Initial Interview Research Articles

First-interview response patterns of intensive longitudinal psychological and health data.

Self-report data are essential in health psychology research where an individual's perception is critical to understanding one's health and psychological status. Intensive data collection over time, including daily diary assessments, is necessary in understanding within- and between-person variability in health and psychological processes over time. An "initial elevation or latent decline" (IELD) effect, inherent of self-report data, is increasingly acknowledged in the social psychology literature, but awareness of this effect in health psychology research is lacking, particularly in studies that emphasize within- and between-person variability in self-reports. The IELD effect is a pattern in which responses tend to be more extreme at the initial interview relative to subsequent responses. This paper illustrates the impact of IELD in applications of mixed-effects models based on observational self-reports and concludes that researchers take such effects into account in data analysis or in the research designing phase to help mitigate such effects.

New dental graduates transition into UK professional practice; a longitudinal study of changes in perceptions and behaviours through the lens of evidence-based dentistry

BackgroundThis longitudinal study using qualitative methodology aims to investigate the perceptions, and implementation, of evidence-based guidelines into practice among new dental graduates (NDGs) during their transition from university into professional practice, by identifying factors that influence the adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP) in dental practice.MethodsThe study invited NDGs from one UK dental school (N = 66) and employed longitudinal, multiple qualitative methodologies for data collection, throughout the participants’ Vocational Dental Training (VDT) year. Initial interviews (Interview 1) conducted upon graduation and follow-up interviews (Interview 2) carried out between six and nine months into professional practice were combined with participants longitudinal audio diaries (LADs) recorded between the interviews. The study.ResultsA total of 12 NDGs agreed to participate. For Interview 1, twelve participants were interviewed, seven of whom agreed to participate in Interview 2 and six recorded the LADs. Interview 1 exposed diverse views among NDGs about EBP, acknowledging its significance but facing obstacles in implementation due to time and financial constraints. They intended to use evidence selectively, often aligning with trainers’ or NHS treatment options, while hesitating to fully embrace EBP in a busy dental practice. During VDT, LAD entries showed initial enthusiasm for EBP, but integrating evidence-based guidelines within the NHS system led to pragmatic treatment decisions, balancing gold-standard and cost-effective options. Over time, NDGs became more comfortable with alternative treatments, considering patients’ financial constraints, yet they expressed frustration with external pressures limiting their clinical decision-making autonomy. In Interview 2, after six to nine months in practice, NDGs exhibited mixed attitudes towards EBP. Some actively used dental guidelines like SDCEP, others associated EBP with hi-tech or expensive materials, while others would thought to rely on colleagues’ recommendations. None consistently sought direct evidence for treatment decisions.ConclusionNDGs’ attitudes towards EBP changed and became more negative over their first year in professional practice, leading to challenges in their applying it. It questions the assumption that teaching EBP during undergraduate education ensures its implementation. Further understanding the influences on the development of attitudinal challenges will help to devise effective strategies for fostering lifelong learning and supporting evidence-based practice in dentistry.

Development of a digital intervention for psychedelic preparation (DIPP)

Psychedelic substances induce profound alterations in consciousness. Careful preparation is therefore essential to limit adverse reactions, enhance therapeutic benefits, and maintain user safety. This paper describes the development of a self-directed, digital intervention for psychedelic preparation. Drawing on elements from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing complex interventions, the design was informed by a four-factor model of psychedelic preparedness, using a person-centred approach. Our mixed-methods investigation consisted of two studies. The first involved interviews with 19 participants who had previously attended a ‘high-dose’ psilocybin retreat, systematically exploring their preparation behaviours and perspectives on the proposed intervention. The second study engaged 28 attendees of an ongoing psilocybin retreat in co-design workshops, refining the intervention protocol using insights from the initial interviews. The outcome is a co-produced 21-day digital course (Digital Intervention for Psychedelic Preparation (DIPP)), that is organised into four modules: Knowledge–Expectation, Psychophysical–Readiness, Safety–Planning, and Intention–Preparation. Fundamental components of the course include daily meditation practice, supplementary exercises tied to the weekly modules, and mood tracking. DIPP provides a comprehensive and scalable solution to enhance psychedelic preparedness, aligning with the broader shift towards digital mental health interventions.

