Depression symptoms in Canadian psychology graduate students: Do research productivity, funding, and the academic advisory relationship play a role?

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders affecting university students (Rimmer, Halikas, & Schuckit, 1982; Vazquez & Blanco, 2008); however, undergraduate students have received the majority of the research focus. The limited research available on graduate students suggests they may also be vulnerable to developing depression (Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein, & Hefner, 2007). The current investigation provides initial data on depression symptoms in Canadian psychology graduate students. Participants included psychology graduate students from across Canada (N = 292; 87% women) who were currently enrolled in clinical, experimental, counselling, and educational programmes. Each of the participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) and measures of: funding, research productivity, hours worked, and their advisory relationship. A substantial proportion of students (33%) reported clinically significant symptoms of depression (CES-D > 16), with a significant minority reporting severe symptoms of depression and impairment. There were no differences in symptom reporting across programme type; however, results of regression analyses indicated that advisory relationship satisfaction and greater current weekly hours worked were significant predictors of depressive symptoms for students enrolled in experimental programmes. In contrast, depression symptoms were unrelated to funding, research productivity, hours worked, and advisory relationship satisfaction for students in all other programmes. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training graduate students to be clinical supervisors: A survey of Canadian professional psychology programmes.

Recognising the need for training in clinical supervision, the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) requires that accredited professional psychology programmes offer graduate students training in supervision. To fill a gap in the existing supervision literature, we surveyed training directors (or designates) of CPA accredited clinical and counselling programmes to understand how this training standard is currently being met in the area of clinical supervision. Responses were obtained from 20 of 28 programmes (71.4% response rate). Approximately 50% of respondents indicated that their programmes required some coursework related to clinical supervision, with wide variability, however, in the number of hours of coursework provided to students (range 3 to 39). Most courses included lectures and group discussion, but also often provided students with practical experience in clinical supervision provision. Only 25% of programmes required a practicum in which students gained experience in clinically supervising other students, although an additional 40% of programmes offered an elective practicum in which students gained some training in clinical supervision. Most programmes (~71%) identified strategies for improving training in clinical supervision (e.g., improving course work, requiring practical experience), but also identified challenges to offering clinical supervision training (e.g., availability of skilled supervisors, insufficient time to devote to supervision, student competency). Based on the findings, we offer some recommendations for how training in clinical supervision could be improved in Canadian professional psychology programmes as well as describe some important directions for future research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology graduate students' perceptions of their scientific and practical training: A Canadian perspective.

The scientist-practitioner model is the most commonly used training modality in Canadian clinical psychology graduate programmes. Despite pervasive endorsement throughout Canadian psychology programmes, there is a paucity of data available on Canadian student opinions of the model's implementation. The current study assessed 134 students from 9 provinces with a 38-item questionnaire developed by the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology for assessing students' perceptions about the quantity, quality, and breadth of science training in their clinical psychology doctoral programmes. Most students described their programs as providing a mix of research and clinical focus, with slightly more weight given to research. Science training was reported as very important to students, with indications they receive a good amount of high-quality training in science. Moreover, there was a high level of agreement between desired levels of science training and the science training received. Implications for future research and training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

International student perspectives on graduate advising relationships.

International graduate students experience a number of unique challenges as they transition through their training programs. Surprisingly, relatively little research has been conducted on perhaps one of the most crucial predictors of international students’ retention and success within their graduate programs: the advising relationship. Using a total of 367 diverse students who responded to a universitywide survey of international students, the authors were able to use quantitative and qualitative analyses to (a) support the adequacy of the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory (L. Z. Schlosser & C. J. Gelso, 2001) for measuring alliance factors in advising relationships for international students; (b) show that some ratings of alliance were lower than a comparison group of U.S. domestic students; (c) determine that alliance ratings had minimal association with grade point average, gender, or college-level area of study, but were substantially associated with advising satisfaction and desire to change advisors; and (d) reveal themes in advising experiences reflecting constructive and destructive advising experiences. The social justice and future implications of the results are consistent with many historical and contemporary emphases in counseling psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology graduate student training in developmental disability: A Canadian survey.

Psychology graduate student training in developmental disability has received very little attention in North America, and no study has examined the state of training for clinical and counselling psychologists in Canada, despite their involvement in the controlled act of diagnosis and their use of standardised instruments used regularly with this population. This study sought to examine psychology graduate student training in the area of developmental disability across Canada. We invited students from every Canadian Psychological Association accredited Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, and Counselling Psychology program to participate in an online survey, distributed through university email lists. Three hundred and three students reported on the developmental disability content within their training and coursework, their perception of the adequacy of that content, and their ideas for program improvement. Results indicated that the majority of students believed it important to have training in developmental disability, yet struggled to obtain adequate didactic and experiential opportunities. The lack of sufficient training was most pronounced for students whose training was adult-focused, but was also high for students with a life span or child focus. We discuss different possibilities for increasing developmental disability training opportunities, including integrating its content within courses on assessment and diagnosis, psychotherapy, and ethics, and providing students with supervision from psychologists who work with this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dyadic perspectives on advisor-advisee relationships in counseling psychology doctoral programs.

