Does participation in research lead to changes in attitudes among clinicians? Report on a survey of those involved in a French practice research network

Background/Objective: With increasing awareness of some of the limitations of randomised controlled trials as the ‘gold standard’ of psychotherapy evaluation, researchers at the start of the twenty‐first century have focused on a number of new priorities: developing studies in natural conditions; investigating the psychotherapeutic process to better understand the conditions, causes and mechanisms of change; and reducing the gap between clinicians and researchers. Can these three interrelated objectives be combined? Method: A French psychotherapy practice‐based research network (PRN) is used as a field of research for these issues. A survey was used to investigate the conditions that encouraged the clinicians to participate in the PRN study within the context of clinicians’ general opposition to research. Results: Several elements emerged as the key to clinicians’ positive involvement in research: the methodology implemented (intensive case studies during one year); the choice of measures; the constant attention to the practicalities and the potential contribution of studies to clinical practice; the organisation of work in peer groups; the training methods; the use of new information technologies and the sense of participation in a project that would support the profession. Implications: These elements are briefly discussed in relation to the question of how best to encourage clinicians to engage with research.     

中学生消费价值观在家庭理财教育方式与消费决策风格之间的中介作用

目的：考察中学生消费价值观在家庭理财教育方式与消费决策风格之间的中介作用。方法：377名中学生完成了中学生消费价值观问卷、家庭理财教育方式问卷和中学生消费决策风格问卷。结果：父母积极的教育方式可通过树立合理的消费价值观来促进中学生形成理性的决策风格;父母消极的教育方式一方面通过树立不合理的消费价值观助长中学生非理性的决策风格,另一方面通过减弱合理的消费价值观来减弱其合理的决策风格。结论：中学生消费价值观在家庭理财教育方式与消费决策风格之间起中介作用。     

VALUES IN SCIENCE

Abstract In this essay, which was his presidential address to the Philosophy of Science Association, Ernan McMullin argued that the watershed between “classic” philosophy of science (by this meaning, not just logical positivism but the logicist tradition in theory of science stretching back through Kant and Descartes to Aristotle) and the “new” philosophy of science can best be understood by analyzing the change in our perception of the role played by values in science. He begins with some general remarks about the nature of value, goes on to explore some of the historical sources for the claim that judgement in science is value‐laden, and concludes by reflecting on the implications of this claim for traditional views of the objectivity of scientific knowledge‐claims.     

Stressful Events and Temperament Change during Early and Middle Adolescence: The TRAILS Study

This project investigates how stressful events are related to deviations from normative temperament development during adolescence. Temperament traits were assessed at ages 11 and 16 years. Life‐event data was captured using an interview (total n = 1197). Normative changes were found in all traits. A linear trend was found between the experience of stressful events and temperament development. Adolescents exposed to stressful events showed smaller decreases in fear and shyness, stronger decreases in effortful control and affiliation and smaller increases in high intensity pleasure. Exposure to stressful events was related to increases in frustration instead of decreases. Our results show that whereas normative development is mostly in the direction of maturation, adolescents who experienced stressful events showed less maturation of their temperament. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Processes of Social Influence on Sampling Behavior: The Effect of Other's Positive Attitude and Receiver's Prior Experience

Studies about attitude formation have pointed out the importance of sampling behavior. When thinking about actual social interaction scenes, it may be better to consider them as attitude-updating processes between those who have already formed attitudes based on some experience. Sixty-five participants took part in the experiment, in which the other's positive attitude and the participant's own prior experience were manipulated. After participants had been presented five types of puzzles (experience: direct vs. indirect), which had been made to improve analytic ability, their attitudes towards the puzzles were measured (“pre attitude”). They were shown the other's positive attitude (inconsistent vs. consistent), and they were given 10 min of free time before “testing on their analytic ability.” The amount of time spent on each puzzle was recorded to index sampling behavior and the attitudes towards the puzzles were measured after the free time (“post attitude”). The results of analyses showed that the other's positive attitude increased sampling behavior when the participant's attitude was positive (first-ranked) and negative (fifth-ranked), and that prior experience and sampling contributed to attitude change for the first-ranked puzzle. Those who had had direct experience and those who had spent more time sampling this puzzle tended to maintain their previous positive attitude. The potential boundary conditions of social influence on sampling behavior are discussed.     

Client Versus Clinicians’ Standards of Clinically Meaningful Change and the Effects of Treatment Expectations on Therapeutic Outcomes in Individuals With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

There is limited research on the concordance between client perceptions and clinician standards of the degree of symptom change required to achieve meaningful therapeutic improvement. This was investigated in an adult sample (N = 147) who received trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We examined whether clients’ benchmarks of change were related to actual outcomes and the relationship between client expectations and their treatment outcomes. Clients completed measures indexing the level of symptom reduction required (in their view) to reflect a benefit or recovery from treatment and treatment expectations. Actual PTSD severity was indexed pre- and posttreatment via self-report and clinician-administered interview. Results demonstrated that the amount of change clients said they required to experience a benefit or recovery was significantly larger than typical clinical research standards. Nonetheless, the majority of client benchmarks of change (79.7–81.8%) were consistent with clinical research standards of what constitutes benefit or recovery. Client benchmarks were generally positively correlated with their actual outcomes. Clients’ belief that treatment would be successful was associated with greater reductions in PTSD symptoms. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the standards used to determine clinically significant change are somewhat consistent with clients’ own perceptions of required symptom change.     

