6301 WK 10 discussion
RESPONSE 1 Collapse Subdiscussion Kevin Menard
· TuesdayMay 2 at 11:11am
· Research Question
· How effective is trauma informed care practices in treating human trafficking victims long term?
· Methodological Approach
· A qualitative approach is appropriate for this research study. The trauma informed care practices, treatments, and methods being utilized will determine if this treatment modality is the most effective at helping human trafficking victims to overcome the trauma they endured or at least help them continue to move forward in a positive manner. Snowball sampling will allow undisclosed participants to partake in this study to determine a conclusion of the research question. As cases come in to law enforcement and trauma informed care services begin they can relayed to the researchers to find the outcomes and measure progress. The same sample can be utilized so that doesn't affect anything. In person interviews, focus groups, systemic observations, secondary data, and client logs and files are all data collection techniques that can be utilized for this study (Yegidis et al., 2018). Through interviews and a series of questions, along with proof the victims are doing better and on the right path we can see how effective this treatment modality is. We can obtain proof through other sources such as medical records, family and friends of the victims, etc. The subjects have to be open and willing to sign releases for this to occur.
· Data Collection
· Data for this study will be collected in various methods. Data collection will be in narrative format. Researchers will obtain the case files of the participants. These records will be available from the youth’s police files, mental health counseling records, and the Department of Children of Families of Massachusetts (protective custody) if applicable. Interviews will be the main source of data collection. Researchers will interview participants at the beginning and throughout trauma informed care treatment. The use of open-ended questioning coupled with case studies will allow for a better understanding of both personal and environmental factors that influence the participants’ mental health as it relates to trauma from human trafficking. Family members, therapists, and social workers that work with each individual youth will also be interviewed. This is to ensure all parties are providing accurate results of the progress of trauma informed care treatment for each youth. Finally, researchers will ask the participants to keep client logs to record behaviors, thoughts, and emotions on a continual basis (Yegidis et al., 2018).
· References
· Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2018). Research methods for social workers (8th ed.). Pearson.
· Reply
Response2
Andrea Marie Arra Davison ( She/Her)
YesterdayMay 3 at 1:29pm
Restate your research question
What Equine Assisted Intervention (EAI) protocol most effectively improves social functioning in children with ASD?
The research hypothesis is that children with ASD receiving the Galloping Toward Success EAI protocol will have significantly higher scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale – 2nd edition (SRS-2) and the Vinland-3 communication and socialization subscales (V-SC) than children who do not receive GTS.
Methodological approach chosen for your proposed research study
This study will utilize a quantitative approach.
Identify and justify which method of measurement and data collection best fits your research question and methodological approach. How will I collect the data?
Demographic information would be collected by the researcher (myself) via a telephone interview with the parents/caregivers of the participant at a convenient time for the parents/caregivers following informed consent. The interview would include standardized questions regarding age, sex, diagnosis, age of diagnosis, etc. These demographic details are based on important demographic information found in the literature review that may impact the results and are, therefore, essential to obtain (Yegidis et al., 2018).
Dependent variables/measures will consist of two instruments, the SRS-2 and the communication and socialization subscales of the Vineland-3 (V-SC). Researchers have used both measures to assess social functioning and communication in research done with children with ASD and specifically in research on the effectiveness of EAI (Chen et al., 2022; Dawson et al., 2022; McKissock et al., 2022; Sisson et al., 2022; Trzmiel et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2023).
The SRS-2 measures social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation, restricted interests, and repetitive behavior, specifically in the ASD population (Pearson, n.d.-a). The SRS-2 is used for "designing and evaluating treatment programs" (Pearson, n.d.-a).
The V-SC are measures of communication (receptive, expressive, and written) and socialization (interpersonal relationships, play and leisure, and coping skills), respectively, in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Pearson, n.d.-b). The Vineland-3 is used "for diagnosis, qualification for special programs, progress reporting, program and treatment planning, and research" (Pearson, n.d.-b).
The SRS-2 will be administered by the parents/caregivers themselves and one of the participant's teachers resulting in 2 sets of scores for each participant (a parent score and a teacher score both pre [one day before intervention/control activities] and post-intervention [one-day following intervention/control activities]). The scale takes approximately 15-20 minutes to administer (Bruni, 2014).
The communication and socialization subscale scores will be scored by both a clinician (trained in administering the scale) using a semi-structured interview with a comprehensive interview form interviewing parents/caregivers, and teachers will answer questions via observations of children's interactions at school, resulting in 2 sets of scores for each participant (a clinician score and a teacher score both pre [one day before intervention/control activities] and post-intervention [one-day following intervention/control activities]). Scoring each subscale will take around 20-40 minutes (Carey, 2023).
