Teaching open and reproducible scholarship: a critical review of the evidence base for current pedagogical methods and their outcomes.

In recent years, the scientific community has called for improvements in the credibility, robustness and reproducibility of research, characterized by increased interest and promotion of open and transparent research practices. While progress has been positive, there is a lack of consideration about how this approach can be embedded into undergraduate and postgraduate research training. Specifically, a critical overview of the literature which investigates how integrating open and reproducible science may influence student outcomes is needed. In this paper, we provide the first critical review of literature surrounding the integration of open and reproducible scholarship into teaching and learning and its associated outcomes in students. Our review highlighted how embedding open and reproducible scholarship appears to be associated with (i) students' scientific literacies (i.e. students' understanding of open research, consumption of science and the development of transferable skills); (ii) student engagement (i.e. motivation and engagement with learning, collaboration and engagement in open research) and (iii) students' attitudes towards science (i.e. trust in science and confidence in research findings). However, our review also identified a need for more robust and rigorous methods within pedagogical research, including more interventional and experimental evaluations of teaching practice. We discuss implications for teaching and learning scholarship.

Exploring Mental Health and Holistic Healing through the Life Stories of Indigenous Youth Who Have Experienced Homelessness.

Indigenous youth are the fastest growing population in Canada, yet are marked by profound and disproportionate personal, societal, political, and colonial barriers that predispose them to mental health challenges, employment and educational barriers, and experiences of housing insecurity and homelessness. It is only from the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous community members themselves that we can gain appropriate insights into effective supports, meaningful interventions, and accessible pathways to security. This paper will explore the mental health of Indigenous youth who are at risk of, or who have experienced, homelessness, as well as the lifelong perspectives, teachings, and guidance from Indigenous Elders and traditional knowledge keepers; their perspectives are weaved throughout, in order to provide a more effective means to addressing holistic healing and the mental health needs of Indigenous homeless youth. As educators, researchers and clinicians who have sought to understand this issue in more depth, our analysis aims to raise awareness about the complexities of Indigenous youth homelessness and push back against systemic barriers that contribute to homelessness, fail young people, and subject them to oppression. We also offer recommendations from a clinical perspective in order for clinicians, researchers and those working within communities to serve our Indigenous youth with a diverse set of methods that are tailored and ethical in their approach.

Reforms to improve reproducibility and quality must be coordinated across the research ecosystem: the view from the UKRN Local Network Leads.

Many disciplines are facing a "reproducibility crisis", which has precipitated much discussion about how to improve research integrity, reproducibility, and transparency. A unified effort across all sectors, levels, and stages of the research ecosystem is needed to coordinate goals and reforms that focus on open and transparent research practices. Promoting a more positive incentive culture for all ecosystem members is also paramount. In this commentary, we-the Local Network Leads of the UK Reproducibility Network-outline our response to the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee's inquiry on research integrity and reproducibility. We argue that coordinated change is needed to create (1) a positive research culture, (2) a unified stance on improving research quality, (3) common foundations for open and transparent research practice, and (4) the routinisation of this practice. For each of these areas, we outline the roles that individuals, institutions, funders, publishers, and Government can play in shaping the research ecosystem. Working together, these constituent members must also partner with sectoral and coordinating organisations to produce effective and long-lasting reforms that are fit-for-purpose and future-proof. These efforts will strengthen research quality and create research capable of generating far-reaching applications with a sustained impact on society.

Akiikaa (it is the land): exploring land-based experiences with university students in Ontario.

Indigenous learning traditionally comes from the land. Akiikaa ('it is the land' in Algonkian) is designed to assist graduate students in thinking beyond the classroom and understanding the elements of life as known by Indigenous people to live a healthy life. Akiikaa will provide graduate students (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) with opportunities to learn about Indigenous ways of knowing. They will learn from an instructor, Elders and their peers about how the land is an instrumental part of all aspects of Indigenous life including health and well-being. One of the goals of the Master of Public Health in Indigenous Health program (at the University of Toronto) and the land-based experiences is to shift the thinking away from humans being the dominating force on Mother Earth to equality amongst all aspects of life. Graduate students are introduced to 'personhood' rights for plants, animals, water, and air, which is a shift from the current World Health Organization's view of public health that builds upon a population health approach but neglects the elements that surround humans as necessary for living a healthy life. It has been suggested that Indigenous land-based education acts as a method of decolonization through reclamation of Indigenous ideology and use of land. Land and land experience are highly prized by Indigenous people around the world as cultures and languages are based on the interaction of people with nature/land. This move to delivering the curriculum in the natural environment using Indigenous knowledges as its pedagogy is anticipated to change attitudes about Indigenous people and issues as well as improving the health and well-being of graduate students and, over time, Indigenous peoples' health and well-being.

