Psychometric properties of the BIRT Motivation Questionnaire (BMQ), a self-measure of avolition in individuals with schizophrenia.

Aims: Avolition defined as a lack of interest or engagement in goal-directed behavior plays a key role in everyday functioning in schizophrenia and is considered as one of the main contributors to the burden of disease. The aim of this study was to 1) validate the self-report BIRT Motivation Questionnaire (BMQ-S) seldom used before in schizophrenia 2) examine the degree of agreement between the BMQ-S and its informant-report version 3) to assess its ability to predict real-world outcome at 12 month follow-up.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-two (51.

Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct: Evidence from a large-scale network analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples.

Aims: Negative and positive urgency are emotion-related impulsivity traits that are thought to be transdiagnostic factors in psychopathology. However, it has recently been claimed that these two traits are closely related to each other and that considering them separately might have limited conceptual and methodological value. The present study aimed to examine whether positive and negative urgency constructs constitute separate impulsivity traits.

How to project oneself without positive and integrated memories? Exploration of self-defining memories and future projections in bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a disabling disorder with functional impact on everyday life. Recent studies suggest that autobiographical memory impairment may contribute to the maintenance of psychopathology, leading to enduring altered self-construct. Moreover, past personal experiences also support the ability to project oneself into the future to pre-experience an event, this capacity can be modified by psychiatric disorders.

Characteristics of Self-Defining Memories in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Self-Defining Memories (SDMs) are a specific type of autobiographical memory, which play a key role in the construction of personal identity. ; Objective: We investigated the characteristics of SDMs in elderly subjects. The originality of the present study is to compare our elderly group to middle-aged subjects instead of young adults, as previously reported in the literature, to understand the age-related modifications in SDMs.

A Mixed-Method Study on Strategies in Everyday Personal Goals among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Introduction: Although it is well known that preference for selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) strategies is associated with indicators of successful aging and well-being, very little is known about what predicts the use of SOC as goal management strategies in the daily lives of older adults. The present study investigates predictors of self-reported use of SOC strategies in community-dwelling adults. We expected selection and especially compensation to be higher in individuals with worse subjective health and cognitive performance.

Self-defining memories after severe traumatic brain injury: A preliminary study.

Autobiographical memory plays a major role in the (re)construction of sense of identity, a recurrent issue after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Although the recall of specific autobiographical events is frequently impaired in patients with TBI, little is known about how these changes affect their sense of self and identity. Thus, we examined self-defining memories (SDMs), that is, the most significant personal memories supporting one's sense of identity, in 16 patients with severe TBI and in matched controls.

Classification of postoperative behavior disturbances in preschool children: A qualitative study.

Background/aim: Negative postoperative changes in children are frequent and have been described for decades. However, there is currently no theoretical framework, nor any consensual operational criteria for identifying them. This study aims at characterizing the many dimensions involved in postoperative behavioral disturbances in early childhood, using a qualitative analysis applied for the first time to these symptoms.

Too Imperfect to Fall Asleep: Perfectionism, Pre-sleep Counterfactual Processing, and Insomnia.

Previous research suggests that certain dimensions of perfectionism are associated with insomnia. However, the exact processes whereby perfectionism may influence sleep have as yet remained unexplored. The present study tested the hypothesis that perfectionistic individuals are particularly prone to engage in counterfactual thinking and to experience counterfactual emotions (regret, shame, and guilt) at bedtime, which have been shown to impair sleep.

A direct examination of the cognitive underpinnings of multitasking abilities: A first study examining schizophrenia.

Many real world activities are complex and require multitasking abilities. However, the nature of these abilities remains poorly understood, and in particular in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to provide a better understanding of such abilities with the help of a newly developed computerized tool, the Computerized Meeting Preparation Task (CMPT).

Intraindividual Variability in Inhibition and Prospective Memory in Healthy Older Adults: Insights from Response Regularity and Rapidity.

Successful prospective memory (PM) performance relies on executive functions, including inhibition. However, PM and inhibition are usually assessed in separate tasks, and analytically the focus is either on group differences or at most on interindividual differences. Conjoint measures of PM and inhibition performance that take into account intraindividual variability (IIV) are thus missing.

Self-appraisals and episodic memory: Different psychological factors related to patient versus informant reports of apathy in severe traumatic brain injury.

Introduction: Apathy is a core feature in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The psychological processes underlying apathy are still unclear, and the few studies conducted on this subject have essentially focused on cognitive processes and informant reports of apathetic manifestations. The aims of the present study were to examine self-reports versus informant reports of diminished initiative/interest, as well as their relationship with different cognitive factors (attention/executive mechanisms, episodic memory, and multitasking) and personal identity factors (self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs).

Longitudinal Course and Predictors of Apathetic Symptoms after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objectives: Apathy is one of the most common behavioral symptoms encountered after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, very little is known about the longitudinal course and predictors of apathetic manifestations. The aims of the present study were to examine how apathy changes and the predictive value of cognitive factors (memory, attention/executive mechanisms, and multitasking) and personal identity factors (self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs) for apathy over a period of 10 months.

