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The purpose of this study was to assess the factor structure and the measurement invariance of the Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS) across 10 countries based on the seven-factor coparenting model (i.e., Coparenting Agreement, Coparenting Closeness, Exposure to Conflict, Coparenting Support, Endorsement of Partner's Parenting; Division of Labor) proposed by Feinberg (2003). The results of research on coparenting from numerous countries have documented its foundational importance for parent mental health, family relationship quality, child development, and psychopathology. Yet, a cross-country perspective is still lacking. Such a perspective can provide insight into which dimensions of coparenting are universally recognized and which are especially prone to variation. A unique multinational data set, comprised of 15 individual studies collected across 10 countries (Belgium, Brazil, China, Israel, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, USA) in nine languages was established ( N = 9,292; 51.1% mothers). Measurement invariance analyses were conducted. A six-factor structure (original seven factors minus Division of Labor) of the measure was consistent across the different contexts and measurement invariance was achieved at the configural level. There was no support for metric or scalar invariance. These findings provide a basis for the CRS to be used across countries and should inspire future quantitative and qualitative research in cross-country coparenting research to understand what aspects are universal and what aspects of coparenting are linked to specific material, relational, or ideational conditions that underlie high-quality coparenting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Purpose: The prevalence of parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children, varies dramatically across countries and is highest in Western countries characterized by high individualism., Method: In this study, we examined the mediators of the relationship between individualism measured at the country level and parental burnout measured at the individual level in 36 countries (16,059 parents)., Results: The results revealed three mediating mechanisms, that is, self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, high agency and self-directed socialization goals, and low parental task sharing, by which individualism leads to an increased risk of burnout among parents., Conclusion: The results confirm that the three mediators under consideration are all involved, and that mediation was higher for self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, then parental task sharing, and lastly self-directed socialization goals. The results provide some important indications of how to prevent parental burnout at the societal level in Western countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Colostomized colorectal cancer survivors present physical, psychological, and social difficulties after treatment, which complicate their return to normal life. Nevertheless, we lack insight into their lived transition experience after treatment in Switzerland. We led nine semi-structured interviews with participants who had a colostomy for a mean of 16.4 years. The participants' mean age was 73.1 years. Through an inductive thematic analysis, we highlighted several adaptation difficulties. Their body image was poor, and they behaved differently than before the surgery. For fear of being rejected, they concealed their colostomy. However, they felt isolated and often wished for more support. They may be in a vicious circle where their difficulties are maintained. We advocate that supporting survivors psychologically beyond the end of their treatment is essential to facilitate adjustment and overcome cancer., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective. Both parents may report high levels of stress during the perinatal period with possible negative consequences for parental well-being and child development. Parental sense of efficacy moderates the effect of stress. To date, no studies have assessed links between parental stress and mother-father-infant interactions in terms of family alliance and the extent to which each parent's sense of efficacy moderates these links. Design. In this study, 65 dual-parent families answered a questionnaire about parental stress between 36 and 38 weeks of pregnancy and at 3 months after birth. Families were also observed while playing with their 3-month-old infant in the Lausanne Trilogue Play, and they completed a questionnaire about parental efficacy. Results. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that higher maternal or paternal postnatal stress has a direct link with higher family alliance and the links between stress and family alliance are moderated by complex interaction effects between maternal and paternal senses of efficacy. Conclusions. This study shows the necessity of considering the interaction between the senses of self-efficacy of both parents as moderators of parenting stress., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.)

Introduction: Studies have shown that infants' emotion regulation capacities are closely linked to the quality of parent-infant interactions. However, these links have been mostly studied in mother-infant dyads and less is known about how the quality of father-infant interactions contributes to the development of emotion regulation during infancy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the links between interactive synchrony (i.e., an index of the quality of parent-infant coordination of interactive behaviors) and infants' vagal tone (i.e., a physiological index of emotion regulation). To understand the respective contributions of both parents, as well as the interrelations between the functioning of both dyads within a family, we observed mothers and fathers from 84 families interacting with their infants., Methods: Synchrony was assessed by using the CARE-Index; infants' vagal tone was derived from the analysis of infants' electrocardiograms recorded during the interactions. Moreover, to take the play's order into account, we counterbalanced the procedure, so that approximately half of the mothers played first. We specified a first structural equation modeling (SEM) model to investigate the associations between interactive synchrony and the infants' root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), an index of vagal regulation, in the two successive parts of the play. We conducted a multigroup analysis in a second SEM model to investigate the associations of the first SEM model in two groups based on the order of interaction., Results: The results of the SEM models showed that greater synchrony was related to greater infant RMSSD within mother-infant dyads and across one dyad to the other dyad in the full sample and in the group of fathers who interacted first with the infants. The associations between synchrony and infant vagal tone within father-infant dyads never appeared to be significant, nor did any associations within each dyad and across dyads when mothers interacted first., Discussion: This study highlights that the links between interactions and infants' vagal tone are sensitive to family members' interdependencies and some conditions (the order of interaction)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Puglisi, Favez, Rattaz, Epiney, Razurel and Tissot.)

A mixed-methods study was conducted to investigate sexual function among infertile patients undergoing medically assisted procreation for the first time. The study employed an interview and content analysis approach, involving 45 infertile patients prior to their medically assisted procreation procedures. The findings revealed that infertile patients are a group at risk for sexual distress. Furthermore, patients with sexual dysfunctions exhibited lower levels of sexual activity, potentially diminishing their chances of achieving pregnancy. Participants faced challenges in openly discussing their sexual problems and demonstrated limited knowledge of sexual functioning. Among infertile women with sexual dysfunctions, the most frequently reported issues were sexual interest/arousal disorders, with a majority also experiencing pain during sexual activity and associated genital-pelvic pain disorders. In contrast, delayed ejaculation and erectile disorder seem to be more common in infertile men, while sexual desire and excitement disorders and premature ejaculation disorders appeared to be as common as in the general population. While the relationship between infertility and sexuality is complex, our study suggests that sexual dysfunctions or the absence of sexual activity may explain infertility. Therefore, it is imperative for clinicians to evaluate the sexual functioning of both men and women undergoing medically assisted procreation treatment, to increase their chances of procreation and offer them sexological support if needed. Future studies should expand their scope to include a larger sample size and delve into the potential etiological factors associated with sexual dysfunctions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we investigated the influence of parental sensitivity and family alliance on infants' vagal tone, considered as a physiological indicator of emotion regulation. Studies on mother-infant interactions have shown that vagal tone can be influenced by the quality of the interaction, such as interacting with a sensitive mother. To date, no study has investigated the influence of paternal sensitivity or family alliance on infants' vagal tone. We hypothesized that maternal sensitivity, paternal sensitivity, and family alliance would be associated with infants' vagal tone during dyadic and triadic interactions. We also explored if family alliance would act as a moderator on the association between parental sensitivity and vagal tone and if the sensitivity of both parents would act as a moderator on the association between family alliance and vagal tone. This study took place in Switzerland and included 82 families with their 3-4-month-old infants. Results showed that maternal sensitivity and family alliance were associated with infants' vagal tone, but paternal sensitivity was not. We found no significant moderation effect. However, result tendencies suggested that the contribution of paternal sensitivity to infants' emotion regulation could be influenced by family alliance, whereas maternal sensitivity and family alliance have a unique contribution., (© 2023 The Authors. Infant Mental Health Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.)

