Évaluer le bien-être subjectif : la place des émotions dans les psychothérapies positives

Positive psychology is the scientific study of positive experiences, well-being and optimal functioning. Positive psychotherapy aims to broaden the focus of clinical psychology beyond suffering and its direct alleviation. Its goal is to make patient happier by understanding and building three ways: pleasant life, engaged life, and meaningful life. For each of these constructs, there is a need of valid and practical assessment tools appropriate for the clinical setting. It is desirable to assess separate facets of subjective well-being, including moods and emotions. The indicators of subjective well-being can be used for the evaluation of positive psychotherapy effectiveness. The purpose of this study was the development of a French emotional valence measure (EVM) based on the Diener model of subjective well-being. We performed a questionnaire survey of emotion frequency in 571 participants, and developed EVM. The final version consists of only 23 items grouped into six response sets, each with its own scale. Reliability is good, and validity is, to some extent, established. The six domains of emotions are divided into two second-order factors. One is the positive and the other is the negative. Subjective well-being was strangely, seldom measured in psychopathology. Considering the components of well-being - the presence of positive emotion, the absence of negative emotion, and a cognitive judgment of satisfaction and fulfilment - and its subjective importance to even the most troubled individuals, this omission was regrettable. We proposed a tool that is a reliable and valid measure for well-being assessment in clinical setting.