Do haphazard reviews provide sound directions for dissemination efforts?

Comments on The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments: A review of current efforts (see record 2010-02208-010) by Kathryn R. McHugh and David H. Barlow. The lead article in the February–March issue by McHugh and Barlow (2010) emphasized the need for “dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments.” The authors identified a number of intervention programs as evidence based and in need of dissemination. One is multisystemic therapy (MST). They claimed that this program is among “the most successful dissemination efforts . . . pursued by treatment developers” (p. 79). McHugh and Barlow’s (2010) discussion of the implementation of MST in Hawaii is troubling, because it neglected to mention concerns about the perceived lack of cultural sensitivity of the MST program in that state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychotherapy" Versus "Treatment".

Presents a comment on "Psychological treatments" (see record 2004-21168-001) by D. H. Barlow. Barlow proposed that we distinguish between the terms "treatment" and "psychotherapy." The author believes that not only is the distinction unnecessary, but that its implications could have negative consequences for the field of clinical psychology. It is the proposed distinguishing feature that treatments are "specifically tailored to the pathological process that is causing the impairment and distress" that is most problematic. Clinical psychology does not need a distinction that further exacerbates the split between researchers and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative treatment effects: Is it time for a black box warning?

Comments on Negative effects from psychological treatments: A perspective by David Barlow (see record 2009-24989-002). The author addresses negative treatment effects in the psychotherapy field by stating that Barlow provided a historical perspective of clinical psychology’s long-standing interest in studying the positive effects of psychotherapy, and he indicated that although negative treatment effects have long been identified, little attention has been paid to them. Barlow also recommended a greater emphasis on more idiographic approaches to studying negative effects. He further added that “this would be best carried out in the context of a strong collaboration among frontline clinicians and clinical scientists”. I would argue that this may best be carried out between frontline clinicians and their clients. So the science that we use may not be clinical mandates prohibiting, for example, certain treatments but may simply be the sharing of our scientific knowledge about clinical possibilities so as to better inform clients about the treatment they are considering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nursing and Psychological Treatments.

Presents a comment on "Psychological Treatments" (see record 2004-21168-001) by D. H. Barlow. In his article, Barlow pointed to the need "to solidify the identification of psychology as a health care profession" by changing the terminology of practice in the health care context from psychotherapy to psychological treatments and suggested that the only persons qualified to carry out such interventions are doctoral-level psychologists. Unfortunately, there was no discussion of the health care professionals who already provide psychological treatments in health care settings and their contribution to the evidence base supporting such treatment. The authors find several aspects of the article to be problematic. Overall, the authors feel that suggesting that psychology should claim treatment of psychological disorders and psychological components of physical disorders in health care settings as exclusively its own domain ignores the research and clinical contributions of others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The case for using research on trait narcissism as a building block for understanding narcissistic personality disorder: A clarification and expansion.

We appreciate the thoughtful commentaries provided by Drs. Widiger (see record 2010-17135-006), Krueger (see record 2010-17135-007), and Blais and Little (see record 2010-17135-008) on our initial article (see record 2010-17135-004). These authors and prominent scholars have provided a number of compelling points both in support of and in opposition to the central tenets of our article. In what follows, we clarify and expand on our own position as it was interpreted in the commentaries of Krueger and Blais and Little. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating and reporting sex differences: Methodological importance, the forgotten consideration.

Comments on the article on guidelines for doing nonsexist research by M. C. McHugh et al (see record 1987-00069-001) and the ensuing debate on reporting sex differences in research. The authors argue the methodological importance of such reporting but also of distinguishing sex differences on a dependent variable from differences in sex-by-treatment interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reporting sex differences.

Comments on an article by M. D. McHugh et al (see record 1987-00069-001) advocating rules to limit the reporting of sex differences in psychological research. The present author takes issue with the views expressed and concludes that the complete and precise reporting of all sex comparisons should foster accurate scientific understanding of the importance—or unimportance—of sex and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

History, Politics, and Transformational Change in Canadian Health Care: A Rejoinder.