Understanding Teachers’ Lived Experiences of Instructional Collaboration in Inclusive and Mainstream Settings: A Transcendental Phenomenological Approach

ABSTRACT This project investigates teachers’ lived experiences of instructional collaboration in mainstream and inclusive education settings, looking both at the factors that special and general education teachers believe hinder instructional collaboration, and those that teachers identify as critical to facilitating it. The study draws upon a transcendental phenomenological approach, with initial in-depth and follow-up interviews with nine special and general education teachers from the southern region of Saudi Arabia. The data analysis generated several themes and a number of sub-themes that helped provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. These themes were school culture, work pressure, and facilitating factors. Thus, examining the experiences of teachers in inclusive instructional collaboration settings revealed various factors that influence the successful implementation of this practice. Recommendations for future directions that may contribute to strengthening instructional collaboration in schools are discussed in the paper.

Using contextual problems to develop preservice mathematics teachers’ understanding of exponential and logarithmic concepts

Understanding a mathematical concept in real-world situations is of practical importance and would be helpful to learn the concept in depth. One potential way to help students learn mathematical concepts in real-world situations would be to engage them with contextual problems. Exponential and logarithmic concepts are essential topics in higher secondary and university curricula, and most students seem to have a procedural understanding of them, and their interpretation in real-world situations has less attention. We examined preservice teachers’ understanding in designing contextual problems for exponential and logarithmic statements. We conducted the study in two countries: Czech Republic and Iran. The process of this study included an initial interview, implementing a set of activities, and an exit interview. The results of the initial interview showed that the preservice teachers did not have enough understanding of exponential and logarithmic statements in real-world situations, but the class activities helped them to develop their understanding of these concepts in real-world situations. Indeed, the results of the exit interview showed that the preservice teachers came to a conceptual understanding in addition to their previous procedural understanding. We report characteristics of preservice teachers’ understanding that would be productive in teaching and learning exponential and logarithmic topics through contextual problems.

Navigating healthcare systems: A qualitative study on socially marginalised patients' experiences of hospital transition and support by social nurses.

Socially marginalised patients face many challenges related to their health condition and often have several contacts with healthcare and social service workers. The Danish social nursing initiative, whose nurses have experience and knowledge about marginalisation, aims to support socially marginalised patients during hospital admission and through hospital transitions. However, there is limited knowledge about the hospital transitions of patients being supported by a social nurse. The objectives of this study were to explore (1) the perspectives of socially marginalised patients on the transition from hospital to home and (2) how these patients experience the importance of social nursing on patient trajectories after hospital discharge. A qualitative study with a phenomenological and hermeneutic approach was performed at a large hospital in southern Denmark. Adult patients who had contact with a social nurse during hospital admission were purposely sampled. Data were collected between January 2023 and March 2023. Initial patient interviews were conducted during hospital admission with a second interview 7-22 days after discharge. Systematic text condensation was used for the analysis, and Nvivo 12 supported data storage and coding. The study is registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency (22/47509). Informed consent was given by the participants. Sixteen patients participated in the study. The participants experienced major challenges in their transitions from the hospital, which were generally related to their interactions with many different social and healthcare services. While the social nurses supported the patients and helped facilitate care during hospital admission and after discharge, the participants identified transitional care gaps related to multidisciplinary cooperation and standardised care options. This study identifies challenges related to the hospital transition of socially marginalised patients, which indicates a gap in healthcare services. Future research should focus on improving interprofessional collaboration with socially marginalised patients across healthcare services.

