Identifying archetypal cannabis consumers to inform drug policy design: a Q-sort assessment of young adults’ attitudes in Mexico City’s metropolitan area

Background As the legalization of cannabis moves forward in many countries, it is important to highlight the potential harm that excessive use can cause on young consumers. Crafting effective policy interventions to reduce the harm stemming from excessive use requires an understanding of the attitudes and motivations of young consumers. Methods This article uses Q methodology to study four aspects of cannabis use among young adults from Mexico City’s metropolitan area: motivations for use, perceived consequences of use, reasons that would increase willingness to reduce consumption, and attitudes towards government regulation. A total of 110 cannabis users between 18 and 21 years old were recruited using chain-referral sampling. Using a Q methodology, we captured the relative importance that participants assigned to a series of statements and identified archetypal profiles of young adults who use cannabis for each of the four aspects mentioned above. Results The sample for this research study included 76 men and 34 women. The average age of participants was 20 years old, and the average age when cannabis consumption started was 15 years old. For each of the four Q-sort factor analyses, we identified 4 distinct factors based on explained variance and interpretability. The Q factor analysis indicated that attenuation of a negative affect (i.e., anxiety, stress) and relaxation were primary motivations for cannabis use. Understood consequences of cannabis use ranged across aspect-archetype, reflecting legal (i.e., interacting with law enforcement), financial, familial (i.e., disappointing family members), and educational performance concerns. Participants indicated that finding alternative relaxation strategies, receiving credible evidence of the health harms of cannabis use, increased financial burden of purchasing, and increased inaccessibility of cannabis products would motivate reductions in use. Across archetypes, participants indicated a willingness to comply with cannabis policies which are simple and easy to understand, which do not lead to discrimination or law enforcement involvement, and which provide for legal places to purchase and use safe (i.e., free of adulterants) cannabis products. Conclusions We posit that these archetypes could be useful to inform cannabis policy design. As the study reveals, participants’ cannabis use was primarily motivated by perceived improvements to mental health. Furthermore, participant responses indicated that they viewed cannabis use as a health matter, not a criminal one. Policies which aim to promote alternative mental health wellness and relaxation mechanisms, which aim to improve communication of potential health harms of cannabis, and which allow for the safe and legal purchase and use of cannabis may be effective in reducing cannabis-associated harms. Though our findings shed light on important aspects of cannabis users’ attitudes and perspectives, the sample size does not allow for a generalization of the findings and the drawing of conclusions about the population under scrutiny. Further research should consider the application of the Q methodology used in this article to a larger and more representative sample of cannabis users.

Setting Up and Running a Q-Methodology Study in an Online Survey Research Suite

The q-method, as a graphic (visual) elicitation, has existed since the mid-1930s. Setting up a q-method, with q-sort capabilities, in an online survey platform, extends the reach of this method, even as data has to be processed in a quantitative data analytics suite. This chapter describes the setting up of a visual q-sort and the related debriefing on the Qualtrics Research Suite. The available data may be extracted and analyzed in a basic statistical analysis tool for factors and preference clusters.

Dyspozycyjne motywy autoewaluacyjne a akuratność samowiedzy

CelNiniejsze badanie laboratoryjne było pierwszym mającym na celu ustalenie związków między czterema głównymi dyspozycyjnymi motywami autoewaluacyjnymi (motywami Ja) i akuratnością samowiedzy. MetodaW badaniu uczestniczyło 178 osób (89 diad znajomych), a średnia wieku wyniosła 24 lata. Zastosowano Skalę Motywów Ja (Gregg, Hepper, Sedikides) oraz osobowościowy Q-sort QOS (Miciuk). WynikiAkuratność samowiedzy korelowała najsilniej i dodatnio z motywem samopoznania, natomiast autowaloryzacja była negatywnym korelatem akuratności. Analizy powierzchni odpowiedzi (RSA) potwierdziły hipotezy na temat możliwości przewidywania poziomu akuratności samowiedzy na podstawie rozbieżności i zgodności wewnątrz par motywów Ja. Przede wszystkim, akuratność samowiedzy była wyższa u tych badanych, którzy uzyskali niższe wyniki w podskali autowaloryzacji, w porównaniu z wynikami w podskalach mierzących pozostałe trzy motywy Ja. Generalnie, motywy Ja i ich interakcje wyjaśniały łącznie 22% wariancji akuratności samowiedzy. KonkluzjeDyspozycyjny motyw autowaloryzacji jest negatywnie związany z akuratnością samowiedzy. Mimo tego, autowaloryzujący się ludzie wciąż mogą osiągać relatywnie wysokie poziomy akuratności, pod warunkiem że motyw autowaloryzacji nie jest u nich silniejszy niż pozostałe trzy motywy Ja. Ogólnie, motywy Ja są ważnymi predyktorami akuratności samowiedzy.

