Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner

Dana Litt, PhD
SoAP Box Editor

Victoria Votaw, MS
Student Editor

Welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of the SoAP Box. It is hard to believe that it has been a year since our lives changed forever as a result of COVID-19. The impacts can be felt on both our professional and personal lives and is likely to have ongoing implications for the ways we provide clinical care, conduct research, and mentor and teach. I know that I mentioned this in the last issue, but I remain impressed and proud of how resilient and strong we are as a division and how creative and innovative our members have been in addressing ongoing pandemic-related concerns.

As always, please start with Dr. Joel Grube’s President’s Column, where he reflects on the accomplishments of our division in spite of the challenges we all faced this past year. He also provides important updates for the upcoming CPA conference, exciting new student grants and awards as well as important updates to by-laws. In this issue’s Early Career Psychologist (ECP) spotlight, I am proud to highlight one of our amazing student members, Victoria Votaw, who also happens to be my student editor. I believe that her piece on networking anxiety is sure to speak to many of our members, so be sure to check it out.  Further, I am happy to highlight another student member, Lydia Muynigo, in our Diversity Science Spotlight where she shares some of her ground-breaking research with us, as well as her passion for increasing the presence of people from historically underrepresented groups in all levels of psychology. In this issue, we are fortunate enough to have two submissions for our Finding Success Through Failure column that tackle issues related to receiving (and making the most out of) negative feedback. In addition, we have two excellent submissions for the Clinical Translation column focused on cutting-edge research related to substance use and the COVID-19 pandemic, including one column focused on substance use initiation in the pandemic and another focused on a behavioral economic model predicting substance use during the pandemic. As always, we received great submissions for SoAP Box Sound Bites and Show and Tell which highlight the opinions and contributions of the members that make SoAP what it is today. Please be sure to read the several important division announcements appearing in this issue. First, check out the SoAP Candidate Statements from eight candidates for six offices so that you are ready to vote in April. Next, we are also pleased to announce the deserving recipients of the 2021 Awards. We also have important updates on both the CPA and APA conferences that I am sure our readers are interested in. Last, but certainly not least, this issue contains a lovely In Memoriam piece on Kathy Carroll, a long-time SoAP Member who we tragically lost in December 2020.

The next issue (Summer 2021) will be my last before I hand the reigns to Angelo DiBello as the new editor. I have been so pleased with the submissions we have received since I started my term and am hopeful that my last issue will be no different. Please take a look at the call for content below, and if interested, please submit any content requested below to me (dana.litt@unthsc.edu) by June 1, 2021.

-Diversity Science Spotlight. In this column, we are looking to highlight recently published work or accomplishments by members from backgrounds that are underrepresented in psychological science. We are also interested in promoting research focusing on improving health equity and social justice in historically disadvantaged groups. Send us a link and description of your current projects, awards, or media attention you have received, and any other information that you would like to share with our readers. If you are discussing research focused on improving health equity and social justice, you can also provide additional information about the implications of your research. Please limit responses to 500 words.

-SoAP Box Sound Bites. In 50 words or less, please respond to the following prompt—How can and should Division 50 continue to promote the representation of underrepresented groups and to amplify underrepresented voices in addiction psychology?

-Show and Tell. This is the place to show off your recent accomplishments, accolades, awards and/or to and highlight the cool ways in which you promote your lab (websites, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, etc.). Send us a link and description of your current projects, awards, or media attention you may have received, and any other information that you would like to share with our readers. Please limit responses to 200 words.

-Community Corner. We would love to hear about ways in which you share your research and/or clinical work to the broader community. Please limit responses to 200 words.

-Clinical Translation. Do you have any recently published work that you wish you would have had more room in the manuscript to discuss clinical implications and applications? For this issue, we would like to focus on any cutting edge work you might have related to the etiology, prevention, or treatment of adolescent substance use. We would love for you all to share recently published work in this area and give us more information about how your research findings could be useful for clinicians. Please limit responses to 1,000 words.

-Finding Success in Failure. In line with the recent trend of prominent academics and clinicians sharing their “CVs of Failures”, we want to hear about a time in your career that things didn’t go your way. For this next issue, I am hoping someone will share with our readers about a job or position that was not received. We are interested in learning how you handled not getting this job or position, what you learned from this experience, and what advice you might have for others who find themselves navigating this same situation. Please limit responses to 500 words.

-Ethical Issues. In this column, we are looking for articles focused on describing ethical issues you may come across in your research and/or addiction-related clinical practice. Specifically, we want to hear what the ethical issue was, how you handled it, and lessons learned. Some examples could be issues related to googling patients, how you handled it when a patient contacted you on social media, or what happens when you run into a research participant out in the real world. Please limit responses to 500 words.

If you have any suggestions for how we can make the SoAP Box more relevant and impactful for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Wanting to see articles on a specific topic? Send your topic ideas to me for upcoming issues. I am always open to ideas for new columns, hot topics to cover, or anything else you think would be useful for our readers.