Individual Differences in the Formation of False Memories: Is Suggestibility a Predictive Factor?

Individual differences in the formation of false memories using suggestibility as a predictive factor were investigated. Undergraduate males and females were administered two false memory paradigms: the Deese-Roedinger-McDermott (DRM) (1995) word recognition task and the Kassin & Kiechel (KK) ALT key task (1996). Subsequently, participants were administered the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) 2 to determine their suggestibility scores. As predicted, higher suggestibility scores were correlated with forming a false memory in the Kassin & Kiechel task. However, suggestibility was not correlated with the DRM task. These results provide evidence that suggestibility is a predictive factor for one false memory paradigm but not the other, indicating that perhaps different cognitive mechanisms underlie the two

Navigating the Storm: How Proficient Organizational Culture Promotes Clinician Retention in the Shift to Evidence-Based Practice

Objective Clinician turnover is a major concern as mental health systems and organizations invest substantial resources in the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP). In this study, we identify malleable factors associated with reduced clinician turnover during a systemwide EBP implementation initiative. Specifically, we examine how proficient organizational culture (i.e., norms and behavioral expectations that clinicians prioritize improvement in client well-being and exhibit competence in up-to-date treatment practices), EBP implementation climate (i.e., perceptions that the organization’s policies, procedures, and practices support EBP use), and change in these organizational characteristics relate to clinician turnover during a system-wide EBP transformation. Method Data were collected from 236 clinicians in 19 mental health clinics across 3 years of a system- wide EBP implementation initiative in the City of Philadelphia. Clinicians reported on proficient organizational culture and EBP implementation climate at baseline (T1) and twoyear follow-up (T2). Administrators reported on clinician turnover at three-year follow-up (T3). Hypotheses were tested via multilevel mediation analyses incorporating mixed effects logistic regression models. Results Controlling for organization size, clinician job satisfaction, attitudes towards EBP, job tenure, and age, higher levels of proficient organizational culture and improvement in proficient culture from baseline to two-year follow-up predicted reduced clinician turnover in the year following; these effects were mediated by EBP implementation climate and by improvement in EBP implementation climate, respectively. Conclusions Organizations with more proficient cultures have more supportive EBP implementation climates that predict reduced clinician turnover during system-wide EBP implementation initiatives. Strategies that target these antecedents in mental health service organizations may contribute to reduced clinician turnover

The Promise of Evidence-Based Practices in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The push for evidence-based practices has dominated the mental health and health care arenas for more than a decade. Conversations among professionals who provide mental health services for youth have included both support and opposition to this position. On the one hand, there is a plethora of discourse indicating widespread support for the need to provide the best available services for youth in need, delivered through the provision of evidence-based practices. On the other hand, there are also opponents to this viewpoint, primarily arguing that evidence-based practices developed in research settings may not fit the context of community providers. A gap already existed between research and practice, and the push for evidence-based practices has further widened the rift between divisions in the mental health field

Research Review

Given the commonly-cited research-practice gaps and nascent status of the dissemination and implementation (DI) field as it relates to psychological science, a multidisciplinary synthesis of the literature relating to DI efforts is an important addition. This is particularly true given that one prominent criticism of the DI field is that efforts to disseminate and implement evidence-based practice (EBP) lack their own empirical foundation

Training as Usual: Can Therapist Behavior Change After Reading a Manual and Attending a Brief Workship on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth Anxiety?

There exists an ongoing movement to transport empirically supported treatments (ESTs), developed and evaluated in research clinics, to service providing clinics. ESTs refer to psychological interventions that have been evaluated scientifically (e.g., randomized controlled trial; RCT) and satisfy the Chambless and Hollon (1998) criteria (Kendall & Beidas, 2007). Dissemination research encompasses both dissemination (purposeful distribution of relevant information and materials to clinicians) and implementation (adoption and integration of EST in clinical practice) of ESTs (Lomas, 1993). However, for a variety of reasons (Addis & Krasnow, 2000; Riley, Schuman, Forman-Hoffman, Mihm, Applegate, & Asif, 2007), resistance to dissemination and implementation exists. We focus on training therapists in ESTs (i.e., dissemination). Thus, a key question arises: Do current training efforts practice in the community (i.e., reading a manual and attending a brief training workshop) effectively influence therapist behavior in those who are naïve to fundamental principles of an EST

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Child and Adolescent Anxiety: The \u3cem\u3eCoping Cat Program\u3c/em\u3e

