Coping and emotion regulation: A conceptual and measurement scoping review
The fields of coping and emotion regulation have mostly evolved separately over decades, although considerable overlap exists. Despite increasing efforts to unite them from a conceptual standpoint, it remains unclear whether conceptual similarities translate into their measurement. The main objective of this review was to summarize and compare self-reported measures of coping and emotion regulation strategies. The secondary objective was to examine whether other psychological measures (e.g., resilience) indirectly reflect regulatory strategies' effectiveness, thus representing additionally informative approaches. Results indicated substantial overlap between coping and emotion regulation measures. In both frameworks, two to eight individual strategies were usually captured, but only a third included ≤20 items. Most commonly evaluated strategies were reappraisal/reinterpretation, active coping/problem-solving, acceptance, avoidance, and suppression. Evidence also suggested psychological distress and well-being measures, especially in certain contexts like natural stress experiments, and resilience measures are possible indirect assessments of these regulatory strategies' effectiveness. These results are interpreted in the light of a broader, integrative affect regulation framework and a conceptual model connecting coping, emotion regulation, resilience, psychological well-being and psychological distress is introduced. We further discussed the importance of alignment between individuals, contexts, and strategies used, and provide directions for future research. Altogether, coping and emotion regulation measures meaningfully overlap. Joint consideration of both frameworks in future research would widen the repertoire of available measures and orient their selection based on other aspects like length or strategies covered, rather than the framework only.
Building a collaborative Psychological Science: Lessons learned from ManyBabies 1
The field of infancy research faces a difficult challenge: some questions require samples that are simply too large for any one lab to recruit and test. ManyBabies aims to address this problem by forming large-scale collaborations on key theoretical questions in developmental science, while promoting the uptake of Open Science practices. Here, we look back on the first project completed under the ManyBabies umbrella - ManyBabies 1 - which tested the development of infant-directed speech preference. Our goal is to share the lessons learned over the course of the project and to articulate our vision for the role of large-scale collaborations in the field. First, we consider the decisions made in scaling up experimental research for a collaboration involving 100+ researchers and 70+ labs. Next, we discuss successes and challenges over the course of the project, including: protocol design and implementation, data analysis, organizational structures and collaborative workflows, securing funding, and encouraging broad participation in the project. Finally, we discuss the benefits we see both in ongoing ManyBabies projects and in future large-scale collaborations in general, with a particular eye towards developing best practices and increasing growth and diversity in infancy research and psychological science in general. Throughout the paper, we include first-hand narrative experiences, in order to illustrate the perspectives of researchers playing different roles within the project. While this project focused on the unique challenges of infant research, many of the insights we gained can be applied to large-scale collaborations across the broader field of psychology.
Reporting Practices and Use of Quantitative Methods in Canadian Journal Articles in Psychology
With recent focus on the state of research in psychology, it is essential to assess the nature of the statistical methods and analyses used and reported by psychological researchers. To that end, we investigated the prevalence of different statistical procedures and the nature of statistical reporting practices in recent articles from the four major Canadian psychology journals. The majority of authors evaluated their research hypotheses through the use of analysis of variance (ANOVA), -tests, and multiple regression. Multivariate approaches were less common. Null hypothesis significance testing remains a popular strategy, but the majority of authors reported a standardized or unstandardized effect size measure alongside their significance test results. Confidence intervals on effect sizes were infrequently employed. Many authors provided minimal details about their statistical analyses and less than a third of the articles presented on data complications such as missing data and violations of statistical assumptions. Strengths of and areas needing improvement for reporting quantitative results are highlighted. The paper concludes with recommendations for how researchers and reviewers can improve comprehension and transparency in statistical reporting.
Increasing Literacy in Quantitative Methods: The Key to the Future of Canadian Psychology
Quantitative methods (QM) dominate empirical research in psychology. Unfortunately most researchers in psychology receive inadequate training in QM. This creates a challenge for researchers who require advanced statistical methods to appropriately analyze their data. Many of the recent concerns about research quality, replicability, and reporting practices are directly tied to the problematic use of QM. As such, improving quantitative literacy in psychology is an important step towards eliminating these concerns. The current paper will include two main sections that discuss quantitative challenges and opportunities. The first section discusses training and resources for students and presents descriptive results on the number of quantitative courses required and available to graduate students in Canadian psychology departments. In the second section, we discuss ways of improving quantitative literacy for faculty, researchers, and clinicians. This includes a strong focus on the importance of collaboration. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for improving quantitative skills and literacy for students and researchers in Canada.
A Systematic Review of Personality Disorders and Health Outcomes
Personality disorders have been associated with a wide swath of adverse health outcomes and correspondingly high costs to healthcare systems. To date, however, there has not been a systematic review of the literature on health conditions among individuals with personality disorders. The primary aim of this article is to review research documenting the associations between personality disorders and health conditions. A systematic review of the literature revealed 78 unique empirical English-language peer-reviewed articles examining the association of personality disorders and health outcomes over the past 15 years. Specifically, we reviewed research examining the association of personality disorders with sleep disturbance, obesity, pain conditions, and other chronic health conditions. In addition, we evaluated research on candidate mechanisms underlying health problems in personality disorders and potential treatments for such disorders. Results underscore numerous deleterious health outcomes associated with PD features and PD diagnoses, and suggest potential biological and behavioural factors that may account for these relations. Guidelines for future research in this area are discussed.
