Biomedical subjects

P Cappeliez

Publications and source records attributed to P Cappeliez.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Functions of reminiscence and mental health in later life.

This study examines the extent to which various forms of reminiscence predict life satisfaction and psychiatric distress with and without control for the contribution of personality traits (n=420). Among older adults, reminiscences to revive old problems and to fill a void of stimulation were associated with lower life satisfaction and greater psychiatric distress. Reminiscence to maintain connection with a departed person also predicted psychiatric distress. In contrast, reminiscences for death preparation and to foster conversation were linked with higher life satisfaction. Based on our proposed model of the functions of reminiscence, discussion focuses on adaptive and non-adaptive uses of reminiscence in later life.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Symptoms of psychological distress among older adults in Canadian long-term care centres.

Psychological distress can lead to negative consequences affecting the quality of life of older adults living in long-term care centres. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms of psychological distress and their associated factors among these residents. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 1999 long-term care residents aged 65 and over. Nine hundred and eleven persons (45.6%) displayed at least one symptom of psychological distress either at one time or more in the week preceding data collection, and 22.4% were identified as psychologically distressed. Multivariate analysis indicated that psychological distress was associated with disruptive behaviours and benzodiazepine use among women residents, and with insomnia in men residents. In conclusion, when clinicians screen for mental health disorders, they should take into consideration that symptoms of insomnia or disruptive behaviours may mask psychological distress.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

[Psychometric properties of the French version of the Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) in elderly patients evaluated in geriatric psychiatry].

OBJECTIVE: This research evaluates the psychometric properties of the French version of the Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS), an instrument for the screening of dementia, in a sample of patients seen in geriatric psychiatry. METHODS: Subjects (N = 94, 63 to 93 years of age) were outpatients of a service in geriatric psychiatry. In addition to the 3MS, a battery of tests evaluating the cognitive functioning and depressive symptomatology was administered. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.87 for a subsample of 35 subjects. An exploratory factor analysis revealed 4 factors accounting for 63.2% of the variance. Cut-off scores of 79 to 80 (with years of education > or = 8) and 71 to 72 (with years of education < or = 7) presented the best combination sensitivity/specificity, respectively 0.80 and 0.96. CONCLUSIONS: This study documents the psychometric properties of the French version of the 3MS for use in patients seen in geriatric psychiatry, in suggesting cut-off scores which take into account the level of education. This study underlines the influence of sociodemographic variables on test performance.

Aged↗

PubMed1993

The relationship between Beck's concepts of sociotropy and autonomy and the NEO-Personality Inventory.

Beck (1983) proposed that two personality dimensions, sociotropy and autonomy, represent vulnerability factors for depression. This study assesses the relations between sociotropy/autonomy (Sociotropy/Autonomy scale) and five personality dimensions, i.e. neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (NEO-Personality Inventory). Sociotropy was related positively to neuroticism and negatively to openness to experience. Autonomy was positively associated with conscientiousness.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

[Psychotherapy interventions with elderly impaired patients].

This article reports the development of our research interests in the field of clinical practice in gerontology, in particular with people suffering from depression during the last five years. It summarizes the progression of our work in four domains: the coping strategies of elderly people with respect to depression, the assessment of depressive symptomatology, the psychotherapy with elderly people who are depressed (in particular the cognitive-behavioral intervention in groups), and the preparation of elderly people to the psychotherapeutic intervention. The article ends with some suggestions for research and clinical practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1990

Effects of lithium on an amphetamine animal model of bipolar disorder.

1. This study examines the effects of chronic lithium administration on changes induced by amphetamine administration and withdrawal on open field locomotor activity of rats, and considered as an animal model of behaviors displayed in bipolar disorders. 2. For 21 days, rats were administered either single daily intraperitoneal injections (IP) of 0.9% saline, 0.15 mEq/kg, or 1.5 mEq/kg lithium chloride (LiCl). From day 7 to day 16, half of the animals in each group consisting of 12 rats were administered twice daily IP injections of either 1.5 mg/kg d-amphetamine or 0.9% saline. From day 17 to 21, d-amphetamine was withdrawn. 3. Neither dose of LiCl significantly altered the increases in activity levels produced by amphetamine. The withdrawal of amphetamine lead to an immediate return to baseline activity levels which neither dose of LiCl significantly affected. 4. The absence of interactive effects suggests that the influence of lithium and amphetamine on activity are mediated by different neurotransmitter systems.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Effects of lithium on appetitive discrimination in the rat.

1. The present study attempted to test the hypothesis that lithium (as chloride, 0.15 mEq/kg) promotes an attentional focus onto stimulation of high salience (Cappeliez and Moore 1988). 2. The effect of lithium treatment was studied within the context of discrimination learning in a Y-maze. 3. When the brightness cue (illuminated/dark goal arm) signalled reinforcement (food) and the spatial cue (right/left location of goal arm) acted as a distractor, lithium-treated rats showed evidence of increased readiness to focus onto the brightness cue. 4. When these experimental conditions were reversed in a second experiment, with the brightness cue now acting as a distractor, the performance of the lithium-treated rats was adversely affected. 5. These results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that, under the influence of this dose of lithium, rats are more likely to maintain their attention on stimulation of high salience, with accompanying reduction in the processing of peripheral stimulation. The implications of this theory for the understanding of lithium's action and manic-depressive conditions are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Effects of lithium on latent inhibition in the rat.