Affective theory of mind inferences contextually influence the recognition of emotional facial expressions.

The recognition of emotional facial expressions is often subject to contextual influence, particularly when the face and the context convey similar emotions. We investigated whether spontaneous, incidental affective theory of mind inferences made while reading vignettes describing social situations would produce context effects on the identification of same-valenced emotions (Experiment 1) as well as differently-valenced emotions (Experiment 2) conveyed by subsequently presented faces. Crucially, we found an effect of context on reaction times in both experiments while, in line with previous work, we found evidence for a context effect on accuracy only in Experiment 1. This demonstrates that affective theory of mind inferences made at the pragmatic level of a text can automatically, contextually influence the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions in a separate task even when those emotions are of a distinctive valence. Thus, our novel findings suggest that language acts as a contextual influence to the recognition of emotional facial expressions for both same and different valences.

Deception Detection and Truth Detection Are Dependent on Different Cognitive and Emotional Traits: An Investigation of Emotional Intelligence, Theory of Mind, and Attention.

Despite evidence that variation exists between individuals in high-stakes truth and deception detection accuracy rates, little work has investigated what differences in individuals' cognitive and emotional abilities contribute to this variation. Our study addressed this question by examining the role played by cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM), emotional intelligence (EI), and various aspects of attention (alerting, orienting, executive control) in explaining variation in accuracy rates among 115 individuals (87 women; mean age = 27.04 years [ SD = 11.32]) who responded to video clips of truth-tellers and liars in real-world, high-stakes contexts. Faster attentional alerting supported truth detection, and better cognitive ToM and perception of emotion (an aspect of EI) supported deception detection. This evidence indicates that truth and deception detection are distinct constructs supported by different abilities. Future research may address whether interventions targeting these cognitive and emotional traits can also contribute to improving detection skill.

Assessment of metacognitive beliefs in an at risk mental state for psychosis: A validation study of the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30.

AIM: The Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) has been used to assess metacognitive beliefs in a range of mental health problems. The aim of this study is to assess the validity of the MCQ-30 in people at risk for psychosis. METHODS: One hundred eighty-five participants meeting criteria for an at risk mental state completed the MCQ-30 as part of their involvement in a randomized controlled trial. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to assess factor structure and construct validity. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the original five-factor structure of the MCQ-30. Examination of principal component analysis and parallel analysis outputs also suggested a five-factor structure. Correlation analyses including measures of depression, social anxiety, and beliefs about paranoia showed evidence of convergent validity. Discriminant validity was supported using the normalizing subscale of the beliefs about paranoia tool. CONCLUSIONS: The MCQ-30 demonstrated good fit using the original five-factor model, acceptable to very good internal consistency of items was evident and clinical usefulness in those at risk for psychosis was demonstrated.

Metacognitive beliefs as psychological predictors of social functioning: An investigation with young people at risk of psychosis.

Poor social functioning has been found to be present in those at risk for psychosis. This study aimed to examine metacognitive beliefs as potential predictors of structured activity (measure of social functioning) in those with an At Risk Mental State (ARMS). Regression and correlation analyses were conducted. The sample included 109 young people. Age was found to be positively correlated to structured activity. Metacognitive beliefs concerning uncontrollability and danger of worry were found to negatively predict structured activity. This was after controlling for age, gender, treatment allocation, cognitive schemas, positive symptom severity, social anxiety, and depression. Metacognitive danger items were most important. Age was the only control variable found to be an independent predictor of structured activity in the regression model, despite negative bi-variate relationships with structured activity found across three cognitive schema subscales and social anxiety. This is the first study to find that higher negative metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and danger predict lower social functioning in an ARMS sample, and that the perception of thoughts being dangerous was of particular importance. Psychological interventions should consider targeting this metacognitive dimension to increase social functioning. Future longitudinal research is required to strengthen findings in this area.