Anxiety disorders are common psychological disorders experienced by youth (Warren & messer, 1999), with reported rates of 10-20% in the general population and primary care settings (Chavira, Stein, Bailey, & Stein, 2004; Costello, Mustillo, Keeler, & Angold, 2004). Anxiety disorders in youth include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), separation anxiety disorder (SAD), specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (APA, 1994). In this chapter, we focus on treatment for the three youth anxiety disorders: GAD, SP, and SAD

Contextual Influences and Strategies for Dissemination and Implementation in Mental Health

Implementation science has emerged to bridge the gap between research and practice. A number of conceptual frameworks have been developed to advance implementation research and illuminate the contextual influences that can facilitate or impede the implementation of evidence-based practices. Contextual factors that may be important in the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practice may occur at the system-, organizational-, and provider-levels. System-level barriers may include external policies, incentives, and peer pressure. Organizational-level factors that are important in implementation include organizational culture and climate and implementation climate. At the individual provider-level, barriers may occur around provider attitudes, knowledge, and self-efficacy. Finally, additional barriers such as client-level that can be used to overcome contextual barriers when attempting to implement evidence-based practices into new settings. Several exemplar implementation strategies are discussed, including the Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity intervention, Community Development Team model, and Interagency Collaborative Team Model

Testing a Theory of Strategic Implementation Leadership, Implementation Climate, and Clinicians’ Use of Evidence-Based Practice: A 5-Year Panel Analysis

Background: Implementation theory suggests that first-level leaders, sometimes referred to as middle managers, can increase clinicians’ use of evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare settings by enacting specific leadership behaviors (i.e., proactive, knowledgeable, supportive, perseverant with regard to implementation) that develop an EBP implementation climate within the organization; however, longitudinal and quasi-experimental studies are needed to test this hypothesis. Methods: Using data collected at three waves over a 5-year period from a panel of 30 outpatient children’s mental health clinics employing 496 clinicians, we conducted a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences study to test whether within-organization change in implementation leadership predicted within-organization change in EBP implementation climate, and whether change in EBP implementation climate predicted within-organization change in clinicians’ use of EBP. At each wave, clinicians reported on their first-level leaders’ implementation leadership, their organization’s EBP implementation climate, and their use of both EBP and non-EBP psychotherapy techniques for childhood psychiatric disorders. Hypotheses were tested using econometric two-way fixed effects regression models at the organization level which controlled for all stable organizational characteristics, population trends in the outcomes over time, and time-varying covariates. Results: Organizations that improved from low to high levels of implementation leadership experienced significantly greater increases in their level of EBP implementation climate (d = .92, p = .017) and within-organization increases in implementation leadership accounted for 11% of the variance in improvement in EBP implementation climate beyond all other covariates. In turn, organizations that improved from low to high levels of EBP implementation climate experienced significantly greater increases in their clinicians’ average EBP use (d = .55, p = .007) and within-organization improvement in EBP implementation climate accounted for 14% of the variance in increased clinician EBP use. Mediation analyses indicated that improvement in implementation leadership had a significant indirect effect on clinicians’ EBP use via improvement in EBP implementation climate (d = .26, 95% CI [.02 to .59]). Conclusions: When first-level leaders increase their frequency of implementation leadership behaviors, organizational EBP implementation climate improves, which in turn contributes to increased EBP use by clinicians. Trials are needed to test strategies that target this implementation leadership–EBP implementation climate mechanism

Dissemination and Implementation Science: Research Models and Methods

Dissemination and implementation (DI) science has grown exponentially in the past decade. This chapter reviews and discusses the research methodology pertinent to empirical DI inquiry within mental health services research. This chapter (a) reviews models of DI science, (b) presents and discusses design, variables, and measures relevant to DI processes, and (c) offers recommendations for future research

Enhancing the Impact of Implementation Strategies in Healthcare: A Research Agenda

The field of implementation science was developed to better understand the factors that facilitate or impede implementation and generate evidence for implementation strategies. In this article, we briefly review progress in implementation science, and suggest five priorities for enhancing the impact of implementation strategies. Specifically, we suggest the need to: (1) enhance methods for designing and tailoring implementation strategies; (2) specify and test mechanisms of change; (3) conduct more effectiveness research on discrete, multi-faceted, and tailored implementation strategies; (4) increase economic evaluations of implementation strategies; and (5) improve the tracking and reporting of implementation strategies. We believe that pursuing these priorities will advance implementation science by helping us to understand when, where, why, and how implementation strategies improve implementation effectiveness and subsequent health outcomes