The authors present the results from a study investigating advisor-advisee relationships in counseling psychology doctoral training. Participants were 47 advisor-advisee dyads who were currently working together in an advising relationship. The results indicated that advisors and advisees exhibited significant agreement in their assessments of their advisory working alliance, the smoothness of their recent interactions, and the advisee's research competence. Alliance ratings were also associated with several relevant training variables. Neither science nor practice interest similarity between advisor and advisee was related to the quality of the advising relationship. Implications of the advisor-advisee working alliance for doctoral training are discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate training for managed care: A national survey of psychology and social work programs.

Although there is much discussion within the professional literature about the training needs of graduate students in response to managed care, little empirical research exists that assesses the extent to which graduate programs provide training opportunities in this field. The present study surveyed graduate program training directors in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and social work about the training opportunities available for their graduate students. Almost 60% of the respondents indicated that they provide some type of training related to managed care. Implications and applications of these results are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues in the education and training of women in Canadian psychology.

The high attrition rate of female students in graduate programmes in psychology is documented. Some of the literature (largely American) on the problems of female students is explored for possible reasons for this high rate. The problem areas identified are: admissions practices, financial support, inflexibility of graduate programmes, faculty attitudes toward graduate students, scarcity of female role models, and psychology as a "masculine" discipline. Recommendations for action by the Canadian Psychological Association are made in each of the problem areas with a special plea for the inclusion, in both graduate and undergraduate psychology programmes, of courses on the female experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of Canadian clinical psychology educators: Recommended readings.

Surveyed Canadian clinical psychology educators to compile a list of recommended readings for clinical training. 36 faculty members from 18 clinical psychology programs completed a survey asking about their training orientation and the 10 best references for training clinical psychology graduate students. The 15 most frequently endorsed references and the 12 most frequently endorsed authors are presented, along with the total number of endorsements by subject area. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The power of multiple methods and evidence sources: Raising the profile of Canadian counselling psychology research.

In counselling psychology, research and practice are viewed as mutually informative, and Canadian counselling psychologists conduct research in a wide range of areas, utilizing a wide range of research methods. However, there are few Canadian publications that give prominence to counselling psychology scholarly work. Over the past decade, two trends have become more prominent in the practice of counselling psychology: evidence-based practice and outcome-focused intervention. Traditionally, empirical evidence for the efficacy of practice interventions has come from randomized controlled trials. This fails to reflect the diversity of methods and practice that Canadian counselling psychologists utilize. To address this discrepancy, in this article we provide some alternate ways for obtaining empirical support for the predictive efficacy of counselling interventions. We conclude by addressing some challenges currently facing counselling psychologists in Canada (i.e., publication venues, funding for research, the connection between research and practice, preparation of students) and describing some ways for raising the profile of counselling psychology research and practice in Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A qualitative examination of graduate advising relationships: The advisee perspective.

Sixteen 3rd-year counseling psychology doctoral students were interviewed about their relationships with their graduate advisors. Of those students, 10 were satisfied and 6 were unsatisfied with their advising relationships. Satisfied and unsatisfied students differed on several aspects of the advising relationship, including (a) the ability to choose their advisors, (b) the frequency of meetings with their advisors, (c) the benefits and costs associated with their advising relationships, and (d) how conflict was dealt with in the advising relationship. Furthermore, all of the satisfied students reported that their advising relationships became more positive over time, whereas many of the unsatisfied students reported that their advising relationships got worse (e.g., became more distant) over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between scientific and theoretical orientation among clinical psychology doctoral students.

Examined the relationship between theoretical orientation and research attitudes and interests among 233 doctoral students in clinical psychology. Responses to a survey sent to 10 doctoral training programs indicated that behaviorally oriented students are more interested in conducting research and are more likely to endorse the basic tenets of science than those students expressing a preference for psychodynamic or humanistic orientations. Behavioral students were also younger and more likely to have majored in psychology as undergraduates, suggesting an earlier commitment to a career in psychology. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the role of training programs in encouraging clinical psychology graduate students to become better consumers of scientific literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring the working alliance in advisor–advisee relationships in graduate school.

Drawing from the working alliance literature, the authors constructed the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory (AWAI) to measure the graduate advising relationship from the student's perspective. Two hundred eighty-one counseling psychology doctoral students participated in the 1st study (79% response rate). Three factors (Rapport, Apprenticeship, and Identification-Individuation) were extracted by factor analysis. The AWAI showed very good internal consistency reliability. Scale validity was supported by positive correlations between the AWAI and measures of advisee research self-efficacy and attitudes toward research, as well as the perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness of the advisor. Forty-one students participated in the 2nd study, in which the AWAI demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability over a 2-week interval. Implications of the advising working alliance are discussed for doctoral training and areas for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Case presentations: A key method for evaluating core competencies in professional psychology?