Driving to communicative approach: the innovative teaching speaking methods in Indonesian English immersion program

<span lang="EN-US">Students’ failure to be successful English learners is primarily due to uninteresting materials that lead to demotivation in learning. This research aimed to uncover the students’ motivation to study in the Indonesian English immersion program (IEIP) of </span><em><span lang="EN-US">Kampung Inggris Pare</span></em><span lang="EN-US"> and to investigate the innovative methods of teaching speaking as a communicative approach in the IEIP at </span><em><span lang="EN-US">Kampung Inggris Pare</span></em><span lang="EN-US">. This qualitative study with a micro-ethnography approach was conducted in four English course institutions by associating ten students and four teachers as participants. By having the initial interviews, the results revealed that most students perceived learning English at formal schools as unsatisfied. In comparison, the two months of observation in “the daffodils, Mr. Bob, Kresna, and Peace” English course institutions found that the teachers taught speaking by integrating the other skills and utilizing some sources. They could regulate and deliver the materials attractively based on their methods. The communicative methods employed namely teaching speaking through writing practice (TSWP), teaching speaking through listening practice (TSLP), and teaching speaking through visual media or pictures (TSVM). This study supports students learning English at the IEIP because it fits the purpose of communicative goals, which directs the students’ success.</span>

Teachers’ leading whole-class discussions in a mathematics lesson study: From initial understanding to orchestration in practice

This study aims to identify how mathematics teachers understand whole-class discussions and to know the influence of lesson study on the way they orchestrate these discussions. This is a qualitative study, conducted with two groups of middle school teachers. We analyze data concerning three teachers, Patrícia, Marta, and Diana, collected through initial individual interviews and observation of three research lessons. Data are analyzed by discourse analysis, establishing a relationship between the discourse about the teachers’ understanding of whole-class discussions in the initial interview and their subsequent orchestration of this lesson moment. From this relation, we consider the influence of the lesson studies on the teachers’ orchestration practice. The teachers’ discourse in the interviews suggest the existence of a tension between their understanding of the goals of a whole-class discussion and their practice in orchestrating the discussion, causing several challenges. The lesson study contributed to lower these tensions and challenges through the definition of a fluid lesson structure and the appreciation, selection and recording of the students’ activity, enriching the discussion. However, carrying out effective questioning and managing time proved to be complex challenges that deserve attention from further research.

Co-énonciation et mise en circulations des savoirs dans des contextes de travail

This paper aims to examine the mechanism of co-enunciation in two different institutional settings and the functions played by this phenomenon in these settings. To do so, the paper briefly presents an interactional and discursive perspective of the epistemic dimension. Next, we propose a definition of the notion of co-enunciation. This theoretical approach is used for analyzing examples of co-enunciation in the contexts of initial vocational training and assessment interviews in the field of early childhood education. In these two contexts, the circulation of knowledge leads to a certain instability of reciprocal epistemic positions. Consequently, co-enunciation constitutes a resource with which the participants reveal epistemic (a)symmetries between them and the degrees of affiliation that these (a)symmetries imply.

Parenting Styles and Psychosocial Factors of Mother-Child Dyads Participating in the ENDORSE Digital Weight Management Program for Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Semi-structured clinical interviews were conducted with all participating mothers pre-and post-intervention. The Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) evaluated the mothers' parenting styles. The psychosocial functioning of the participating children was assessed with the parental version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The relationship between parenting styles, psychosocial parameters, and weight outcomes was investigated using a linear regression analysis. Weight-related stigma at school (56%), body image concerns (66%), and difficulties in family relationships (48%) were the main concerns documented during the initial psychological interviews. According to the SDQ, there was a significant decrease in children's conduct problems during the study's initial phase (pre-pilot group). A decrease in maternal demandingness (i.e., strict parenting style) was associated with a decrease in BMI z-score (beta coefficient = 0.314, p-value = 0.003). Decreasing parental demandingness was associated with better weight outcomes, highlighting the importance of assessing parenting factors in pediatric weight management programs.