Parental burnout (PB) is a chronic stress-related condition resulting from long-lasting exposure to overwhelming parenting stress. Previous studies showing the seriousness of this condition stressed the urgent need to provide researchers and practitioners with effective assessment tools. Validated PB measures are the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) and the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). The good psychometric properties of these instruments have been replicated across different samples and countries, but thresholds for identifying impairing PB levels (i.e., cutoff scores) have not yet been established. The present study aims to fill this gap by adopting a multi-informant and multimethod approach to a sample of 192 burned-out and control parents. PBI and PBA cutoffs were derived from the combination of several PB indicators, based on a preregistered analysis strategy. Results identified a score of 74.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = [69.48-79.68]) for the PBI and 86.3 (95% CI = [79.49-93.03]) for the PBA as indicators of the most severe PB levels.

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Integrative Brief Systemic Intervention (IBSI), combining therapeutic work on marital and coparenting relationships with brief systemic therapy (BST-as-usual) for parent couples. Couples were randomly assigned to the IBSI (n = 51) or BST (n = 50). Both treatments were six-session interventions and lasted about 6 months. Questionnaires on individual, marital, coparenting and family-related functioning were completed before and after therapy, and at 6-month follow-up. A significant improvement in all areas of functioning was observed after treatment and maintained at follow-up for both IBSI and BST-as-usual treatments. No significant differences in outcomes were found between the treatments. Additionally, women reported more distress overall than men, and this distress was reduced more significantly after therapy. Last, BST-as-usual couples requested more additional sessions compared to IBSI couples. This study extends the literature on couple therapy with parents., (© 2022 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

Parental burnout refers to loss of energy and pleasure in the parental role. It is predictive of psychopathological outcomes in parents and dysfunctional parenting behaviors. Support of parental duties is central to alleviation of parental burden and prevention of burnout. Coparenting is the concept related to interparental mutual support in rearing a child. However, the links between coparenting and parental burnout have yet to be assessed. We thus aimed in this study to assess which dimensions of coparenting are linked with parental burnout. A total of 306 participants from the French-speaking part of Switzerland (120 fathers, 186 mothers) completed online questionnaires about parental burnout, their coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. We performed hierarchical regressions, entering sociodemographic characteristics in a first block and coparenting dimensions in a second block. Results showed that (i) a higher number of children and having younger children are linked to higher burnout; (ii) coparenting exposure to conflict is related to higher burnout, whereas endorsement of the partner's parenting is related to lower burnout; and (iii) no interaction effect occurs between sociodemographic characteristics and coparenting variables. Coparenting thus significantly contributes to the occurrence of burnout syndrome. Working on the coparental relationship preventively in parental educational programs or at a relational systemic level in therapy may help prevent burnout. Treating one parent only may not be sufficient to alleviate burnout, as negative coparenting could counter the effect of individual therapy., (© 2022 The Authors. Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Family Process Institute.)

For some adolescent gamers, playing online games may become problematic, impairing functioning in personal, family, and other life domains. Parental and family factors are known to influence the odds that adolescents may develop problematic gaming (PG), negative parenting and conflictual family dynamics increasing the risk, whereas positive parenting and developmentally supportive family dynamics protecting against PG. This suggests that a treatment for adolescent PG should not only address the gaming behaviors and personal characteristics of the youth, but also the parental and family domains. An established research-supported treatment meeting these requirements is multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), which we adapted for use as adolescent PG treatment. We report here on one adaptation, applying in-session gaming. In-session demonstration of the "problem behavior" is feasible and informative in PG. In the opening stage of therapy, we use in-session gaming to establish an alliance between the therapist and the youth. By inviting them to play games, the therapist demonstrates that they are taken seriously, thus boosting treatment motivation. Later in treatment, gaming is introduced in family sessions, offering useful opportunities to intervene in family members' perspectives and interactional patterns revealed in vivo as the youth plays the game. These sessions can trigger strong emotions and reactions from the parents and youth and give rise to maladaptive transactions between the family members, thus offering ways to facilitate new discussions and experiences of each other. The insights gained from the game demonstration sessions aid the therapeutic process, more so than mere discussion about gaming., (© 2022 Family Process Institute.)

In this study, we investigated the physiological regulation of vagal tone during dyadic and triadic parent-infant interactions in infants born before or around the COVID-19 lockdown in Switzerland. We hypothesized that there would be a decrease in vagal tone in triadic interactions compared with dyadic interactions, as triadic interactions are more complex and therefore more resource demanding. However, we expected this difference to be smaller for infants who experienced the period of confinement, as the lockdown led parents to spend more time at home. We also hypothesized that parents would have less stressful interactional events in the triadic interaction because they would be used to interacting with the child together. This study included 36 parents with their 3 month-old infants. Eighteen families met the study authors before the onset of the pandemic (pre-COVID) and 18 met them after its onset, having experienced a period of confinement during the infants' first 3 months of life (COVID). Results showed that the COVID group had no decrease in vagal tone during triadic interactions, whereas the pre-COVID group did. This difference could not, however, be explained by less stressful interactional events in triadic interactions, as the COVID group showed more stressful interactional events in mother-father-infant interactions., (© 2022 The Authors. Infancy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Congress of Infant Studies.)

