Building Interdisciplinary/Intersectoral Research Partnerships for Community-Based Mental Health Research with Older Minority Adults

Community-based research often brings investigators from different disciplinary backgrounds together with community representatives to conduct research on topics of mutual concern. This paper describes a case example that illustrates an interdisciplinary/intersectoral study of depression and barriers to mental health care among older adults and illustrate the factors central to implementing a successful research partnership. It will address the following conditions that facilitate and challenge interdisciplinary/intersectoral research: (1) achieving commonality of purpose in study design and research and referral approaches; (2) ensuring the ability to develop, field-test and implement psychometrically rigorous and culturally and qualitatively appropriate instruments; (3) building effective management structures for interdisciplinary/intersectoral research partnerships; and (4) identifying, training and supporting qualified researchers to carry out a mental health study with older ethnically diverse adults. The paper concludes with strengths and limitations of the approach.     

The definition of adequate care in externally sponsored clinical trials: The terminological controversy about the concept “standard of care”

The treatment of the control group in externally sponsored clinical trials is the issue of one of the most heated debates in international research ethics. The paradigmatic cases are the mother-to-child HIV-transmission trials that took place in 16 developing countries in 1997, where the control group received a placebo while proven treatment was available in industrialized countries. From this circumstance results the controversy as to whether the sponsor and researchers of externally sponsored trials have to supply a treatment that is usually not available in the host country. From the beginning of the debate the controversial level of treatment has been called “standard of care”. However, besides the disagreement about the quality of the care that has to be supplied, there is as yet no widely accepted clear meaning of this concept. This article examines the fundamental ambiguity of the term and its formal function as an ethical criterion including suggestions on its further use. This paper was presented at the 6th International Bioethics Conference on the subject of ‘The Responsible Conduct of Basic and Clinical Research’, held in Warsaw, Poland, 3–4 June 2005.     

Quality Criteria Under Methodological Pluralism: Implications for Conducting and Evaluating Research

Many community psychologists adhere to a methodological pluralist orientation to research; however, it is often unclear what such a position means in practice. This paper draws out the practical implications of methodological pluralism for community research. It proposes four sets of criteria for how research might be appraised under a pluralistic ethos: criteria applicable to all research, research-relevant community psychology values and principles, criteria specifically applicable to quantitative research, and criteria specifically applicable to qualitative research. The paper also addresses how pluralistic community research may be conducted, at each of three levels: integrating methods within a single study, using different approaches within a research program, and pluralism in the field as a whole.     

Patenting humans: Clones,chimeras, and biological artifacts

The momentum of advances in biology is evident in the history of patents on life forms. As we proceed forward with greater understanding and technological control of developmental biology there will be many new and challenging dilemmas related to patenting of human parts and partial trajectories of human development. These dilemmas are already evident in the current conflict over the moral status of the early human embryo. In this essay, recent evidence from embryological studies is considered and the unbroken continuity of organismal development initiated at fertilization is asserted as clear and reasonable grounds for moral standing. Within this frame of analysis, it is proposed that through a technique of Altered Nuclear Transfer, non-organismal entities might be created from which embryonic stem cells could be morally procured. Criteria for patenting of such non-organismal entities are considered. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “The Ethics of Intellectual Property Rights and Patents,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 23–24 April, 2004.     

Le don du corps à la science enfin encadré juridiquement

Until very recently, the decision to donate a body to science was governed solely by the funeral policy. There was no legal framework setting out how such bodies were to be used. The Descartes mass grave scandal set in motion a process of reflection that led to the introduction of several provisions in the French Public Health Code. Reception facilities must now be licensed and have governance in place. Use may only be made of bodies once plans have been reviewed by scientific and educational ethics committees, and donors must be better informed as to how their bodies will be used. Families are given wider scope for inclusion, meaning that they can be notified of the wishes of the deceased, and of the possibility of having the body returned to them for burial. These long-awaited legal provisions are a real step forward. However, it is unfortunate that this work did not provide an opportunity for wider reflection on the use of bodies, particularly for research purposes. In fact, the provisions and supervisory bodies change according to whether the ultimate goal is research on bodies arising from a donation, research on samples, or research on brain-dead persons. It would have been worthwhile to standardize procedures and control bodies, and perhaps to include research on antique corpses in this reflection.     