Assessing children’s defense mechanisms with the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-sort for Children

Defense mechanisms are unconscious and automatic psychological processes that serve to protect the individual from painful emotions and thoughts. There is ample evidence from the adult psychotherapy and mental health literature suggesting the salience of defenses in the maintenance and amelioration of psychological distress. Although several tools for the assessment of children’s defenses exist, most rely on projective and self-report tools, and none are based on the empirically derived hierarchy of defenses. This paper outlines the development of the defense mechanisms rating scale Q-sort for children (DMRS-Q-C), a 60-item, observer-rated tool for coding the use of defenses in child psychotherapy sessions. Modifications to the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scale Q-Sort for adults to create a developmentally relevant measure and the process by which expert child psychotherapists collaborated to develop the DMRS-Q-C are discussed. A clinical vignette describing the child’s defensive functioning as assessed by the innovative DMRS-Q-C method is also reported. Finally, we provide an overview of forthcoming research evaluating the validity of the DMRS-Q-C.

Outstanding Primary Leadership in Times of Turbulence

Leadership and management in schools have sought to produce high quality education for all pupils. To inform and support school leaders’ educationalists have developed theories and undertaken research studies identifying the relationships, contexts and characteristics that enable effective leadership. However, recent times of turbulence in primary schools have had an inevitable impact upon the key drivers for successful leadership and management. This study builds upon our previous research into outstanding leadership in primary education to examine the impact that such change has had upon the leadership of serving head teachers. It utilises an adapted Q-sort methodology to identify the views of serving head teachers to gain insights into the impact that such change has had upon their leadership. Overall, the analysis identified a need for aspirational characteristics of leadership, underpinned by personal values to guide schools in such times, as they strive to produce high quality education.

Recreational Therapists Consider Leisure Motivation when Evaluating Virtual Reality Games

Virtual reality (VR) interventions can be motivating for clients when presented as treatment in healthcare settings. Researchers know little, however, about the elements of specific VR games that contribute to this motivation. This study aimed to describe differences among a sample of commercially available VR games using the four subscales of the Leisure Motivation Scale (LMS). The research team used a mixed-methods design, and compiled an expert panel of recreational therapists (N = 5) who evaluated eight VR games using Q-sort methodology. Semi-structured interviews generated additional data for the evaluation. Results indicated participants viewed certain VR games as containing elements more closely aligned with each of the LMS subscales of intellectual, social, competence-mastery, and stimulus avoidance than others. These findings represent a critical step in developing guidelines for the purposeful selection of VR games as treatment interventions in recreational therapy practice based on a client’s leisure motivation. Subscribe to TRJ

The Hierarchy of Defense Mechanisms: Assessing Defensive Functioning With the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-Sort

The psychodynamic concept of defense mechanisms is nowadays considered by professionals with various theoretical orientations of great importance in the understanding of human development and psychological functioning. More than half century of empirical research has demonstrated the impact of defensive functioning in psychological well-being, personality organization and treatment process-outcome. Despite the availability of a large number of measures for their evaluation, only a few instruments assess the whole hierarchy of defenses, based on the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales (DMRS), which arguably offers an observer-rated gold standard of assessment. The present article illustrates the theoretical and methodological background of the DMRS-Q, the Q-sort version of the DMRS for clinical use. Starting from the definition and function of the 30 defense mechanisms included in the hierarchy, we extracted 150 items that captured a full range of defensive manifestations according to the DMRS theory. The DMRS-Q set is described in this paper with reference to the DMRS manual. Directions are also provided for using the DMRS-Q online software for the free and unlimited coding of defense mechanisms. After each coding, the DMRS-Q software provides a report including qualitative and quantitative scores reflecting the individual’s defensive functioning. Qualitative scores are displayed as the Defensive Profile Narratives (DPN), while quantitative scores are reported as Overall Defensive Functioning (ODF), defensive categories, defense levels, and individual defense mechanisms. Syntax for the scoring is displayed in the results and a clinical vignette of a psychotherapy session coded with the DMRS-Q is provided. The DMRS-Q is an easy-to-use, free, computerized measure that can help clinicians in monitoring changes in defense mechanisms, addressing therapeutic intervention, fostering symptoms decreasing and therapeutic alliance. Moreover, the DMRS-Q might be a valid tool for teaching the hierarchy of defense mechanisms and increase the observer-rated assessment of this construct in several research fields.