This article describes the treatment framework and core therapeutic principles of the integrative brief systemic intervention (IBSI), a manualized six-session intervention intended for parents seeking couple therapy. IBSI aims to work on the couple's presenting problem, considering its specific impact in the marital and coparenting domains. The basic premise of IBSI is to consider that, when working with couples who have children, therapeutic work on their coparenting alliance may be used as a lever, as both parents may be particularly motivated to improve their relationship for their children's benefit. Increasing the coparenting alliance may then facilitate work on deeper conflicts within the marital relationship. The core therapeutic principles of IBSI are: (1) joining with the couple as romantic partners and a coparenting team from the start of the therapeutic process; (2) supporting the parents in increasing their awareness regarding their children's behavior and emotional experiences when facing their parents' conflicts; and (3) working on the spill- and cross-over effects between marital and coparenting relationships (i.e., exploring how conflict or positivity spills over from one relationship to the other or crosses over from one partner to the other). Therapeutic work following these main therapeutic principles is expected to improve the quality of both relationships. A clinical case is provided to illustrate the core therapeutic principles of IBSI., (© 2022 The Authors. Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Family Process Institute.)

Context: Colon cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in the world. The diagnosis leads the patient and his relatives into a process of mourning for their health and previous life. The literature highlights the impact of the disease on couples. Cancer can either alter or strengthen the relationship. The disease will directly or indirectly affect both partners. Such impact starts with the diagnosis and lasts long after treatments. No study has analyzed both emotional and sexual interactions between partners throughout the illness so far., Objective: This research aims to identify and describe whether congruence within couples tends to improve emotional and sexual adjustment., Method: Thirteen couples took part in this research by answering a set of questionnaires investigating, in particular, dyadic coping strategies, marital and sexual satisfaction. Non-parametric analyses were performed on the quantitative data., Results: Emotional satisfaction is good among the couples in our study. There are important similarities in partners' emotional adjustment. Patients who are most satisfied with their couple typically have a partner who is also satisfied. This was an expected result based on the literature. Overall, sexual satisfaction is described as average, which is either related to a low frequency of sexual intercourse, or a gap between the ideal and actual frequency of intercourse. In terms of dyadic coping, similarities within couples tend to improve emotional and sexual adjustment. Couples in which communication about stress between the patient and their partner is congruent tend to report good marital satisfaction. We found the same results for delegated coping of both the patient and the partner, and for negative coping of the partner. Sexual adjustment is linked to a similar perception within the couple of a common dyadic coping., Conclusion: Emotional and sexual adjustment is largely linked to the quality of the partner's support. The congruence of couple support strategies has been identified as an important factor in emotional satisfaction. In addition, the more couples implement joint stress management, the better their sexual satisfaction., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Stulz, Favez and Flahault.)

Emotional regulation in early infancy develops mainly through social interactions with caregivers and is a key process in socioemotional functioning. The use of physiological measures such as vagal tone and cortisol can help researchers understand what underlies this association between parent-infant interaction, emotion regulation, and socioemotional functioning. This review integrates 39 studies from four databases. We first examine associations between parent-infant interactions and physiological measures of emotion regulation in children aged 0-24 months. We then examine the association between these physiological measures and children's socioemotional outcomes. The results provide insights into which aspects of parent-infant interactions are associated with the physiological functioning of infants and which socioemotional outcomes in infants may be influenced by this functioning., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Despite successful functional neurosurgery, patients suffering from epilepsy or Parkinson's disease may experience postoperative psychological distress and social maladjustments. Difficulties in coping with postoperative changes, even positive ones, have shown to be related to patients' presurgery cognitive representations (i.e., expectations, hope). The aim of this study was to develop an instrument assessing various key features of surgery outcomes' representations, namely the Preoperative Hope and Expectations Questionnaire (PHEQ)., Methods: Participants were patients (n = 50) diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (n = 25) or epilepsy (n = 25), candidates for functional neurosurgery (i.e., Deep brain stimulation, anterior temporal lobectomy). Two to three weeks before the planned surgery, they were administrated items assessing their actual state, preoperative expectations, and hope regarding surgery outcomes. They also completed measures assessing optimism, quality of life and mood., Results: Exploratory analysis resulted in a 14-item version of the PHEQ composed of two factors (abstract representations, including psychological well-being and concrete representations, such as direct surgery outcomes). The PHEQ demonstrated high internal consistency and good convergent validity. Patients were more prone to express postoperative improvements in terms of hope rather than expectations. They generally focused on concrete rather than abstract features, although patients with Parkinson's disease had higher abstract future-oriented representations., Conclusions: The PHEQ presents satisfactory psychometric properties and may be considered as a reliable instrument for research and clinical practice., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Role distribution is a central issue for parents in the transition to parenthood, but little is known about the motivations in fathers to assume a specific role. Differences in work-family balance in each parent may be motivated by an individual choice mutually shared by both partners; however, in many couples, the parents may feel forced to adopt a traditional role distribution, either for financial reasons, or to comply with social expectations about what men and women should do when they are parents. This feeling of being socially constrained to adopt a role distribution that is not congruent with intrinsic motivations can generate dissatisfaction and may jeopardize the development of the interparental relationship. Coparenting refers to the emotional and instrumental support parents bring to each other in their parental tasks. It has been shown to be central in family functioning and a powerful predictor of children's emotional and cognitive development. In this study, we aimed to assess the extent to which different motivations for role distribution in fathers are predictive of the quality of the coparental relationship. A convenience sample of 144 fathers from the French-speaking part of Switzerland completed online questionnaires about their motivations, coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results showed that the reasons for role distribution were mainly economical, practical, and in order to meet personal expectations. Multivariate general linear modeling showed that role distribution that is constrained to meet social expectations and age were predictive of a less cohesive coparental relationship, whereas a deliberate choice in role distribution was linked to a more cohesive coparental relationship., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Favez, Max, Bader and Tissot.)

