This article presents a longitudinal study of the development of "family alliance" from pregnancy to toddlerhood in a community sample, as well as its links with the emotional and cognitive development of the child at age 5 years. Family alliance is defined as the quality of the interactive coordination between family members. We consider that the alliance constitutes a context for the child to learn emotion regulation and to develop an understanding of inner states. Family interactions (N = 38) were observed at the 5th month of pregnancy and at 3, 9, and 18 months after birth in a standardized situation of observation (Lausanne Trilogue Play). Marital satisfaction and child temperament were assessed through self-reported questionnaires. Several outcomes of the child at age 5 years were measured: theory of mind performances, predominant emotional themes in pretend play, internalized and externalized symptoms. Results show that (a) three patterns of evolution of family alliance occur: "high stable" (n = 19), "high to low" (n = 10), and "low stable" (n = 9); (b) a high stable alliance is predictive of better outcomes in children at age 5 years, especially regarding theory of mind; (c) the temperament of the child is predictive of child outcomes; and (d) an interaction effect occurs between family alliance and temperament. These results highlight the importance of both family-level and individual-level variables for understanding individual differences in the social and cognitive development of children.

Both spiritual well-being and meaning in life appear to be potential protective factors against psychological distress at the end of life. Since nonphysical determinants play a major role in shaping QOL at the end of life, there is a need for the development of meaning-oriented and spiritual care interventions tailored to the fragility of palliative patients.

Context. The will to live (WTL) is an important factor to consider in the context of providing resource-oriented palliative care. Until now, there has been no major review of the existing research on this subject. Objectives. The primary objective of this study is to summarize the state of research concerning instruments that assess the WTL. The secondary objective is to explore the theoretical models and psychometric properties of these instruments, in studies where these instruments were initially presented. The tertiary objective is to identify, among all studies where these instruments have been used, the intensity of the WTL, and factors associated with it. Methods. We conducted a scoping review, including studies that were designed to assess the WTL among participants in all settings. Records were systematically searched from seven bibliographic databases with no date limitations up to August 2020. Results. Of the 3078 records screened, 281 were examined in detail and 111 were included in the synthesis. A total of 25 different instruments quantitatively assessing the WTL are presented. Most are single-question tools and rate intensity. The underlying concepts and psychometric properties are incompletely explained. Lack of crossreferencing is apparent. The intensity of the WTL is high, even among people with significant health impairment, and is frequently associated with different factors, such as resilience and quality of life. Conclusion. A considerable yet unconnected body of studies assesses the WTL. Its assessment in clinical routine could promote resource-oriented and patient-centered care.

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Context. The Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) is a widely used tool for assessing patient needs in palliative care. Objectives. The aim of this study is to provide a validated version of the patient and staff IPOS for French-speaking Switzerland (IPOS-Fr) and assess its psychometric properties. Methods. The validation took place in 12 palliative care units and mobile teams. At baseline (T1) and three days later (T2), patients' general health status, palliative care needs (IPOS-Fr) and quality of life (McGill Quality of Life scale Revised-MQOL-R) were assessed by patients and staff. Results. We included 173 patients (mean age: 68.8; 92 women; 85% oncologic disease). IPOS internal consistency was high for the total score (.69 and .71). Staff-patient inter-rater agreement was good to moderate for 13 items (intra-class correlations >.516). Results indicated strong correlations between IPOS-Fr and MQOL-R for the total score (-.623 at T1) and the psychological domain (item 11:-.601 at T1; item 13:-.633 at T2). Regarding sensitivity to change, there was a significant difference between T1 and T2 for patients with an improved health condition (z=-2.326; p=.020). Conclusion. IPOS-Fr has fair to good validity, especially with regard to inter-rater agreement and construct validity, is sensitive to positive change, and has good interpretability and acceptability for patients and staff. IPOS-Fr is not optimal in terms of internal consistency and structure when using subscale scores, except for the emotional subscale.