Lynne Roberts

Psychological literacy, a construct developed to reflect the types of skills graduates of a psychology degree should possess and be capable of demonstrating, has recently been scrutinized in terms of its measurement adequacy. The recent development of a multi-item measure encompassing the facets of psychological literacy has provided the potential for improved validity in measuring the construct. We investigated the known-groups validity of this multi-item measure of psychological literacy to examine whether psychological literacy could predict (a) students' course of enrolment and (b) students' year of enrolment. Five hundred and fifteen undergraduate psychology students, 87 psychology/human resource management students, and 83 speech pathology students provided data. In the first year cohort, the reflective processes (RPs) factor significantly predicted psychology and psychology/human resource management course enrolment, although no facets significantly differentiated bet...

Poor motor skills have been shown to be associated with a range of psychosocial issues, including internalizing problems (anxiety and depression). While well-documented empirically, our understanding of why this relationship occurs remains theoretically underdeveloped. The Elaborated Environmental Stress Hypothesis by Cairney et al. (2013) provides a promising framework that seeks to explain the association between motor skills and internalizing problems, specifically in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The framework posits that poor motor skills predispose the development of internalizing problems via interactions with intermediary environmental stressors. At the time the model was proposed, limited direct evidence was available to support or refute the framework. Several studies and developments related to the framework have since been published. This mini-review seeks to provide an up-to-date overview of recent developments related to the Elaborated Enviro...

Quantitative research methods are essential to the development of professional competence in psychology. They are also an area of weakness for many students. In particular, students are known to struggle with the skill of selecting quantitative analytical strategies appropriate for common research questions, hypotheses and data types. To begin understanding this apparent deficit, we presented nine psychology undergraduates (who had all completed at least one quantitative methods course) with brief research vignettes, and asked them to explicate the process they would follow to identify an appropriate statistical technique for each. Thematic analysis revealed that all participants found this task challenging, and even those who had completed several research methods courses struggled to articulate how they would approach the vignettes on more than a very superficial and intuitive level. While some students recognized that there is a systematic decision making process that can be foll...

ABSTRACT Research integrity is core to the mission of higher education. In undergraduate student samples, self-reported rates of data fabrication have been troublingly high. Despite this, no research has investigated undergraduate data fabrication in a more systematic manner. We applied duplication screening techniques to 18 data sets submitted by psychology honours students for assessment. Although we did not identify any completely duplicated cases, there were numerous partial duplicates. Rather than indicating fabrication however, these partial duplicates are likely a consequence of poor measure selection, insufficient data screening and/or participant characteristics. Implications for the teaching and supervision of honours students are discussed.

ABSTRACT Despite persistent government and industry efforts to stop the sharing and downloading of media such as files over peer-to-peer P2P networks, this activity shows no sign of abating. This research investigated whether psychological reactance could account for variance in the intent to engage in, and the extent of such behaviour beyond that accounted for by the standard Theory of Planned Behaviour TPB variables. No support for psychological reactance as a predictor of P2P file downloading intent or behaviour was found in this paper. However, the results did indicate that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control each accounted for significant variance in P2P file downloading behaviour, and that these relationships were fully mediated by behavioural intent. These findings are consistent with, and provide strong support for, the use of the TPB within this domain.

ABSTRACT The use and teaching of qualitative research methods in psychology is increasing, but to date no measure has been developed to identify and measure changes in attitudes towards qualitative research in psychology student, academic, and scientist-practitioner populations. In this article, we present the development and initial validation of a new measure, Attitudes Toward Qualitative Research in Psychology. A pool of 46 items developed from previous qualitative research along with validation measures was administered via an online survey to a convenience sample of 288 psychology students, academics, and psychologists. Principal axis factoring with varimax rotation produced a four-factor, 18-item solution. All factors have acceptable internal reliability. Known-groups validity analyses based on preferred research orientation, and convergent and divergent validity analyses based on measures of attitudes towards quantitative research and researcher/practitioner orientation, provide initial validation of the measure. This brief, internally reliable measure can be used in assessing attitudes towards qualitative research in psychology and measuring change over time.

The assessment of parenting has been problematic due to theoretical disagreement, concerns over generalisability, and problems with the psychometric properties of current parenting measures. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive, psychometrically sound self-report parenting measure for use with parents of preadolescent children, and to use this empirical scale development process to identify the core dimensions of contemporary parenting behaviour. Following item generation and parent review, 846 parents completed an online survey comprising 116 parenting items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a six factor parenting model, comprising Emotional Warmth, Punitive Discipline, Anxious Intrusiveness, Autonomy Support, Permissive Discipline and Democratic Discipline. This measure will allow for the comprehensive and consistent assessment of parenting in future research and practice.

