Based on a research project in Toronto, Canada, this article highlights the strengths and resiliency of 12 female Aboriginal Elders and seniors as they age together. For these women, being actively involved in their families and the Aboriginal community gives them a solid grounding in who they are, what their roles are and how they contribute to the whole. Of particular significance is the support and friendship the women offer each other through their commonalities, activities, and sense of humor.

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Cognitive impairments associated with LBW persist into adolescence and early adulthood; however, the influence of LBW on IQ decreases from childhood to young adulthood. These conclusions must be interpreted with caution due to unmeasured variables and possible influence from publication bias.

The process of debriefing has been part of psychology for many decades, although it owes its origins to other fields. Debriefing is often tied to research involving deception, however it is part of a much larger set of obligations that psychologists adhere to as professionals operating in an ethical manner. There is some emerging evidence that debriefing participants in research contexts is not taking place frequently or even to the degree that is necessary to impart knowledge. We argue that debriefing can be conceptualized as a form of knowledge transfer, and accordingly can draw on successful strategies from knowledge transfer and exchange and knowledge translation (KT) as these fields are involved in disseminating research knowledge to create awareness, educate, and even teach skills to participants. As well, we contend that psychologists are well poised to develop effective debriefing practices given a research tradition in messaging and innovative community collaborative research. Finally, we provide insights and suggestions for engaging in effective debriefing and future research directions.The process of debriefing has been part of psychology for many decades, although it owes its origins to other fields. Debriefing is often tied to research involving deception, however, it is part of a much larger set of obligations that psychologists adhere to as professionals operating in an ethical manner. Regrettably, there is evidence to indicate that debriefing participants in a research context is not taking place frequently or even to the degree that is necessary to impart knowledge. The field of knowledge transfer (KT) is dedicated to disseminating research knowledge to create awareness, educate, and effect change in daily practice. We propose that KT theory and practice can be used to conceptualize research debriefing and could provide psychologists with a framework to plan research dissemination to participants in a more effective and purposeful manner. We also draw on research from social psychology and emerging insights from community-engaged participatory research, technology, and the arts which might provide further direction and strategies in the debriefing process. Our aim is to demonstrate that KT theory and practice can provide a useful framework, when coupled with psychological research to more effectively disseminate research findings to participants.

BackgroundClinical research investigating effective intervention strategies for adolescents to improve health behaviors has shifted to the application of motivational interviewing (MI). Evidence indicates that MI is an effective intervention for improving health behaviors as related to diet, exercise, and diabetes among adolescents. However, there is a lack of understanding about the mechanisms through which MI works and the contextual factors impacting MI effectiveness. The purpose of this review was to understand how, for whom, and under what circumstances MI works for adolescent health behavior change, which will inform future implementation of this intervention. To provide this in-depth understanding, a realist-informed systematic review was conducted in order to synthesize the evidence on the use of MI for health behaviors. Self-determination theory (SDT) was chosen as the candidate theory for testing in the present review.MethodsDatabases including PsycINFO, Healthstar, Cochrane, and PubMed were searched for articles published until March 2017. The search strategy included studies that examined or reviewed the effectiveness or efficacy of MI to change health behaviors among adolescent populations. The search identified 185 abstracts, of which 28 were included in the review. The literature was synthesized qualitatively (immersion/crystallization) and tested SDT as the candidate theory.ResultsBased on SDT, three mechanisms were found within reviewed studies, including competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The following contexts were found to impact mechanisms: school setting, clinician MI proficiency, parental involvement, and peer involvement.ConclusionsThis realist-informed systematic review provides advances in understanding the mechanisms involved in MI for adolescent health behavior change. Additionally, it provides important practical information as to which contexts create the conditions for these mechanisms to occur, leading to health behavior change. The results can inform future MI interventions for adolescent health behavior change. Future research should continue to test this realist theory and also examine mechanism variables not extensively documented in order to improve our understanding of MI in this population.