Questionable research practices among Brazilian psychological researchers: Results from a replication study and an international comparison

Research on scientific integrity is growing in psychology, and questionable research practices (QRPs) have received more attention due to its harmful effect on science. By replicating the procedures of previous research, the present study aimed at describing the use of QRPs among Brazilian psychological researchers and to make an international comparison with previous studies in other countries—the US and Italy. Two hundred and thirty-two Brazilian researchers in the field of psychology answered questions related to 10 different QRPs. Brazilian researchers indicated a lower tendency to engage in two QRPs (failing to report all of a study's dependent measures; deciding whether to collect more data after looking to see whether the results were significant) when compared to their Italian and North American counterparts, but indicated a higher tendency to engage in two other QRPs (selectively reporting studies that “worked”; not reporting all of a study's conditions). Most of the sample did not admit integrity conflicts in their own research but indicated that others have integrity problems, as observed in previous studies. Those discrepancies could be attributed to contextual and systemic factors regarding different publication demands among the different nations. Further studies should focus on identifying the antecedents of QRPs.     

Complex mediating effects of rumination facets between personality traits and depressive symptoms

This study investigates whether facets of rumination statistically mediate the relationships between Big Five personality traits and depressive symptoms. Self-reported personality traits and rumination were investigated as predictors of depressive symptoms in a cross-sectional sample of 3043 participants aged 18–60 years (68.8% female). Multiple regression analysis investigated which personality traits and rumination facets best explained variance in depressive symptoms. Structural equation modelling was used to determine whether facets of rumination mediated the relationships between personality traits and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analysis found that variance in depressive symptoms was best explained by the personality traits neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness; and both facets of rumination, brooding and reflection. Structural equation modelling added that the effects of neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness and openness on depressive symptoms were statistically mediated by brooding; the effects of neuroticism, extroversion and openness to depressive symptoms were statistically mediated by reflection. Rumination facets statistically mediated the effects of various personality traits on depressive symptoms. These results provide insights into which individuals may be best suited to treatments for depression targeting rumination.     

Exploring Counselor Experiences of Training in Relational Depth: An Interpretative Phenomenological Inquiry

Relational depth is an emergent counseling construct that captures the profound connection felt by client and counselor in moments of therapeutic encounter. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand how 10 doctoral counseling students perceived curricular experiences designed to facilitate their ability to engage in relational depth. We identified the following themes: mutuality, counselor growth, externalized to internalized expectations, authenticity, impact of relational depth educational experiences, and relational depth reflection and articulation.     

Response to ‘Containment lost’ by Andrew Briggs

This is a response to Andrew Briggs’ paper presented to the ACP Conference in June 2017. Briggs’ paper, sobering, pessimistic and challenging, looks at the emotional pressures on child psychotherapists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as a result of the imposition of the internal market in the NHS. He posits that this has caused the loss of organisational containment, not just for child psychotherapists, but for all those clinicians who work in CAMHS. Briggs writes that this loss of containment is evident in clinicians’ experience of meaninglessness in their work and that this meaninglessness may lead to the despair of the death instinct. For Briggs, this goes along with the loss of professional identity as a once favoured discipline. He compares this fall from grace to Satan’s as described in Milton’s Paradise Lost. If, as he suggests, there has been a strong sense of being the favoured discipline, then maybe a dependence had grown in the profession whereby this loss now feels like a terrible abandonment. The author of this response sees hope amidst the despondency being forced upon workers in the NHS and makes the case for us to engage and resist in a number of practical ways.     

Satisfaction of Health Science teachers with the convergence process of the European Higher Education Area

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has implied a major transformation of university studies in European countries. The aim of this study was to assess the satisfaction of university teachers in the area of Health Sciences with the convergence process to determine positive and negative aspects in their practices. The sample was composed of 1,361 teachers of Spanish public universities. They all participated in an ad hoc survey that included questions pertaining to the following issues: a) personal and professional information, b) general and institutional aspects, c) aspects related to teaching, research, and administrative work, d) methodology and the teaching-learning process, e) assessment of students, f) training of teachers, and g) coordination, organization, and resources at the school. Results reveal that teachers are not totally satisfied with the way the EHEA is being established. In conclusion, certain changes would be necessary to achieve real convergence between countries.     

The impact of presentation format on causal inferences

The impact of the presentation format of covariation information on causal judgements was examined in a fictitious virus-disease causal induction task. Six different judgement conditions were created by crossing two levels of virus-disease covariation (0, .5) with three levels of disease base rate (.25, .5, .75). The covariation information was presented differently to three groups of participants. In a first group, it was presented in propositional format summarising the frequencies of the four patient types, namely patients with or without the virus who either did have or did not have the disease. In a second group the same information was presented in a 2×2 table with the cell frequencies represented in terms of countable objects (the presence/absence of virus/disease was shown as schematic faces that varied in expression and colour). In a third group the covariation information was presented in terms of a cumulative frequency tree with the two main branches representing the frequencies of patients with and without the disease which further decomposed into subgroups of those with and without the virus. The ability to discriminate between the levels of covariation was poorest in Group 1; it was significantly improved in Group 2, and was best in Group 3. These results suggest that the format with which covariation information is presented to reasoners exerts a significant influence on causal judgements.     

Relations Between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–A Scales and Rorschach Variables With the Scope and Severity of Maltreatment Among Adolescents

This study examined preexisting Rorschach (Exner, 2001) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–A (MMPI–A; Butcher et al., 1992) profiles to determine if selected MMPI–A scales and Rorschach variables would jointly associate with the number and severity of maltreatment subtypes (physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional maltreatment) of 157 adolescents (ages 14–17) with documented maltreatment histories. The Maltreatment Classification System was used to systematically code the maltreatment attributes. Six Rorschach variables (MOR, PER, Afr, SumY, SumC’, Human Content) were significantly correlated with the number of maltreatment subtypes, but none of the anticipated MMPI–A scales were related. MMPI–A Scale 7 and Rorschach variables Ego, MOR, and PER were jointly associated with physical abuse severity. MMPI–A Scale 0 and Rorschach variables MOR, PER, SumY, SumC’, PTI, Human Content, and Texture jointly associated with sexual abuse severity. This study supports the potential for certain MMPI–A scales and Rorschach variables to reflect the impact of adolescents’ maltreatment experiences in terms of the number and severity of types of maltreatment experienced. Because both instruments captured different aspects of adolescents’ maltreatment experiences, clinicians should consider using both when evaluating the impact of maltreatment on adolescents.     

Reactions to AIDS and Other Illnesses: Reported Interactions in the Workplace

Previous research on the public's response to AIDS has been concerned with attitudes and knowledge in relation to the disease itself. The present study investigated American students' willingness to interact in the workplace with AIDS patients and compared this with their reactions to cancer and hepatitis patients. The effects of perceived control over the cause of the disease were also examined. Exposure to the diseases was manipulated with written scenarios. Results demonstrated that the type of illness affected a willingness to interact with individuals—AIDS patients were reacted to least positively, followed by hepatitis, and cancer patients. Perceived control over the cause of the disease did not affect reactions.