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The present study examined the relationship between peritraumatic reactions, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, somatization, and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of refugees, two years after the 2011 Ivory Coast sociopolitical crisis. Participants were 101 Ivorian adult refugees (mean age = 31.61 years, SD = 7.84; 45.5% women) who completed several questionnaires relating to peritraumatic reactions, PTSD symptoms, somatization, and QoL. Most participants (86.1%) scored above the cutoff for probable PTSD. Peritraumatic dissociation and peritraumatic distress were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms, (r = .64, p < .001) and (r = .60, p < .001), respectively, and somatization, (r = .21, p = .038) and (r = .35, p < .001), respectively, as well as with QoL, (r = -.20, p = .045) and (r = -.21, p = .037), respectively. Similarly, QoL was significantly negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms (r = -.33, p < .001) and somatization (r = -.39, p < .001). In multivariate analyses, somatization was the strongest predictor of QoL (β = -.31, p = .003). Finally, somatization statistically mediated the association between peritraumatic distress and QoL. These findings suggest that PTSD may be frequent among Ivorian refugees, and that somatization may be an important feature of the traumatic experiences. Targeting somatization in conjunction with trauma-centered therapy may improve outcomes in sub-Saharan Africans with PTSD.

The screening of emotional status in nonclinical samples is useful for clarifying the factorial structure of the negative affectivity construct. Several studies using the original version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42) have suggested that its bifactor model predicts that negative emotions encompass a general dimension and distinctive patterns of symptoms. The aims of the present investigation were to enlarge the understanding of the negative affectivity construct by examining the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the French version of DASS-42 using a large sample of young adults. French-speaking participants (N ϭ 1,143) completed the French version of the DASS-42. The confirmatory factor analyses revealed that items shared common higher variance with one general factor and less variance with three specific orthogonal factors. The DASS-42 Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales reached good reliability and appeared to be better than the scales used to assess convergent validity. All statistics suggested an improved accounting of the data in the bifactor model compared with that of the 3-factor model. Similarly to the original version, the loadings of French items on stress factor showed inconsistencies. Although the 3-factor model of DASS-42 is suitable and recommended for clinical investigations, the bifactor conceptualisation depicts the common and specific symptoms measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress subscales. The psychometrics of the French version of the DASS-42 support the bifactor conceptualisation of negative emotions which emphasizes the versatile dimension of stress. Public Significance StatementNegative affectivity is a multidimensional construct that evokes a group of emotional states. In clinical research and practice, self-report questionnaires are widely used to specifically assess different dimensions of the construct without taking into account the overlap of the dimensions. By using a bifactor model, our study showed robust correlations between the general factor and the items of the questionnaire.

Le but de cette étude est d’évaluer la validité et la fidélité de la version française de l’Inventaire de satisfaction conjugale (MSI-R). Cet instrument multidimensionnel a montré ses apports dans les recherches internationales, mais également dans la pratique clinique pour mesurer la nature et l’ampleur des conflits au sein d’un mariage ou d’une relation de couple. Les indices de consistance interne et de stabilité temporelle, calculés sur un échantillon constitué de 160 couples francophones, sont satisfaisants et similaires à ceux qui ont été obtenus pour des traductions précédentes. Nous avons aussi répliqué la structure factorielle proposée récemment par Herrington et al. (2008), ce qui a permis de confirmer les deux facteurs, dysharmonie et désaffection, qui pourraient être utilisés dans de futures recherches à partir d’une version brève du MSI-R. Globalement, les résultats soutiennent la validité de construit de cette mesure pour des couples francophones. Nous avons mis en évidence des liens entre les échelles du questionnaire et d’autres mesures du fonctionnement du couple (DCI, CPQ, PFB), ainsi que des liens avec des variables sociodémographiques et des traits de personnalité mesurés à l’aide du NEO-FFI. Les résultats sont discutés à la lumière de leurs implications théoriques et pratiques.

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