A Study of Maternal Competence in Preterm Birth Condition, during the Transition from Hospital to Home: An Early Intervention Program’s Proposal

The study was conducted with 104 mothers (average age 32.5 years, SD 6.1) of preterm infants (very and moderately preterm but still healthy) to monitor the perceived maternal role competence from the time of hospitalisation to post-discharge, in order to define an intervention program to support mothers during this transition. A targeted Q-Sort tool (Maternal Competence Q-Sort in preterm birth) was applied at two different times as a self-observation tool for parenting competence in neonatology. A tendency towards dysregulation of the maternal role competence was detected, mainly in terms of low self-assessment and was found to worsen during post-discharge, particularly with regard to caregiving ability. This study suggests the importance of accompanying parenting competence in preterm birth conditions, not only during hospitalisation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) but also following discharge in order to promote the development of premature infants. This paper reports in the last part a specific integrated psychoeducational intervention program (psychologist and nurses), which we defined precisely in light of the suggestions offered by the study data on perceived maternal competence created with the Q-sort.

Childhood Personality Assessment Q-Sort (CPAP-Q): A Clinically and Empirically Procedure for Assessing Traits and Emerging Patterns of Personality in Childhood

Background: Despite increasing research confirming the existence of childhood personalities, which are recognizable from a developmental perspective, controversies over the possibility to assess personality in childhood have continued. The purpose of this study was to provide initial data on the validation of the Childhood Personality Assessment Q-Sort (CPAP-Q), a clinician report instrument that can be employed to evaluate children’s personalities and address the gap in the field of emerging personality in children classification. Method: A sample of 135 clinicians completed the CPAP-Q to assess the personality features of 135 children (ages 4–11) who had been in their care between two and 12 months. The clinicians completed a clinical questionnaire to collect information on them, the children, and their families, as well as the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), to evaluate the children’s behavioral problems and social competencies. Results: Q-factor analysis identified seven specific emerging personality patterns: psychological health, borderline/impulsive, borderline/dysregulated, schizoid, inhibited/self-critical, obsessive, and dysphoric/dependent. These patterns revealed good levels of validity and reliability. Conclusions: These findings are preliminary, but seem to support the possibility of evaluating emerging personality patterns in childhood and their developmental pathways that may lead to personality disorders in adolescence and adulthood. The CPAP-Q promises to significantly contribute to less explored research areas and encourage systematic studies of children assessment, promoting best practices for individualized diagnoses.

Identifying Key Variables on the Way to Wellbeing in the Transition from Face-to-Face to Online Higher Education due to COVID-19: Evidence from the Q-Sort Technique

This paper reports perceptions of higher education lecturers who switched from classical face-to-face teaching to online teaching due to the unexpected circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a validated theoretical model about the roles of instructors in online settings, the authors document the perceptions of experienced face-to-face lecturers regarding their performance in online roles and the perceived importance of the formal and informal support they received during the process of adapting to a sudden online context. The study was based on the Q-sort methodology. Among other conclusions, our research reveals that the best performance we elicited pertained to the technical role, followed by the managerial role and the support received through informal channels. Worryingly, the worst performance pertained to promoting life skills. This finding is especially alarming considering both the UNESCO humanistic vision of universities as promoters of university community development and wellbeing and SDG 4.7 of Agenda 2030, which states that education should ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development through education on sustainable development and lifestyles. This article is meant to provide guidelines to traditional universities to help them overcome weaknesses and enhance strengths when switching to online learning.