An accumulation of negative life events and the construction of alexithymia: a longitudinal and clinical approach.

We began the study with a theoretical comparison of the concepts of alexithymia and operative thought in terms of etiology as well as with a specific approach to comparing the concepts using the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Rorschach, 1921) with both Exner's (1986) Comprehensive System and the Parisian School (Chabert, 1983, 1987; Rausch de Traubenburg, 2000) methods of coding and interpretation. We then present a longitudinal clinical study of a woman suffering perinatal depression starting at 8 months gestation until 34 months postpartum. The case shows how an accumulation of stressful and traumatic life events in the early perinatal period generates a reactive, structured alexithymia.

Psychometric properties of the French version of the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire for adults and the elderly.

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a French version of the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ) (Troyer and Rich, 2002). The MMQ, which is suited to clinical and research purposes, evaluates subjective memory functioning (i.e.

Comparison of the development of formal thought in adolescent cohorts aged 10 to 15 years (1967-1996 and 1972-1993).

Five standard Piagetian tests were administered to 180 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15 years. The results were compared with those obtained in 1967 and in 1972 for similar participant samples. At equal ages, today's adolescents exhibited a higher level of cognitive development than the adolescents of 20 or 30 years ago.