Psychological Interventions
Please see tasks with guidelines attached.
Assessment Task 1:
Paper Review:1800 words
A review of a journal article based on a psychological intervention
For example you could use one of these examples:
Hilton, L., Hempel, S., Ewing, B. A., Apaydin, E., Xenakis, L., Newberry, S., … & Maglione, M. A. (2017). Mindfulness meditation for chronic pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51(2), 199-213.
Heron, K. E., & Smyth, J. M. (2010). Ecological momentary interventions: incorporating mobile technology into psychosocial and health behaviour treatments. British journal of health psychology, 15(1), 1-39.
Tan, L., Wang, M. J., Modini, M., Joyce, S., Mykletun, A., Christensen, H., & Harvey, S. B. (2014). Preventing the development of depression at work: a systematic review and metaanalysis of universal interventions in the workplace. BMC medicine, 12(1), 74
Suggested guidance for the paper review:
- Write in the third person.
- Give details of the paper, date, authors, where published
- Present a summary of the key points along with a limited number of examples. You can also briefly explain the author’s purpose/intentions throughout the text and you may briefly describe how the text is organised. The summary should only make up about a third of the critical review.
- The review should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths in the form of a critique, weakness and notable feature, and key arguments of the text. Remember to base your discussion on specific criteria. Good reviews also include other sources to support your evaluation (remember to reference).
- Give a conclusion – drawing on the key issue raised regarding the text, with recommendations for further work, or/and application, impact, etc
- Remember to cite any sources which you have used to support/refute arguments etc (references)
Possible focus questions:
Significance and contribution to the field
* What is the author’s aim?
* To what extent has this aim been achieved?
* What does this text add to the body of knowledge? (This could be in terms of theory, data and/or practical application)
* What relationship does it bear to other works in the field?
* What is missing/not stated?
* Is this a problem?
Methodology or approach (this usually applies to more formal, research-based texts)
* What approach was used for the research? (eg; quantitative or qualitative, analysis/review of theory or current practice, comparative, case study, personal reflection etc…)
* How objective/biased is the approach?
* Are the results valid and reliable?
* What analytical framework is used to discuss the results?
Argument and use of evidence
* Is there a clear problem, statement or hypothesis?
* What claims are made?
* Is the argument consistent? Evidence/conclusions/assumptions
* What kinds of evidence does the text rely on?
* How valid and reliable is the evidence?
* How effective is the evidence in supporting the argument?
* What conclusions are drawn?
* Are these conclusions justified?
Writing style and text structure
* Does the writing style suit the intended audience? (eg; expert/non-expert, academic/non-academic)
* What is the organising principle of the text? Could it be better organised?
Suggested Reading:
| Concise/Indicative Reading List |
| Books:
Davey, G.C. Psychopathology: Research, Assessment and Treatment in Clinical Psychology. Oxford: John Wiley and Sons.
Morrison, V. (2016). Introduction to Health Psychology (4th Edition). Harlow: Pearson.
Wedding D and Corsini, R (2013). Current Psychotherapies.(10th Edition) San Francisco: Wadsworth Publishing
|
| Journals:
British Journal of Clinical Psychology British Journal of Health Psychology Clinical Psychology Review Health Psychology Review Journal of Counselling Psychology |
Learning Outcomes to be assessed: To critically appraise research on psychological interventions to promote mental and physical health and well being.
Grading Criteria:
| CRITERIA | MARKS AWARDED |
| Introduction – 25%
· Give details of the paper, date, authors, where published. · What was the authors aim, predictions/hypotheses? · To what extent has this aim been achieved? · What does this text add to the body of knowledge? (This could be in terms of theory, data and/or practical application) · What relationship does it bear to other works in the field?
|
/ 25 |
| Main Body – 50%
· Present a summary of the key points along with a limited number of examples. · You can also briefly explain the author’s purpose/intentions throughout the text and you may briefly describe how the text is organised. The summary should only make up about a third of the critical review. · The review should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths in the form of a critique, weakness and notable feature, and key arguments of the text. E.g. · What approach was used for the research? (eg; quantitative or qualitative, analysis/review of theory or current practice, comparative, case study, personal reflection etc…) · How objective/biased is the approach? · Are the results valid and reliable? · What analytical framework is used to discuss the results?
Argument and use of evidence
· Is there a clear problem, statement or hypothesis? · What claims are made? · Is the argument consistent?
Evidence/conclusions/assumptions
· What kinds of evidence does the text rely on? · How valid and reliable is the evidence? · How effective is the evidence in supporting the argument? · What conclusions are drawn? · Are these conclusions justified? |
/ 50 |
| Conclusion– 25%
|
/ 25 |
Students should recognise that the marking criteria are weighted to indicate its importance in relation to the information required.
NB: these subsections should only be used as guidance towards marking and content. This is an academic essay and subsections should not be used within the main body of work.
Assessment Task 2:
Project Report. 4200 words.
