Reporting of demographics, methodology, and ethical procedures in journals in pediatric and child psychology

Abstract

Objective: To identify potential problems in methodology reporting that may limit research interpretations and generalization.

Methods: We examined the rates at which articles in four major journals publishing research in pediatric, clinical child, and child psychology report 18 important demographic, methodological, and ethical information variables, such as participants' gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and consent and assent procedures.

Results: Overall, participants' ages, genders, and ethnicity were reported at moderate to high rates, whereas socioeconomic status was reported less often. Reports of research methodology frequently did not include information on how and where participants were recruited, the participation/consent rates, or attrition rates. Consent and assent procedures were not frequently described.

Conclusions: There is wide variability in articles reporting key demographic, methodological, and ethical procedure information. Necessary information about characteristics of participation samples, important for drawing conclusions, is lacking in the flagship journals serving the child psychology field.