Potential issues with validity and generalizability and controls to mitigate those issues
SRS-2 and Vineland-3 measures have been translated and tested for cross-cultural validity and reliability (Bruni, 2014; Cheon et al., 2016; Nguyen et al., 2019; Pepperdine & McCrimmon, 2017; Psimas, 2016; Takei et al., 2014). The Vineland-3 was updated to be more culturally sensitive in language use (Psimas, 2016).
Measurement validity (measures what it is meant to measure, e.g., social skills and communication), reliability (consistently provides the same results when testing at different times, with other raters, etc.), and generalizability/external validity (how well do results apply to the general population) are essential factors in research, especially in quantitative research designs where the main goal is to be as objective as possible and be able to generalize your results to the population of interest (Yegidis et al., 2018).
Vineland-3 is a measure that has been standardized in the general United States population by age group and other demographics (therefore, researchers and clinicians can compare scores to age-appropriate norms), and demographics of the sample for standardization are representative of Census characteristics in the United States (Carey, 2023; Pepperdine & McCrimmon, 2017; Psimas, 2016).
The SRS-2 is also a standardized instrument (Bruni, 2014). Norms are available for both sex and rater (parent versus teacher), and standardization sample demographics also represent the United States Census characteristics.
Both measures are valid and reliable in measuring the social functioning of children with ASD (Bruni, 2014; Pepperdine & McCrimmon, 2017; Psimas, 2016).
The Vineland-3 internal consistency was high for the clinical interview and teacher subscales (Carey, 2023). Some researchers demonstrate mixed test-retest reliability, with some research showing stable scores over time. Interrater reliability was acceptable, but teachers were inconsistent with one another. Developers have assessed content validity and reliability by comparing questions within the test with other established tests, examination by experts, and study group comparisons (e.g., children diagnosed with ASD). Developers have also pilot-tested this instrument before its use.
Differences found in the Vineland-3 and another measure of adaptive functioning suggest that the Vineland-3 may measure some constructs differently (Carey, 2023; Pepperdine & McCrimmon, 2017). Researchers also found lower scores for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities for Vineland-3 compared to scores from Vineland-2 (Farmer et al., 2020). Therefore, using both measures will help compare scores and identify whether or not the intervention was successful.
The SRS-2 has demonstrated high internal consistency and moderate interrater reliability (Bruni, 2014). Test-retest reliability was not conducted with the second version. However, the first version showed a high correlation in test-retest reliability. Content validity was judged by comparison to characteristics of ASD in the DSM-IV-TR, expert review, comparing scores of individuals with ASD with undiagnosed siblings, and comparing scores of the SRS-2 with other measures. The SRS-2 has also demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity scores (ability to predict ASD characteristics in individuals).
Bruni (2014) suggests that researchers should use additional social and communication functioning measures due to limited items in each SRS-2 sub-scale and stability issues. Therefore, as mentioned above, the use of both the SRS-2 and V-SC will help in interpreting the results of the intervention.
Different types of raters (e.g., clinical, parental, teacher) will allow for assessment of functioning in different contexts and provide a measure of consistency. Providing information on whether or not beneficial effects, if any, carry over to different contextual environments (e.g., home and school).
The researcher will compare the four sites statistically to see if the results are related to the location of intervention/control. Using four sites is necessary to ensure a large sample size. It would be challenging to provide the intervention/control to 80 participants in only one location with this type of intervention due to the resources required (facilities, staff, horses, etc.).
Individuals providing the services (intervention/control) will be blind (they will not know) to which group the participant is in (intervention/control).
A trainer will provide mock training (a mock protocol) to the providers for the control group. The trainer will be given both protocols (the GTS protocol and mock protocol) and will be blind to which one is the intervention protocol. The same trainer will train both the intervention and control providers. The trainer would also be blind to which protocol is the intervention.
Each site will have one intervention provider and one control provider (8 providers). There could be differences in the outcomes related to different providers and not the intervention due to the use of multiple providers. The researcher will use statistical analysis to investigate any relationship between the provider and the outcome to determine if there were differences between providers.
Assessors will be blind to treatment groups. The researcher will inform parents/caregivers and children that they could be in the treatment or control group (informed before informed consent and again following informed consent). The researcher will also notify the parents/caregivers and children that they will receive the treatment after the research if the treatment has been found effective and they desire to do so. The researchers will inform the parents/caregivers and children that they will not know which group they are in until after the study's completion. Clinicians and teachers will also be blind to whether or not the participant was in the treatment or control group. Blinding assessors will ensure that they do not score the children based on whether they believe the intervention will be effective, minimizing potential bias (Webster et al., 2021).
The researcher will attempt to maintain consistency in the research design and protocol to prevent extraneous variables from influencing the results (Yegidis et al., 2018). For example, the intervention will occur around the same time in the day across sites, and switch days of the week for both control and intervention groups (e.g., if the intervention group goes on a Monday one week, the control should go on a Monday the following week, they would switch days), and activities will occur indoors.