Temporal Relationship Between Change in Subjective Distress and PTSD Symptom Decrease During Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

There is growing evidence that change in distress is an indicator of change during Prolonged Exposure (PE) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, temporal sequencing studies investigating whether change in distress precedes PTSD symptom decline are lacking. These studies are essential since the timeline between indicators of change and treatment outcome is a key assumption for mediation. The aim of the present study was to assess the temporal relationship between within- and between-session change in subjective distress and PTSD symptom decrease. We analyzed session data from 86 patients with PTSD. Data were analyzed using dynamic panel models. We distinguished temporal effects (within-persons) from averaged effects (between-persons). Results regarding the temporal effect showed that within-session change in subjective distress preceded PTSD symptom improvement while the reversed effect was absent. Averaged within-session change in subjective distress was also related to PTSD symptom improvement. Results regarding the temporal effect of between-session change in subjective distress showed that it did not precede PTSD symptom improvement. Averaged between-session change in subjective distress was related to PTSD symptom improvement. This study provides evidence for within- but not between-session change in subjective distress as indicator of change during PE. We also found that the way of modeling potential indicators of change affects results and implications. We recommend future studies to analyze mediators during treatment using temporal rather than averaged effects.     

Assessment of data glasses for motorcycle riders in a simulated lane change test

Relevant riding information such as speed or navigation instructions are typically displayed in head down dashboards on Powered Two-Wheelers. Data glasses provide information directly in the field of view and could, therefore, reduce glances away from the roadway ahead to focus on the dashboard. This study aimed to examine whether providing information in data glasses while riding as compared to classical head down displays makes a difference. Therefore, a total of N = 24 riders completed the ISO lane change test on a motorcycle riding simulator. Meanwhile, riders had to react to changing turn-by-turn indications which were either displayed in the dashboard, in the data glasses or redundantly in both display technologies. The performance in the lane change test and the reaction times achieved in the secondary task were examined along with riders’ workload by means of the Detection Response Task (DRT) and questionnaire data. Results revealed that riders’ lane change performances did not differ between the conditions ‘data glasses’ and ‘dashboard’. Information displayed in the data glasses was recognized faster and fewer turn-by-turn indications were missed. The performance in the DRT remained unchanged throughout the test conditions, while the subjective workload experience decreased with the use of data glasses. Overall, the results suggest that data glasses did not provoke an attentional capture effect and were, therefore, not inferior compared to dashboards regarding riding performance. However, data glasses did reduce the perceived workload and may in particular provide a safety benefit when time-critical information, such as warnings, need to be displayed.     

The effect of cultural values on pro-environmental attitude in the context of travel mode choice: A hierarchical approach

The cultural theory explains social behavior through four elementary types of cultural values consisting of hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, and fatalism. The knowledge of how these values influence attitudes and behaviors specifically pertain to the environment is limited. Understanding individuals’ values and attitudes should be addressed in travel mode choice based on possible impacts of transportation on the environment. This study investigates the effect of cultural values on pro-environmental attitude and the influence of this attitude on travel mode choice in light of a hierarchical latent choice model. The model is estimated using data from a random sampling in CBD (Central Business District) of Tehran, Iran. The pro-environmental attitude, which is postulated to be affected by cultural values, is considered as the latent variable directly affecting travel mode choice. The cultural values drivers of pro-environmental attitude have been seen in a hierarchical structure. The estimated results show that hierarchical cultural tendency has the strongest and positive effect on being pro-environmental. Also, individualistic culture indicates a positive trend in being pro-environmental. On the other side, people with egalitarianism value tend to report an orientation towards pro-environmental attitude. Moreover, pro-environmental attitude increases the utility of public and active modes of transportation and a negative significant effect is found on the utility of private car and motorcycle.     

Multimodal travel behaviour,attitudes, and cognitive dissonance

Multimodal travel behaviour, also termed multimodality, refers to as the phenomenon of an individual using more than one mode of transport in a given period. Studies indicate that encouraging multimodality may provide a solution to induce modal shifts towards sustainable transport. In this research, we investigate the distribution of mode-specific attitudes and attitude-mode use incompatibilities across clusters and levels of multimodality using the Netherlands Mobility Panel. We find that the most positive attitude does not necessarily correspond to the mode with the highest level of use. Attitudes towards car use are most positive, independent of the cluster membership and levels of multimodality. We also find that multimodal public transport users (compared with car-dominant users) and those with a higher level of multimodality are more likely to be attitudinally incompatible with frequently-used modes and the composition of their existing mode sets of travelling. This suggests that multimodal individuals may tend to experience cognitive dissonance with their mode use. Our findings also help uncover the psychological mechanism underlying a recent important finding that multimodal individuals are inclined to change their mode use patterns over time.