Our rejoinder addresses two common themes raised in the responses by Arnett et al (see record 2004-17185-005), by Hunsley and Crabb (see record 2004-17185-006) and by Mikail and Tasca (see record 2004-17185-007) to our article (see record 2003-09748-001) concerning the potential role of psychological services in the future of public health care in Canada. The first concerns the current system's capacity to evolve beyond the medical-hospital illness model of the 1960s to incorporate psychological treatments aimed at illness prevention and health promotion. This would be more likely if psychologists were to participate directly in primary-care and home-based mental health-care reform. The second theme is the presumed negative role of "politics" rather than scientific evidence in decisions concerning public coverage or subsidy. We argue that democratic decision-making is the proper basis upon which decisions concerning public coverage are made, but it need not be in opposition to evidence-based decision-making. As recommended in the final report of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, the Health Council of Canada along with applied research institutes can make politicians and policy-makers more aware of the growing body of evidence supporting the efficacy of psychological treatments relative to the alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limitations of the motivational intensity model of attentional tuning: Reply to Harmon-Jones, Gable, and Price (2011).

In an integrative review, we concluded that implicit affective cues—rudimentary stimuli associated with the onset of arousing positive or negative emotional states and/or with appraisals that the environment is benign or threatening—automatically moderate the scope of attention by Friedman & F?rster (see record 2010-17510-008). In their comment, Harmon-Jones, Gable, and Price (see record 2011-08310-001) contended that their own recent research, aimed at demonstrating that motivational intensity moderates the relationship between affective state and attentional tuning, requires a tempering of our conclusions. However, Harmon-Jones et al. portrayed these conclusions neither accurately nor comprehensively and offered an insufficient critical assessment of their own competing account. More important, they failed to establish a compelling alternative explanation for the multitude of specific findings we reviewed (Friedman & F?rster, 2010). Therefore, although the work of Harmon-Jones et al. is provocative, it leaves critical issues unresolved and does not yet demand a reconsideration of either our basic assumptions or our overall conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The phoenix of bipolarity: Reply to Watson and Tellegen (1999).

In their commentary on our review (J. A. Russell & J. M. Carroll, 1999; see record 1998-03256-001), D. Watson and A. Tellegen (1999; see record 1999-03909-006) agreed that when various factors, including activation, are taken into account, the structure of self-reported affect includes a bipolar dimension contrasting pleasant with unpleasant feelings. Agreement on this the central conclusion of our review may surprise readers familiar with the widespread claim that pleasant and unpleasant affect are not bipolar opposites but are largely independent of one another. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Afterthoughts on counselor theoretical orientation: Reply to Arnkoff (1995) and Gelso (1995).

C. J. Gelso's (see record 1996-07032-001) and D. B. Arnkoff's (see record 1996-07029-001) responses to our review of past research into conceptualizing and measuring counselors' theoretical orientation (J. J. Poznanski & J. McLennan, see record 1996-07039-001) suggest that further conceptual analysis and empirical exploration is required. Counselor theoretical orientation should be seen as multifaceted and incorporating four elements: Theoretical School Affiliation, Espoused Theory, Inferred Theory in Action, and the superordinate component Personal Therapeutic Belief System. Implications for measuring theoretical orientation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions diagnosed.

Responds to comments of J. R. Bergan (see record 1989-10250-001), B. Y. Wong (see record 1989-10319-001), and G. Alessi (see record 1989-10243-001) on the article by the present author (see record 1989-10292-001). Four issues are discussed: conceptions of behavior focused on the individual's characteristics, norm-referenced vs process assessment, think-aloud analysis, and premature dissemination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary.

Comments on the article by Omer & London (see record 1989-02299-001) on the changes that have taken place in the psychotherapeutic world since 1970. Although I agree that the more recent changes have been occurring with space-age rapidity, my view of how the changes have occurred differs somewhat from that presented by Omer & London. Consequently, I first will present my perception of what preceded the current deluge of psychotherapeutic treatments and then offer some additional comments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments: A review of current efforts.

