Fact or Fiction Preprofessionals Beliefs about Child Psychology

Fact or Fiction: Pre-professionals’ Beliefs about Child Psychology Myths INTRODUCTION Nicholas A. Fruit, Keith J. Jorgensen, Emily C. Helwig, Katherine J. George, Colten K. Schmidt, & Michael I. Axelrod – Department of Psychology RESULTS DISCUSSION • There are ideas in child and adolescence clinical and developmental psychology that have been largely discredited empirically (Hupp & Jewell, 2015; Jewell et al. , 2019). • Although research suggests practicing psychologists are generally able to identify common misconceptions in psychology, nothing is currently known about other professionals’ beliefs about myths in child and adolescent psychology (Axelrod et al. , in press). • Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologists work closely with other professionals in the context of providing assessment, intervention, and consultation services. • It is not uncommon for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologists to collaborate with nurses, speech language pathologists, and educators. • The purpose of this study was to extend the literature by investigating pre-professional nursing, speech-language pathology, and education students’ beliefs about myths and research supported statements related to child and adolescent psychology. METHOD • Participants included 149 undergraduate and graduate students in the Departments of Nursing, Communication Sciences & Disorders, and Education at a medium-sized university in the Upper Midwest. • A recruitment email was sent out by department chairs to approximately 586 prospective subjects. After the initial email, two follow-up emails were sent out. • Subjects completed a 40 -item survey asking about level of agreement on statements containing myths and research supported ideas in psychology. • Statements were taken from myths described in Great Myths of Child Development (Hupp & Jewell, 2015) and Great Myths of Adolescence (Jewell et al. , 2019). • Correct responses to statements received a one and incorrect responses received a zero, yielding a total correct score for each participant. Total correct scores were compared across year in school (see Table 3). Table 1. Percent of pre-professionals’ responses to survey items containing myths (Probably and Definitely False = Correct Response). Statement Definitely True Probably True Don’t Know Probably False Definitely False Most antidepressants used for kids are approved by the Food & Drug Administration 8. 9 30. 9 32. 7 23. 8 3. 6 Children who frequently wet the bed usually have underlying emotional issues A child’s drawings provide insight into the subconscious cause of their problems 3. 5 14. 8 30. 0 55. 9 27. 5 32. 9 5. 9 22. 1 6. 5 0. 60 The sex chromosomes for all girls are XX and all boys are XY When Mozart’s music is played to infants the music boosts their intelligence Adolescence ends at 18 years old The teen brain is fully developed by age 18 Anorexia treatment usually requires that teens be separated from their parents 43. 2 1. 8 10. 7 0. 60 1. 2 14. 2 15. 5 23. 9 0 8. 9 15. 9 37. 7 10. 2 4. 7 29. 2 14. 2 35. 3 38. 3 14. 1 41. 7 12. 4 9. 6 16. 7 80. 7 19. 1 Technology has made teens better at multitasking Pubertal ‘early bloomers’ fare better than ‘late bloomers’ Teens can study better while listening to music Paying for prep courses is the best way to make large gains on the SAT 2. 4 0 2. 9 2. 4 17. 8 2. 4 27. 5 33. 9 11. 3 36. 1 26. 9 30. 9 39. 3 47. 3 24. 7 29. 2 14. 2 7. 8 3. 6 Significant moods disruptions in adolescence are inevitable Risky behavior in adolescence is inevitable Teaching teens about condom use makes teens more likely to have sex 7. 8 2. 4 0 49. 1 33. 3 4. 7 11. 4 8. 9 6. 5 26. 4 45. 8 54. 7 5. 4 9. 5 33. 9 The HPV vaccine increases teen sex Conversion therapy effectively turns homosexual teens into straight teens 0 0 1. 2 0 10. 8 2. 9 31. 2 9. 5 56. 8 87. 6 Asking teens if they have thought about suicide increases their risk of actually attempting suicide 0 3. 5 8. 3 36. 1 52. 1 0. 60 1. 2 10. 8 15. 5 30. 5 12. 5 46. 1 50. 6 11. 9 20. 