Editorial: Methodological quality of interventions in psychology

EDITORIAL published: 12 June 2017 doi: 10.3389/ psyg.2017.00975 F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 1June 2017 | Volume 8 | A icle 975 Edi ed and e iewed by: Pie o Cip esso, IRCCS Is i u o Auxologico I aliano, I aly *Co espondence: Sal ado Chacón-Moscoso [email p o ec ed] Special y sec ion: This a icle was submi ed o Quan i a i e Psychology and Measu emen , a sec ion o he jou nal F on ie s in Psychology Recei ed: 07 Ap il 2017 Accep ed: 26 May 2017 Published: Ci a ion: Chacón-Moscoso S and Sandu e e-Cha es S (2017) Edi o ial: Me hodological Quali y o In e en ions in Psychology. F on . Psychol. 8:975. doi: 10.3389/ psyg.2017.00975 Edi o ial: Me hodological Quali y o In e en ions in Psychology Sal ado Chacón-Moscoso 1, 2*and Susana Sandu e e-Cha es 1 1HUM 649—Inno aciones Me odológicas en E aluación de P og amas, Psicología Expe imen al, Uni e sidad de Se illa, Se illa, Spain, 2Depa amen o de Psicología, Uni e sidad Au ónoma de Chile, San iago, Chile Keywo ds: me hodological quali y, in e en ions, psychology, design, measu emen , analysis Edi o ial on he Resea ch Topic Me hodological Quali y o In e en ions in Psychology The need o e alua e in e en ion p og ams igo ously in di e en a eas o psychology (e.g., heal h, educa ion, spo s, o social wel a e) is widesp ead. Howe e , we ind clea me hodological weaknesses in p o essional p ac ice when i comes o e alua ing in e en ion p og ams. In many cases, undamen al de ails a e no lea ned, such as how an in e en ion is amed, how i was implemen ed, wha aspec s o i a e esponsible o he e ec s, and how e ec i e i is ela i e o o he al e na i es. Such absences hinde he eplicabili y o in e en ions, lea ning wha p og am aspec s could be imp o ed and how he knowledge om a single in e en ion can be in eg a ed wi h o he indings. All his p e en s he g ow h o cumula i e knowledge, he abili y o use esea ch o in o m policy, and e en he ad ancemen o science. Acco ding o p e ious esea ch, much o his me hodological weakness can be a ibu ed o wo ac o s: disag eemen abou how o concep ualize and measu e me hodological quali y in e alua ion, and he con ex dependency o exis ing ins umen s ha claim o measu e such quali y. The concep quali y is complex and mul idimensional. I has been de ined om di e en heo e ical pe spec i es ha a iously emphasize indi idual concep s o se s o concep s dealing wi h, o example, in e nal, ex e nal, and cons uc alidi y. This heo e ical di e si y leads o di e en app oaches o measu ing esea ch quali y, such as scales ( ools whe e a leas con en , cons uc , and c i e ion alidi y e idence was es ed), checklis s ( ools ha ha e no been es ed h ough an ex ensi e alida ion p ocess), and gene al ecommenda ions ( aking he o m o ad ice). The second me hodological weakness s ems om he con ex dependency o he ins umen s used ha educes he chance o he in o ma ion hey gene a e o be gene al. Indeed, many ools a e used on jus one occasion, and so dependable knowledge abou i s psychome ic p ope ies, including eliabili y and alidi y, a e a ely a ailable. In his Resea ch Topic, some wo ks p esen me hodological app oaches o enhance he quali y o psychological in e en ion, being con ex independen solu ions. Thus, Chacón-Moscoso e al. (a) sys ema ize and summa ize he a ailable li e a u e abou me hodological quali y in p ima y s udies o desc ibe he s a e o he a in assessing he me hodological quali y o in e en ions; (b) p opose a speci ic, pa simonious, con ex independen , 12-i ems checklis o empi ically de ine he me hodological quali y o p ima y s udies based on a con en alidi y s udy; and (c) p esen an in e -code eliabili y s udy o he esul ing 12 i ems. Holgado-Tello e al. use S uc u al Equa ion Modeling (SEM) as a i s app oxima ion o ope a ionalize he analy ical implica ions o h ea s o alidi y in quasi-expe imen al designs. The s udy p esen s his empi ical solu ion o he exis ing weak link be ween design ea u es, measu emen issues, and conc e e impac es ima ion analyses. Finally, Manolo e al. make p ac i ione s and applied esea che s awa e o he a ailable app op ia e op ions o ex ac ing 12 June 2017 Chacón-Moscoso and Sandu e e-Cha es Edi o ial: Me hodological Quali y o In e en ions in Psychology maximum in o ma ion om he da a. Conc e ely, hey sugges ha he e alua ion o beha io al change should include isual and quan i a i e analyses, complemen ing he subs an i e c i e ia ega ding he p ac ical impo ance o he beha io al change. In a complemen a y way, his Resea ch Topic also p esen s o iginal wo k in di e en a eas whe e me hodological quali