ABSTRACT Research integrity is core to the mission of higher education. In undergraduate student samples, self-reported rates of data fabrication have been troublingly high. Despite this, no research has investigated undergraduate data fabrication in a more systematic manner. We applied duplication screening techniques to 18 data sets submitted by psychology honours students for assessment. Although we did not identify any completely duplicated cases, there were numerous partial duplicates. Rather than indicating fabrication however, these partial duplicates are likely a consequence of poor measure selection, insufficient data screening and/or participant characteristics. Implications for the teaching and supervision of honours students are discussed.

As social beings, we strive to obtain a sense of community in our lives. Place-based communities have been seen as the main source sense of community. Today, however, place-based communities do not always meet this need. Individuals may feel isolated and alienated within their place-based communities. Large cities, by virtue of their size alone, may not offer the idealized sense

The principle of homogamy, the tendency for victims and offenders to share behavioral and demographic characteristics, has been applied to various forms of violent crime. This article explores how this principle relates to types of "road rage" using a survey of 1208 Australian drivers. Two-thirds of drivers who perpetrated violent forms of road rage also reported being victims of the same crime, providing support for the homogamy thesis. Perpetrators were predominantly young males with low socioeconomic status who lacked the ability to control their temper. Perpetrator-victims were more likely than other victims to have a history of driving violations and higher levels of general aggression and report more frequent aggressive driving behaviors. The implications for theories of violence are discussed.

... are asked if they agree to participate in the study (Makkai & McGregor, 2002, p. 20). LYNNE ROBERTS AND DAVID INDERMAUR Page 9. 297 The second project proceeding without the use of informed consent forms is the Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) project (see ...

ABSTRACT The range of drug diversion programs in Australia has increased markedly in the last decade. The question of whether these programs really do divert offenders from the criminal justice system or simply add levels of complexity and supervision has not been adequately addressed. Using Stanley Cohen's (1985) conceptualisation of 'wider nets' (more people in system), 'denser nets' (increased intensity of intervention) and 'different nets' (new services supplementing rather than replacing existing services) we examine the potential for a range of net-widening effects in three stages of Australian court and police drug diversion processes: the recruitment of program participants, the conditions imposed as treatment and the final sentencing outcomes. Because of the potential for net-widening with diversion programs, we recommend the incorporation of net-widening impact assessments into the planning of all new diversion initiatives followed by evaluations that monitor inadvertent net-widening. Ultimately, in determining the costs and the benefits of drug diversion, net-widening may represent a threat if seen from a criminal justice perspective but a benefit from a health perspective.

The study investigated the settings in which children and adolescents were treated to determine whether clinicians assigned individuals who had greater needs to more intensive treatment. Subjects were 603 children four to 16 years of age who visited a mental health treatment facility in Western Australia, where, as is the case throughout Australia, universal publicly funded health care is provided. DSM-IV criteria were used to make diagnoses, and clinicians assessed each child's level of impairment. The clinicians assigned the children to inpatient treatment, day treatment, or outpatient treatment, or they saw the child only for a psychiatric consultation. Measures included parents' and children's reports of children's psychopathology and parents' reports of family functioning, family life events, and parental mental health symptoms and treatment. Clinicians' ratings of impairment were highest for children assigned to the inpatient and day treatment settings. Parents' ratings of total psychopathology and of internalizing and externalizing symptoms were highest for children in the inpatient and day treatment settings. Parents' reports also indicated that family dysfunction and parental alcohol problems were most severe in the inpatient group. No differences in parents' mental health problems were found across treatment settings. Children with more severe psychopathology and more severe family dysfunction and parental problems were more likely to be provided treatment in the most costly and time-intensive treatment settings. The results provide empirical evidence for what many clinicians consider best clinical practice-to assign children and families to treatment settings appropriate to their level of impairment.

... Since then a variety of social venues has evolved — chats, newsgroups, mailing lists, interactiveWorld Wide Web sites, and text-based virtual environments known ... of the Internet create new opportunities and risks for the development of interpersonal relationships (Parks & ...

... to friends and romantic partners (McKenna Green & Gleason, 2002; Parks & Floyd 1996; Parks & Roberts, 1998; Wolak Mitchell & Finkelhor ... provided may reduce social inhibitions, restraints on behaviour and accountability for actions (Bocij & McFarlane 2003a; D'Ovidio & Doyle ...