1. A latent inhibition paradigm was used to test the proposition that lithium increases rats' capacity to ignore an irrelevant stimulation. 2. In latent inhibition, non-reinforced presentations of the stimulus in the preexposure phase are said to lead the animal to ignore this stimulus, therefore reducing its later associability with a UCS. 3. Lithium (as chloride, 0.15 mEq/kg, for 6 days) counteracted the latent inhibition and impaired the acquisition of the conditioned response in the nonpreexposed condition. These results were attributed to an increased focus on stimuli of high salience, produced by lithium. 4. This interpretation was supported in a second experiment which demonstrated that enhancing opportunities for detailed inspective exploration of the apparatus before the initiation of conditioning markedly impaired the learning of rats treated for up to 7 days with 0.15 mEq/kg lithium chloride. 5. These findings are discussed within the context of the hypothesis that lithium narrows the breadth of attention onto stimuli of high salience at the expense of the processing of stimuli of low salience.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Comparing oral lithium carbonate and intraperitoneal lithium chloride chronic administrations on rats' activity levels.

This study compares the effects produced by two modalities of lithium administration on rats' activity levels. Lithium was administered for 21 days either as carbonate in the diet (2 g in 2 liters of water and 1,500 g lab chow) or as chloride through single daily intraperitoneal injections (1 mEq/kg LiCl). Both treatments resulted in similar decreases in spontaneous activity and exploratory behavior, as recorded in an open field with a hole-board. Neither treatment influenced the amount of food consumed on a daily basis nor the rate of growth as manifested by weight gains over the period considered, suggesting that these treatments were not adversely affecting the animals' health. Both treatments increased water intake over control levels, this effect being most marked with the diet lithium carbonate administration, particularly during the second week of treatment. This latter modality of lithium administration, but not the injections of lithium chloride, significantly increased NaCl intake over control levels.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1982

Effect of serotonin depletion induced by p-chloroamphetamine on changes in rats' activity levels-produced by lithium.

The role of serotonin (5-HT) transmission in the production of changes in rats' activity levels induced by 0.15 and 1.50 mEq/kg LiCl was assessed by selectively depleting 5-HT brain levels with p-chloroamphetamine prior to chronic administration of LiCl for 21 days. While p-chloroamphetamine pretreatment decreased 5-HT levels by 56%, irrespective of the fact that the animals had been administered either saline, 0.15, or 1.50 mEq/kg LiCl for 21 days, it did not alter the effects that each LiCl dose alone that on activity levels. Both LiCl administrations produced an 18% increase in 5-HT levels in rats pretreated with saline, yet diametrically opposed effects on activity levels. A parallel is drawn between these biochemical findings and previously reported data indicating that both LiCl doses produce an improvement in selective attention, yet opposed effects on rats' activity levels. The hypothesis that 5-HT transmission might be crucially involved in mediating the dose-independent effect of lithium on selective attention is proposed for future research.

Amphetamines↗

PubMed1981

Lithium induces dose-related increases and decreases in activity levels in the rat.

The effect of intraperitoneal lithium chloride on the activity levels of rats was measured by counting photocell interruptions in an open field. Treatment with 0.15 mEq/kg increased activity and 1.5 mEq/kg decreased activity. In a second experiment behavioral observations were added to the photocell counts of open field activity, and the increase observed with 0.15 mEq/kg LiCl in Experiment 1 was compared with the increase in open field activity produced by 0.4 g/kg ethanol. The two drugs produced similar increases in cell counts and walking, and similar decreases in sitting and sniffing. Lithium produced significantly more rearing and behavior directed at the cage than did ethanol. Following Johnson's hypothesis of lithium action, these findings are discussed within the context of lithium-induced changes in responsiveness to the environment. We suggest that, at 0.15 mEq/kg, lithium chloride might increase reactivity to the environment.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Lithium increases selective attention in rats.

Both 0.15 and 1.50 mEq/kg lithium chloride were found to increase inspective exploration (i.e. behaviors directed at the close examination if discrete stimuli in a new environment) in rats. In addition, 1.50 mEq/kg LiCl decreased general activity, irrespective of the characteristics of the experimental situation. The dose-independent increase in inspective exploration was interpreted as increased selective attention to salient stimuli which provide information about the environment. This hypothesis predicts that both doses of lithium should decrease distractibility by irrelevant stimuli. This prediction was confirmed in a second experiment, in which the ability of a tone to suppress drinking by thirsty rat was reduced by both doses of lithium. A two-factor model of lithium's action in rats is proposed. Lithium produces a dose-independent improvement of selective attention to stimuli which provide detailed information about the environment. In addition, lithium exerts dose-related effects on activity levels: a mild increase in activity with dose in the 0.15-0.20 mEq/kg range and a decrease in activity with doses of 0.50 mEq/kg and higher.

Animals↗