Components of therapy as mechanisms of change in cognitive therapy for people at risk of psychosis: analysis of the EDIE-2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that the way in which cognitive therapy is delivered is an important factor in determining outcomes. We test the hypotheses in which the development of a shared problem list, use of case formulation, homework tasks and active intervention strategies will act as process variables. METHOD: Presence of these components during therapy is taken from therapist notes. The direct and indirect effect of the intervention is estimated by an instrumental variable analysis. RESULTS: A significant decrease in the symptom score for case formulation (coefficient = -23, 95% CI -44 to -1.7, P = 0.036) and homework (coefficient = -0.26, 95% CI -0.51 to -0.001, P = 0.049) is found. Improvement with the inclusion of active change strategies is of borderline significance (coefficient = -0.23, 95% CI -0.47 to 0.005, P = 0.056). CONCLUSIONS: There is a greater treatment effect if formulation and homework are involved in therapy. However, high correlation between components means that these may be indicators of overall treatment fidelity.

Internalized stigma, emotional dysfunction and unusual experiences in young people at risk of psychosis.

AIMS: To investigate the relationship between internalized stigma, depression, social anxiety and unusual experiences in young people considered to be at risk of developing psychosis. METHODS: A total of 288 participants meeting criteria for an at-risk mental state were recruited as part of a multisite randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioural therapy for people meeting criteria for an at risk mental state (ARMS). The sample was assessed at baseline and 6 months using measures of at risk mental states, internalized stigma, depression and social anxiety. RESULTS: The Personal Beliefs about Experiences Questionnaire was validated for use with an ARMS sample. Correlational analyses at baseline indicated significant relationships between internalized stigma and: (i) depression; (ii) social anxiety; (iii) distress associated with unusual psychological experiences; and (iv) suicidal thinking. Regression analysis indicates negative appraisals of unusual experiences contributed significantly to depression scores at 6-month follow up when controlling for baseline depression and unusual psychological experiences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that internalized stigma may contribute to the development and maintenance of depression in young people at risk of psychosis.

Psychopathology and affect dysregulation across the continuum of psychosis: a multiple comparison group study.

AIM: There is evidence that psychotic-like phenomena can be detected within the general population and that psychotic experiences lie on a continuum that also spans affective states. We aimed to investigate comparisons of a first-episode psychosis group, an 'at-risk mental state group' and a help-seeking control group with non-patients to explore whether affective states lie on a continuum of psychosis. METHOD: Measures of psychotic-like experiences, social anxiety and depression were administered to 20 patients experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP), 113 patients experiencing an 'at-risk' mental state (ARMS), 28 patients who were help-seeking but not experiencing a FEP or ARMS (HSC) and 30 non-clinical participants (NC). RESULTS: For distress in relation to psychotic-like experiences, the FEP, ARMS and HSC groups scored significantly higher than the NC group for the perceptual abnormalities and non-bizarre ideas. In terms of severity of psychotic experiences, the FEP scored the highest, followed by the ARMS group, followed by the HSC and NC groups. The clinical groups scored significantly higher for depression than the non-clinical group. Interestingly, only the FEP and the ARMS groups scored significantly higher than non-patients for social anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a psychosis continuum exists; however, this does not suggest that both psychosis and affective symptoms lie on the same continuum, rather it would appear the presence of such affective states that may affect help-seeking behaviour and clinical status. The implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.

Core schemas across the continuum of psychosis: a comparison of clinical and non-clinical groups.