Scarcity mindset among schoolteachers: how resource scarcity negatively impacts teachers' cognition and behaviors.

A recent line of research investigates the negative cognitive effects - known as the scarcity mindset - that arise when people face a lack of resources. We expand on this research and show that these cognitive effects are present among Swedish schoolteachers facing a scarcity of time and social resources at work. From an initial interview study we developed novel survey scales to measure teachers' subjective assessments of available resources and the extent of their scarcity mindset. We then related resource scarcity of time and social resources to the scarcity mindset using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis in a survey study with a sample of Swedish schoolteachers. This research provides valuable insights for addressing resource constrained work environments in schools and contributes to the broader psychological research on cognitive effects resulting from resource scarcity.

Teachers’ difficulties and strategies in teaching reading online under text-based approach

Ministry of Education highlights the role of teachers in improving students' literacy, and the Text-Based Approach has shown its capability in improving students’ literacy skills. It can be seen that the Text-Based Approach is implemented in the latest curriculum Kurikulum Merdeka. In relation to the post-pandemic era, online learning is familiarly applied in educational settings. However, it is not easy to implement a Text-Based Approach in an online learning setting. Thus, this research seeks to investigate the difficulties in implementing a Text-Based Approach for teaching reading in the online setting and explore teachers’ strategies in dealing with the difficulties. This research used a qualitative method through open-ended questionnaires as an initial screening and online interview with five High School English Teachers in West Java, Bandung. The findings show that the issues faced by the teachers are miscommunication in learning due to unstable connectivity, limited teaching duration, and technical errors.

Barriers and Facilitators to Harm Reduction for Opioid Use Disorder: A Qualitative Study of People With Lived Experience

ObjectiveAlthough an increasing number of emergency departments (ED) offer opioid agonist treatment (OAT), naloxone, and other harm reduction measures, little is known about patient perspectives on harm reduction practices delivered in the ED. The objective of this study was to identify patient-focused barriers and facilitators to harm reduction strategies in the ED. MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of individuals in Massachusetts diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD). We developed an interview guide and interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an iterative process using reflexive thematic analysis. After initial interviews and coding, we triangulated the results among a focus group of four individuals with lived experience. ResultsWe interviewed 25 participants with opioid use disorder, 6 recruited from one ED and 19 recruited from OAT clinics. Key themes included accessibility of harm reduction supplies, lack of self-care resulting from withdrawal and hopelessness, the impact of stigma on the likelihood of using harm reduction practices, habit and knowledge, as well as the need for user-centered harm reduction interventions. ConclusionIn this study, people with lived experience discussed the characteristics and need for user-centered harm reduction strategies in the ED that centered on reducing stigma, treatment of withdrawal, and availability of harm reduction materials.

Educational Literacy Assistance and Training for Indonesian Migrant Children in Malaysia

Reading, writing, and counting are basic abilities that every student must have, especially at the elementary school level. Based on the results of initial observations and direct interviews with relevant community organizations, children have limited skills and abilities in reading, writing, and arithmetic due to certain conditions. This service is here to assist and train children of Indonesian migrant descent who live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This activity uses the foster sister method or approach, which includes reading, writing, and arithmetic assistance to improve the quality of human resources, especially in education. This educational literacy training can improve people's standard of living. Thus, children have access to knowledge in the fields of education, technology, and information. The results obtained from this activity were an increase in the reading, writing, and arithmetic abilities of children of WMI descent who live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Protocol to measure validity and reliability of colorectal, breast, cervical and lung cancer screening questions from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey: Methodology and design.

