Diabetes, doing open research, and design

In 2019, Dr Ruth Hackett started a lectureship at King's College London. Three months later, Covid hit. 'I didn't know what Psychobiology was going to happen locked in a one-bed flat in London', said Hackett as she began her keynote.

Hackett's PhD had been with Professor Andrew Steptoe, on the laboratory stress response of people with diabetes. The condition affects 1 in 11 adults worldwide and is the fourth leading cause of death. UK numbers have doubled in 20 years, and there are thought to be around a million people whose Type 2 diabetes remains undiagnosed. The prevalence of depression and anxiety is increased in people with diabetes, and that double diagnosis is linked to an increased risk of complications. Hackett had found disturbances in reactivity and recovery from stress in people with diabetes, and was now able to follow up 66 of those participants – representing 'quite a lot of attrition' in the original sample – to capture their health since that baseline assessment.

Those who had showed poor cardiovascular recovery from the stressor task were more likely to have gained weight (based on self-reported BMI); have heightened inflammation; and blunted blood pressure reactivity. That was independent of weight at baseline, and is the first study to show an association between the stress response and future weight.

Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Hackett also found that perceived ageism was a predictor of diabetes over a six-year follow up, independent of age and wealth. In new work funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences using a US-based sample of over 20,000 people she found that perceived discrimination was associated with increased risk of diabetes. That association was, however, attenuated by health behaviours – Hackett pointed to the importance of practical psychological advice for coping with stress in stressful times, such as resources created with her colleague Professor Rona Moss-Morris.

Prize and rapid research

Winner of the Undergraduate Prize, King's College's Lily Beaman, presented research on gastrointestinal symptoms in autism spectrum disorder. Although her findings support the idea that those with greater levels of autistic traits have an increased likelihood of experiencing GI symptoms, Beaman pointed to the confounding factors of alexithymia (a personality trait characterised by the inability to identify and describe your own emotions) and hyporeactive interoceptive awareness (for example, not being 'tuned in' to your own heartbeat).

Work in progress / rapid research talks followed, with Sarah Docherty (Northumbria University) finding that females may be more sensitive to mood improvements associated with 12 weeks of multivitamin supplements. Dr Philippa Jackson presented work with Josh Shepherd on the root extract tongkat ali, finding 28 days of the supplement had broadly beneficial effects on mood, and a subjective impact on response to a psychosocial stressor (in the females of a small sample). Dr Kyla Pennington (University of Lincoln) found that students high in schizotypy had higher perceived stress in the Trier Social Stress Test, and slower recovery (in terms of an attenuated cortisol response). Similar patterns have been described in schizophrenia.

Busting open research myths

After lunch, Dr Michael Smith (Northumbria University) busted some myths around open research, a term he prefers to 'open science' as more inclusive – 'It's for the whole academy, no matter what discipline you're in'. Smith began with a 2014 study from Kiju Jung and colleagues, that hurricanes given female names kill more than those with male names. The theory went that the public don't take them as seriously, and therefore fail to prepare. Huge if true, but the findings have never been replicated, and were described as 'data grubbing' and 'a bunch of hot air' in a 2016 response from Gary Smith. Projects such as 'Many Labs' have been central to assessing what findings in Psychology replicate, and what factors might be behind failed replications.

Smith addressed concerns he has heard over open research, such as 'If I pre-register, I'll get scooped'. Actually the opposite is true: pre-registration is a good way of date-stamping your ideas. Open research doesn't have to stifle exploratory study, or prevent you from changing plans: 'Your pre-registration is a plan, not a prison', Smith said. What if others spot mistakes once data/code is shared? Well, that one's no myth, Smith admitted, but it's a good thing, leading to greater rigour and checking in data analysis. And researchers don't necessarily have to share all their data – although the general principle is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, the intention is also for people to be 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary'.

Others may argue that open research is too time consuming, but Smith says that the practices save time in the long run. Having a detailed plan will make data analysis faster, and you're less likely to experience issues at peer review. There are great resources out there too, Smith said, pointing to the 'Manifesto for reproducible science' shared by psychologist Marcus Munafo and colleagues, and '7 easy steps to open science' from Sophia Cruwell and others.

In the discussion, Smith admitted that practices which are good for science are still not always seen as good for the individual, within our current academic incentive structures. However, he felt that culture is changing. Institutions are signing up to the Declaration on Research Assessment, looking to go beyond metrics; and many universities now consider a candidate's open research activities in their recruitment decisions.

Creativity

The day ended with an eye-opening workshop with Neil Smith, a freelance illustrator who has worked with the major science journals. Smith shared some principles for improved figures and infographics, grounded in clean and clear composition. Bauhaus principles of design and function in equilibrium can be applied to create something beautiful, while getting the key messages across more effectively. That remains an eternal challenge with The Psychologist itself, but Smith's was a reminder that you don't have to be a graphic designer to get creative, pointing to proponents including David McCandless' 'information is beautiful' and Mike Morrison's better science posters.

While I'm sure Section members may be missing the Lakes, this was a good example of a creative approach to one-day events in the 'new normal'. Thanks to the University of Westminster and Professor Catherine Loveday for hosting it.