Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2003, pp. 1-3
© 2003 Society of Pediatric Psychology
Editorial: Honoring the Past and Celebrating the Future of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology
Medical University of South Carolina
All correspondence should be sent to Ronald T. Brown, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, 19 Hagood Avenue, Suite 910, P. O. Box 250822, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-0822. E-mail: brownron{at}musc.edu.
With this 28th volume of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, the
editorial torch passes from a wise and able former editor to a new editor who
already understands the significance of the tasks laid forth and entrusted to
him. The responsibilities of sustaining the very high quality of JPP
are multiple and complex because we have attained a new level of competence
and maturity. JPP appears on the shelves of over 448 libraries of
institutions of higher learning throughout the world, and the acceptance rate
continues to be competitive, rivaling many leading peer journals in
psychology. Our chronological age indicates we are at the developmental stage
of young adulthood (Kazak,
1998
), and we will continue to work toward the advantages of
middle age and the golden years. Our solid reputation results from the superb
leadership of the journal over nearly three decades, including the seven
previous editors, Anne E. Kazak, Annette La Greca, Michael Roberts, Gerald
Koocher, Donald Routh, Diane Willis, and Gail Gardner. Their leadership would
not have been possible without the many associate editors, editorial boards,
guest reviewers, and authors who supplied the vision and innovative ideas that
provided JPP with the prominence it enjoys today.
As the new editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, I am
especially grateful to the Board of Directors of the Society of Pediatric
Psychology, Division 54 of the American Psychological Association, for
nurturing and supporting the journal over the years. I am grateful for the
valuable mentoring and coaching I have received over the past several years
from previous editors, peer reviewers, and colleagues. I also am well aware of
the vast responsibilities involved in editing JPP. We have reached a
stage of some maturity in the field of pediatric psychology, but the canging
economics in the delivery of health care over the past several years pose
significant challenges for scholarship in our field
(Brown & Freeman, 2002).
Many of our colleagues in traditional academic departments and health sciences
centers are required to generate revenues to support salary lines and in
recent years have faced larger work loads and reduced budgets. Many of our
editorial board, guest reviewers, and authors are employed at major medical
centers where there is increased demand for generating revenues. We will need
to sustain the high quality of submissions from which to select publishable
copy as we negotiate the new economics. Although the research community in
health psychology and behavioral medicine has enjoyed greater funding
opportunities from the National Institutes of Health, managing the issues
related to the requests of federal regulators that are part of institutional
review board policies will continue to be an intensive task.
During this transition in health care and as we celebrate the journal's coming of age, we must continue the tradition of publishing high-quality research that builds on the solid foundation we have established over the years. I wish to take this opportunity to invite our colleagues who traditionally have published their articles in medical journals to use the Journal of Pediatric Psychology as a venue for disseminating their important work. We will be focusing on diversity in authorship. We want to include clinical child psychologists, epidemiologists, developmental psychologists, social psychologists, and health psychologists, among others, who are committed to conducting high-quality research in pediatric psychology. In this endeavor, my role will be as recruiter and ambassador, making certain that JPP captures the best literature to shape the field of pediatric psychology for the years to come, particularly in the changing climate of health care.
As Anne Kazak (1998) noted,
the purpose of the journal is to disseminate "original research in
full-length manuscripts related broadly to the multidimensional functioning
and development of children, adolescents, and families on issues related to
pediatric health and illness" (p. 1). In this spirit, and in the
tradition of JPP, we are planning a variety of formats. As always, we
seek full-length manuscripts of the highest quality. In addition, we will make
greater use of the brief report (12 manuscript page limit) format. We will use
this format for innovative research with novel methodology, even with smaller
sample sizes, as well as some replications of findings. As in past years, we
are interested in case studies, especially when they exemplify intervention
strategies for the clinical setting. We plan to consider for review and to
solicit both integrated reviews of the literature and meta-analyses pertaining
to various diseases, interventions, and other approaches in pediatric
psychology. We also welcome commentaries on manuscripts as a means of
stimulating discussion about research design and content areas. As has been
the case over the past decade, we ask potential authors to adhere to the
inclusive 25-page limit. Longer manuscripts will be considered if their length
is clearly justifiable. Potential authors can find detailed instructions on
preparation of manuscripts in the instructions for authors that appear in each
issue.
Children have been significantly affected by health care reform in this
country. Research in pediatric psychology needs to address these changes,
particularly if we anticipate a national insurance program for children and
adolescents. The surge in federal funding at the National Institutes of Health
includes the requirement that behavioral research be a component of most of
the research portfolios at the various institutes
(Foxhall, 2000). These changes
represent an important opportunity for us to capture this market of federally
supported research. In the JPP tradition, we seek manuscripts of
quantitative and qualitative research and studies that contribute new
knowledge on health and quality of life for children and adolescents in
pediatric settings. To capture the changes in the delivery of pediatric
psychological services, in particular, we are actively soliciting research in
the areas of access to health care, delivery of psychological services in
primary care settings, prevention and public health issues in pediatric
psychology, barriers to health care, and disparities in pediatric
psychological services. We want especially to publish good research on
children from lower socioeconomic groups, ethnically diverse groups, and on
pediatric health care in rural areas.
