Lawmakers' use of scientific evidence can be improved.

Core to the goal of scientific exploration is the opportunity to guide future decision-making. Yet, elected officials often miss opportunities to use science in their policymaking. This work reports on an experiment with the US Congress-evaluating the effects of a randomized, dual-population (i.e., researchers and congressional offices) outreach model for supporting legislative use of research evidence regarding child and family policy issues. In this experiment, we found that congressional offices randomized to the intervention reported greater value of research for understanding issues than the control group following implementation. More research use was also observed in legislation introduced by the intervention group. Further, we found that researchers randomized to the intervention advanced their own policy knowledge and engagement as well as reported benefits for their research following implementation.

Legislating to Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences: Growth and Opportunities for Evidence-Based Policymaking and Prevention.

Since the landmark study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs; Felitti et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4):245-258, 1998), there has been a significant growth in efforts to address ACEs and their impact on individual health and well-being. Despite this growing awareness, there has been little systematic review of state legislative action regarding variation in focus or scope or of the broader context impacting the introduction and enactment of ACE-related policy efforts. To inform the role of psychologists and related professionals to contribute to these legislative efforts, we conduct a comprehensive mixed-method analysis of all state bills introduced over the past two decades to investigate the use and impact of ACE research in introduced and enacted state legislative language (51 states, NTotal Bills = 1,212,048, NACE Bills = 425). In addition, these analyses examine congressional office communications (N = 14,916,546 public statements) and voting records (N = 1,163,463 votes) to understand the relationship between legislative members' public discussion of ACEs and their voting behavior on these bills. We find that legislators' public discourse is significantly related to ACE-related policymaking above and beyond political affiliation or demographic characteristics. Furthermore, key legislative language related to domestic violence, evidence-based practice, and prevention were significant predictors of whether an ACE-related bill becomes law-above and beyond the political party in power. These analyses highlight the ways in which ACE-related research has informed state policy. Based upon this work, we offer recommendations for researchers and policymakers.

Optimizing imitation: Examining cognitive factors leading to imitation, overimitation, and goal emulation in preschoolers.

Humans imitate patently irrelevant actions known as overimitation, and rather than decreasing with age, overimitation increases with age. Whereas most overimitation research has focused on social factors associated with overimitation, comparatively little is known about the cognitive- and task-specific features that influence overimitation. Specifically, developmental contrasts between imitation and overimitation are confounded by the addition of irrelevant actions to causally necessary actions, increasing sequence length, cognitive load, and processing costs-variables known to be age dependent. We constructed a novel puzzle box task such that a four-step imitation, four-step overimitation, and two-step efficient sequence could be demonstrated using the same apparatus on video. In Experiments 1 and 2, 2.5- to 5-year-olds randomly assigned to imitation and overimitation groups performed significantly more target actions than baseline control groups. Rates of imitation and overimitation increased as a function of age, with older preschoolers outperforming younger preschoolers in both conditions. In Experiment 3, preschoolers were shown a video of an efficient two-step demonstration prior to testing. After they responded, they were shown a four-step overimitation video and were tested on the same puzzle box. Children imitated the efficient demonstration, but after watching the overimitation video, they also overimitated the irrelevant actions. Once again, older children overimitated more than younger children. Together, results show that preschoolers are faithful, flexible, and persistent overimitators. The fidelity and flexibility of overimitation are constrained not only by social factors but also by basic cognitive processes that vary across age groups. As these constraints diminish, overimitation and flexible (optimal) imitation increases.

Use of research evidence in U.S. federal policymaking: A reflexive report on intra-stage mixed methods.

The policymaking process is largely opaque, especially regarding the actual writing of the policy. To attempt to better understand this complex process, we utilized mixed methods in our evaluation of an intervention. However, the process of mixing methods can be messy, and thus may require recalibration during the evaluation itself. Yet, in comparison to reporting results, relatively little attention is paid to the effects of mixing methods on the evaluation process. In this article, we take a reflexive approach to reporting a mixed methods evaluation of an intervention on the use of research evidence in U.S. federal policymaking. We focus on the research process in a qualitative coding team, and the effects of mixing methods on that process. Additionally, we report in general terms how to interpret multinomial logistic regressions, an underused analysis type applicable to many evaluations. Thus, this reflexive piece contributes (1) findings from evaluation of the intervention on the policymaking process, (2) an example of mixing methods leading to unexpected findings and future directions, (3) a report about the evaluation process itself, and (4) a tutorial for those new to multinomial logistic regressions.

Cultivating researcher-policymaker partnerships: A randomized controlled trial of a model for training public psychologists.

Key to bringing psychological science to bear on public policy is developing scholars' engagement and rapport with policymakers. Scholars benefit from support navigating the policy arena in ways that strengthen their independent policy engagement. This study presents findings from a randomized controlled trial of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) model, which develops and trains a rapid response network of researchers to respond to legislative requests for scientific evidence. Researchers were surveyed on their concerns about how policymakers support or use scientific research, how they engaged with policymakers, and perceived benefits to their research. Researchers randomized to the RPC reported fewer concerns about policymakers' support and use of research, greater involvement in supporting policymakers' understanding of problems (i.e., conceptual use), and more responses to external prompts for their involvement. Subgroup analyses examined how experiences differed for those identifying as Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color (BIPOC). At baseline, BIPOC-identifying researchers perceived greater costs of policy engagement and reported less involvement in supporting conceptual or instrumental uses of research than White-identifying researchers. Subsequent to the RPC, BIPOC-identifying researchers in the intervention group were reportedly less concerned about federal support of science, more engaged in supporting conceptual uses of research, and perceived greater benefits of policy engagement for their research than BIPOC-identifying researchers in the control group. These differences were not observed among White-identifying researchers. Findings are discussed in light of disparities experienced by marginalized scholars, the ways in which resources and supports may counteract these challenges, and possible strategies to strengthen public psychology overall. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Behavioral health policy for improving population health and wellbeing: opportunities for investment in evidence-based policymaking.

The high cost of behavioral health problems across the population continues to highlight the need to integrate high-quality behavioral interventions across a variety of service settings. To successfully achieve such a system-wide transformation will require supporting federal policies that invest in sustainable high-quality services. To support these efforts we provide a mixed-method study of all federal mental health legislation over the last three decades. Results indicate that mental and behavioral health policies have grown. Further, specific characteristics that comprise bills that are successfully enacted into law are identified. Finally, opportunities for the field to engage with policymakers to support widespread integration of behavioral health services are offered.