Studies have shown that chronic illness patients encounter difficulties in the social sharing of emotions. Do HIV/AIDS patients present distinguishing traits in the inhibition of illness and non-illness-related emotions? The differences in the social sharing of emotion between 35 HIV/AIDS, 35 diabetic and 34 cancer outpatients were studied. A questionnaire assessed illness-related emotions, social sharing of emotion and emotional inhibition. The HIV/AIDS group significantly presented superior scoring in shame, guilt and non-sharing of illness-related emotions, lower frequencies of social sharing of emotion and less sharing partners. These findings could lead to future research examining the emotional expression of guilt and shame in HIV/AIDS.

Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder, affecting 1/2500 to 1/3000 live female births, induced by partial or total deletion of one X chromosome. The neurocognitive profile of girls with TS is characterized by a normal Verbal IQ and weaknesses in visual-spatial, mathematics, and social cognitive domains. Executive functions (EFs) impairments have also been reported in these young patients. However, methodological differences across studies do not allow determination of which EFs are impaired and what is the magnitude of these impairments. The aim of this review was to clarify the EF profile of children and adolescents with TS. Sixteen samples, from thirteen studies, were included in the current meta-analysis. EFs measures used in these studies were classified into working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, or higher-order EFs tasks in accordance with Diamond's model, Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168 (2013). Results confirmed that girls with TS had significant executive impairments with effect sizes varying from small (inhibitory control) to medium (cognitive flexibility) and large (working memory, higher-order EFs). Analyses by task revealed that cognitive inhibition may be more impaired than the other inhibitory control abilities. Heterogeneity across cognitive flexibility measures was also highlighted. Between-sample heterogeneity was observed for three tasks and the impact of participants' characteristics on EFs was discussed. This meta-analysis confirms the necessity to assess, in patients living with TS, each EF by combining both visual and verbal tasks. Results also underline that, when studying girls with TS' executive profile, it is important to explore the impact of moderator variables, such as IQ, parental socio-economic status, TS karyotype, psychiatric comorbidities, and hormonal treatment status.

Research shows that chronic illness patients encounter difficulties in the social sharing of emotions (SSE). Since most SSE studies focus on quantitative aspects, the present study, aimed, among others, to study the associations between the quality of SSE in people living with HIV/AIDS and patients' psychological and physical well-being. A total of 101 HIV/AIDS patients answered a questionnaire (Likert scale items) which assessed: shame, guilt, perceived stigma, reasons for non-disclosure of serostatus, physical health, mental health, SSE and quality of SSE. While no associations were found between quantitative aspects of SSE, physical health and mental health, the quality of SSE was negatively correlated to shame and guilt, and positively correlated to physical and mental health. Furthermore, mediation analyses showed the mediating role of the quality of SSE in the relationship between, on the one hand, shame and guilt; and on the other hand, physical and mental health. Findings suggest the importance of qualitative aspects of SSE in the emergence of positive outcomes linked to emotional expression in people living with HIV/AIDS.

Purpose. The main objective of this study was to provide further information concerning the validity of patient-reported executive function (EF) in survivors of primary brain tumor (PBT) compared with a report provided by each patient's caregiver.Methods. Forty survivors of PBT, 40 non-cancer controls and their proxies completed an assessment of functional executive disorders (e.g., planning, inhibition, shifting and action initiation). Comparisons of self and informant EF reports were examined, for both patients and non-cancer controls. The extent of the concordance between patients' reports and their caregivers' reports was also determined.Results. PBT survivors and their caregivers reported more problems related to EF in contrast with the non-cancer comparison group (significant differences). There was a high level of agreement between patients' and caregivers' ratings within the patient group. Conclusions.This study provides evidence suggesting that at an average of 3.67 (SD=2.31) years following treatment for a PBT, EF difficulties are reported by patients and their caregivers. This study establishes a consistency between what is reported by survivors and what is reported by those who frequently interact with them. Further research investigating the link between these ratings and quality of life as well as other functions is encouraged.Implications for Cancer Survivors. This study's results demonstrate the importance of listening to PBT survivors' perception of EF difficulties. While not confirmed by neuropsychological evaluations, the functional executive challenges reported by these survivors' close relatives reflect what PBT survivors themselves report. Specialists should pay close attention to these difficulties in order to guarantee optimal post-cancer care.