Psychologists' representations of gender identity between Spain and Greece: A qualitative cross-cultural study

Trans people's relationship with mental health providers carries historical tensions. Counseling services have been tied to standardized procedures or diagnostic certification of dysphoria and gender evaluations, while other psychosocial demands have been largely disregarded. Moreover, protocols and approaches focus disproportionately on Anglo-American frameworks, in terms of epistemic resources established to describe gender-diverse experiences. These issues affect both representations of gender identity and attitudes toward counseling. The present study aimed to address psychologists' accounts cross-culturally, by using qualitative data acquired through interviews with active practitioners from Spain and Greece. Eighteen qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in both countries in order to delve into the narratives related to trans mental health care provision. Thematic analysis using Atlas.ti was used to systematize the data. The accounts centered on gender identity representations and attributions, attitudes toward counseling, relationship with diagnoses, psychological approaches, and competent training. Findings point to the need for all-encompassing, obligatory training of psychologists on trans mental health, followed by situated considerations of the contextual factors that may contribute to experiencing gender diversity differently. More cross-cultural qualitative accounts are thus encouraged, to enrich and update the upcoming trans literature on the matter.     

The role of career adaptability resources in dual career pathways: A person-oriented longitudinal study across elite sports upper secondary school

ObjectivesObtaining education is an important milestone in athletes’ preparation for their professional career after sport. Literature indicates that combining school and sport is not an easy task for many aspiring youth athletes. It has been proposed that career adaptability, which refers to psychosocial resources enabling individuals to solve complex occupational transitions, present and anticipated vocational development tasks, and career related challenges could be a relevant concept for applied work with student-athletes. In this study, we examined whether there are distinct developmental profiles of career adaptability among adolescent athletes across the upper secondary school years. We also investigated the associations between career adaptability and sport withdrawal and academic achievement.Design and methodsA total of 391 Finnish-speaking student-athletes completed the questionnaire on career adaptability (Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Dual Career Form; Ryba & Aunola, 2015; Ryba et al., 2017) at the beginning and end of upper secondary school. The participants’ background information about their sport participation and grade point average were collected upon completion of each grade of upper secondary school. The data were analysed using cluster analysis, cross-tabulation, and one-way analysis of variance.ResultsFour distinct adaptability profiles were identified: higher adaptability, lower adaptability, increasing adaptability, and decreasing adaptability. Higher and lower adaptability profiles showed stable levels of adaptability across time, whereas the adaptability level either increased or decreased in the other two profiles. Student-athletes with a lower career adaptability profile were overrepresented among those who withdrew from competitive sports, and they reported lower grade point averages than those with higher scores of career adaptability.ConclusionsHigh scores of career adaptability were associated with high grades, whereas low scores of career adaptability were associated with low grades and a probability to withdraw from competitive sport. Therefore, it is recommended that career adaptability be considered as important self-regulation resources for sustaining dual career pathways over time.     

A practice-based study of cultural humility and well-being among psychotherapy clients

One trend in psychotherapy research involves examining client factors to better understand change. Some have framed client factors as virtues. Humility is one virtue that has gained attention with evidence that suggests humility may help facilitate therapeutic change. A specific type of humility, cultural humility, however, has not been closely examined as a client factor. Cultural humility is a relational virtue that addresses an individual's ability to be open towards cultural differences and can be helpful in buffering diverse relational dynamics (e.g., student and teacher, family members and friends with different beliefs). In this study, we examined client change in cultural humility and well-being using group-based trajectory modelling. We also examined differentiation as a predictor of trajectory membership and compared trajectories on levels of symptoms. Results suggested that a subgroup of clients showed significant increases in cultural humility and well-being. Further analyses found that clients with higher levels of initial differentiation were more likely to belong to the growth trajectory. This same trajectory also decreased in symptoms over time.