Although poor sleep has been found to correlate with deteriorations in romantic relationships, its causal impact on interpersonal conflict has not previously been studied. Therefore, 30 couples were randomly assigned to either a single night of total sleep deprivation or a night of normal sleep to test the effects of sleep deprivation on couples' conflict. After the experimental night, all participants discussed a topic of recurrent conflict for 15 min. We collected pre- and post-conflict measures of cortisol, self-reports of feelings, and satisfaction with the conflictual discussion. Multilevel analyses revealed higher cortisol levels during conflict and less positive affect prior to and after the conflict for sleep-deprived couples compared to couples in the control condition. These findings provide initial evidence for a causal negative impact of sleep deprivation on couples' conflicts., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-021-00076-4., Competing Interests: Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Background and Aims: Social variables including parental and family factors may serve as risk factors for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in adolescents. An IGD treatment programme should address these factors. We assessed two family therapies - multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) and family therapy as usual (FTAU) - on their impact on the prevalence of IGD and IGD symptoms., Methods: Eligible for this randomised controlled trial comparing MDFT (N = 12) with FTAU (N = 30) were adolescents of 12-19 years old meeting at least 5 of the 9 DSM-5 IGD criteria and with at least one parent willing to participate in the study. The youths were recruited from the Centre Phénix-Mail, which offers outpatient adolescent addiction care in Geneva. Assessments occurred at baseline and 6 and 12 months., Results: Both family therapies decreased the prevalence of IGD across the one-year period. Both therapies also lowered the number of IGD criteria met, with MDFT outperforming FTAU. There was no effect on the amount of time spent on gaming. At baseline, parents judged their child's gaming problems to be important whereas the adolescents thought these problems were minimal. This discrepancy in judgment diminished across the study period as parents became milder in rating problem severity. MDFT better retained families in treatment than FTAU., Discussion and Conclusions: Family therapy, especially MDFT, was effective in treating adolescent IGD. Improvements in family relationships may contribute to the treatment success. Our findings are promising but need to be replicated in larger study., Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN 11142726.

Objectives: Estimates of depression prevalence in pregnancy and postpartum are based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) more than on any other method. We aimed to determine if any EPDS cutoff can accurately and consistently estimate depression prevalence in individual studies., Methods: We analyzed datasets that compared EPDS scores to Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID) major depression status. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to compare prevalence with EPDS cutoffs versus the SCID., Results: Seven thousand three hundred and fifteen participants (1017 SCID major depression) from 29 primary studies were included. For EPDS cutoffs used to estimate prevalence in recent studies (≥9 to ≥14), pooled prevalence estimates ranged from 27.8% (95% CI: 22.0%-34.5%) for EPDS ≥ 9 to 9.0% (95% CI: 6.8%-11.9%) for EPDS ≥ 14; pooled SCID major depression prevalence was 9.0% (95% CI: 6.5%-12.3%). EPDS ≥14 provided pooled prevalence closest to SCID-based prevalence but differed from SCID prevalence in individual studies by a mean absolute difference of 5.1% (95% prediction interval: -13.7%, 12.3%)., Conclusion: EPDS ≥14 approximated SCID-based prevalence overall, but considerable heterogeneity in individual studies is a barrier to using it for prevalence estimation., (© 2020 The Authors. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Little is known about the variables explaining individual variability in the long-term adaptation of breast cancer survivors. Attachment tendencies have, however, been shown to explain negative psychological outcomes in the postsurgical period. The present study aimed to assess the continuing influence of attachment tendencies in the survivorship period. A sample of 28 women were surveyed 2 weeks, 3 months, 12 months, and 5 to 7 years after surgery. Attachment tendencies and psychological outcomes (distress, body image, sexuality) were assessed through questionnaires, and medical and sociodemographic data collected. Results show that insecure attachment tendencies predict negative body image and elevated distress., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout , a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children . It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; M age = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-020-00028-4., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing financial interests or funding source that could have influenced the data collection, analysis, or conclusions. M.M. and I.R. have now founded a training institute (name currently masked for blind review) which delivers training on parental burnout to professionals. The institute did not participate in the funding of this study nor did it influence the process, the results, or their interpretation in any manner., (© The Society for Affective Science 2021.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess, across the first year after surgery, the influence of attachment insecurity, that is, avoidant and anxious tendencies, on body image, sexual activity, and side effects of treatments in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Design: A total of 110 women with non-metastatic breast cancer were surveyed 2 weeks (T1), 3 months (T2), and 12 months (T3) after surgery. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were used to assess attachment tendencies (avoidance and anxiety), medical data (cancer stage, oncological treatment), sociodemographic data (age, socioeconomic level, relational status), and the three outcomes. Results: Generalized linear modeling showed that (1) having more avoidant and anxious attachment tendencies predicted a more negative body image, as did being younger and having undergone a mastectomy; (2) having more avoidant attachment tendencies predicted being sexually inactive, as did having undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy or adjuvant hormonal therapy, whereas being younger and in a committed relationship predicted being sexually active; and (3) attachment tendencies did not predict the intensity of side effects, whereas a higher cancer stage and being at the beginning of treatment predicted more side effects. Conclusions: Women with avoidant and anxious attachment tendencies may be especially vulnerable to the consequences of oncological treatment, in particular regarding body image and sexual activity.

This study explored the change that unfolded when parents resolved their coparenting dissatisfaction during an Integrative Brief Systemic Intervention (IBSI) for parent couples. We conducted a task analysis (Greenberg, 2007) to build a model of resolving coparenting dissatisfaction. We compared a postulated model of change (rational model) based on theoretical and clinical assumptions to the observations of the actual change process that couples experienced in an IBSI (empirical analysis). The empirical analysis was conducted on six IBSI therapy cases (three exhibiting positive development and three exhibiting no development). We defined positive development in IBSI as moving from coparenting dissatisfaction to coparenting satisfaction. The final rational-empirical model included six steps that facilitated the resolution of coparenting dissatisfaction. This study contributes to deepening the knowledge of how coparenting may change during marital therapy., (© 2020 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

Objective: Despite the impact that diagnosis and treatment can have on patients' sexual health, very little research has been conducted on the impact of colon cancer on sexual health. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in colon cancer and describe the sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological correlates of sexual dysfunction., Methods: Four electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, AcademicSearchPremier, Cochrane Library) were searched for studies reporting sexual adjustment outcomes for colorectal cancer patients from January 1990 to July 2019., Results: Of the 380 articles screened, 14 were included in this review. Sexual function is affected by colon cancer: patients' sexual satisfaction decreases significantly, as does the frequency of sexual intercourse. There is an increase in sexual problems (desire, excitement, or pleasure disorders). Male gender, advanced age, distress, and the comorbidities increase sexual disorders. In addition, it appears that partner distress negatively affects patients' sexual health. Taking such difficulties into account appears key for these patients and their partners. They could benefit from better care throughout treatment and in remission., Conclusion: The results of this systematic review highlight the importance of taking an interest in the sexual health of patients with colon cancer., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The aim of this study was to assess the links between partners' and women's expressed emotion with the distress of one another during the first year after surgery for breast cancer in women. The design was longitudinal. A sample of 61 couples participated in the study at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 12 months after the surgery. Expressed emotion was assessed with the Five-Minute Speech Sample. Psychological distress was assessed with a self-reported questionnaire. Mixed-model analyses showed that partners' expressed emotion is associated with heightened psychological distress in women during the first year after surgery, even after medical data were controlled for.

There is a debate on possible alterations of self-identity following deep brain stimulation for neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease. Among the psychological variables likely to undergo changes throughout such a medical procedure, illness representations and coping strategies have not been the target of much research to this day. In order to remedy this, we investigated the dynamics of illness representations and coping strategies in an 18-month longitudinal study involving 45 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation for idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Two research hypotheses were formulated and investigated through repeated measures of ANOVAs and structural equation modelling with full information maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimations. Representations of Parkinson's disease as a cyclical condition and perception of control over the disease diminished after surgery. Use of instrumental coping strategies was not modified after deep brain stimulation. These changes were identified by SEM but not ANOVAs; their magnitude was nevertheless relatively small, implying general stability in representations. These findings suggest that psychological variables do not undergo major changes after deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.

Background: Family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease are the most important support in concrete personal and economic terms. Family dynamics play a fundamental role in the provision of informal caregiving benefits., Objective: This review aims to identify factors related to the family caregiving of relatives with Alzheimer's disease, taking specifically into account the construct of coping and expressed emotion., Methods: This is a systematic review including articles selected using search terms including "caregivers," "Alzheimer's," "family," and "relationship" in research databases. Findings were synthesized and categorized into themes., Results: A total of 454 abstracts were identified. Following screening, lateral searches, and quality appraisal, 36 studies were included for synthesis. A total of 5 themes were identified: burden; demographics; coping strategies; caregiver mental health; and family dynamics and expressed emotions., Conclusion: The quality and level of evidence supporting each theme varied. We need further research into family dynamics ameliorating the caregiving and how to measure it.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) may benefit from deep brain stimulation (DBS) to improve motor and medication-induced symptoms. Yet mixed evidence regarding the outcome of successful DBS on couple satisfaction has been highlighted in the literature. Thirty patients diagnosed with PD were included in a study investigating couple satisfaction (MSS-14), depression (HAD-D) and anxiety (HAD-A) at four measurement times: before DBS and 6, 12, and 18 months post-surgically. Sixteen spouses/partners were included as well. Couple satisfaction from the patient perspective was never associated with depression or anxiety. However, poor marital adjustment (i.e., difference and absolute difference between patients and spouses/partners MSS-14 scores) predicted patients' pre-operative depressive mood. Longitudinal analyses showed that couple satisfaction (n = 9) worsened at 12 months and 18 months compared to pre-DBS scores, F(2.047, 16.378) = 8.723, p = .003, and despite concomitant motor improvement. Growth curve analyses showed that couple satisfaction worsening occurred between 6 and 12 months post-operatively (b = 2.938, p < .001). Thus, couple satisfaction did not increase along with motor improvement and deteriorated after the adjustment period following DBS.

Background and Aims: To remedy problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic online gaming (POG) in adolescents, much is expected from efforts by parents to help youths to contain their screen use. Such parental mediation can include (a) refraining from acting, (b) co-viewing or co-gaming with the teen, (c) active mediation, and (d) restrictive mediation. We evaluated if parental mediation practices are linked to PIU and POG in adolescents., Methods: For a systematic literature review, we searched for publications presenting survey data and relating parental mediation practices to levels of PIU and/or POG in adolescents. The review's selection criteria were met by 18 PIU and 9 POG publications, reporting on 81.002 and 12.915 adolescents, respectively. We extracted data on gaming problems, mediation interventions, study design features, and sample characteristics., Results: No type of parental mediation was consistently associated with lower or elevated problematic screen use rates in the adolescents. Refraining from parental mediation tended to aggravate screen use problems, whereas active mediation (talking to the teen) may mitigate such problems in PIU, but less clearly in POG. The link of restrictive mediation with problematic screen use varied from positive to negative, possibly depending on type of restriction. In both PIU and POG, family cohesion was related to lower rates of the problem behavior concerned and family conflict to higher rates., Discussion and Conclusions: Parental mediation practices may affect problematic screen use rates for better or worse. However, research of higher quality, including observations of parent-teen interactions, is needed to confirm the trends noted and advance the critical issue of the possible association between PIU, POG, and family interactions.

Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) can be understood as a we-disease, which affects a couple as a unit and requires coping as a unit (eg, common dyadic coping, CDC). However, partners can be incongruent in their perceptions of CDC, for example, because of misunderstandings and lack of mutuality or conflict, which may likely be associated with greater distress. Thus, this paper examines the effect of CDC congruence on individual psychological distress in cancer patients and their partners., Methods: Seventy mixed-sex couples in which the woman had nonmetastatic BC completed self-report questionnaires at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 1 year after cancer surgery. CDC congruence measured the difference between patients' and partners' CDC perceptions while controlling for CDC itself., Results: Multilevel modeling showed negative associations between couples' CDC and psychological distress. Beyond this effect, female patients' psychological distress was associated with CDC congruence with an interaction showing that psychological distress was greater when couples were congruent with low rather than a high CDC., Conclusion: Less congruence was associated with greater psychological distress in BC patients but not their male partners - especially if the couple reported low CDC. Health professionals should identify and address diverging perceptions, so that additional distress can be minimized for BC patients., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Coparenting between biological parents is a strong predictor of child adjustment. To date, however, little is known about the coparenting dynamics between parent and stepparent in stepfamilies. This study aimed at exploring the links between coparenting in the mother-stepfather dyad and child behavior in stepfamilies compared with the links between mother-father coparenting and child behavior in first-marriage families. Two modes of coparenting were assessed: overt coparenting, that is, coparental behaviors in the presence of the child, and covert coparenting, that is, the way each parent speaks of the other parent to the child. The sample (N = 80) comprised 48 stepfamilies and 32 first-marriage families with a child between 7 and 13 years old. Overt coparenting was assessed through direct observation in the standardized situation of the PicNic Game. Covert coparenting and child behavior were assessed through mother-reported questionnaires. Results showed (a) more covert coparenting behaviors in first-marriage families, (b) no differences in overt coparenting, (c) more child difficulties reported in stepfamilies, (d) less optimal overt coparenting being linked with more difficulties in children in both family structures, and (e) an interaction effect between family structure and coparenting, showing that overt coparenting is linked with child behavior mainly in stepfamilies., (© 2018 Family Process Institute.)

Over the past 20 years, systemically guided approaches to understanding early family processes have helped to provide greater clarity concerning the interplay among individual, dyadic, and family level processes. Parental depression, marital functioning, and child adjustment in particular appear to be reliable predictors of coparental and family level functioning. Indeed, cohesion at the level of the family group covaries in theoretically meaningful ways with these indicators of individual and dyadic adjustment. In this study, two collaborating research groups (one in Switzerland, the second in the United States) partnered to examine whether similar patterns of relationships exist among individual and marital adjustment and coparenting processes in families of 4-year-old children. Using similar constructs but disparate and occasionally dissimilar measures, both groups measured parent-reported depression, marital satisfaction, and child behavior problems. Coparenting cooperation and warmth were observed during family interactions. Despite differences between samples and evaluation tools, similar results were found for the Swiss and U.S. samples. A model with depression, marital satisfaction, and child symptoms as predictors of a latent factor of observed coparenting cooperation and warmth showed good fit to data in both samples, suggesting the model was relevant for each. Parameter estimation showed that higher coparenting cooperation and warmth was predicted by lower maternal depression and higher child internalizing symptoms. The common significant effects despite differences in assessment paradigms and instrumentation are of substantive interest. Future directions pertinent to the coparenting questions addressed in this research are discussed., (© 2018 Family Process Institute.)

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a well-established treatment that significantly improves the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Patients may nevertheless experience psychosocial maladjustment after surgery, as reported by an increasing body of research. Yet, no comprehensive theoretical approach has been proposed to account for this. Initially conceptualized for postsurgical epilepsy, the burden of normality (BoN) may be viewed as a model that is potentially applicable to psychosocial maladjustment after PD-DBS., Method: We systematically examined the literature to verify this assumption by scrutinizing the 3 theoretical levels of the BoN, specifically, precursory conditions for the applicability of the model, clinical manifestations of psychosocial maladjustment, and 2 mediating variables: expectations and discarding the roles associated with the pretreatment condition., Results: The applicability of the BoN to PD-DBS found support for the first 2 of these 3 levels in 88 scientific articles included in the review. The number of studies that addressed the mediating variables was nevertheless insufficient to draw any definitive conclusion. The degenerative condition of PD further limits the distinction between symptoms pertaining to psychosocial maladjustment and disease progression., Conclusions: Considering psychosocial maladjustment through the lens of the BoN is complementary to the traditional medical perspective of PD-DBS and illuminates the potential contribution of specialists from multiple disciplines in clinical rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

In this study, we investigated sexual outcomes in individuals presenting fearful-avoidant attachment, that is, those who have both high avoidant and anxious attachment tendencies (reluctant to engage in a close relationship and a dire need to be loved by others). A community sample of men and women ( N  = 600; 25-45 years) completed self-reported questionnaires related to attachment, sexuality, and control variables. Results showed that fearful avoidance is predictive of (a) more sexual partners in individuals during their lifetime and (b) greater sexual compliance. These effects were true for women as well as for men.

The quality of family relations, observed during mother-father-infant triadic interactions, has been shown to be an important contributor to child social and affective development, beyond the quality of dyadic mother-child, father-child, and marital relationships. Triadic interactions have been well described in families with 3 month olds and older children using the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP). Little is known about the development of mother-father-baby interactions in the very 1st weeks postpartum, mostly because no specific observational setting or particular instrument had been designed to cover this age yet. To fill this gap, we adapted the LTP to create a new observational setting, namely the Diaper Change Play (DCP). Interactions are assessed using the Family Alliance Assessment Scales for DCP (FAAS-DCP). We present the validation of the DCP and its coding system, the FAAS-DCP. The three validation studies presented here (44 mother-father-child-triads) involve a sample of parents with 3-week-old infants recruited in two maternity wards ( n = 32 and n = 12) in Switzerland. Infants from both sites were all healthy according to their APGAR scores, weight at birth, and scores on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS), which was additionally conducted on the twelve infants recruited in one of the maternity ward. Results showed that the "FAAS - DCP" coding system has good psychometric properties, with a good internal consistency and a satisfying reliability among the three independent raters. Finally, the "FAAS-DCP" scores on the interactive dimensions are comparable to the similar dimensions in the FAAS-LTP. The results showed that there is no statistically significant difference on scores between the "FAAS-DCP" and the "FAAS," which is consistent with previous studies underlying stability in triadic interaction patterns from pregnancy to 18 months. These first results indicated that the DCP is a promising observational setting, able to assess the development of the early family triadic functioning. The DCP and the FAAS-DCP offer to both clinicians and researchers a way to improve the understanding of the establishment of early family functioning as well as to study the young infant's triangular capacity. Perspectives for future research will be discussed.

We examined the evolution of the subjective burden of romantic partners caring for women with non-metastatic breast cancer and investigated the moderating role of couple satisfaction on caring stress. Forty-seven partners filled out questionnaires 3 and 12 months after surgery. Using a stress process model, we examined caring stressors and moderating factors (couple satisfaction, coping and social support) as predictors of subjective burden. Results showed that subjective burden decreases over time and that the couple satisfaction largely explains it above and beyond other influential variables. Partners dissatisfied with their couple relationship are especially vulnerable to the stress of caregiving.

The aim of this paper is to present the family alliance (FA) model, which is designed to conceptualize the relational dynamics in the early family. FA is defined as the coordination a family can reach when fulfilling a task, such as playing a game or having a meal. According to the model, being coordinated as a family depends on four interactive functions: participation (all members are included), organization (members assume differentiated roles), focalization (family shares a common theme of activity), affect sharing (there is empathy between members). The functions are operationalized through the spatiotemporal characteristics of non-verbal interactions: for example, distance between the partners, orientation of their bodies, congruence within body segments, signals of readiness to interact, joint attention, facial expressions. Several standardized observational situations have been designed to assess FA: The Lausanne Trilogue Play (with its different versions), in which mother, father, and baby interact in all possible configurations of a triad, and the PicNic Game for families with several children. Studies in samples of non-referred and referred families (for infant or parental psychopathology) have highlighted different types of FA: disorganized, conflicted, and cooperative. The type of FA in a given family is stable through the first years and is predictive of developmental outcomes in children, such as psychofunctional symptoms, understanding of complex emotions, and Theory of Mind development.

