Knowing What We're Talking About: Facilitating Decentralized, Unequivocal Publication of and Reference to Psychological Construct Definitions and Instructions

Peters, Gjalt - Jorn Ygram; Crutzen, Rik

doi:10.31234/osf.io/8tpcv

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Our approach can guide researchers to make informed decisions and to be transparent about these decisions. 59,77 We consider this essential for a rigorous science of pain. Only when we are explicit and transparent about our causal assumptions, will we be able to have constructive discussions and productive tensions that improve our thinking and science.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The problem is not so much the variety of these definitions but their hidden nature. 59 Far too often, definitions used for psychological constructs are broad and lack precision. Yet, using precise definitions is a prerequisite to correctly model causal relationships between constructs and to develop and select the appropriate measures.…”

Section: The Cause and Effect Are Differentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The effect of psychological factors on pain outcomes: lessons learned for the next generation of research

Crombez,

Veirman,

Van Ryckeghem

et al. 2023

PR9

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Big data and machine learning techniques offer opportunities to investigate the effects of psychological factors on pain outcomes. Nevertheless, these advances can only deliver when the quality of the data is high and the underpinning causal assumptions are considered. We argue that there is room for improvement and identify some challenges in the evidence base concerning the effect of psychological factors on the development and maintenance of chronic pain. As a starting point, 3 basic tenets of causality are taken: (1) cause and effect differ from each other, (2) the cause precedes the effect within reasonable time, and (3) alternative explanations are ruled out. Building on these tenets, potential problems and some lessons learned are provided that the next generation of research should take into account. In particular, there is a need to be more explicit and transparent about causal assumptions in research. This will lead to better research designs, more appropriate statistical analyses, and constructive discussions and productive tensions that improve our science.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Cause and Effect Are Differentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of psychological factors on pain outcomes: lessons learned for the next generation of research

Crombez,

Veirman,

Van Ryckeghem

et al. 2023

PR9

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“…A semi-structured conversation tool ( Supplementary File 2 ) guided the interviews and was based on psychological construct definitions and measurement instructions [ 19 ]. The initial part of the interview explored general lifestyle-related behavior.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Perspectives on Lifestyle-Related Behavior Change for Dementia Risk Reduction: An Exploratory Qualitative Study in The Netherlands

Bruinsma,

Heger,

Loukas

et al. 2023

JAD

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Background: There is accumulating evidence that addressing modifiable risk and protective factors has an impact on dementia rates. Insight into the public’s perspectives on dementia risk reduction is needed to inform future individual-level interventions and public health approaches. Objective: This study explores the publics’ openness towards dementia risk reduction and willingness towards changing lifestyle behavior to reduce the future risk for dementia. Methods: Using a screening questionnaire, participants were purposively selected based on lifestyle behaviors that are associated with dementia risk. One-on-one interviews were used to explore their openness towards dementia risk reduction and willingness towards behavior change. Independently, two researchers performed an inductive content analysis. Results: Interviews were conducted with 23 participants aged from 40 to 79 years. Main themes that were identified from the data were: 1) abstractness of dementia risk reduction, 2) ambivalence towards changing behavior, 3) negative self-image and low behavioral control, and 4) all-or-nothing thinking about lifestyle change. Conclusions: The concept of dementia risk reduction seems difficult to translate to the personal context, particularly if individuals perceive that dementia would occur decades in the future. This is problematic because a large proportion of the public needs a healthier lifestyle to reduce the incidence of dementia. Translating healthy intentions into behavior is complex and involves overcoming a variety of barriers that complicate dementia risk reduction initiatives. Support is needed for individuals who experience additional obstacles that obstruct commencing to a healthier lifestyle (e.g., negative self-image, engaging in multiple unhealthy behaviors, unrealistic perceptions about lifestyle change).

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“…Hence, a conceptual tool to facilitate explication of construct definitions: Decentralized Construct Taxonomies (DCTs; see Peters & Crutzen, 2024) was introduced that can make heterogeneity visible. A DCT is specified with a construct definition as well as corresponding instructions that prescribe how to measure the construct (for primary quantitative research), how to classify existing measurement instruments as measuring the construct (for evidence syntheses), how to code qualitative data as pertaining to the construct, and how to elicit qualitative data.…”

Section: Knowing What We're Talking Aboutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming paradigms: problematic practices and innovative approaches

Crutzen,

Peters,

Perski

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The dominant approaches in health psychology have remained stagnant for decades (Chevance et al., 2021). Quantitative studies often employ variations on linear models, rarely questioning underlying assumptions and their implications. Qualitative studies, too, have seen little methodological progress, often applying a variation of coding the data in hierarchical code structures and describing the identified patterns. This methodological stagnation ultimately hinders scientific progress (Cartwright, 2021). This was the point of departure for a symposium we organized at the 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society in Bremen, Germany. In that symposium, we addressed a selection of problematic practices in health psychology research and introduced a number of innovative approaches that hold the potential to transform paradigms and stimulate methodological and theoretical innovation. The aim of this article is twofold. First, to provide a brief overview of the content of our symposium. Next to the slides being publicly available (Crutzen et al., 2023), this contributes to the legacy of the symposium beyond the conference. Second, to provide those interested with more details on and links to tools in order to put these innovative approaches into practice.

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Knowing What We're Talking About: Facilitating Decentralized, Unequivocal Publication of and Reference to Psychological Construct Definitions and Instructions

Cited by 10 publications

References 81 publications

The effect of psychological factors on pain outcomes: lessons learned for the next generation of research

The effect of psychological factors on pain outcomes: lessons learned for the next generation of research

Public Perspectives on Lifestyle-Related Behavior Change for Dementia Risk Reduction: An Exploratory Qualitative Study in The Netherlands

Transforming paradigms: problematic practices and innovative approaches

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