Multi-Institutional and Multidisciplinary Research Collaboration

Abstract

Over the 30 years since the formal establishment of the field of pediatric psychology, a number of transformations have occurred that have affected the nature and focus of research in this field, some of which also are applicable to the field of clinical child psychology. Early publications in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology were based on observations described in case reports or single-subject designs. These reflected the growing awareness of the potential unexplored relationships between the behavioral and medical aspects of various diseases and the procedures used to treat them. As the field matured, research drifted away from the focus on individual cases and began to rely more on group designs and methodology. This focus resulted in a new set of difficulties, characterized by small, potentially nonrepresentative samples, broadband research with little consideration of specific disease, treatment, or developmental variations and restrictions on the types of research possible due to limited access to populations. In an effort to solve these problems, current efforts in pediatrics, including pediatric psychology, are moving toward increased research collaboration, both across institutions and across disciplines, although at a somewhat slow pace. Of the 186 empirical articles published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology between January 1993 and August 1997, only 10 (5%) involved collaborations that included data collection at multiple institutions. Thus, while there is evidence of multisite collaboration occurring in the field, it is still in its relative infancy. To promote a better understanding of this approach, it is our intention to identify several models of multisite collaborative research, pointing out the benefits and pitfalls that may be encountered.