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that core schemas are important in both the development and maintenance of psychosis. AIMS: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare core schemas in four groups along the continuum of psychosis and examine the relationships between schemas and positive psychotic symptomatology. METHOD: A measure of core schemas was distributed to 20 individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP), 113 individuals with "at risk mental states" (ARMS), 28 participants forming a help-seeking clinical group (HSC), and 30 non-help-seeking individuals who endorse some psychotic-like experiences (NH). RESULTS: The clinical groups scored significantly higher than the NH group for negative beliefs about self and about others. No significant effects of group on positive beliefs about others were found. For positive beliefs about the self, the NH group scored significantly higher than the clinical groups. Furthermore, negative beliefs about self and others were related to positive psychotic symptomatology and to distress related to those experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Negative evaluations of the self and others appear to be characteristic of the appraisals of people seeking help for psychosis and psychosis-like experiences. The results support the literature that suggests that self-esteem should be a target for intervention. Future research would benefit from including comparison groups of people experiencing chronic psychosis and people who do not have any psychotic-like experiences.

Impact of cognitive therapy on internalised stigma in people with at-risk mental states.

BACKGROUND: Internalised stigma in young people meeting criteria for at-risk mental states (ARMS) has been highlighted as an important issue, and it has been suggested that provision of cognitive therapy may increase such stigma. AIMS: To investigate the effects of cognitive therapy on internalised stigma using a secondary analysis of data from the EDIE-2 trial. METHOD: Participants meeting criteria for ARMS were recruited as part of a multisite randomised controlled trial of cognitive therapy for prevention and amelioration of psychosis. Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months using measures of psychotic experiences, symptoms and internalised stigma. RESULTS: Negative appraisals of experiences were significantly reduced in the group assigned to cognitive therapy (estimated difference at 12 months was -1.36 (95% CI -2.69 to -0.02), P = 0.047). There was no difference in social acceptability of experiences (estimated difference at 12 months was 0.46, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.98, P = 0.079). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that, rather than increasing internalised stigma, cognitive therapy decreases negative appraisals of unusual experiences in young people at risk of psychosis; as such, it is a non-stigmatising intervention for this population.

Risk factors associated with repetition of self-harm in black and minority ethnic (BME) groups: a multi-centre cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Little information is available to inform clinical assessments on risk of self-harm repetition in ethnic minority groups. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, using data collected from six hospitals in England for self-harm presentations occurring between 2000 and 2007, we investigated risk factors for repeat self-harm in South Asian and Black people in comparison to Whites. RESULTS: During the study period, 751 South Asian, 468 Black and 15,705 White people presented with self-harm in the study centres. Repeat self-harm occurred in 4379 individuals, which included 229 suicides (with eight of these fatalities being in the ethnic minority groups). The risk ratios for repetition in the South Asian and Black groups compared to the White group were 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.7 and 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.8, respectively. Risk factors for repetition were similar across all three groups, although excess risk versus Whites was seen in Black people presenting with mental health symptoms, and South Asian people reporting alcohol use and not having a partner. Additional modelling of repeat self-harm count data showed that alcohol misuse was especially strongly linked with multiple repetitions in both BME groups. LIMITATIONS: Ethnicity was not recorded in a third of cases which may introduce selection bias. Differences may exist due to cultural diversity within the broad ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: Known social and psychological features that infer risk were present in South Asian and Black people who repeated self-harm. Clinical assessment in these ethnic groups should ensure recognition and treatment of mental illness and alcohol misuse.

Early detection and intervention evaluation for people at risk of psychosis: multisite randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether cognitive therapy is effective in preventing the worsening of emerging psychotic symptoms experienced by help seeking young people deemed to be at risk for serious conditions such as schizophrenia. DESIGN: Multisite single blind randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Diverse services at five UK sites. PARTICIPANTS: 288 participants aged 14-35 years (mean 20.74, SD 4.34 years) at high risk of psychosis: 144 were assigned to cognitive therapy plus monitoring of mental state and 144 to monitoring of mental state only. Participants were followed-up for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months. INTERVENTION: Cognitive therapy (up to 26 (mean 9.1) sessions over six months) plus monitoring of mental state compared with monitoring of mental state only. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was scores on the comprehensive assessment of at risk mental states (CAARMS), which provides a dichotomous transition to psychosis score and ordinal scores for severity of psychotic symptoms and distress. Secondary outcomes included emotional dysfunction and quality of life. RESULTS: Transition to psychosis based on intention to treat was analysed using discrete time survival models. Overall, the prevalence of transition was lower than expected (23/288; 8%), with no significant difference between the two groups (proportional odds ratio 0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.32 to 1.68). Changes in severity of symptoms and distress, as well as secondary outcomes, were analysed using random effects regression (analysis of covariance) adjusted for site and baseline symptoms. Distress from psychotic symptoms did not differ (estimated difference at 12 months -3.00, 95% confidence interval -6.95 to 0.94) but their severity was significantly reduced in the group assigned to cognitive therapy (estimated between group effect size at 12 months -3.67, -6.71 to -0.64, P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive therapy plus monitoring did not significantly reduce transition to psychosis or symptom related distress but reduced the severity of psychotic symptoms in young people at high risk. Most participants in both groups improved over time. The results have important implications for the at risk mental state concept. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN56283883.