Warmth and Competence: Stereotype Content Issues for Clinicians and Researchers
Stereotypes are often accidents of history, based on passing configurations of groups' societal interdependence and status. This article overviews our framework for understanding all this: the Stereotype Content Model, focused on two fundamental dimension of intergroup and interpersonal cognition, perceived warmth (from interdependence) and perceived competence (from relative status); then it discusses immigrant images as a case study; next, the article focuses on the toxic and potentially curative effects of each dimension.
Ethics of psychological research: new policies; continuing issues; new concerns
The implementation over the past year within Canadian universities of the new Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) ushers in a new era in the oversight of the ethics of psychological research in Canada. Although these new policies apply to all human research, our interest in how they apply to psychology, primarily to deception, undergraduate subject pools, and other continuing concerns. Why have the granting agencies decided that government regulation of research ethics is necessary and what is the relationship between federal regulations and discipline codes? The history of CPA's involvement in protecting psychology's interests in the final revisions to the TCPS is recounted. In spite of what has been achieved, many psychologists feel that the TCPS has created new concerns for the discipline. Although there is the potential for startup problems, it is in our collective and individual best interests to make the policy work, thereby ensuring that escalation of government regulation or legislation will not be pursued.
The role of the psychologist in determining competence for assisted suicide/euthanasia in the terminally ill
This paper discusses the history of assisted suicide/euthanasia and public attitudes in Canada; discusses depression in the terminally ill and the potential role of the psychologist in the assisted suicide/euthanasia process; and specifically addresses the importance of determining competence in terminally ill patients. One area in which the services of psychologists have not been used to their fullest potential is in the care of the terminally ill, particularly in helping them make end-of-life decisions. It is very important that individuals making end-of-life decisions be used to assessed for mental disorders in order to ensure that they are able to make competent decisions. If assisted suicide and euthanasia were to become legalized, psychologists should be involved in the assessment process in order to determine competency.
When reviews attack: ethics, free speech, and the peer review process
The peer review process, whether formally applied in publication and grant review, or informally, such as exchange of ideas in scientific and professional newsgroups, has sparked controversy. Writers in this area agree that scholarly reviews that are inappropriate in tone are not uncommon. Indeed, commentators have suggested rules and guidelines that can be used to improve the review process and to make reviewers more accountable. In this paper, we examine the relevance and impact of ethical codes on the conduct of peer review. It is our contention that the peer review process can be improved, not by a new set of rules but through closer attention to the ethical principles to which we, as psychologists, already subscribe.
Making ethical choices: a comprehensive decision-making model for Canadian psychologists
This paper proposes a theoretical augmentation of the seven-step decision-making model outlined in the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. We propose that teleological, deontological, and existential ethical perspectives should be taken into account in the decision-making process. We also consider the influence of individual, issue-specific, significant-other, situational, and external factors on ethical decision-making. This theoretical analysis demonstrates the richness and complexity of ethical decision-making.
Canadian code of ethics and the prescription privilege debate
The appearance of the prescription privileges debate in a recent issue of Canadian Psychology presents an opportunity to examine prescription privileges from a Canadian perspective. The principles of the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (CCE) were applied to a number of key arguments offered in the debate and were found useful in evaluating their application to the Canadian context. The ethical principles provided direction in examining the full range of prescription privilege issues. The CCE may prove to be a valuable guide in providing a moral framework for the eventual development of Canadian policy on prescription privileges for psychologists.
Ethical decision-making and the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Psychological Association
Ethics: virtue and politics in the science and practice of psychology
The discipline of psychology is moving beyond the myth of detached neutrality to discover virtue and to recognize politics as forces which determine ethical behaviour. Humankind has struggled over the centuries to discover the nature of good and evil and to define the rightness and wrongness of human behaviour. Psychology has a short history in formalizing codes of ethics and codes of conduct. Current and historical events, concepts and values, including those based on philosophy and religion, have influenced the development of psychology's scientific and professional codes. The ethical behaviour of psychologists may be inspired by values, regulated by rules, determined by external pressures, or any combination of these. Emerging issues and challenges in today's changing and turbulent society require an incorporation of moral principles in finding acceptable strategies to achieve acceptable goals. May virtue and politics go hand in hand in creating a better world.
Promoting ethical behavior: the Canadian Psychological Association model
Ethical issues in field research: balancing competing values
An ethical issue becomes a dilemma when the psychologist is pulled in different directions by competing values. This paper will focus on the conflict between experimental and ethical values inherent in field research. The problem has special significance in community psychology, which gives priority to studying, in natural settings, those affected by social problems. An example is given of research that required observation of family interaction in the homes of convicted child abusers. The case demonstrates that the value of ecological validity often conflicts with the need to protect privacy and obtain uncoerced consent. Other ethical constraints, including the duty to report lawbreaking and to protect the public from harm, may threaten research validity.
A decade of debate on animal research in psychology: room for consensus?
The new CPA Code of Ethics for Canadian psychologists: an education and training perspective