American Psychologist

Cuijpers, Pim; Harrer, Mathias; Miguel, Clara; Ciharova, Marketa; Karyotaki, Eirini

doi: 10.1037/amp0001250pmid: 37971844

Since the 1970s, hundreds of randomized trials have examined the effects of psychotherapies for depression, and this number is increasing every year. In this study, we report outcomes from a living systematic review of these studies. We use Poisson regression analyses to examine if the proportions of studies have changed over time across the characteristics of the participants, therapies, and studies. We also present a meta-analysis of the effects across the major types, formats, targets, and age groups. We included 562 randomized controlled trials (669 comparisons; 66,361 patients). Most trials are conducted in adults and the relative proportion of trials in children and adolescents, as well as in older patients is significantly decreasing. The effects in children and adolescents are also significantly smaller than in adults (p = .007). Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is by far the best examined type of therapy (52%), but not necessarily more effective than other therapies. Over time, the proportion of studies examining several other types of therapy is significantly decreased compared to CBT. The quality of trials has increased over time, but still, a majority do not meet basic quality criteria, not even in recent years. The effects found in studies with low risk of bias are significantly smaller than in other studies (b = −0.21; SE = 0.05; p < .001). Most trials are conducted in the United States, but the proportion of studies in other parts of the world is rapidly increasing. The evidence that psychotherapies are effective is strong and growing every year.

Jobes, David A.; Barnett, Jeffrey E.

doi: 10.1037/amp0001325pmid: 38695782

Suicide is a major public and mental health problem in the United States and around the world. According to recent survey research, there were 16,600,000 American adults and adolescents in 2022 who reported having serious thoughts of suicide (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2023), which underscores a profound need for effective clinical care for people who are suicidal. Yet there is evidence that clinical providers may avoid patients who are suicidal (out of fear and perceived concerns about malpractice liability) and that too many rely on interventions (i.e., inpatient hospitalization and medications) that have little to no evidence for decreasing suicidal ideation and behavior (and may even increase risk). Fortunately, there is an emerging and robust evidence-based clinical literature on suicide-related assessment, acute clinical stabilization, and the actual treatment of suicide risk through psychological interventions supported by replicated randomized controlled trials. Considering the pervasiveness of suicidality, the life versus death implications, and the availability of proven approaches, it is argued that providers should embrace evidence-based practices for suicidal risk as their best possible risk management strategy. Such an embrace is entirely consistent with expert recommendations as well as professional and ethical standards. Finally, a call to action is made with a series of specific recommendations to help psychologists (and other disciplines) use evidence-based, suicide-specific, approaches to help decrease suicide-related suffering and deaths. It is argued that doing so has now become both an ethical and professional imperative. Given the challenge of this issue, it is also simply the right thing to do.

Ward, George; Schwartz, H. Andrew; Giorgi, Salvatore; Menges, Jochen I.; Matz, Sandra C.

doi: 10.1037/amp0001326pmid: 39052358

Support for populism has grown substantially during the past 2 decades, a development that has coincided with a marked increase in the experience of negative affect around the world. We use a multimodal, multimethod empirical approach, with data from a diverse set of geographical and political contexts, to investigate the extent to which the rising electoral demand for populism can be explained by negative affect. We demonstrate that negative affect—measured via (a) self-reported emotions in surveys as well as (b) automated text analyses of Twitter data—predicts individual-level populist attitudes in two global surveys (Studies 1a and 1b), longitudinal changes in populist party vote shares at general elections in Europe (Study 2), district-level Brexit voting in the 2016 U.K. referendum (Study 3), and county-level vote shares for Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections (Studies 4a and 4b). We find that negative emotions—such as fear and anger as well as more often overlooked low-arousal negative emotions like depression and sadness—are predictive of populist beliefs as well as voting and election results at scale.

Kitamura, Shuhei; Yamada, Katsunori

doi: 10.1037/amp0001288pmid: 38127490

A randomized survey experiment (N = 2,868) was conducted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine the effects of information provision on individuals’ cooperation with stay-home activities. Employing a 2 × 2 factorial design, the study examined the influence of social comparison and a powerful messenger. Using an online sample of approximately 3,000 Japanese respondents, it was found that participants demonstrated greater cooperation with stay-home activities when they perceived that they had spent a relatively long time outside the home compared with prevailing social norms in the previous week. Conversely, individuals who spent a relatively short time outside the home exhibited the opposite effect. However, these results were observed solely in conjunction with the influence of a powerful messenger. The study also explored heterogeneous responses based on personality traits. In conclusion, the results highlight the challenges of changing behavior through informational interventions, emphasizing the role of both the characteristics of the sender and recipient of the information.

Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E.; Soland, James; Kuhfeld, Megan

doi: 10.1037/amp0001357pmid: 38780577

Educators have become increasingly committed to social and emotional learning in schools. However, we know too little about the typical growth trajectories of the competencies that schools are striving to improve. We leverage data from the California Office to Reform Education, a consortium of districts in California serving over 1.5 million students, that administers annual surveys to students to measure social and emotional competencies (SECs). This article uses data from six cohorts of approximately 16,000 students each (51% male, 73% Latinx, 11% White, 10% Black, 24% with parents who did not complete high school) in Grades 4–12. Two questions are addressed. First, how much growth occurs in growth mindset, self-efficacy, self-management, and social awareness from Grades 4 to 12? Second, do initial status and growth look different by parental educational attainment and gender? Using accelerated longitudinal design growth models, findings show distinct growth trends among the four SECs with growth mindset increasing, self-management mostly decreasing, and self-efficacy and social awareness decreasing and then increasing. The subgroup analyses show gaps between groups but patterns of growth that are more similar than different. Further, subgroup membership accounts for very little variation in growth or declines. Instead, initial levels of competencies predict growth. Also, variation within groups is greater than variation between groups. The findings have practical implications for educators and psychologists striving to improve SECs. If schools use student-report approaches, predicting steady and consistent positive growth in SECs is unrealistic. Instead, U-shaped patterns for some SECs appear to be normative with notable declines in the sixth grade, requiring new supports.

Hammack, Phillip L.; Manago, Adriana M.

doi: 10.1037/amp0001366pmid: 38780576

The 21st century has seen shifts in social and scientific understandings of gender and sexuality in the United States. From the legitimization of same-sex marriage to the heightened visibility of transgender identities, nonbinary gender, and forms of intimate diversity such as asexuality, kink, and polyamory, core cultural and scientific assumptions about gender and sexuality have been challenged. This article situates these changes in the historical context of 21st century social technologies, which challenge traditional sources of authority about information and provide enhanced opportunities for individuals to experience authenticity in gender and sexuality. We frame authenticity as a master cultural narrative in the United States characterized by feeling a heightened sense of self-authorship and alignment between inner experience and embodiment of gender and sexuality. Five narratives now circulate in the United States, four of which support sexual and gender diversity: (a) gender as self-constructed; (b) sexuality as plural, playful, flexible, and fluid; (c) sexuality and monogamy as cultural compulsions; and (d) intersectionality as central to the experience of sexuality and gender. A fifth narrative seeking to legitimize hierarchies (e.g., patriarchy) is hostile to sexual and gender diversity but remains anchored in a metanarrative of authenticity and has benefitted equally from the affordances of social technologies. This historical moment provides researchers and practitioners with the opportunity to more intentionally ground their work in lived experience, challenge normative thinking about sexuality and gender, practice affirmation, center the phenomenon of diversity over discrete identity categories in an ever-exclusionary acronym (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and more identities [LGBTQ+]), and embrace fluid and nonlinear narratives of social change.

Levitt, Heidi M.; Hamburger, Andreas; Hill, Clara E.; McLeod, John; Pascual-Leone, Antonio; Timulak, Ladislav; Buchholz, Michael B.; Frommer, Joerg; Fuertes, Jairo; Iwakabe, Shigeru; Martínez, Claudio; Morrill, Zenobia; Knox, Sarah; Langer, Phil; Muran, J. Christopher;

Boyd, Ryan L.; Markowitz, David M.

doi: 10.1037/amp0001319pmid: 38815063

Natural language processing (NLP)—previously the domain of a select few language and computer scientists—is undergoing an unprecedented surge in popularity across disciplines. The ubiquity of language data, alongside extremely rapid methodological innovations, has magnetized the field, attracting researchers with the promise of measuring, forecasting, and understanding the most central questions in business, psychology, biology, sociology, the humanities, and beyond. The power of language analysis to reveal insights into human thought, feeling, and behavior has become a core interest emerging from recent technological advances, which are being probed to unearth deeply embedded truths about the human condition. However, NLP research has reached a critical juncture, sitting at the cusp of societal transformation in many aspects of daily life. The details of how NLP research develops over the next 3–5 years will define this transformation. In this emerging, near-infinite space of NLP-driven research, we provide a critical frame of reference for how, when, and why these technologies should evolve in a particularly transdisciplinary manner. Specifically, we discuss (a) the urgency of pairing existing and emerging NLP research with existing scientific knowledge, theory, and principles from the behavioral sciences; (b) the coevolution of NLP technologies; and (c) the practical implications and ethical consequences of expanding language analysis using broader psychosocial theories of the human condition. While our discussion focuses principally on using language as a window in the individual mind, this topic holds substantial implications for other disciplines and lines of inquiry, including the dynamics of social interaction and beyond.

Zane, Nolan; Leong, Frederick; Nagayama Hall, Gordon

doi: 10.1037/amp0001470pmid: 40193445

Preston, Stephanie D.

doi: 10.1037/amp0001456pmid: 40193446