Early detection and intervention evaluation for people at high-risk of psychosis-2 (EDIE-2): trial rationale, design and baseline characteristics.

AIMS: Much research has begun to focus on the identification of people who are at high risk of developing psychosis, and clinical services have been initiated for this population. However, only a small number of studies have reported on the efficacy of interventions for preventing or delaying the onset of psychosis. The results of prior work suggest that cognitive therapy (CT) may be an effective, well-tolerated treatment. We report on the rationale and design for a large-scale, multi-site randomized, controlled trial of CT for people who are assessed to be at high risk of psychosis because of either state or state-plus-trait risk factors. METHODS: The study employs a single-blind design in which all participants receive frequent mental-state monitoring, which will efficiently detect transition to psychosis, and half are randomized to weekly sessions of CT for up to 6 months. Participants will be followed-up for a minimum of 12 months and to a maximum of 2 years. RESULTS: We report the characteristics of the final sample at baseline (n=288). CONCLUSIONS: Our study aimed to expand the currently limited evidence base for best practice in interventions for individuals at high risk of psychosis.

Mental state references in psychosis: a pilot study of prompted implicit mentalising during dialogue and its relationship with social functioning.

INTRODUCTION: Few studies of psychosis have examined dialogue-based implicit mentalising even though this is likely to reflect the skills required in everyday life better than more typical mentalising tasks. Using a semistructured dialogue task, we predicted that a psychosis sample would be impaired in "prompted" online mentalising (i.e., the frequency and variety of mental and emotional state words as well as references to own mental state) and that performance would relate to social functioning. METHODS: Eighteen adults with psychosis and nine healthy adults were each recorded during four semistructured dialogues, which were transcribed, coded, scored, and quantitatively analysed. The patients also completed a measure of social functioning. RESULTS: Compared to controls, the psychosis participants referred to others' mental and emotional states significantly less and with a lower variety of words. These findings were all large effects with sufficient observed power. There was no significant difference in references to own mental state. The relationships between mentalising and social functioning were mostly modest. CONCLUSIONS: Although prompted implicit mentalising is impoverished in psychosis, self-knowledge appears to be intact. Simulation-based mentalising may be spared in the context of impoverished theory-based mentalising. Also, implicit mentalising contributes to social functioning, corroborating the results of previous work.

Alignment and theory of mind in schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: We predicted that participants with schizophrenia would be able to successfully "align" during conversation in the context of impaired theory of mind. Alignment is a process by which interlocutors' representations of the conversational situation converge; and it may, in part, explain how people with schizophrenia can often participate successfully in dialogue despite experiencing impaired mentalising. METHODS: Fifty-nine people with schizophrenia and 38 healthy adults completed a standardised, empirical conversational alignment task with a mentalising component and a measure of current IQ. The patients also completed two independent theory of mind tests. We used ANCOVAs to compare the groups' performances. RESULTS: The participants with schizophrenia and the healthy participants demonstrated equivalent alignment skills even though the schizophrenia participants displayed clear theory of mind difficulties. Symptom subtype analyses found no differences between subtype groups in alignment, but healthy controls and remitted patients performed significantly better on the mentalising component than the paranoia group. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the schizophrenia participants having intact alignment skills alongside mentalising impairments. We propose that this explains why people with schizophrenia can often participate successfully in conversation but have difficulties with more complex dialogues, with resolving misunderstandings, and with untangling ambiguities during conversation.