Research roundup: Practitioners in action

Many psychologists are motivated to use their skills in their communities to prevent and mediate the negative effects of multiple, coinciding traumas after nearly two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and other upheavals.

“Nearly half of children in the United States will experience significant psychological symptoms each year [with] only 7.4% receiving mental health services” (Centers for Disease Control, 2015, as cited in Rich et al., 2022). Two recent publications summarized in this roundup demonstrate how incorporating social, emotional, and resilience building skills into grade school curricula can be directly beneficial in the short term and have long term, positive public health effects.

The third article in this roundup highlights psychologists’ efforts to bridge the gap between the public and policymakers. Psychologists are equipped with the skills to help an individual improve their well-being in clinical practice, but also to improve the health of local and global populations.

Note: In addition to reviewing the research summaries, psychologists are encouraged to further explore the literature to determine what may be useful, particularly as it relates to patients’ values, culture, and preferences.

Mahoney, J. L., Weissberg, R. P., Greenberg, M. T., Dusenbury, L., Jagers, R. J., Niemi, K., Schlinger, M., Schlund, J., Shriver, T. P., VanAusdal, K., & Yoder, N. (2021). Systemic social and emotional learning: Promoting educational success for all preschool to high school studentsopens in new window. American Psychologist, 76(7), 1128–1142.

By infusing social and emotional skills learning at every level of development, communities can benefit from reduced prevalence of mental health issues and thereby health care costs. The mission of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is to advance evidence-based practices through systemic social and emotional learning (SEL) programs in school systems by working with families, districts, and states. The study’s authors, most of whom are affiliated with CASEL, reviewed research from SEL programs in classes from preschool through high school across the United States.

Successful SEL programs comprehensively engage students, school staff, families, and larger systems and work to align policies, resources, and actions at the local, district, and state level. Together, these programs enhance social emotional competencies such as understanding and managing emotions, setting and achieving positive goals, demonstrating care and concern for others, developing positive relationships, and making responsible decisions. As these competencies develop, research indicates students’ academic performance and positive behaviors are supported and behavior problems and distress are reduced. Psychologists have been engaged with all aspects of designing and implementing these programs including establishing a shared vision, strengthening adult competencies in these domains, creating a coordinated approach for learning these competencies across settings and evaluating programs, and using data to direct improvements.

Twenty-nine states have partnered with CASEL to advance SEL in their school systems and for fiscal year 2020, $123 million in federal funding was approved specifically for SEL (Yoder et al., 2020, as cited in Mahoney et al., 2021). Given the strong evidence-base and research supporting SEL, national adoption of such programs, especially when done systematically, can be cost-effective and benefit public health both immediately and long-term.

Rich, B. A., Starin, N. S., Senior, C. J., Zarger, M. M., Cummings, C. M., Collado, A., & Alvord, M. K. (2022). Improved resilience and academics following a school-based resilience intervention: A randomized controlled trialopens in new window. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Resilience is the adaptive process of overcoming adversity which includes anything from an everyday stressor to a global pandemic. For marginalized and underserved populations, resilience is critical. Clinicians from private practices recognized the needs of their community and partnered with a local university to create the Resilience Builder Program^® (RBP). They implemented RBP in schools serving children from predominately low-income communities exploring the impact on resilient behaviors and skills and academic functioning.

One hundred sixty-nine youth from five elementary schools serving students from low-income families were recruited. Most students identified as an ethnic and racial minority. The RBP was facilitated by two leaders—a licensed psychologist, doctoral student in clinical psychology, and/or school counselor—across 12 weeks. Researchers used a control group by delaying the intervention to half of the participants, and groups were between 4–7 students each. Parents, students, and teachers were asked to fill out questionnaires on academic competence and resilient behaviors and skills before and after the intervention.

The data show no significance in baseline numbers for the intervention and control groups. Following the intervention, however, students in the RBP showed greater improvement in both resilient behaviors and skills and academic functioning.

Hickson, J. M., Paul, R. J., Smedley, J. M., Kozne, J., Alesi, F., & Weber, H. (2021). The O-SEA Approach: A model to increase local impact in response to national co-occurring traumaopens in new window. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Advance online publication.

During the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism, members of the District of Columbia Psychological Association (DCPA) utilized their skills and expertise to organize, support, educate, and advocate on behalf of their community.

Members of DCPA began by collecting individual’s interests, skills, and connections with local groups to then organize factions to address specific tasks and concerns. Members initiated free or reduced-cost programs to the public as well as educated local mental health professionals on cultural responsiveness and contemporary racism. Members of the DCPA connected with local legislators to provide testimony related to relevant bills based on their understanding of the psychological needs and stressors of their community. A posthoc qualitative analysis of member psychologists’ efforts resulted in identifying and naming a framework for this work: the O-SEA Approach, which stands for organize, support, educate, and advocate.

The emphasis of the initial organization of DCPA members was swift action to address the pressing community needs and no methods for data collection were initially setup. Several measures of success were seen including an increase in DCPA membership, public attendance at events, and reciprocal communication with D.C. City Council staff. Additionally, following their most successful event, a webinar on Black mental health on Juneteenth, a survey was sent to attendees to gauge whether similar events or resources are needed and welcome. Feedback was positive and confirmed the need for DCPA to continue to support and educate its community and work with local legislators to create change.

Motivated by current societal challenges—the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, and broad unmet mental health needs—some psychologists have stepped out of traditional clinical practice and engaged in their communities in new roles. While some psychologists have long sought these opportunities, anecdotally it appears that more psychologists are looking for opportunities to address bigger societal concerns. The expertise and skills of psychologists have great relevance to address pressing community needs, in alignment with APA’s mission “to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.”

Opportunities exist to meet the growing and changing needs of communities. Psychologists and psychologists in training are encouraged to get involved with their local psychological association and stay abreast of opportunities to grow their career and give back to their local community. Psychological expertise is needed now more than ever.