Psychology Graduate Research Articles

Reputable and affordable programs with a strong commitment to diversity: Factors influencing school psychology student admission decisions.

A current issue in the field of school psychology is the extreme shortage of school psychologists, and this is likely to persist in the future. Effective recruitment into school psychology programs is one of the most important strategies to increase the number of school psychologists. Within the present study, researchers created the Graduate Enrollment Admissions Rating Scale (GEARS), a survey measuring several different factors that school psychology students consider when applying to graduate programs, to determine what factors contributed to school psychology students' choice of program. The GEARS was sent via email to current school psychology graduate students. Overall, current students rated program quality, including faculty friendliness, as the most important factor influencing their decision. Second, considerations reflecting the program cost were influential. Diversity issues were the third most important factor in students choosing their school psychology programs. Costs and research/teaching opportunities were more important in the recruitment of doctoral students than specialist students, but specialist students valued convenience of a program more than doctoral students. Results of this study suggest that faculty members in charge of recruiting need to consider ways to manage tuition costs, develop relationships with future students, and strive toward high-quality programs as the best ways to increase the likelihood that students will attend their university. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ranking the community psychology research output of institutions and authors: A new system of evaluating the field.

There have been multiple efforts to evaluate the contributions of the field of Community Psychology, and one of the more popular methods has involved gathering citations and articles published in Community Psychology journals. In recent years, several sites have gathered citation analysis and article publication rates so that it is now relatively easy to summarize settings and scholar rankings. In the current study, articles published in the two major journals of the field of Community Psychology over the past five decades were evaluated for these publications and citations. Findings indicated that several of the settings with highest publication and citation rates have not developed Community Psychology graduate programs, thus indicating that many publishing authors are in settings without formal graduate programs in Community Psychology. The benefits and limitations of this method of ranking programs and individuals are reviewed.

Facilitating Faculty Development for Training in Multicultural Competence in Health Service Psychology Graduate Programs Through an International Collaboration

Abstract: A critical aspect of strengthening graduate-level clinical and counseling psychology training in cultural competence is to build capacity among faculty teaching in these programs to provide effective training. We addressed this need through an international collaboration between a university in India and another in the United States that included faculty travel to another country, peer mentoring groups, and review of curricula. This article describes faculty perceptions of this program and its perceived impact on their professional development and outlines curricular and research outcomes that resulted from the program. Across 4 years, a total of eight faculty visits took place with Indian faculty ( n = 13) visiting the United States and US faculty ( n = 11) visiting India. After each visit, faculty at both institutions responded to open-ended questions about the usefulness of these visits and completed a rating scale at the end of the program through an online survey. Faculty from both countries indicated that the visits contributed to enhanced cultural awareness and sensitivity by broadening their perspectives and learning about cultural similarities and differences. Indian faculty described learning about new pedagogical methods and enhanced motivation to engage in research and publish, along with new collaborative opportunities. US faculty described incorporating cultural competence more centrally in their teaching and clinical supervision through increased commitment, as well as inclusion of more global and diverse content and assignments aimed to increase students’ cultural competence. These responses provide preliminary support for the usefulness of cultural immersion experiences for faculty professional development.

Give until It Hurts: An Exploratory Analysis of Mental Health Workers' Wellness.

The well-being of mental health professionals has been of growing concern due to the increasing rates of reported stress and burnout. Previous research suggests that the quality of life for mental health workers (MHWs) is at an increased risk due to clinical load, salary concerns, and lack of time for self-care activities outside of work. There is a lack of research regarding the wellness of MHWs (i.e., psychology graduate students, academic faculty, psychiatrists, and mental health counselors) and its relation to the workplace environment. This study examined job-related factors that impacted participants' social, emotional, and professional well-being. Participants were recruited via professional organization listservs and answered questions about their psychological health (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9), support systems (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), and three qualitative questions about what they enjoy or find challenging about their work and any barriers to engaging in self-care activities. An inductive qualitative analysis of the qualitative questions and descriptive statistics are presented to provide context for their qualitative responses. Institutions can better support their workers by creating outlets to teach their staff self-care strategies and practice these strategies at work.

B - 40 Mending the Trainee-to-Workforce Pipeline: Recruitment and Retention Strategies on Black Trainee Enrollment and Matriculation within Neuropsychology Programs.