As has been the custom of the last two editors, Anne Kazak and Annette La Greca, we actively solicit manuscripts on intervention research, empirically supported treatments, and evidenced-based medicine. To stimulate high-quality manuscripts needed in this area, we will continue to publish investigations in the brief report section for studies with small samples and innovative methodology with scientific merit and the case-report format for methodologically novel intervention programs.
Like many journals in recent years, the Journal of Pediatric
Psychology is interested in applying the criteria of the Consolidated
Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT)
(Davidson et al., in press) for
randomized clinical trials or intervention studies. In 2003, an article
summarizing the CONSORT guidelines and an editorial commentary recommending
this adaptation will be published in this journal to assist prospective
authors in carefully preparing manuscripts related to randomized clinical
trials. The CONSORT reporting requirements are thorough. At a minimum,
prospective authors submitting intervention studies to the journal will be
required to meet the following standards:
- Summarize how participants were allocated to interventions (e.g., random
assignment);
- provide in the article introduction a scientific background and explanation
of the rationale of the intervention;
- provide eligibility criteria for participants and state the setting and
locations where the data were collected;
- note precise details for the intervention intended for each group;
- provide specific objectives and hypotheses;
- define primary and secondary outcome measures and those methodologies used
to strengthen the quality of measurement (e.g., multiple observations);
- note how the sample size was determined, including the specification of the
power of the investigation;
- specify whether those administering the intervention and assessing outcomes
were blind to group assignment;
- provide the statistical methodology used to compare groups for primary
outcomes;
- describe the flow and possibly present a figure delineating how the
participants progressed through each stage of the investigation;
- specify dates defining the periods of recruitment and follow-up;
- provide baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of each
group;
- provide a summary of results for each group and the estimated effect size
and its precision (e.g., 95% confidence intervals); and, finally,
- provide a careful interpretation of the results, including generalizability
of the study findings, treatment fidelity, treatment adherence, and treatment
allegiance (i.e., the treatment preference of the investigators, the
providers, and the patients).
So that we may accommodate a broader spectrum of literature than in previous years, the journal has a new appearance and typeset that allow for publication of additional manuscripts. In addition, the Carolina blue cover is back by popular demand.
Maureen Black, Barbara Fiese, Grayson Holmbeck, John Lavigne, Raymond Mulhern, and Lonnie Zeltzer are our associate editors who will participate in the editorial process. All are internationally well-respected investigators in pediatric psychology who bring such unique areas of expertise to the journal as early intervention, family systems research, methodology, pediatric neuropsychology, pain management, and mental health issues as they interface with pediatric psychology. In addition to assisting in the review process of some manuscripts, associate editors will be soliciting specialized pieces for the journal, expanding the resources for manuscripts, and providing consultation for the direction of the journal's activities in this new millennium. As in the past, all manuscripts will be sent to at least three to four reviewers, of whom at least one will be a member of the editorial board. Other ad hoc reviewers will represent psychology, pediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, public health, and education. The editorial team is committed to a rapid turnaround time and respectful, comprehensive, and constructive reviews that will be summarized in disposition letters to prospective authors. New members of the editorial board have been selected and include some of the newer investigators and researchers who represent more novel areas in pediatric health care. As noted earlier, we are interested in broadening our prospective authorship.
As editor of JPP, I look forward to any comments that you might have about the review process, topical areas that you would be interested in seeing published, or dialogue about the articles that appear in the upcoming issues. The journal maintains a Web site, www.jpepsy.oupjournals.org, which includes letters to the editor, titles and abstracts of upcoming papers, and book reviews.
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Acknowledgments |
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The author acknowledges the kind assistance of Anne E. Kazak, PhD, ABPP, and Emily Simerly, PhD, in reviewing an earlier draft of this manuscript.
Received August 15, 2002; accepted August 19, 2002
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References |
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 Top References |
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Brown, R. T., & Freeman, W. S. (2002). Primary care. In L. Marsh & M. Fristad (Eds.), Handbook of serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents (pp. 428-444). New York Wiley and Sons.
Davidson, K., Cain, V., Goldstein, M., Kaplan, R., Kaufmann, P., Knatterud, G., Orleans, T., Pickering, T., Spring, B., & Whitlock, E. (in press). Evidence-based behavioral medicine: What is it and how do we get there. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Foxhall, K. (2000, May). Shalala: Ensuring that the "unquiet mind does not suffer quietly alone." APA Monitor, 31, 5.
Kazak, A. (1998). Editorial: Change and continuity in
the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Journal of Pediatric
Psychology 23,
1-3.
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