Can Research Assessments Themselves Cause Bias in Behaviour Change Trials? A Systematic Review of Evidence from Solomon 4-Group Studies

BACKGROUND: The possible effects of research assessments on participant behaviour have attracted research interest, especially in studies with behavioural interventions and/or outcomes. Assessments may introduce bias in randomised controlled trials by altering receptivity to intervention in experimental groups and differentially impacting on the behaviour of control groups. In a Solomon 4-group design, participants are randomly allocated to one of four arms: (1) assessed experimental group; (2) unassessed experimental group (3) assessed control group; or (4) unassessed control group. This design provides a test of the internal validity of effect sizes obtained in conventional two-group trials by controlling for the effects of baseline assessment, and assessing interactions between the intervention and baseline assessment. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate evidence from Solomon 4-group studies with behavioural outcomes that baseline research assessments themselves can introduce bias into trials. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Electronic databases were searched, supplemented by citation searching. Studies were eligible if they reported appropriately analysed results in peer-reviewed journals and used Solomon 4-group designs in non-laboratory settings with behavioural outcome measures and sample sizes of 20 per group or greater. Ten studies from a range of applied areas were included. There was inconsistent evidence of main effects of assessment, sparse evidence of interactions with behavioural interventions, and a lack of convincing data in relation to the research question for this review. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There were too few high quality completed studies to infer conclusively that biases stemming from baseline research assessments do or do not exist. There is, therefore a need for new rigorous Solomon 4-group studies that are purposively designed to evaluate the potential for research assessments to cause bias in behaviour change trials

The role of sense of coherence in mediating the effects of attachment style on subjective wellbeing in late adolescence

Objectives. Adolescence is an important time in our life span, where decisions made can have a lasting impact on future outcomes. Good subjective wellbeing during adolescence is beneficial in the immediate context but is also likely to enhance future wellbeing. Secure attachment is strongly related to good wellbeing, however the mechanisms through which they are related require further examination. This study examines Antonovsky’s (1979) salutogenic construct of Sense of Coherence as one of the mechanisms of this relationship in the context of late adolescence. Design. A single time point, cross-sectional method was employed, using self-report measures. Methods. School attending adolescents (N=259) aged 16 to 18 completed a set of questionnaires measuring subjective wellbeing, attachment and Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence, supplemented by items regarding socio-demographic details. Measures of subjective wellbeing included assessment of satisfaction with life, positive affect and negative affect, attachment was measured using a two-factor scale of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, and Sense of Coherence was assessed using Antonovsky’s 13-Item Sense of Coherence scale. Results. Examination of indirect effects using Bootstrapping techniques showed that high attachment anxiety and avoidance both predicted low subjective wellbeing partially mediated by a low Sense of Coherence (SOC). For the association between attachment avoidance and subjective wellbeing, the relationship was mediated by SOC only in those with a lower level of attachment anxiety. This was due to the absence of an association between attachment avoidance and Sense of Coherence in individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety. Conclusions. This study adds to our understanding in the field of adolescent wellbeing through examining the relationship between attachment anxiety and avoidance and a tripartite model of subjective wellbeing. Although there are limitations to inference relating to causality using a cross-sectional study, the results do suggest that Sense of Coherence is a mechanism though which attachment style influences wellbeing in this population. The findings have implications for further research directions and applications for Clinical Psychology.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo