Welcome to the Nexus of Ethics, Psychology, Morality, Philosophy and Health Care

Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy
Showing posts with label Graduate Students. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graduate Students. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Mental Health Crisis for Grad Students

Colleen Flaherty
Inside Higher Ed
Originally published March 6, 2018

Several studies suggest that graduate students are at greater risk for mental health issues than those in the general population. This is largely due to social isolation, the often abstract nature of the work and feelings of inadequacy -- not to mention the slim tenure-track job market. But a new study in Nature Biotechnology warns, in no uncertain terms, of a mental health “crisis” in graduate education.

“Our results show that graduate students are more than six times as likely to experience depression and anxiety as compared to the general population,” the study says, urging action on the part of institutions. “It is only with strong and validated interventions that academia will be able to provide help for those who are traveling through the bioscience workforce pipeline.”

The paper is based on a survey including clinically validated scales for anxiety and depression, deployed to students via email and social media. The survey’s 2,279 respondents were mostly Ph.D. candidates (90 percent), representing 26 countries and 234 institutions. Some 56 percent study humanities or social sciences, while 38 percent study the biological and physical sciences. Two percent are engineering students and 4 percent are enrolled in other fields.

Some 39 percent of respondents scored in the moderate-to-severe depression range, as compared to 6 percent of the general population measured previously with the same scale.

The article is here.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Impressions of Misconduct: Graduate Students’ Perception of Faculty Ethical Violations in Scientist-Practitioner Clinical Psychology Programs.

January, Alicia M.; Meyerson, David A.; Reddy, L. Felice; Docherty, Anna R.; Klonoff, Elizabeth A.
Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Aug 25 , 2014

Abstract

Ethical conduct is a foundational element of professional competence, yet very little is known about how graduate student trainees perceive ethical violations committed by clinical faculty. Thus, the current study attempted to explore how perceived faculty ethical violations might affect graduate students and the training environment. Of the 374 graduate students in scientist-practitioner clinical psychology programs surveyed, nearly a third (n = 121, 32.4%) reported knowledge of unethical faculty behavior. Students perceived a wide range of faculty behaviors as unethical. Perception of unethical faculty behavior was associated with decreased confidence in department faculty and lower perceived program climate. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations offered.

The entire article is here, behind a paywall.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Impressions of Misconduct: Graduate Students’ Perception of Faculty Ethical Violations in Scientist-Practitioner Clinical Psychology Programs

January, A. M., Meyerson, D. A., Reddy, L. F., Docherty, A. R., & Klonoff, E. A. (2014, August
25). Impressions of Misconduct: Graduate Students’ Perception of Faculty Ethical Violations
in Scientist-Practitioner Clinical Psychology Programs. Training and Education in Professional
Psychology. Advance online publication.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tep0000059

Abstract

Ethical conduct is a foundational element of professional competence, yet very little is known about how graduate student trainees perceive ethical violations committed by clinical faculty. Thus, the current study attempted to explore how perceived faculty ethical violations might affect graduate students and the training environment. Of the 374 graduate students in scientist-practitioner clinical psychology programs surveyed, nearly a third (n  121, 32.4%) reported knowledge of unethical faculty behavior. Students perceived a wide range of faculty behaviors as unethical. Perception of unethical faculty behavior was associated with decreased confidence in department faculty and lower perceived program climate.  Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations offered.

The entire article is here.


Saturday, July 12, 2014

Who’s Googled whom?

Trainees’ Internet and online social networking experiences, behaviors, and attitudes with clients and supervisors.

By P. Asay and Ashwini Lal
Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 8(2), May 2014, 105-111.
doi: 10.1037/tep0000035

Abstract

The ubiquity of the Internet and online social networking creates rapidly developing opportunities and challenges for psychologists and trainees in the domains of relationships, privacy, and connection. As trainees increasingly are natives of an Internet culture, questions arise about the ways in which developing psychologists may view Internet issues and the guidance they receive from professional psychologists for whom the Internet is a significant cultural shift. A national survey of graduate students (n = 407) assessed student Internet behaviors (e.g., “Googling” clients, online social networking), training about online issues, attitudes toward online social networking and client or supervisor contact via these networks, and fears and comfort about making decisions regarding these networks. The survey also assessed what students reported they would do and what they would think if clients and supervisors contacted them via social networks. Results indicate that most trainees have changed and monitored their online presence since beginning graduate school. A quarter of respondents had “Googled” clients, and almost half had “Googled” supervisors. A small number indicated that both clients and supervisors had reported “Googling” the trainee. Students expressed concerns about making ethical decisions about online social networks. Half reported discussing Internet issues in their graduate training programs, whereas a quarter indicated they had discussed Internet issues at their training sites. Implications for training are discussed, with recommendations of program disclosure of Internet policies to students, discussion of Internet issues before trainee clinical work, role plays of ethical issues, and supervisor-initiated discussions of Internet issues.

The entire article is here.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Self-Care Practices and Perceived Stress Levels Among Psychology Graduate Students

By Shannon B. Myers , Alison C. Sweeney, Victoria Popick, Kimberly Wesley, Amanda Bordfeld, & Randy Fingerhut
Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 6(1), February 2012, pp 55-66.

Stress has been defined as the perception that the demands of an external situation are beyond one's perceived ability to cope (Lazarus, 1966).

DeAngelis (2002) suggests that psychologists are particularly vulnerable to stress and that, while they promote self-care practice and stress management with clients, psychologists rarely heed their own advice.

Psychology graduate students are also vulnerable to stress because of the multiple demands of graduate school including academic coursework, research, clinical training, and financial constraints.

Stress related to performance anxiety, competition, institutional demands, lack of experience, and interpersonal/professional relationships has been noted in this population (Badali & Habra, 2003).

Furthermore, psychology graduate students represent a unique population who must navigate these stressors and their new roles, while simultaneously developing the knowledge and skills necessary to provide clinical and therapeutic services to others.

(cut)

Discussion

The current study suggests that self-care practices are related to perceived stress levels among psychology graduate students across the United States. There were also some differences based on demographic factors. Age, relationship status, and sufficiency of income to cost of living were significantly related to perceived stress levels. Psychology graduate students who indicated that their household income was insufficient compared with their cost of living perceived more stress, which is consistent with previous research suggesting a reciprocal relationship between perceived stress and financial satisfaction in adult students (Sandler, 2000). Married students also reported significantly less stress than their nonmarried counterparts. This pattern has emerged in previous research in which psychology graduate students who were not in a committed relationship reported the highest levels of stress (Hudson & O'Regan, 1994). Marriage can provide a strong source of relational support, which has been linked to lower levels of stress in students (Craddock, 1996). Finally, age significantly predicted perceived stress levels, in that the older students reported less perceived stress. Previous research has suggested that older individuals report fewer daily hassles than their younger counterparts possibly as a result of the development of alternative coping strategies (Folkman, Lazarus, Pimley, & Novacek, 1987). Older students may have developed more effective ways to cope with the competing demands of graduate school and therefore perceive less stress.

The entire article is here.

The author note provides the following contact information for reprint requests, questions, and comments: Shannon B. Myers, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey-UMDNJ, 195 Little Albany Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; Email: shmyers1@hotmail.com.

Thanks to Ken Pope for this information.

Dr. Fingerhut is a member of the Ethics Committee.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Need to heal thyself?

Up to a third of all graduate students are coping with mental health problems alongside the demands of school. To whom can they turn for help?

By Cassandra Willyard
gradPSYCH
Print version: page 28

The last six years of graduate school haven't been easy for Gretchen Foster (not her real name), who describes herself as a "high-achiever who wants to do everything right." Her clinical psychology program was exceedingly competitive, and she had trouble figuring out the complex politics of her department. Foster often had more work than she could handle, so she had to let some assignments go unfinished. And being new to the area, she had few friends outside of the department.

Those issues might sound familiar to many graduate students, but they were especially trying for Foster, who was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at age 17. "I would push myself really hard and feel sort of like I had exhausted my supply of energy," she says. Medication helped her cope, but some days the anxiety overwhelmed her. "I would just have to go home and give up the day and know that there was no way I would be able to get work done," she says. Foster feared that those lost days would cause her to fall behind her peers, and she felt frustrated with herself.

Trying to handle grad school's heavy workload while still having a social life and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be enough to stress anyone out, says John C. Norcross, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania who studies self-care and personal therapy among psychologists. These challenges can be especially daunting for students suffering from a mental illness, he notes.

"Most studies of full-time doctoral students show they are routinely working 60-plus hours [a week]," he says. "And when you're working that many hours, self-care tends to plummet."

Just how prevalent mental health problems are among graduate students is an open question. Only a few surveys have been conducted, and the magnitude of the problem appears to vary from school to school, depending in part on how they define mental health issues.

A 2008 survey at the University of California–Irvine, for example, found 17 percent of students reported having a serious mental disorder and nearly 30 percent reported having a mental health concern that affected their well-being or academic performance. A survey from 2006 at Berkeley found that 45 percent of graduate students polled said they had a mental health issue that affected their well-being or academic performance, and almost 10 percent of respondents reported they had considered suicide in the past year.

The entire article is here.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Should you blow the whistle?

What to do when you suspect your adviser or research supervisor of ethical misconduct.

By Cassandra Willyard

After graduating with a master’s in counseling, “Jackie Frank” (not her real name) decided to get some research experience before applying to a PhD program. She took a position at a small medical center where a researcher had a grant to study post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. As part of the job, Frank interviewed study volunteers to assess the severity of their condition — and that’s when she noticed something fishy was going on.
“Our supervisor framed leading questions and expected you to do that as well,” Frank says. The researchers, she believes, were trying to manipulate the study results “to make a bolder, statistically significant statement.”
Frank later noticed that some of data had been changed. “At that point, I knew we didn’t have the same ethical values,” she says.
Frank debated whether to “suck it up,” but ultimately decided to leave before her funding ran out. In her exit interview, she brought up her concerns and handed in a formal letter detailing her observations. Not long after, she heard that the lead researcher was under investigation for possible misconduct.
Nearly every graduate student faces ethical uncertainties, says Melissa Anderson, PhD, a professor of higher education at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who studies research integrity. But these quandaries become even more complicated when you suspect that your superior is involved in ethical misconduct.
“Graduate students, like all other researchers, are working at the frontier of knowledge,” she says. “And with every new thing, there’s the potential for new ethical complications.” The line between “cleaning up” and “cherry picking” data can be fuzzy, for example. And students may not be privy to all the nuances of a study’s protocol.
Even if ethical misconduct is clear, whistle-blowing may not always be the best option for you, says Michael Zigmond, PhD, a neurology professor at the University of Pittsburgh and associate director of an ethics workshop for graduate students. If you’re a fourth-year student and your adviser adds the head of the department to your paper even though he didn’t do any work, bringing it to the authorities’ attention may not be worth the potential damage to your career. On the other hand, if you’re working for a professor in another department and you witness sketchy research practices, quitting quietly and sharing your concerns in an exit interview — as Frank did — might be a good way to go.
Here’s some tried-and-true advice on how to navigate these and other ethical quagmires:
Review the evidence. Avoid jumping to conclusions, Anderson says. You may not know the whole story. Reflect on your communications with the person you suspect of wrongdoing. What led you to suspect something isn’t quite right? Is there evidence to support what your gut is telling you?
If you don’t know what constitutes misconduct, consult your university’s guidelines or the U.S. Office of Research Integrity’s handbook on responsible conduct of research. Every university that receives federal research funding is obligated to adopt the federal definition of scientific misconduct — fabrication, falsification or plagiarism — and some institutions may have even stricter definitions.
Then write notes about any ethical violations you suspect, suggests Anderson. Be sure to jot down the details of every conversation: What was said, who was present, where it occurred, and the date and time. Save your emails, both the ones you send and the ones you receive. Keeping track of what you see can help you form a conclusion and provides invaluable documentation if you decide to report the situation. “Good recordkeeping throughout a research collaboration is important in any case,” she says. “But it becomes really important when something bad is going on.”
The rest of the story is here.