This study intended to understand how Black trainees view the use and effectiveness of recruitment and retention strategies used by clinical psychology programs with a emphasis in neuropsychology. This pilot study included participants (N = 14) who were current trainees or early career neuropsychologists who identified as Black/African American. A computer-based survey was used to collect demographic, student, and early career neuropsychologist data wherein participants completed a 7-point Likert scale to rate the effectiveness of their program's use of 10 recruitment strategies and nine retention strategies. The strategies are based on research conducted by Rogers and Molina (2006) regarding recruitment and retention of students of color in clinical psychology graduate programs. Participants were contacted through APA listservs, particularly Division 40 and Division 45, within the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, and the Society for Black Neuropsychology. Results were descriptive due to a lack of power and were often variable. Over half indicated that their programs do not use recruitment materials geared toward minoritized applicants, and their programs did not use marketing materials designed to attract Black trainees. Regarding the effect that the presence of minoritized faculty mentors and their support of research in diversity-related issues have on retention, 28.6% of respondents reported that they are extremely effective retention strategies. As the U.S. continues to grow increasingly diverse, neuropsychology must be ready to meet this shift. The overwhelming majority of active neuropsychologists identify as Caucasian (Sweet et al., 2021). There is a responsibility to actively work toward the mending of the trainee-to-workforce pipeline.

Immediate and long-term outcomes of the Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE) Program

ABSTRACT Persistent racial inequities in the field of psychology have resulted in exclusion and marginalization of racially/ethnically minoritized (REM) students. This manuscript discusses the effectiveness of an endeavor to increase admission, recruitment, and retention of REM students, the Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE) Program. Study 1 examined the effectiveness of the second implementation of the virtual SCOPE program. Pre-post scores comparisons indicated decreases in perceived stress (d = .82), and increases in self-efficacy (d = .37), GRE knowledge (d = .81), application knowledge (d = .71), perceived application preparation (d = .85), and qualification (d = .53). Study 2 examined outcomes of previous SCOPE programs. Results indicated that the majority of participants were enrolled in a psychology graduate program. Results suggest that while SCOPE can benefit from curriculum modifications, there is initial evidence that SCOPE can make a significant impact in increasing equity in the field of psychology.

Characterizing Autism Training Experiences in Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Programs: Recommendations for Improving Training to Enhance Care

ABSTRACT Autistic individuals consistently experience long waitlists to access assessment and intervention. Additionally, they report difficulty obtaining integrated services for their co-occurring medical and mental health disorders. The current study seeks to explore the way that graduate school training may contribute to the specialized and siloed nature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment and intervention. Multiple sources of data were collected to understand training opportunities related to ASD, child mental health, and the integration of ASD and child mental health in American Psychological Association- (APA) accredited Clinical Psychology Ph.D. programs. Data were collected from information publicly available online, and from clinical psychology doctoral students and graduate program directors (GPD). Results indicate that most programs do not employ a faculty member whose work focuses on ASD. Additionally, ASD experience is encouraged, but not a required element of program curriculum. Therefore, most doctoral students do not obtain training in ASD assessment or intervention during graduate school. Even doctoral students who pursued ASD training experiences reported that they do not feel prepared to meet the mental health needs of autistic individuals. We discuss implications and provide recommendations for how doctoral programs can promote students’ proficiency and comfort diagnosing and supporting autistic individuals.

The invisible work of persisting: BIWOC students in school psychology doctoral programs.

There are growing calls to diversify the ranks of school psychology practitioners, graduate educators, and researchers by recruiting more students of color in school psychology doctoral programs. Past research on retention across many fields in higher education indicates that Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIWOC) students entering doctoral programs encounter isolation, lack of support, and microaggressions. Although this literature has illuminated how doctoral programs can push out BIWOC students, it has been critiqued for overlooking the creative and strategic means they use to stay in their programs. We analyzed 12 focus group interviews conducted with 15 BIWOC students in school psychology doctoral programs across the United States. Using the analytical construct of agency, we coded the transcripts to identify agentic actions of BIWOC that went beyond standard graduate school demands. We identified six types of actions that BIWOC carried out to combat the systemic barriers they encountered: teaching, protecting others, self-advocating, organizing, searching for community, and self-editing. Given that these actions were in addition to the basic program requirements, we argue that they are instances of the invisible work that BIWOC students did to persist in their doctoral programs. We discuss the implications of this invisible work and provide various recommendations for school psychology doctoral programs to reduce the burden of invisible work on BIWOC students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Training to be a Community Psychologist in the Age of a Digital Revolution

Reflecting on pedagogy and curricula that have shaped the field of community psychology, we review the history of training community psychologists since the field’s inception in the United States. We then examine relevant academic literature documenting how digital technologies in the 21st century have been successfully used in community-based participatory research (CBPR) studies conducted by community psychologists to promote engaged scholarship, the field’s core values (e.g. sense of community, social justice, collaboration), and its commitment to social change. While early ideas for improving scholars’ training emphasized adopting practices to meet changing community needs, our review of literature on CBPR and other community-engaged scholarly work by community psychologists in the last two decades has revealed that digital technologies’ ability to promote the field’s values and goals still needs to be fully harnessed. Lastly, we offer practical recommendations for community psychology undergraduate and graduate training programs to consider and implement so they can incorporate digital technologies into their programs and harness their potential to promote engaged scholarship, the field’s core values, and its commitment to social change.

The connection between cognitive psychology and society in light of career paths of cognitive psychology graduates

The connection between cognitive psychology and society in light of career paths of cognitive psychology graduates

Correlates of social justice values in school psychology graduate students.

School psychologists are well-positioned to serve as advocates for marginalized students to address educational inequities and challenge systemic barriers to well-being. However, if they do not personally endorse social justice values, they may be unwilling to take personal and professional risks to engage in social justice work. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which personal characteristics and multicultural competence are associated with social justice values in school psychology graduate students. A sample of 108 graduate students completed the Social Justice Scale, School Psychology Multicultural Competence Scale, and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Participants strongly endorsed having social justice values; however, they were less likely to report being in a context supportive of social justice work. There was no difference in reported social justice values based on gender or race; however, sexual marginalized students and those with very liberal political ideology reported more positive attitudes toward social justice. Students with very liberal political ideology also reported greater intent to engage in social justice actions in the future. Additionally, there were several positive correlations between social justice values and perceived multicultural competence. Multicultural competence accounted for most of the variance in participants' perceived ability to engage in social justice actions and being in environments supportive of social justice, while personal characteristics explained most of the variance in participants' intent to engage in future social justice actions. Notably, political ideology was the most consistent predictor of social justice values. Findings and implications for graduate education programs are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Dance/movement therapy pedagogy with Japanese psychology graduate students: facing ‘haji’

The Japanese cultural trait, haji can manifest as a barrier to self-expression in dance/movement therapy (DMT). Fifteen DMT groups were facilitated with three Japanese clinical psychology graduate students over eight months to cultivate Japanese psychology graduate students’ empathic, bodily, nonverbal interactions. A cultural protocol was developed to attend to the participants’ sense of haji: (1) Creating Ba (safe place), (2) Repetition of activities with kata (forms), and (3) Acquiring Kamae (embodied preparedness). The case study illustrates how the manifestation of haji can be used as an indicator to confirm a sense of safety. The importance of conveying the essence of DMT in a manner that takes into account the cultural protocols of the trainees are discussed. The authors recommend that educators pay attention to the blending of various influences in culture rather than dichotomising knowledge and practice.

Skills and Competencies Gained From a Psychology Bachelor's Degree: European Graduates’ Perspectives

Results from a survey conducted by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations Board of Educational Affairs are reported. A total of 227 psychology graduates from across Europe responded to an online survey. Participants were presented with a set of psychology subject-specific competencies and a set of general competencies and asked to rate the extent to which (a) their Bachelor studies supported the development of these competencies and (b) these competencies were relevant for employment as well as to comment on the value of a Psychology Bachelor degree. Findings suggest that an education in psychology develops psychological skills, but also graduates with more general competencies. Overall, psychological competencies appear to develop to a high level through the Bachelor in Psychology, with the exception of specific practical skills. On the contrary, general competencies appear to not develop to an adequate degree. Practical skills focusing on the administration of psychological tools, psychometric instruments and specialist software, as well as general competencies relating to computer literacy skills, communication skills and team-working skills should be further developed to prepare graduates adequately for employment. The study highlights the value of an education in psychology particularly for those individuals who do not wish to enter the applied psychology professions or academia.

Self-Care of Canadian School Psychology Graduate Students

This study assessed the predictive nature of professional self-care practices on various outcome variables (academic performance, psychological well-being, and affect) and investigated if self-care influenced the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being amongst school psychology graduate students across Canada. Participants included 102 Canadian school psychology graduate students (female: 94, male: 8, Mage: 26.9). Results indicated that professional support and life balance self-care practices predicted increased psychological well-being and that life balance predicted positive affect. Additionally, the results indicated that professional self-care practices strengthened the inverse relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being, suggesting that self-care practices can buffer the negative effects of perceived stress on well-being. These results highlight the important role that professional self-care plays for school psychology trainees and may guide researchers and practitioners on ways to improve self-care intervention practices within professional and training settings.

A national survey of doctoral psychology education and training in suicide risk and violence risk assessment and management.

When, in the judgment of a mental health professional, patient suicide risk and/or patient violence risk are considered imminent, they have been referred to as behavioral emergencies. Past surveys have suggested that education and training with these emergency situations have been inadequate. The present study was undertaken to obtain more current information on the training that psychologists receive in these areas of practice. All directors of APA-accredited graduate psychology programs and all directors of APA-accredited predoctoral psychology internship programs were asked to complete an online survey inquiring about such training provided in their programs. Results indicated that both sets of directors rated such doctoral training in suicide risk assessment and management as very important. Internship directors, however, were significantly more likely than graduate program directors to state that psychologists should be required to complete continuing education courses on other-directed violence risk. Serious gaps in training were identified; that is, only 59.2% of psychology graduate directors reported that their program offered training in safety planning for suicide risk and only 25.4% reported that their program offered training in safety planning for violence risk. Given that serious injury and even death can occur from patient suicidal behavior and/or a patient violent behavior, the implications of these findings are discussed.