Previous studies demonstrate that self-reports of mammography screening for breast cancer and colonoscopy screening for colorectal cancer demonstrate concordance, based on adherence to screening guidelines, with electronic medical records (EMRs) in over 90% of those interviewed, as well as high sensitivity and specificity, and can be used for monitoring our Healthy People goals. However, for screening tests for cervical and lung cancers, and for various sub-populations, concordance between self-report and EMRs has been noticeably lower with poor sensitivity or specificity. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of lung, colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer screening questions from the 2021 and 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We present the protocol for a study designed to measure the validity and reliability of the NHIS cancer screening questions compared to EMRs from four US-based healthcare systems. We planned a randomized trial of a phone- vs web-based survey with NHIS questions that were previously revised based on extensive cognitive interviewing. Our planned sample size will be 1576 validity interviews, and 1260 interviews randomly assigned at 1 or 3 months after the initial interview. We are enrolling people eligible for cancer screening based on age, sex, and smoking history per US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations. We will evaluate question validity using concordance, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and report-to-records ratio. We further are randomizing participants to complete a second survey 1 vs 3 months later to assess question reliability. We suggest that typical measures of concordance may need to be reconsidered in evaluating cancer screening questions.

Developing a new questionnaire of positive contributions to Chinese families by children with autism spectrum disorder.

A literature review of both Eastern and Western literature regarding families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) revealed limited empirical research that examines ASD in China. Furthermore, most research in this area comes from a deficit model and there is a lack of research that comes from a strengths background. No previous study in China has looked at the positive contributions of children with ASD to their families. The present study came from a strengths-based perspective and aimed to develop a new questionnaire to evaluate the positive contributions made to families by children who have ASD in China and are raised by their respective families. It considered the severity level of the children's disorder and the impact this had on the parents. Besides examining the children's impairment levels, the study also examined positive contributions and their relationship with socio-demographic elements such as family income and employment status of the parents, which also seem to be related to the positive contributions experienced by the parents. First, based on the literature review, an initial qualitative interview protocol was developed and administered to 10 parents of children with ASD. Then, based on the analyses of the interviews, a quantitative questionnaire was developed to assess the positive contributions of children with ASD to their families. The questionnaire was then administered to 156 parents of children with ASD. The internal structure of the questionnaire was analyzed by factor analysis. The questionnaire's reliability and validity were also examined. The data were then analyzed with multiple correlation comparisons and an independent sample T-test. Six factors emerged for families of children with ASD. The results showed that the cumulative explanatory variance of the six dimensions of the questionnaire was 65.42%. The Cronbach's coefficient of each dimension was between 0.7 and 0.9, and the combined Cronbach's coefficient of the total questionnaire was 0.945. This study found that the overall average positive contribution to families by children with ASD was 3.32, which is at a medium level, and all six dimensions were at a medium-to-high level. This study also found that the family's monthly income contributed to the overall positive contribution, intimacy and happiness, and gaining more special knowledge through experience dimensions. Furthermore, it was found that moderate severity of ASD, high income, and parental employment were all associated with more positive contributions. This new questionnaire appears to have good reliability and validity and seems suitable for assessing the positive contributions to families by children with ASD in China. The present study may be helpful for the parents of children with ASD and will likely help them focus on the strengths of their children rather than their shortcomings. The study might also benefit counselors and researchers who would be able to use the new questionnaire to evaluate the positive contributions made to families by children who have ASD.

Does Background Type and Blurring Affect Performance Ratings in Video Interviews?

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) have become increasingly popular as alternatives (or complements) to more traditional face-to-face interviews. Yet, AVI research has been largely focused on applicant reactions or behaviors, and we still know very little about what influences how applicants are rated. Importantly, because AVIs afford applicants the flexibility to record their responses from their homes, the background they choose could influence raters’ judgments. This study examines whether raters’ (N=276 Prolific respondents with prior hiring experience) initial impressions and final ratings differ if applicants record their AVIs from a home-office, a bedroom, or use background blurring settings, as well as the role played by response quality. Final interview scores were positively associated with both initial impressions and applicant response quality. Yet, background type (or the use of blurring) was not associated with initial impressions or final interview scores.