y has been be e assessed in o de o es ima e unbiased e ec sizes and s udy possible mode a o a iables in luencing he esul s ob ained. In heal h a ea, Cano-Ga cía e al. e alua e o ma i ely (be o e, du ing and a e he in e en ion), a p og am o mul icomponen psychological in e en ion o pa ien s wi h ch onic pain implemen ed: (a) based on echniques wi h empi ical e idence, bu de eloped in Spain; (b) a a public p ima y ca e cen e ; (c) among pa ien s wi h limi ed inancial esou ces and lowe educa ion; (d) by a no ice psychologis ; and (e) aking measu es o all domains o pain ul expe ience using he ins umen s ecommended by he Ini ia i e on Me hods, Measu emen , and Pain Assessmen in Clinical T ials (IMMPACT). Addi ionally, Mo eno e al. use he ad e si y le el associa ed wi h amily unc ioning and he posi i e adap a ion le el, as measu es o a global heal h sco e, o dis inguish ou g oups wi hin adolescen s: maladap i e, esilien , compe en , and ulne able. Such g oups a e compa ed in a numbe o demog aphic, school con ex , pee con ex , li es yles, psychological, and socioeconomic a iables, which can acili a e o inhibi posi i e adap a ion in each con ex . In his way, hey o e e y aluable in o ma ion o op imizing design and assessmen o in e en ions and policies aimed a os e ing adolescen heal h. Fu he mo e, Va gas e al. use animal models o men al illness as a use ul ool o cha ac e ize indica o s o possible cogni i e dys unc ions in humans. In his way, he subjec i i y o he classical psychological e alua ion p ocesses whe e he pa ien mus calib a e he magni ude o his/he symp oms and he e o e he se e i y o his/he diso de , is o e come. In educa ion, Liu e al. ex end he measu emen pa o la en ansi ion analysis o he g ow h mix u e model o examine he eading abili y de elopmen o child en. They ound ha he new model i ed he da a well. Resul s also e ealed ha mos o he child en s ayed in he same abili y g oup wi h ew c oss-le el changes in hei classes. Finally, a e adding he en i onmen al ac o s as p edic o s, analyses showed ha child en ecei ing highe eache s’ a ings, wi h highe socioeconomic s a us, and o abo e a e age po e y s a us, would ha e highe p obabili y o ansi in o he highe abili y g oup. In spo s a ea, Liu e al. examine ele an andomized con olled ials (RCTs) published in he pas 20 yea s (1996– 2015) o me hodological conce ns a ise om Lo d’s pa adox. Thei analysis e ealed ha RCTs suppo ing he posi i e e ec o exe cise on cogni ion a e likely o include Type I E o (s). This esul can be a ibu ed o he use o gain sco e analysis on p e es -pos es da a as well as he p esence o con ol g oup supe io i y o e he exe cise g oup on baseline cogni i e measu es. To imp o e accu acy o causal in e ences in his a ea, analysis o co a iance on p e es - pos es da a is ecommended unde he assump ion o g oup equi alence. Finally, e e ing o social wel a e, Izquie do-So o ío e al. explo e he in o man e ec and inc emen al alidi y o examine he ela ionships be ween pe cei ed pa en al accep ance and child en’s beha io al p oblems (ex e nalizing and in e nalizing) om a mul i-in o man pe spec i e. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS The wo au ho s con ibu ed o documen ing, designing, d a ing, and w i ing he manusc ip , and e ised i o impo an heo e ical and in ellec ual con en . Addi ionally, bo h au ho s p o ided inal app o al o he e sion o be published and ag ee o be accoun able o all aspec s o he wo k in ensu ing ha ques ions ela ed o he accu acy o in eg i y o any pa o he wo k a e app op ia ely in es iga ed and esol ed. FUNDING This esea ch was unded by he p ojec s 1150096 (Chilean Na ional Fund o Scien i ic and Technological De elopmen , FONDECYT); and PSI2015-71947-REDT (Spain’s Minis y o Economy and Compe i i eness). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The edi o s g ea ly app ecia e he con ibu ions ecei ed om he au ho s in his esea ch opic. Con lic o In e es S a emen : The au ho s decla e ha he esea ch was conduc ed in he absence o any comme cial o inancial ela ionships ha could be cons ued as a po en ial con lic o in e es . Copy igh © 2017 Chacón-Moscoso and Sandu e e-Cha es. This is an open-access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License (CC BY). The use, dis ibu ion o ep oduc ion in o he o ums is pe mi ed, p o ided he o iginal au ho (s) o licenso a e c edi ed and ha he o iginal publica ion in his jou nal is ci ed, in acco dance wi h accep ed academic p ac ice. No use, dis ibu ion o ep oduc ion is pe mi ed which does no comply wi h hese e ms. F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 2June 2017 | Volume 8 | A icle 975