Aix Marseille Université CNRS, NIA UMR 7260, 13331 Marseille, France.
Université de Lille CNRS, SCALab UMR 9193, 59653 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France; Clinique Médico-Psychologique Fondation Santé des Étudiants de France, 59653 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
Psychiatry Res. 2017 Jul;253:49-57. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.03.044. Epub 2017 Mar 23.
Emotional interactions have been considered dynamical processes involved in the affective life of humans and their disturbances may induce mental disorders. Most studies of emotional interactions have focused on dyadic behaviors or self-reports of emotional states but neglected the dynamical processes involved in family therapy. The main objective of this study is to quantify the dynamics of emotional expressions and their changes using the family therapy of patients with anorexia nervosa as an example. Nonlinear methods characterize the variability of the dynamics at the level of the whole therapeutic system and reciprocal influence between the participants during family therapy. Results show that the variability of the dynamics is higher at the end of the therapy than at the beginning. The reciprocal influences between therapist and each member of the family and between mother and patient decrease with the course of family therapy. Our results support the development of new interpersonal strategies of emotion regulation during family therapy. The quantification of emotional dynamics can help understanding the emotional processes underlying psychopathology and evaluating quantitatively the changes achieved by the therapeutic intervention.
情感互动被认为是人类情感生活中涉及的动态过程，其干扰可能会导致精神障碍。大多数情感互动的研究都集中在二元行为或情感状态的自我报告上，但忽略了家庭治疗中涉及的动态过程。本研究的主要目的是使用神经性厌食症患者的家庭治疗为例，量化情感表达及其变化的动力学。非线性方法表征了整个治疗系统水平上动力学的可变性以及家庭治疗过程中参与者之间的相互影响。结果表明，治疗结束时的动力学可变性高于治疗开始时。治疗师与家庭每个成员之间以及母亲与患者之间的相互影响随着家庭治疗的进行而减少。我们的结果支持在家庭治疗过程中发展新的人际情绪调节策略。情感动力学的量化可以帮助理解精神病理学背后的情感过程，并定量评估治疗干预所取得的变化。