Confidentiality
Identifiable demographics and scores will be kept in password-protected files and destroyed six months following the study. Data for analysis will be de-identified (random ID number assigned to each participant) and presented in aggregate form, so identifying individual participants will not be possible. These actions will maintain the participants' privacy and confidentiality, which is essential in ethical research practice (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.; Yegidis et al., 2018).
References
Bruni, T. P. (2014). Test Review: Social Responsiveness Scale–Second edition (SRS-2). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32(4), 365-369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282913517525Links to an external site.
Carey, K. T. (2023). Review of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales—Third edition. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/libraryLinks to an external site.
Chen, S., Zhang, Y., Zhao, M., Du, X., Wang, Y., & Lui, X. (2022). Effects of therapeutic horseback-riding program on social and communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114449Links to an external site.
Cheon, K. A., Park, J. I., Koh, Y. J., Song, J., Hong, H. J., Kim, Y. K., Lim, E. C., Kwon, H., Ha, M., Lim, M. H., Piak, K. C., Constantino, J. N., Leventhal, B., & Kim, Y. S. (2016). The Social Responsiveness Scale in relation to DSM IV and DSM5 ASD in Korean children. Autism Research, 9(9), 970-980. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1671Links to an external site.
Dawson, S., McCormick, B. P., Tamas, D., Stanojevic, C., Eldridge, L., McIntire, J., Bowen, A., & McKissock, B. H. (2022). Equine-assisted therapy with autism spectrum disorder in Serbia and the United States: A pilot intervention. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, LVI(1), 17-38. https://doi.org/10.18666/TRJ-2022-V56-I1-10387Links to an external site.
Farmer, C., Adedipe, D., Bal, V. H., Chlebowski, C., & Thurm, A. (2020). Concordance of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, second and third editions. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(1), 18-26. http://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12691Links to an external site.
McKissock, H. B., Bowen, A., Dawson, S., Eldridge, L., McIntire, J., Stanojevic, C., Tamas, D., & McCormick, B. P. (2022). Manualized equine-assisted therapy protocol for clients with autism spectrum disorder. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, LVI(1), 39-54. https://doi.org/10.18666/TRJ-2022-V56-I1-10862Links to an external site.
National Association of Social Workers. (n.d.). Code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-EnglishLinks to an external site.
Nguyen, H. P., Ocansey, M. E., Miller, M., Le, D. T. K., Schmidt, R. J., & Prado, E. L. (2019). The reliability and validity of the Social Responsiveness Scale to measure autism symptomology in Vietnamese children. Autism Research, 12(11), 1706-1718. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2179Links to an external site.
Pearson. (n.d.-a). Social responsiveness scale, 2nd edition. https://www.pearsonclinical.com.au/store/auassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Behaviour/Social-Responsiveness-Scale%2C-2nd-Edition/p/P100010194.html?tab=product-detailsLinks to an external site.
Pearson. (n.d.-b). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales | Third edition. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Behavior/Adaptive/Vineland-Adaptive-Behavior-Scales-%7C-Third-Edition/p/100001622.html?tab=product-detailsLinks to an external site.
Pepperdine, C. R., & McCrimmon, A. W. (2017). Test review: Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, third edition (Vineland-3) by Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Saulnier, C. A. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 33(2), 157-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573517733845Links to an external site.
Psimas, J. L. (2016, October 18). Introduction to the Vineland-3: The new revision of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (PowerPoint slides). Pearson. https://cdn.ymaws.com/masswmi.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/2016_conference/2016_handouts_/Vineland-3_PPT_with_Q-global.pdfLinks to an external site.
Sissons, J. H., Blakemore, E., Shafi, H., Skotny, N., & Lloyd, D. M. (2022). Calm with horses? A systematic review of animal-assisted interventions for improving social functioning in children with autism. Autism, 26(6), 1320-1340. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221085338Links to an external site.
Takei, R., Matsuo, J., Takahashi, H., Uchiyama, T., Kunugi, H., & Kamio, Y. (2014). Verification of the utility of the Social Responsiveness Scale for adults in non-clinical and clinical adult populations in Japan. BMC Psychiatry, 14(302), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-014-0302-zLinks to an external site.
Trzmiel, T., Purandare, B., Michalak, M., Zasadzka, E., & Pawlaczyk, M. (2019). Equine assisted activities and therapies in children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and a meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 42, 104-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2018.11.004Links to an external site.
Webster, R. K., Bishop, F., Collins, G. S., Evers, A. W. M., Hoffman, T., Knottnerus, J. A., Lamb, S. E., Macdonald, H., Madigan, C., Napadow, V., Price, A., Rees, J. L., & Howick, J. (2021). Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: Should we be so quick to dismiss it? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 135, 176-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.02.022Links to an external site.
Xiao, N., Shinwari, K., Kiselve, S., Huang, X., Li, B., & Qi, J. (2023). Effects of equine-assisted activities and therapies for individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2630). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032630Links to an external site.
Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2018). Research methods for social workers (8th ed.). Pearson.