The clinical psychology training literature highlights the need to evaluate student competency in core competencies (e.g., assessment, intervention, interpersonal relationships, research, ethics, supervision). One such evaluation method that allows for a broad-based examination of core competencies is the oral case presentation. The oral case presentation is not new to clinical psychology, but the use of this method to evaluate core competencies has not been extensively discussed. We conducted a Web-based survey on the use of case presentations to evaluate students in professional psychology programmes in Canada. Responses were obtained from 20 of 28 Canadian Psychological Association (CPA)-accredited programmes. Respondents reported on the use of the oral case presentations in the evaluation of students and the perceived value of case presentations. The majority of respondents (N = 14) reported that students gave an oral case presentation during the course of training. Most of these programmes required the case presentation in the fourth year (N = 8), a point in time when competency might be best assessed. Only very few programmes (N = 3) reported that the case presentation was evaluated by a committee, with formal guidelines to assess the case presentation. The case presentation was viewed as being helpful for evaluating several different abilities (e.g., case conceptualisation, awareness of metaknowledge, use of research in practice, reflective skills). Overall, the case presentation was positively evaluated, but appears underutilised in Canadian professional psychology programmes to evaluate clinical competency. To encourage further use of this method for formal evaluation, guidelines for presentations and evaluation are provided. Future directions for research are also outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional issues in Canadian counselling psychology: Identity, education, and professional practice.

The past decade has seen significant growth in counselling psychology's professional identity, increased visibility of the specialization within applied psychology, and advances in doctoral training and accreditation by the Canadian Psychological Association. The current article details professional issues associated with the recent evolution of the field, including the establishment of a strong professional identity for the profession, developments and challenges associated with graduate training (e.g., the limited availability of predoctoral internships), and the implications of the dynamic, changing workplace environment for graduates affiliated with counselling psychology. Recommendations are offered for continued development of the specialization in its Canadian context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applied training programmes of psychology in Canada: A survey.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 12(2) of Canadian Psychologist Psychologie Canadienne (see record 2007-02141-045). Page 49 contains an error regarding the available staff for applied training programs at the University of Victoria. The correct figure under column 7 (staff, full-time, psychology) should not be 40. Instead the correct figure for 1971-72 should be 11; under "staff, other departments", 4 should be listed; under "staff, part-time", 1 should be listed; under "staff in applied settings", 3 should be listed.] A survey of professional applied training programmes in the Canadian universities was carried out in 1969. Reported were 29 programmes: 17 in clinical psychology, 4 each in counselling and school psychology, one each in educational psychology and learning disabilities and 2 in experimental psychopathology. The number of places in the universities was related to the expected manpower requirements. Information was also given concerning the numbers of teachers in each programme, the types of applied settings utilized, and the different courses offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of clinical psychology training in Canadian federal corrections: Implications for psychologist recruitment and retention.

Although survey results seem to indicate an abundant interest among Canadian psychology graduate students in pursuing training in criminal justice psychology, the recruitment and retention of psychologists in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has been of some concern. The present study is a 2008 survey of sites within CSC that provide opportunities for clinical psychology training with offender clientele. Survey findings demonstrated that a broad range of clinical psychology training opportunities were available across 16 sites. The most frequently cited barrier to providing training was lack of time by prospective trainers, and sites reported retaining relatively few of their trainees for subsequent psychologist positions. Information was also obtained regarding vacant psychologist positions across CSC regions. In light of survey findings, substantive discussion is devoted toward the issues of psychologist recruitment and retention in Canadian federal corrections, including a discussion of both potential and existing training initiatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional ethics for graduate students in psychology.

Results of 2 independent questionnaires concerning the availability of courses on ethics for graduate students in psychology sent to various schools offering graduate work in psychology are combined. "Very few departments offer a course solely on professional ethics in psychology though several expressed plans for one in the future." "Ethics is handled best on a graduate level, in a seminar or colloquium, preferably on a required basis for all students, and definitely so for clinical students." "The APA code of professional ethics and journals are preferred sources of reference." "Professional training in ethics is a recent phenomenon coinciding with the APA research in this area and with the rise of clinical psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists and rehabilitation: New roles and old training models.

The role of psychologists in physical rehabilitation settings has expanded considerably over the past decades. Unfortunately, the lack of clarity regarding roles, functions, and research of psychologists in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings has hampered efforts to establish guidelines for training graduate students to work in rehabilitative settings. Despite ongoing debate since the Princeton Conference in 1958, no guidelines have been recommended by Division 22 of the American Psychological Association (Division of Rehabilitation Psychology) for training doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology programs for work in rehabilitation. This article asserts that psychology graduate students who want to work in physical rehabilitation settings should (a) have core training in psychology and (b) receive coursework and practica in working with persons who have chronic illnesses and injuries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health care psychology and graduate education.

Contends that health care (HC) psychology should be more strongly emphasized in graduate clinical psychology training programs so that clinical psychologists can better meet demands for services that come from society, the HC field, clinical psychology itself, practicing clinical psychologists, and clinical psychology graduate students. The relationship of clinical psychology to HC psychology and the efficacy of training in HC psychology to meet those sources of demand are described. Various means of implementing graduate programs that stress or include HC psychology are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)