Design a psychological based intervention in the form of an informative leaflet to promote psychological health & well-being (700 words).
The proposed intervention should be accompanied by a report (3500 words) focusing on all elements of the process (formulation of the rationale for the intervention, proposed delivery and subsequent method of evaluation).
Assignment Guidelines:
For the leaflet: Introduction (5%), main body and discussion (10%) conclusion (5%).
Introduction (5%)
Should include: Definition, background and explanation of the psychological based intervention of your choice supported by research evidence.
Main body (10%)
Should include a detailed review and discussion of your psychological based intervention and how similar interventions in relation to your chosen area (e.g., managing stress or anxiety in the workplace) have been found to promote psychological health & well-being. A line of argument supporting the benefits of your chosen intervention is also helpful. This should be supported by research evidence.
Conclusion (5%)
A summary of your key points of your chosen intervention as to how this promotes psychological health & well-being and implications of such interventions for the future psychological health & well-being.
The proposed intervention should be accompanied by a report (3500 words) focusing on all elements of the process (formulation of the rationale for the intervention, proposed delivery and subsequent method of evaluation).
For the report: Abstract (10%), Introduction (25%), Method (20%), Discussion (15%) and Reference (10%):
Abstract (200-250 words)
An abstract is a brief summary of the research carried out. Its length should be between 200 and 250 words. It must contain brief details about:
- Main background intervention
- Aim of the intervention – the research question
- The method used and the basic design of the intervention
- Subsequent method of evaluation
Introduction (approx 1500-2000 words)
The Introduction should begin with a broad review of the area leading towards a review of the specific question under study. Its main purpose is to provide a rationale for the formulation of the present intervention. Outline the key theories relevant to the intervention, and mention any problems or controversies in the area. The final paragraph should be clear statement/hypotheses about the specific intervention under study of your choice.
Method: (Word count approx 500-700 words)
Here you should focus on the proposed delivery of your chosen intervention. Details about design and method of proposed delivery, e.g., weekly sessions? How many participants? Confidentiality of participants? Etc.
Discussion (approx 400-550 words)
You should consider how you might evaluate your intervention: Some focus questions to think about here: e.g., you should appraise your own intervention critically (play devil’s advocate) and evaluate it in the wider context and in its relation to appropriate theories. Also its strengths/weaknesses; try to support your arguments with theoretical/empirical findings which have used similar interventions as a basis.
You must include a full and accurate APA reference list. You can refer to the APA website for guidance on this http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx Alternatively, Purdue Online Writing Lab is a useful and practical resource https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/
Further Guidance for this assessment
The question is very broad so your challenge is to decide how to focus your answer.
The key issue in this Project Report:
- Design a psychological based intervention in the form of an informative leaflet to promote psychological health & well-being (700 words).
- The proposed intervention should be accompanied by a report (3500 words) focusing on all elements of the process (formulation of the rationale for the intervention, proposed delivery and subsequent method of evaluation).
You are required to consider one psychological based intervention for e.g., stress management, anxiety, depression, resilience. These are just examples. You need to do some reading around the topic before deciding upon the type of intervention to be considered.
Psychological stress, as an example can take many forms in terms of it being a major stressor, minor hassles or the transaction between stress and your appraisal. This may take into account coping strategies, social support, personality factors etc.
Your proposed intervention should focus on all elements of the process: e.g., formulation of the rationale for the intervention, proposed delivery and subsequent method of evaluation.
There is not a SINGLE answer that is appropriate; you may choose to answer the question in a number of ways. DO NOT TRY TO INCLUDE EVERYTHING that might be relevant or important. Instead, you should select and justify the approach you have decided to take and select research evidence around this topic.
The title gives you a lot of scope for researching an area which you find interesting. One important consideration is the balance between breadth (how many different ideas/arguments you present) and depth (how much attention you pay to each idea/argument in your work). It is generally better to focus on fewer ideas/arguments in greater detail than to make brief and superficial reference to multiple ideas, without discussing or evaluating any of the evidence. You should avoid composing paragraphs containing only the conclusions from multiple studies, without any sense of what was done in key studies and the quality of this research.
You must include a full and accurate APA reference list. You can refer to the APA website for guidance on this http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx Alternatively, Purdue Online Writing Lab is a useful and practical resource https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/
To make your choice more straightforward, look for appropriate articles in Health Psychology journals (e.g., British Journal of Health Psychology, Health Psychology, European Journal of Health Psychology) and Clinical Journals such as the British Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Text books or specialist topic books are useful for getting an introduction to the area of interest and review articles, especially systematic review and meta-analysis articles, are also helpful in providing an overview of recent research findings. You can always chase up the references in a review article if you need more information about the individual studies presented in the review.
Suggested Reading
Learning Outcomes to be assessed: To engage in sophisticated critical appraisal of the efficacy of different psychological interventions to promote health and mental health.
Complete Answer:
