CLINICAL & HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

What is this field?

Clinical & Health Psychology are two distinct branches of psychology that together capture the spectrum of the mind, ranging from the healthy to the mentally ill. In this wide domain of psychology, researchers examine a variety of issues related to physical and mental health such as clinical services, patterns of illness, technology, public policy, patient perceptions of healthcare, and clinical-based practice. Some researchers also examine faster methods of screening for disorders that can be made available to underrepresented populations.1

What do these researchers study?

  • Stress
  • Nutrition
  • Addictions
  • Maltreatment in healthcare facilities
  • Effects of somatic illnesses like COVID-19
  • Mental health and disorders

Research in Clinical and Health Psychology has focused on topics relating to stress, addiction, maltreatment, various mental disorders, and the more recent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarded as a major influence to this field, Carl Rogers wrote many works on the importance of person-centered care and in developing relationships with your therapist.2-3

How can Labvanced match these famous designs?

  • Questionnaires: Labvanced offers a specific Page structure for creating organized and visually appealing questionnaires.
    • Example: Add a questionnaire to the end of an experimental diagnostic task to receive feedback directly from participants.
  • Randomization: Our randomization options allow researchers to assign subjects randomly to different groups to experience different versions of the same study. These groups can also be matched for confounding factors like age and language to create a quasi-experimental design.
    • Randomized control trials are regarded as the highest quality of research, which is why Labvanced makes it easy to create these complex designs.4
    • Example: Create a study with 3 conditions and 6 counterbalanced groups to create complete randomization and gain valuable information on order factors.
    • Check out the video here.
  • Privacy/security features: Users have the option to integrate PGP keys so that data is secure and locked, allowing only one researcher to access it. Even without PGP keys, participant data is extremely secure.
  • Advanced Eye Tracking: Using our sophisticated system, even subtle eye movements can be recorded and stored as data for your examination. This data can be an important step in determining participant health and well-being.5
    • Example: Record eye movements during a lengthy diagnostic task to assess fatigue and hypothesize when the latency of participant’s responses increased.6
    • Check out the eye tracking playlist here.

What are the advantages of online experimentation?

  • Increased participant honesty: Honesty in being anonymous
    • “Researchers have found that anonymity can reveal personality traits that face-to-face interactions may hide.”7
  • Less stressful for participants: Discussing sensitive/triggering topics is easier in the comfort of the home.8
  • Remote Access: Health psychology is often about lifestyle choices, so having the option to access surveys or logs online means that participants can provide insights to their daily routines on-the-go.
  • Convenient: Regardless of who your target population is, having your experiment online will make it more convenient for your participants as they won’t have to travel or take extra time out of their schedule to come to the lab.

Additional Use Cases

Explore these topics to see more applications of Clinical & Health Psychology:

  • Screening questionnaires for mental health9
  • Feedback about a recent healthcare visit10
  • Piloting a new treatment option, such as an anti-stress module11

References

  1. American Psychological Association. (2008). Clinical Health Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/health#:~:text=Clinical%20health%20psychology%20is%20a,and%20manage%20illness%20and%20disability
  2. GoodTherapy. (2011, November 11). Carl Rogers (1902-1987). Carl Rogers Biography. Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/carl-rogers.html
  3. Rogers, C. R., & Carmichael, L. (1942). Counseling and psychotherapy: Newer concepts in practice.
  4. Winona State University. (n.d.). Evidence Based Practice Toolkit: Levels of evidence. Research Hub. Retrieved from https://libguides.winona.edu/ebptoolkit/Levels-Evidence
  5. Vazquez, C., Duque, A., Blanco, I., Pascual, T., Poyato, N., Lopez‐Gomez, I., & Chaves, C. (2018). CBT and positive psychology interventions for clinical depression promote healthy attentional biases: An eye‐tracking study. Depression and anxiety, 35(10), 966-973.
  6. Cazzoli, D., Antoniades, C. A., Kennard, C., Nyffeler, T., Bassetti, C. L., & Müri, R. M. (2014). Eye movements discriminate fatigue due to chronotypical factors and time spent on task–a double dissociation. PloS one, 9(1), e87146.
  7. Dawson, J. (2018, March 30). Who Is That? The Study of Anonymity and Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/who-is-that-the-study-of-anonymity-and-behavior#:~:text=Behavioral%20studies%20on%20the%20role,values%20to%20guide%20individual%20behavior.
  8. Axia Women's Health. (n.d.). Tips for a Terrific Telehealth Visit. Retrieved from https://axiawh.com/resources/tips-for-a-terrific-telehealth-visit/
  9. Zimmerman, M., & Mattia, J. I. (2001). The Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire: development, reliability and validity. Comprehensive psychiatry.
  10. White, B. (1999). Measuring patient satisfaction: how to do it and why to bother. Family practice management, 6(1), 40.
  11. Brown, A. (2022, February 5). 62 Stress Management Techniques, Strategies & Activities. Retrieved from https://positivepsychology.com/stress-management-techniques-tips-burn-out/