MetaLab and the ManyBabies Projects. Meta-Analysis in Developmental Psychology

Psychological research has a serious problem with replicability. Several collaborative replication initiatives in cognitive and social psychology try to address such issues. Situation in developmental research is exceptionally challenging due to the difficulties in performing experiments, limitation of objective measurement methods, and small samples. The ManyBabies project is a multi-laboratory large-scale effort that gives a chance to provide more robust, replicable results in infancy research. After a brief discussion of the problems in psychological research the ManyBabies project is introduced and the MetaLab tools for statistical analysis of collaborative data at the meta-level are presented, using two examples in early language acquisition that are of particular interest to our lab: native and non-native vowel discrimination. 

The aim of the research was to assess the role of self-esteem and cognitive appraisal of a conflict in generating  destructive and constructive strategies of coping used by adolescents in social conflict situations. The following research tools have been used in the research: the Self-Esteem Scale (SES) developed by M. Rosenberg, adapted by M. Łaguna, K. Lachowicz-Tabaczek, and I. Dzwonkowska; the Stress Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) (Polish: KOS – Kwestionariusz Oceny Stresu) by D. Włodarczyk and K. Wrześniewski; as well as the Questionnaire for the study of adolescents’coping strategies employed in social conflict situations (Polish: KSMK – Kwestionariusz strategii radzenia sobie młodzieży w sytuacji konfliktu społecznego) developed by D. Borecka-Biernat. The empirical research was carried out in middle schools (Polish: gimnazjum). The research involved 893 adolescents (468 girls and 425 boys) aged 13–15. Analysis of research results indicates that in the case of adolescents, lower assessment of one’s capacities and the appraisal of conflict in terms of threat or harm/loss, generally coincides with the tendency to react destructively when faced with a conflict. The research has also  indicated that an adolescent with higher self-esteem, when involved in a conflict that is not assessed as threatening, implements a constructive strategy to cope with the situation. 

Exposure to Narrative Fiction and Spontaneous versus Explicit Mentalization

The main objective of the study was to check for the existence of the effect of short-term exposure to fiction in the area of mentalization abilities (Kidd, Castano, 2013), taking into account the spontaneous versus explicit aspect of these abilities. An additional aim was to verify the hypothesis that at the root of this phenomenon lies the process of imaginary simulation. In the first part of the study, participants (N = 103, aged 18 to 25) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) reading literary fiction, (2) listening to the same story as the first group, and at the same time imagining the events presented in it, (3) reading popular fiction, and (4) not reading any story. In the second part of the study, all participants completed mentalization tests, a test checking familiarity with fiction, and the questionnaire on practices of reading books, magazines and watching television. The study showed no significant differences between the groups in the results of mentalization tests, even under conditions conducive to imaginary simulation. Familiarity with fiction proved to be a positive predictor of spontaneous mentalization, and exposure to television was a negative predictor of explicit mentalization. The findings lead to the conclusion that short-term exposure to fiction does not lead to a significant increase in spontaneous or explicit mentalization. However, both aspects of mentalization are connected with more long-term factors that are expressed in familiarity with fiction and exposure to television.

The Importance of Resilience in Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia and the Quality of Their Attachment and Relationship with Their Parents

The aim of the study was to analyze whether the individual dimensions of resilience and attachment are related to the quality of relationships with parents of people with schizophrenia and the indication of mediators determining the quality of these relationships. 50 participants took part in the study. The average age of the respondents was 49 years. Measurements of independent variables were made using Experiences in Close Relationships Revised by Chris Fraley, Kelly Brennan, and Neils Waller, in the Polish adaptation by Cezary Wiśniewski (2011); and Lifespan Individual Resilience Scale (pl) (LIRS (pl)) in the Polish adaptation of Malina, Pooley, and Harms (2016). The quality of the relationship was measured using The Quality Relationship Inventory in the Polish adaptation of Dorota Suwalska-Barancewicz, Paweł Izdebski, and Hanna Liberska (2015). The results confirmed the existence of significant, strong relationship between discrete resilience dimensions and the quality of relationship with parents. The research also confirmed that there is a significant relationship between the dimensions of resilience and the dimensions of attachment and between the dimensions of attachment and the quality of relationships with parents. It also turned out that the level of resilience is an important mediator between attachment and perceived support from parents. 

Parentification Experienced in the Past and Sense of Identity in Young Adulthood

The main problem of this study is the assessment of the relationship between the level of parentification experienced during adolescence and the intensity of identity-related senses in young adulthood. We took into account three main types of parentification: emotional, instrumental, and perceived unfairness of the role reversal experience and the identity-related senses described by Pilarska (2012, 2016). 181 people aged 19–30 participated in the study, including 95 women. The participants completed the following measures: Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult (past form) (Jurkovic, Thirkield, 1999), the Multidimensional Questionnaire of Identity (Pilarska, 2015), and a demographic survey whose main purpose was to indicate possible risk factors running in the participants’families, such as, disability of family members, chronic somatic or mental illness, addiction, chronic absence, divorce or death of a parent. Results confirmed a higher level of parentification in the risk factor group in comparison with the control group, and the lack of such differences with regard to identity-related senses. The lower level of the sense of one’s own boundaries characterized the group with the higher intensity of emotional and instrumental parentification. The lower level of the three identity-related senses (of one’s own boundaries, of having inner contents, and of self-worth) was noticeable in the group with a higher score on each parentification dimension. The latter result indicates clear negative effects of parentification associated with its perceived unfairness.

Body Image and Perceived Quality of Life in Young Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The purpose of our research was to check whether young women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome differ in the perception of their body image and sense of quality of life from the general population of women. A total of 80 participants were examined, divided into two equally numerous groups: with and without PCOS. Three research tools were used: a personal questionnaire, the Bodily Self Questionnaire (Scale J-C) and the WHOQOL-BREF Questionnaire. It was demonstrated that women with PCOS are characterized by a less positive body image and report a significantly lower quality of life compared to healthy women. There was a strong relationship between body image and quality of life in the study group of women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome.