French adaptation of the PO-Bado short form, an interview-based expert rating scale for distress screening.

OBJECTIVE: Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado) is a hetero-assessment and psychosocial burden documentation tool for cancer patient caregivers (across all types and stages). Recently, the psychometric properties of the standard 12-item version of PO-Bado were published. However, the standard version is relatively time-consuming for the caregivers. Here, we developed and examined psychometric properties of a French short-form of PO-Bado (PO-Bado-FSF) with seven items derived from the validated standard version. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-one cancer patients (M age = 58.4 years, SD = 13.9 years; 68.6% were women) participated in this study during a supportive care following the first diagnosis of cancer or a relapse. All patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), in addition to the PO-Bado-FSF. RESULTS: PO-Bado-FSF scores exhibit sound psychometric qualities such as internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and scalability (i.e. Mokken's scalability coefficients); all items loaded significantly on the single CFA factor and yielded coefficients 0.40 or higher. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study highlight the value of using PO-Bado-FSF to identify psychological distress in cancer patients in research and practice. PO-Bado-FSF presents good psychometric properties and is less time-consuming than the standard version.

Psychometric Properties of the French Adaptation of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (Po-Bado): A Distress Screening Tool.

We translated and adapted the French version of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (Po-Bado standard version) and we report its psychometric properties. The Po-Bado is a 12-item documentation instrument that measures psychosocial burden in cancer patients (all types and stages). The intensity of a patient's psychological suffering is evaluated by a health care professional (e.g., doctor, psychologist, nurse) in a semiguided interview. Overall, 252 cancer patients (Mage = 57 years, SD = 12.8 years) participated, completing the Po-Bado during a supportive care consultation following initial diagnosis. Our results show good reliability of the Po-Bado scores, with high internal consistency and interrater coefficients. Low temporal stability indicated that the Po-Bado measures a state-like phenomenon (vs. trait-like). Validity analysis showed significant correlations between cancer-specific psychosocial burden and negative mood (i.e., depression, anxiety) and psychological disturbance as assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Confirmatory factor analysis validated the Po-Bado's two-factor structure (i.e., somatic and psychological burdens). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined the optimal cutoff score of 7.5. These results suggest that the Po-Bado is an easily applicable tool for clinicians and researchers to screen effectively for psychosocial burden in oncology.

Dyadic Cross-Sectional Associations Between Negative Mood, Marital Idealization, and Relationship Quality.

This study aimed to evaluate (a) dyadic associations between relationship quality (RQ) and both depressive and anxious mood (DM and AM), (b) reciprocity hypotheses of negative mood within dyadic interactions, and (c) mediational role of marital idealization between negative mood and relationship quality. Actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) were performed using data from a sample of 198 dyads. Our results showed that (a) these two facets of negative mood did not have the same weight on RQ and that they had a gender-specific effects pattern, and (b) there was no support for the mood transmission hypothesis. Men's DM displayed direct and indirect (via marital idealization) actor as well as partner effects on RQ, whereas women's DM displayed only a direct actor effect on RQ. There were no significant direct actor effects of AM on RQ, meaning that this link is fully mediated by marital idealization. However, only women's AM showed such indirect effects on RQ.

Subjective wellbeing and longevity: Findings from a 22-year cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: The health implications of positive affect (PA) are still a matter of debate. The present study examined the longitudinal relationships between subjective wellbeing (SWB) components (i.e., Life satisfaction, PA and negative affect (NA)) and all-cause mortality in older adults. METHODS: Discrete-time survival analysis within the structural equation modeling framework was applied to data from the PAQUID Cohort (n=3777, baseline age 62-101years) including ten time periods spanning 22years. Time-invariant (age, gender, baseline life satisfaction, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia status) and lagged time-varying (PA, NA, dementia, functional status and self-rated health) predictors were included sequentially in the analyses. RESULTS: When included together in the model, only PA among the SWB components showed a significant association with longevity, which persisted (OR=.962, 95% CI=.938, .986) even after adjustment for the interaction between PA and NA, and after additional adjustment for prior medical conditions, functional status and self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS: In congruence with positive psychology, PA proved to be an independent protective factor regardless of variations in NA, which did not seem to be a mortality risk factor.

As long as you've got your health: Longitudinal relationships between positive affect and functional health in old age.

OBJECTIVE: Reciprocal relationships between positive affect (PA) and health are now subject of a heuristic debate in psychology and behavioral medicine. Two radically opposed approaches address the link between subjective well being (SWB) and physical health: top-down (i.e., psychosomatic hypothesis) and bottom-up (i.e., disability/ability hypothesis) approaches. The aim of the present study was to test these two approaches by investigating thirteen-year longitudinal relationships between PA, as an affective dimension of SWB, and functional health in older people. METHODS: The study included 3754 participants aged 62-101 years assessed 6 times over a thirteen-year period. PA was measured by the mean of the positive affect subscale of the CES-D scale. Functional health was assessed by four composite items: a single-item self-rating of hearing impairment, a single-item self-rating of vision impairment, the number of medically prescribed drugs, and a single-item self-rating of dyspnoea. We used cross-lagged modeling with latent variables, which is appropriate for testing specific theories. Mean arterial pressure, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia status, sequelae of stroke, gender, level of education, and age at baseline were use as control variables in the models. RESULTS: Results indicated that good health significantly predicted subsequent levels of PA (average ß = -0.58, p < 0.001), but PA did not predict subsequent levels of good health (ß = 0.01, ns). CONCLUSION: This finding, obtained from a sample of older people, is in keeping with the bottom-up approach, and supports the popular adage "As long as you've got your health". Limitations of this finding are reviewed and discussed. Models including longitudinal mediators, such as biomarkers and life style patterns, are needed to clarify the nature of the link between these constructs.

Does positive affect change in old age? Results from a 22-year longitudinal study.

The authors examined longitudinal change in positive affect (PA), a component of subjective well-being. Positive affect was assessed with the PA subscale of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977) in a sample of individuals from the PAQUID cohort (n = 3,777; age 62-101 years, M = 75.46, SD = 6.91 at Wave 1) over a period of 22 years (10 waves of data). Latent growth curve modeling was used to assess change in PA. A quadratic latent growth curve was found to characterize the latent growth pattern of PA in our sample, indicating linear change before a decline phase. These results were discussed with reference to the well-being paradox.

The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado): an innovative tool to combine screening for psychological distress and patient support at cancer diagnosis.

OBJECTIVES: The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (PO-Bado) is a semi-directive instrument for assessing psychosocial difficulties in cancer patients. It is based on subjective status and not on degree of symptom severity. Our objectives were to assess whether use of the PO-Bado during post-cancer-diagnosis consultations improves the quality of communication by establishing a supportive relationship between nurses and patients and to assess nurses' satisfaction of their communication skills. METHODS: Data were collected from post-diagnosis 'bad-news' consultations across four Cancer treatment centres in South West France. Eleven nurses who had never used the PO-Bado ('inexperienced group') received training on the instrument (short-form). Twenty-one pre-training consultations without the PO-Bado were recorded and compared with 21 post-training consultations with the PO-Bado. Twenty consultations with four nurses with experience using the PO-Bado ('experienced group') were included for between-group comparisons. Nurses' satisfaction was evaluated through semi-directive consultations at the end of the study and completed by a visual analogue scale. RESULTS: We transcribed and analysed 62 consultations. We observed greater use of techniques encouraging patient expression in consultations with PO-Bado-experienced nurses (p < 0.01); after PO-Bado training for 'inexperienced' nurses (p < 0.05) and less use of non-encouraging techniques after PO-Bado training for 'inexperienced' nurses (p < 0.01). Nurses felt more satisfied with their communications skills after PO-Bado training and stated that they felt more competent, particularly for referrals to psychologists. CONCLUSIONS: The PO-Bado is beneficial for the quality of the communication between nurses and patients at bad-news delivery consultations and for the satisfaction of nurses with regard to their relational skills.

Relationship between life satisfaction and physical health in older adults: a longitudinal test of cross-lagged and simultaneous effects.

OBJECTIVE: The emergence of positive psychology propelled scientific interest in the causal relationships between subjective well-being (SWB; e.g., happiness, life satisfaction [LS], positive affect) and physical health. However, it is becoming a controversial topic. Indeed, dependent on approach, LS is either considered a cause (top-down) or an effect (bottom-up). The aim of the present study was to investigate both cross-lagged and simultaneous effects between LS (as an enduring component of SWB) and physical health (as measured by self-perceived health and self-reported diseases), using 8-year longitudinal data from a sample of older adults. METHOD: The study included 899 participants aged 64 to 97 years and assessed 5 times over an 8-year period. Cross-lagged and simultaneous models were specified and estimated using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Both cross-lagged and simultaneous coefficients indicated that poor health significantly predicted subsequent levels of life dissatisfaction, but LS did not predict subsequent levels of health. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contradict, at least in our older sample, the postulates of positive psychology, and support the bottom-up approach to well-being as well as the popular adage, "As long as you've got your health."

Does life satisfaction change in old age: results from an 8-year longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: The unexpected positive relationship between aging and happiness was called "the paradox of well-being," which is still a matter of debate. This study examined longitudinal change in life satisfaction (LS) in older adults. METHODS: LS was assessed with the satisfaction with life scale, in a sample of individuals (N = 899; aged 62-95 years, at first occasion; M = 72.73, SD = 5.68) for a period of 8 years (5 waves of data). A multiple indicator (e.g., second order) growth modeling was used to assess change in LS. RESULTS: Findings from both unconditional and conditional model (in which time-invariant, i.e., age, gender, and education, and time-varying, i.e., self-perceived health, covariates were incorporated in the model) indicated a linear increase in LS for the 8-year period. As expected, the results showed significant random variation in both intercept and slope, indicating that participants start at different levels and change at different rates. DISCUSSION: Our findings contribute to the debate concerning the paradox of well-being, which calls for explanation. There are few theories that provide some explanation (e.g., the socioemotional selectivity theory). However, to enhance researchers' understanding of developmental changes that contribute to the paradox of well-being, a more integrative theoretical model is needed.