasize the differences between these two entities. Neuropsychology can make an important contribution to this debate, by assessing associations and dissociations between perceptual and imaginal deficits in patients with brain damage. However, currently there is no standardized test battery available for such assessments.

Material and methods

Here we present a battery of paper-and-pencil tests assessing different domains of visual mental imagery and visual perception abilities: object form and color, animals, orthographic material, numbers, faces, and space. We also explored the effects of age, educational level and gender on performance on a group of 103 participants free of neurological damage.

Results

The battery includes two parts: one composed of 14 tests assessing mental imagery and the second part composed of eight tests assessing the abilities of visual perception. We calculated the correlations between the tests, and found that, with the exception of orthographic material, there were generally poor correlations between imagery and perceptual tests.

Conclusion

This result seems inconsistent with hypotheses postulating a strict correspondence between perceptual and imagery abilities.     

Intérêts et limites des échelles d’évaluation de la douleur chez l’enfant en situation de handicap

Accessing to a management of pain is now considered as peoples’ fundamental right. The pain should be evaluated before being treated. Pain is always a subjective phenomenon. Assessing pain of those who express in a singular way is a great challenge. Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, with cerebral palsy or with autism are now recognized as sensitive to pain as well as anyone. If some of them are able to use self-report tools, we have to apply disability-adapted scales to others. Like any assessment tools, they have advantages and limitations. We need to know them in order to make appropriate use for the care of vulnerable people.     

La bipolarité épistémologique de la psychiatrie française

In this paper, we focus on the diversity of scientific approaches in French psychiatry, using several concepts inspired by the philosophy of sciences. The feeling of an internal crisis, regularly expressed on a public stage, alongside with the developments of neurosciences who contested a psychoanalytical supremacy amongst French psychiatrists suggest the beginning of a scientific revolution. However, several points indicate that French psychiatry has been evolving in a continuous paradigm since its emergence at the turn of the 19^th century. Since then, this discipline has been consistently suspended between two different scientific rationales. On the one hand, it relies on an explicative, experimental and generalizing approach. On the other hand, it refers to a comprehensive, inducitivist and singularity-orientated rationale. We coin the expression “epistemological bipolarity” to describe this specific scientific organization.