We explored the determinants of fear of death from lay people's perspective. Two hundred French participants aged 18-83 were presented with 48 realistic stories that depicted a terminally-ill older patient, and assessed the probable level of the patient's fear of death in each case. The stories were composed according to a five within-subject factor design: (a) whether the person believes in God or not, (b) whether social support is available or not, (c) the level of the person's life accomplishment (low, intermediate or high), (d) whether unresolved conflicts with family members still persist or not, and (e) whether the person's end of life wishes will be respected or not. Three different positions were found. Nine percent of participants expressed a Not Much Fear position; their ratings were always low. Sixty-three percent expressed a Depends on Circumstances positions; their ratings predominantly varied as a function of two factors: respect of end of life wishes and unresolved conflicts with family members. Sixteen percent expressed a Fear Always Present position; their ratings were always high. This set of positions suggests that, among lay people, three rival conceptualizations of fear of death may exist: (a) fear of death is a myth, (b) fear of death is an overwhelming phenomenon, and (c) fear of death is an emotional but reasonable response to a more or less stressful situation.

Health outcomes resulting from the quality of emotional expression in HIV/AIDS patients Bénéfices liées à la santé résultants de la qualité de l'expression émotionnelle chez les personnes atteintes du VIH/SIDA

Introduction. Few studies have considered health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as a primary outcome measure in adult survivors of primary brain tumor (PBT), and fewer still have studied the cognitive factors that may influence it. Research suggests that executive functions (EFs) are associated with HRQOL, but there is scant evidence to support this. The present study was conducted to (1) extend prior findings about HRQOL limitations in a sample of stable, longterm adult survivors of PBT, (2) investigate the associations between objective/reported EFs and HRQOL, and (3) identify the EFs that contribute most to HRQOL.Method. We recruited 40 survivors of PBT (> 2 years post-treatment) and 40 matched healthy controls. Participants completed an objective EF assessment (inhibition, working memory, shifting, and rule detection) and two self-report questionnaires probing EFs (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult) and HRQOL (Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36). Participants' relatives completed observer-rated versions of these questionnaires.Results. Patients' objective EF performances were relatively intact. However, patients and caregivers reported significantly more problems than healthy controls and their relatives, for both EFs and HRQOL. There were only negligible links between objective EFs and HRQOL, whereas numerous associations were found between reported EFs and HRQOL components. ANCOVA models revealed that specific reported EF processes contributed to both the physical and mental components of HRQOL, regardless of group. Conclusions.From a clinical point of view, this study demonstrates that even several years after end of treatment, adult PBT survivors experience substantial problems across different HRQOL domains. HRQOL assessment should therefore be part of the long-term follow-up of PBT survivors, and clinicians should consider EF limitations when designing appropriate survivorship care plans. These findings indicate that cognitive interventions targeting EFs could improve HRQOL.

The study’s objective was to map ethical positions with regard to the way in which 219 participants (45 non-athletes, 91 amateur athletes, 28 professional athletes, 17 amateur coaches, 8 professional coaches, and 30 physiotherapists) used various informational cues (an athlete’s indispensability for the team, the importance of the competition, the opinion given by sports medicine professionals, and the injured athlete’s attitude) to judge the acceptability of a coach’s decision to select (or not) an injured athlete just before a competition. The participants specified their judgment of acceptability in 16 scenarios created by combining these information cues under two conditions (selection and non-selection). The data were analyzed using cluster analyses, analyses of variance, and chi-squared tests. We found four clusters. Not selecting an injured athlete was always judged to be acceptable. The four clusters differed in terms of the type of role in sport and the level of acceptability of selecting an injured athlete. A coach’s decision with regard to an athlete’s health may be judged differently, according to the rater’s profile. Enabling athletes to compete while injured might violate ethical principles. Coaches and medical staff should also be aware of and understand their legal responsibilities.