Differences In Learning Concentration of Students Taught with Whiteboard Animation Media

This study originated from the lack of enthusiasm of students following the learning of milling machining in the classroom, because of the many distractions that make it difficult for students to concentrate. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a difference in students' learning concentration in the subject of milling machining techniques of vocational high school students when they are taught with whiteboard animation media and textbooks. This research design is a quasi-experiment with post-test only. Based on the researcher's consideration and initial interviews, the subjects of this study were formulated as two classes. The number of students for the experimental class XI TPM 1 (15 people) and the conventional class XI TPM 2 (15 people). The experimental class XI TPM 1 was given whiteboard animation learning media, while the conventional class XI TPM 2 was given conventional learning. To analyze the research data, t-test technique was used. The results of the t-test analysis showed that, compared to the conventional learning method, students learned milling machining techniques with higher concentration.

Voicing green learning in rural areas through service-learning: A participatory action research study

The paper explores the role of service-learning pedagogy in fostering green learning and skills, particularly in rural school setting. By triangulating data from photovoice, dyadic interviews, and reflective observations, the authors implemented an action research study, involving sixteen students from grades 5 to 8 in a Romanian public school. Initial and final interviews explored the participants' perceptions and strategies toward green learning, while photovoice documented their learning process. Observational tools further enriched data collection. The study found service-learning enhanced enjoyment, deep learning strategies, and a sense of community in multi-ethnic classrooms. Thus, experiential learning pedagogies coupled with participant research methods can significantly bolster green learning and competences.

Co-Designing a Conversational Agent with Frail and Impaired Older People to Enhance Ageing in Place through Self-management and Empowerment

Background: SMILE is a collaborative project between Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Canada, and Greece. The aim is to enable older people to live an independent and active life, irrespective of frailty, physical and/or cognitive impairments using eHealth solutions developed in co-creation with service users. The aim of the eHealth solution is to enable ageing in place, by combining prevention, prediction, communication, timely care, and assistance to help older people be engaged in their own condition and remain connected with their community. A user requirement specification and co-creation workshops was conducted in 2021 prior to the development of a Digital Care Facilitator (DCF) and a Conversational Agent (CA).
 Methods: The co-creation process entails initial interviews and observations conducted in Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands, and 4 phases of co-creation workshops with service users. The initial interviews and observations provided an overview of the service users current practices e.g., daily activities and self-management of own health condition, their use of technology, and insight into requirements and needs for a future eHealth solution. Specifically, nine areas of interest were identified: 1) clinical condition, 2) physical activities, 3) sleep quality, 4) nutrition and hydration, 5) hygiene, 6) mental health, 7) social health, 8) air quality and 9) entertainment. The nine features were presented and discussed among 16 participants with COPD at phase 1 workshops in Denmark and Norway in May 2022. The features were presented to the participants in paper format, where partici-pants could ask questions and share thoughts. Then the participants were given four post-it’s on which they individually could write down the four features they found most valuable and that met their daily needs the most.
 Results: The phase 1 workshops helped narrow down nine areas of interest, to four specific features to include in the design of a conversational agent (CA), based on direct input from service users. The four features from the phase 1 workshops include: 1) health condition, 2) daily activity 3) social life, and 4) circadian rhythm. Input from the participants suggest that the valuable features of interest can enable an independent lifestyle and wellbeing without being disease or diagnose specific. 
 Conclusion: The four features identified through input from the services user’s, formed the basis for development of a mock-up of the CA. The CA was presented at a phase 2 workshop, where input from user’s will be used to further develop and design the interface and the content of the CA and the DCF. The initial interviews and observations suggest that designing an interface for older frail people to ease information access and communication with care givers should not be specific to one condition but address how to support physiological, psychological, and social parameters that are meaningful for the age group. The results indicate that a focus on the four areas; health condition, daily activity, social life, and circadian rhythm, are relevant to ad-dress in future development of service design for older adults (65+), as they may contribute to increased empowerment, well-being and ageing in place.