2 Boot camps get teens ‘on the right path’ Listening to heavy metal or rap music makes teens more likely to defy authority Table 2. Percent of pre-professionals’ responses to survey items containing research supported statements (Probably and Definitely True = Correct Response). Statement Definitely True Probably True Don’t Know Probably False Definitely False It is important for mothers to eat a balanced diet while pregnant Being in daycare does not interfere with the attachment between children and their parents 84. 6 13. 2 14. 7 37. 4 0 12. 1 0 33. 7 0. 60 3. 6 Applied behavior analysis can be helpful for children with autism Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be helpful for children with clinical depression 38. 2 31. 5 39. 5 51. 2 21. 5 15. 5 0. 60 0 1. 2 It is common for children to make grammatical mistakes when learning to talk 86. 4 12. 4 0. 60 0 Breastfeeding is a healthy way for babies to get nutrition Letting one-year-olds “cry it out” at bedtime does not hurt their emotional development 84. 6 8. 9 14. 2 41. 9 1. 2 17. 4 0 26. 4 0 5. 4 Divorce does not ruin the lives of most children that have to go through it Children can be diagnosed with clinical depression Too much sugar does not cause most children to be hyperactive Teachers should report a parent if they see the parent abuse a child Showing cognitively stimulating videos to infants does not boost their intelligence 5. 9 41. 2 8. 4 90. 5 7. 1 38. 5 47. 6 27. 5 7. 7 23. 8 21. 8 7. 6 16. 7 0. 60 25 24. 3 3. 5 37. 7 0. 60 36. 3 9. 5 0 9. 6 0. 60 7. 7 Using “baby talk” with an infant does not delay their ability to speak normally 39. 5 27. 5 8. 9 17. 9 5. 9 Physical abuse can be harmful to children’s emotional development Vaccines do not cause autism Horses are not helpful in the treatment of eating disorders, autism spectrum, and more 94. 1 89. 4 1. 7 4. 79 2. 9 3. 5 0. 60 1. 2 21. 3 0 2. 3 37. 8 0. 60 4. 1 35. 5 College placement tests are effective at predicting academic success When girls are sexually assaulted it is usually by a stranger DARE programs are not effective in preventing teen drug use Teens cannot be scared ‘straight’ 0. 60 0 13. 2 33. 7 16. 3 0 27. 5 29. 5 8. 4 1. 2 20. 4 11. 5 50 32. 1 29. 9 18. 7 24. 7 66. 6 8. 9 6. 6 Main Findings • Pre-professionals correctly identified 62% of all myths and research supported statements. • Generally, pre-professionals were able to correctly identify myths in child and adolescent psychology (see Table 1). • However, there were some myths a majority of participants endorsed as true. For example, more than 55 percent of participants’ incorrectly indicated that a child’s drawings provide insight into the subconscious cause of their problems and that significant mood disruptions in adolescence are inevitable. • There were 10 (out of 20) research supported statement in which more than 25% of participants incorrectly identified as either Probably False or Definitely False (see Table 2). • There were a large number of survey items in which more than 20% of participants responded, “Don’t Know. ” Secondary Findings • We conducted an ANOVA to determine the effects year in school had on participants’ ability to correctly identify myths and research supported statements (see Tables 3 and 4). • Scores across year in school were not statistically different suggesting more education might not insulate pre-professionals from believing myths or indicating research supported ideas are false. Limitations & Directions for Future Research • The study failed to differentiate among the different pre-professional groups. Future research should examine differences across pre-professional disciplines. • Generalization beyond this sample and the institution’s curriculum and field experiences cannot be established. Implications • First, this study extends the growing body of literature on people’s beliefs about myths in child and adolescent psychology. • Psychologists working with professionals from other disciplines might need to provide education regarding research supported ideas in child and adolescent psychology. • Curricula and field experiences in nursing, speechlanguage pathology, and education might need to include more focus on research supported aspects of child and adolescent psychology. We thank the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for supporting this research, and Learning & Technology Services for printing this poster.