Recognizing an urgent need for increased access to evidenced-based psychological treatments, public health authorities have recently allocated over $2 billion to better disseminate these interventions. In response, implementation of these programs has begun, some of it on a very large scale, with substantial implications for the science and profession of psychology. But methods to transport treatments to service delivery settings have developed independently without strong evidence for, or even a consensus on, best practices for accomplishing this task or for measuring successful outcomes of training. This article reviews current leading efforts at the national, state, and individual treatment developer levels to integrate evidence-based interventions into service delivery settings. Programs are reviewed in the context of the accumulated wisdom of dissemination and implementation science and of methods for assessment of outcomes for training efforts. Recommendations for future implementation strategies will derive from evaluating outcomes of training procedures and developing a consensus on necessary training elements to be used in these efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Five commandments for APA.

The author delineates 5 rules of scientific review and publishing and argues that these norms need to be upheld even when to do so proves politically difficult. The 5 rules are: (a) Scientific articles should be judged only by their logic and the strength of their evidence; (b) the results of a competent peer review should be accepted; (c) disagreements with scientific articles should be aired in peer reviewed commentaries; (d) efforts to judge scientific articles on the basis of political concerns should be resisted; and (e) the explicit rules and normative expectations of peer review should not be arbitrarily altered. This article provides indirect commentary on the article/commentary by S. O Lilienfeld (see record 2002-10795-003) and the commentary by R. McCarty (see record 2002-10795-006), both of which referenced the controversial original review by B. Rind et al (see record 1998-04232-002). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using qualitative research to develop culturally competent evidence-based practice.

Kazdin (see record 2008-03389-001) pointed out that the requirement for evidence-based practice (EBP) has made the long-standing gap between research and practice in clinical psychology even more salient. He offered several strategies for bridging this gap: investigating mechanisms and moderators of therapeutic change, and qualitative research. We agree that qualitative research can be useful in bridging the gap between research and clinical practice (Silverstein & Auerbach, 2007; Silverstein, Auerbach, & Levant, 2006). In this comment we discuss using qualitative research to develop EBP that is culturally competent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirically supported treatments: Too little, too late: A commentary.

The impact on Canadian professional psychological treatment practices of the American Psychological Association's Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) Task Force's development of criteria and listings for empirically supported psychological treatments, along with other industrial efforts to standardize the identification of treatments with established efficacy is described in the article by J. Hunsley et al (see record 1999-01869-001). D. R. Evans proposes that the evidence-based movement is too little, in that considerably more, and much more complex evidence for what professional psychologists do is required. It is too late, in that both in Canada and the US professional psychologists have suffered considerable setbacks in both the economic and popularity domains. There is a broad range of treatment proposals professional psychologists make to their clients daily, which are fraught with a lack of research backing. There is a vicious circle in that unless evidence-based practices become the norm, and, hence, the stuff of media, it is difficult to convince new and even some old practitioners to adopt them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Despotism, democracy, and the evolutionary dynamics of leadership and followership.

Responds to comments made by George B. Graen (see record 2008-19206-015) and Stephen J. Guastello (see record 2008-19206-016) on the current author's article Leadership, followership, and evolution: Some lessons from the past by Van Vugt, Hogan, and Kaiser (see record 2008-03389-004). In the original article my co-authors and I proposed a new way of thinking about leadership, informed by evolutionary (neo-Darwinian) theory. In the first commentary, Graen (see record 2008-19206-015) noted that we ignored a number of recently developed psychological theories of leadership that take into account the leader-follower relationship, most notably LMX theory. LMX theory asserts that leadership effectiveness and team performance are affected by the quality of working relationships between superior and subordinates. Because the original article primarily dealt with questions about the origins of leadership--the phylogenetic and evolutionary causes--we had to be concise in our review of proximate psychological theories of leadership. In the second commentary, Guastello (see record 2008-19206-016) concurred with the importance of an evolutionary game analysis for studying leadership but disagreed with certain details of our analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)