Patterns of source monitoring bias in incarcerated youths with and without conduct problems.

Introduction: Antisocial individuals present behaviours that violate the social norms and the rights of others. In the present study, we examine whether biases in monitoring the self-generated cognitive material might be linked to antisocial manifestations during adolescence. We further examine the association with psychopathic traits and conduct problems (CPs).

Temporal compression in episodic memory for real-life events.

Remembering an event typically takes less time than experiencing it, suggesting that episodic memory represents past experience in a temporally compressed way. Little is known, however, about how the continuous flow of real-life events is summarised in memory. Here we investigated the nature and determinants of temporal compression by directly comparing memory contents with the objective timing of events as measured by a wearable camera.

Procrastination as a Self-Regulation Failure: The Role of Impulsivity and Intrusive Thoughts.

Procrastination has been described as the quintessence of self-regulatory failure. This study examines the relationships between this self-regulatory failure and other manifestations of self-regulation problems, namely impulsivity and intrusive thoughts. One hundred and forty-one participants completed questionnaires assessing procrastination, impulsivity (in particular, the urgency and lack of perseverance dimensions), and intrusive thoughts (i.

Intensity and memory characteristics of near-death experiences.

Memories of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) seem to be very detailed and stable over time. At present, there is still no satisfactory explanation for the NDEs' rich phenomenology. Here we compared phenomenological characteristics of NDE memories with the reported experience's intensity.

Reduced specificity and enhanced subjective experience of future thinking in ageing: the influence of avoidance and emotion-regulation strategies.

Future thinking in older adults is characterised by a lack of specificity of imagined events and by an equal or even higher subjective experience, compared to younger adults. We considered whether this lack of specificity stemmed partly from the avoidance of a somewhat disturbing future and then examined the extent to which certain types of emotion-regulation strategies, namely positive reappraisal and positive refocusing, contributed to the subjective experience of future thinking. Middle-aged and older adults completed an adapted version of the AMT, in which temporal distance and cue word valence were manipulated, thus resulting in future conditions assumed to represent varying degrees of discomfort.

A multifactorial and integrative approach to impulsivity in neuropsychology: insights from the UPPS model of impulsivity.

Risky and excessive behaviors, such as aggressive and compulsive behaviors, are frequently described in patients with brain damage and have dramatic psychosocial consequences. Although there is strong evidence that impulsivity constitutes a key factor at play in these behaviors, the literature about impulsivity in neuropsychology is to date scarce. In addition, examining and understanding these problematic behaviors requires the assumption that impulsivity is a multidimensional construct.

Personality traits are associated with the valence of future imagined events in individuals with schizophrenia.

The relationships between the valence (positive or negative) of future imagined events and personality dimensions were examined in patients with schizophrenia. Correlational analyses showed that Extraversion was positively associated with the simulation of more positive future events whereas a statistical trend between Neuroticism and negative emotional valence was found. As in nonclinical individuals, personality is related to characteristics of mental time travel in schizophrenia patients.

Reducing anger outbursts after a severe TBI: a single-case study.

Anger outbursts constitute a frequent behavioural issue after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and have a strong negative impact on the social outcomes resulting from the TBI. However, few studies have examined the efficacy of specific intervention strategies to reduce the frequency and intensity of anger outbursts. We therefore performed a single-case study on this topic by administering two successive and complementary psychological interventions with an AB design with maintenance (first intervention) and an AC design with maintenance plus a one-month follow-up (second intervention) to a patient with a severe TBI.

Can an external device create and trigger intention in a patient with a severe brain injury?

Goal-directed behaviour (GDB), the capacity that allows us to control our environment according to our desires and needs, requires different stages from initial intention to goal achievement. Although GDB is frequently disrupted after acquired brain injury, few studies have addressed the remediation of reduced GDB in patients with severe brain injury. The present study aimed to raise this question in RZ, a patient with severe brain injury who presented a serious reduction in GDB related to difficulties in creating an intention from internal determinants and in selecting an action plan, as well as to memory and attentional impairments.

Self-defining memories in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients.

Patients with alcohol dependence have been shown to be impaired in recalling specific autobiographical events, yet little is known on how changes in the memory of these events may impact their self-representation. In this study, we examined Self-Defining Memories (SDMs), a specific type of autobiographical memory that plays a key role in the construction of personal identity, in 25 patients with alcohol dependence, abstinent from alcohol from 10 days to 6 months, compared to 28 control subjects. We observed that SDMs in patients were significantly less specific and included more reference to alcohol than those of controls.

Time course of attentional biases toward body shapes: The impact of body dissatisfaction.

Using a dot-probe discrimination task and a between-subjects design, we examined the time course of attentional biases (facilitated attention, delayed disengagement, and avoidance) toward thin versus fat bodies and explored the influence of body dissatisfaction (BD) on attention allocation among a sample of 163 women from the general population. Three stimulus presentation times were used: 100ms, 500ms, and 1500ms. We also used neutral body-shape-related stimuli as neutral stimuli related to the concept of interest to overcome the limitations of previous studies.