Objective: To examine the protective role of relationship satisfaction on body image in women with breast cancer throughout the first year post-surgery., Methods: Seventy-four Swiss patients engaged in a relationship filled out a questionnaire assessing body image disturbance 2 weeks, 3 months, and 1 year after surgery. A univariate latent change score model was used to analyze the evolution of body image disturbance and the contribution of relationship satisfaction to body image disturbance., Results: Women who were satisfied with their relationship reported less body image disturbance than did dissatisfied women at 2 weeks post-surgery. Being married was also associated with less body image disturbance at that time. The protective effect of these relational variables was still observable 1 year later. Changes in body image disturbance over time were explained by the negative impacts of mastectomy and chemotherapy., Conclusions: How women perceive the impact of breast cancer treatment on their body may be partly determined by the quality of the relational context in which they live., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Although the negative impact of postpartum depression on parenting behaviors has been well established-albeit separately-for mothers and fathers, the respective and joint impact of both parents' mood on family-group interactive behaviors, such as coparenting support and conflict behaviors between the parents, have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the association between parental depressive symptoms and coparenting behaviors in a low-risk sample of families with infants, exploring reciprocity between the variables, as well as gender differences between mothers and fathers regarding these links. At 3 (T1), 9 (T2), and 18 months postpartum (T3), we assessed both parents' depressive symptoms with a self-report questionnaire and observed coparenting support and conflict during triadic mother-father-child interactions. The results revealed that higher maternal depressive symptoms at T1 were associated with lower support at T1 and T2. Conflict at T3 was associated with higher maternal depressive symptoms at T3 and, more surprisingly, with less depressive symptoms in mothers at T2 and fathers at T3. Cross-lagged associations suggested that parental depressive symptoms were more likely to influence coparenting than the reverse. Moreover, maternal depressive symptoms were more likely to be linked to coparenting behaviors than were paternal depressive symptoms. These results confirm that parental-mostly maternal-depressive symptoms, even of mild intensity, may jeopardize the development of healthy family-level relations, which previous research has shown to be crucial for child development., (© 2016 Family Process Institute.)

Objectives: To investigate expressed emotion (EE) in couples facing breast cancer in the immediate post-surgery period. EE may be predictive of psychological disturbances that hinder both partners' capacities to cope with the stress of the disease. Severity of the disease, attachment tendencies, and couple satisfaction were tested as predictors of EE., Design: The design was cross-sectional. Couples (N = 61) were interviewed 2 weeks after the women's breast surgery., Methods: Expressed emotion was assessed in women and in partners with the Five-Minute Speech Sample, with a focus on overt and covert criticisms. Self-reported EE, attachment tendencies, and couple satisfaction were assessed with questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test the predictors and possible interactions between them., Results: Both partners expressed overt and covert criticisms; women expressed more overt criticisms than did their partners. Cancer stage was inversely related to the number of overt criticisms in women and to the number of covert criticisms in partners. Regression analyses showed that in women, higher attachment anxiety and lower couple satisfaction were positive predictors of overt criticisms; in partners, a higher cancer stage was a negative predictor of overt and covert criticisms., Conclusions: Practitioners should pay attention to the couple relationship in breast cancer. EE is most likely to appear when the cancer stage is low, showing that even when the medical prognosis is optimal, relational and emotional disturbances may occur. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The couple relationship is of paramount importance in breast cancer. Expressed emotion (EE) is related to negative individual and relational psychological outcomes in psychiatric and somatic diseases. Expressed emotion has not yet been studied in the context of breast cancer. What does this study add? Expressed emotion is present in breast cancer situations, especially when the cancer stage is low. There was more EE in women than in their partners. Cancer stage, attachment tendencies, and couple satisfaction are predictors of EE., (© 2016 The British Psychological Society.)

Postpartum parental depression, even of mild intensity and short duration, has negative consequences on child development, including increased externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Studies revealed that the links between parental depression and child development are mediated by parenting difficulties. On the other hand, the mediating role of problematic family-level relationships, such as low coparenting support and high conflict between the parents, has rarely been considered, although coparenting difficulties have been linked with both increased depressive symptoms in parents and increased symptoms in toddlers. In the present study, we proposed testing a comprehensive mediation model linking parental depression, coparenting, and child symptoms. At 3 months postpartum, a convenience sample of 69 parental couples completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. In addition, we assessed levels of coparenting support and conflict during a mother-father-infant play situation, the Lausanne Trilogue Play. At 18 months postpartum, both parents assessed child symptoms with the Symptom Checklist Questionnaire. The results showed that coparenting support mediated the links between parental depressive symptoms and child symptoms, but only for mothers: Maternal depressive symptoms were linked with lower coparenting support, which in turn predicted increased psychofunctional symptoms and behavior problems assessed by mothers. Although coparenting conflict behaviors were not predicted by parents' depressive symptoms, higher conflict was unexpectedly linked with fewer behavior problems assessed by both parents. The present study allowed us to unveil complex pathways between mild parental mood disturbances, family-level relationships, and child development in the first months of the child's life.

The aim of this study was to assess, in the immediate postsurgical period, the influence of attachment avoidance and anxiety on distress and body image disturbances in women facing breast cancer. Seventy-five women participated in the study 3 weeks after surgery. Questionnaires were used to assess study variables. To predict distress and body image disturbances, we controlled for several variables known to influence adjustment to the stress of breast cancer. The results of hierarchical regression analyses show that attachment explains the outcomes above and beyond other influential variables. Insecurely attached women are especially vulnerable to the stress of the disease., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

This study explored the role of psychological trait factors in sexual desire and sexual activity. In particular, it investigated how these factors may contribute to maintaining a balance between motivational aspects and self-control abilities, as both have been considered important in relation to adaptive sexuality. Moreover, the study explored the relationship between sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction. Participants completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual activity (with a partner, alone), sexual satisfaction, approach and avoidance motivation, attachment, self-control, sensation seeking, and mindfulness. Cluster analyses, based on participants' level of sexual desire and sexual activity, highlighted three distinct profiles for each gender related to different types of psychological functioning: (a) participants with high dyadic sexual desire and activity were the most sexually satisfied, showed optimal psychological functioning, and were characterized by a balance between motivational tendencies to seek positive rewards and self-control abilities (high approach motivation, secure attachment, high self-control, high mindfulness); (b) participants with high dyadic and solitary sexual desire and activity were moderately satisfied and showed a type of psychological functioning predominantly characterized by impulsivity (an overly high motivation to obtain rewards in women, and low self-control in men); (c) participants with low dyadic sexual desire and activity were the least sexually satisfied and were characterized by high motivation to avoid negative consequences and low self-control (high avoidance motivation, insecure attachment, and poor mindfulness). These results shed further light on how fundamental psychological factors contribute to explain the individual variability in sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction.