Disseminating sleep education to graduate psychology programs online: A knowledge translation study to improve the management of insomnia.

Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) evaluation framework. Using a non-randomized waitlist control design, graduate psychology students attended a validated six-hour online sleep education workshop delivered live as part of their graduate psychology program in Victoria, Australia. Sleep knowledge, attitudes, and practice assessments were conducted pre- and post-program, with long-term feedback collected at 12 months. Seven out of ten graduate psychology programs adopted the workshop (adoption rate = 70%). The workshop reached 313 graduate students, with a research participation rate of 81%. The workshop was effective at improving students' sleep knowledge and self-efficacy to manage sleep disturbances using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), compared to the waitlist control with medium-to-large effect sizes (all p <.001). Implementation feedback was positive, with 96% of students rating the workshop as very good-to-excellent. Twelve-month maintenance data demonstrated that 83% of students had used the sleep knowledge/skills learned in the workshop in their clinical practice. However, more practical training is required to achieve CBT-I competency. Online sleep education workshops can be scaled to deliver cost-effective foundational sleep training to graduate psychology students. This workshop will accelerate the translation of insomnia management guidelines into psychology practice to improve sleep and mental health outcomes nationwide.

REVISITING COMPETENCE IN CLINICAL SUPERVISION

Competency-based approaches have been advocated in psychology graduate education and clinical training for over two decades, paralleling developments in medicine and other health professions. The competencies movement aimed at bringing greater accountability to the healthcare professions and to provide society with competent health service providers. Competency-based approaches to clinical supervision, including competency-based clinical supervision [1], [2] were developed to ensure the well-being of clients, facilitate the development of clinical competence, and protect the public. Although more than 6000 articles and books were published on clinical supervision from 2003-2021, relatively few explicitly focus on competence or competency-based approaches. And in practice, it appears that broad-based and systematic implementation of competency-based approaches has not been accomplished. The authors suggest that the failure to implement competency-based clinical supervision has significant consequences on mental health services. Effective, evidence-based services are critically needed given the increasing mental health acuity. The provision of evidence-based treatments requires the ’training-up’ of clinicians to establish competence in evidence-informed psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions. Developing competence would be best achieved through the use of competency-based approaches to training and clinical supervision. Barriers to implementation are discussed and a renewed call for implementation, including increased empirical research, is made.

College of Arts and Sciences Graduates’ Performance: A Tracer Study

The current undertaking aimed to trace the employability of Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Science in Psychology graduates of a State University in Central Luzon, Philippines from 2005 to 2020. Descriptive- quantitative research design was utilized in order to describe and trace the participants’ demographic profile, employment status, and their professional development. Graduates' personal, educational and employment background, as well as their perception to the relevance of the baccalaureate degree in their employment were collected using a survey- questionnaire anchored from CHED’s graduate tracer instrument. The study gathered data from 173 graduates through convenience sampling. Electronic survey forms were used in gathering the data and utilized SPSS version 23 for statistical analysis. Consequently, the collected data revealed that 94.7% of the participants were employed and 67% of them perceived that their degree is relevant to their employment. Lastly, the graduates reported that communication skills were the main contributory skill to their employment developed by their respective programs, while collaborative skills were the most useful.

Perceived barriers to seeking mental health treatment among clinical psychology graduate students.

Perceived barriers to seeking mental health treatment among clinical psychology graduate students.

Contributions of African-centered (Africentric) psychology: A call for inclusion in APA-accredited graduate psychology program curriculum.

Over the past few years, there has been increased visibility of, and attention paid to, enduring issues such as racial discrimination toward Black Americans. Black psychologists have been called upon to explain various race-related mental health issues to the public, as well as their colleagues and students. Discussions about how to heal from persistent, intergenerational, oppressive attacks on the African psyche are important, but the theories and treatments in which most practitioners are trained and considered "best practices" are Eurocentric in nature. African-centered (or Africentric) psychology is a well-established school of thought, predating the philosophies often discussed in Western/American psychology's History and Systems curriculum, that provides an authentic understanding of the psychology of people of African descent from an African perspective. In this article, we present the historical contention about the lack of inclusion of an African perspective in conceptualizing and addressing the psychological needs of people of African descent, provide an overview of African-centered psychology including its underlying worldview and philosophy, development, and key contributors, and advocate for the inclusion of Africentric psychology in APA-accredited psychology graduate programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).