The aim of this article is to present a situation of observation designed for the assessment of family interactions: The PicNic Game (PNG). In this situation, families are invited to play at having a picnic together. This can be done with any number of children, aged from a few weeks to adolescence. A companion assessment tool, the Revised-Picnic Assessment Scale (Re-PAS), allows evaluation of interactions in the family on several dimensions. This article presents the PNG and a preliminary study of the validation of the Re-PAS dimensions in a sample of families (N = 67) with 18-month-old infants and their siblings. The PNG was well-received by the families. Construct validity of the Re-PAS was tested, first against self-reported data by mothers and fathers regarding marital satisfaction, coparenting behavior, and division of household tasks, and then against observed maternal and paternal sensitivity and controlling behaviors assessed during free-play. Results show satisfactory preliminary reliability and validity. Two contrasting cases are presented to illustrate the different interactions highlighted in the PNG. This situation is useful for researchers and clinicians, particularly as a basis for video-feedback work with the family., (© 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.)

In the last years, University Fund Maurice Chalumeau (FUMC) launched a dynamic of research designed to promote scientific excellence and the development of Sexology with particular interest regarding sexual desire. The FUMC has supported a research project entitled "Neurobiological, psychological and sociological approach to sexual desire and sexual satisfaction". This project, sampled on 600 people (300 men and 300 women) aged between 25 and 46 years, was structured around three studies: a broad sociological study and two more specific ones, focused on some psychological mechanisms and neurobiological factors involved in sexual desire. The results show how the secondary socialization, personal expectations, beliefs and values in sexuality, sexual motivations, body image, as well as the neurobiological foundations and visual patterns, are of vital importance in the dynamics of sexual desire.

Socio-emotional information processing during everyday human interactions has been assumed to translate to social-emotional information processing when parenting a child. Yet, few studies have examined whether this is indeed the case. This study aimed to improve on this by connecting the functional neuroimaging data when seeing socio-emotional interactions that are not parenting specific to observed maternal sensitivity. The current study considered 45 mothers of small children (12-42 months of age). It included healthy controls (HC) and mothers with interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder (IPV-PTSD), as well as mothers without PTSD, both with and without IPV exposure. We found that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activity correlated negatively with observed maternal sensitivity when mothers watched videos of menacing vs. prosocial adult male-female interactions. This relationship was independent of whether mothers were HC or had IPV-PTSD. We also found dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity to be correlated negatively with maternal sensitivity when mothers watched any kind of arousing adult interactions. With regards to ACC and vmPFC activity, we interpret our results to mean that the ease of general emotional information integration translates to parenting-specific behavior. Our dlPFC activity findings support the idea that the efficiency of top-down control of socio-emotional processing in non-parenting specific contexts may be predictive of parenting behavior.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that involves impaired regulation of the fear response to traumatic reminders. This study tested how women with male-perpetrated interpersonal violence-related PTSD (IPV-PTSD) differed in their brain activation from healthy controls (HC) when exposed to scenes of male-female interaction of differing emotional content. Sixteen women with symptoms of IPV-PTSD and 19 HC participated in this study. During magnetic resonance imaging, participants watched a stimulus protocol of 23 different 20 s silent epochs of male-female interactions taken from feature films, which were neutral, menacing or prosocial. IPV-PTSD participants compared with HC showed (i) greater dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activation in response to menacing vs prosocial scenes and (ii) greater anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right hippocampus activation and lower ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activty in response to emotional vs neutral scenes. The fact that IPV-PTSD participants compared with HC showed lower activity of the ventral ACC during emotionally charged scenes regardless of the valence of the scenes suggests that impaired social perception among IPV-PTSD patients transcends menacing contexts and generalizes to a wider variety of emotionally charged male-female interactions., (© The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The Family Attitude Scale (FAS) is a self-report measure of critical or hostile attitudes and behaviors towards another family member, and demonstrates an ability to predict relapse in psychoses. Data are not currently available on a French version of the scale. The present study developed a French version of the FAS, using a large general population sample to test its internal structure, criterion validity and relationships with the respondents' symptoms and psychiatric diagnoses, and examined the reciprocity of FAS ratings by respondents and their partners. A total of 2072 adults from an urban population undertook a diagnostic interview and completed self-report measures, including an FAS about their partner. A subset of participants had partners who also completed the FAS. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed an excellent fit by a single-factor model, and the FAS demonstrated a strong association with dyadic adjustment. FAS scores of respondents were affected by their anxiety levels and mood, alcohol and anxiety diagnoses, and moderate reciprocity of attitudes and behaviors between the partners was seen. The French version of the FAS has similarly strong psychometric properties to the original English version. Future research should assess the ability of the French FAS to predict relapse of psychiatric disorders., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Maternal dissociative symptoms which can be comorbid with interpersonal violence-related post-traumatic stress disorder (IPV-PTSD) have been linked to decreased sensitivity and responsiveness to children's emotional communication. This study examined the influence of dissociation on neural activation independently of IPV-PTSD symptom severity when mothers watch video-stimuli of their children during stressful and non-stressful mother-child interactions. Based on previous observations in related fields, we hypothesized that more severe comorbid dissociation in IPV-PTSD would be associated with lower limbic system activation and greater neural activity in regions of the emotion regulation circuit such as the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Twenty mothers (of children aged 12-42 months), with and without IPV-PTSD watched epochs showing their child during separation and play while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Multiple regression indicated that when mothers diagnosed with IPV-PTSD watched their children during separation compared to play, dissociative symptom severity was indeed linked to lowered activation within the limbic system, while greater IPV-PTSD symptom severity was associated with heightened limbic activity. Concerning emotion regulation areas, there was activation associated to dissociation in the right dlPFC. Our results are likely a neural correlate of affected mothers' reduced capacity for sensitive responsiveness to their young child following exposure to interpersonal stress, situations that are common in day-to-day parenting.