Call for Proposals
Deadline: Friday, October 17, 2022

Contacts:  

For questions about program content: 

SPPAC 2023 Conference Chair, Soumitri Sil, PhD,  ABPP: soumitri.sil@emory.edu

SPPAC 2023 Conference Co-Chair, Naadira Upshaw, PsyD:  nupshaw@emory.edu

For all other questions, please contact info@pedpsych.org.   

 

The SPPAC 2023 conference theme is Pediatric Psychologists as Social Justice Change Agents Across Science, Practice, Training, and Policy. Consistent with this theme, we are seeking proposals that represent broad expertise in advocacy and leadership in the field of pediatric psychology, incorporate patient and family voices, and prioritize our organization’s values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Our goal is to develop a conference program that is innovative and relevant for pediatric psychologists at different stages of their careers and trainees who are engaged in research, clinical practice, education, administration, and training activities. Within the context of pediatric psychology, we define social justice as the fair and equitable distribution of culturally informed, evidence-based healthcare to all children and their families. We are interested in proposals that center the voices of and pay particular attention to the needs of those who hold multiple marginalized identities. We encourage proposals that represent broader applications of leveraging leadership roles, privilege, and power by and for pediatric psychologists to promote actionable systemic change. We are especially interested in proposals that move beyond identifying problems related to social justice and focus on pragmatic steps and strategies to implement change.

Examples of proposals related to the conference theme include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Developing strategic programs and interventions in institutions to promote social justice and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts
• Creating and adapting evidence-based practice to care for pediatric patients with diverse and marginalized identities
• Cutting-edge strategies to promote culturally humble, inclusive, and social justice-informed supervision of pediatric psychology trainees
• Assessing and responding to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
• Community participatory research methods or programmatic approaches that promote successful recruitment and retention of participants with membership to marginalized identities in pediatric psychology research
• Collaborations with community- or non-profit organizations that center patient-identified needs to advance evidence-based practices, training, and translational research
• Leadership strategies, allyship, and sponsorship for the successful recruitment, retention, and equity in the professional development of underrepresented minority trainees, staff, and faculty within pediatric psychology
• Efforts to address and improve the wellness of pediatric psychologists engaged in social justice work
• Leveraging pediatric psychologists’ roles and lived experiences to enact change through policy and advocacy at the systems level

General Guidelines and Requirements

All proposals will be peer-reviewed. We are soliciting five types of proposals for SPPAC 2023:
-Pre-conference workshops
-Scientific symposia
-Professional development seminars
-Poster abstracts
-Paper abstracts. Accepted paper abstracts will be presented by the first author in a scientific symposium.

NEW THIS YEAR: All poster and paper abstracts accepted for presentation at SPPAC will be published in a Supplement of Journal of Pediatric Psychology, SPP’s official journal 

The SPPAC Scientific Program Committee is committed to developing a conference program that is inclusive of a range of sizes of institutions and professional networks. Multiple submissions from the same dataset are discouraged. A study divided into small sub-studies is discouraged unless there is clear rationale for presenting various aims in different abstracts. All scientific oral and poster proposals should represent final and original results that have not been previously published. Proposals based on ongoing projects will be evaluated in light of likelihood of complete data by the conference. Proposals with complete data at the time of submission are preferred.

Abstracts should be written in clear and concise English, so that reviewers are able to focus solely on the scientific merits of the submission. We encourage authors who are non-English-speaking to have their abstracts checked for grammar and spelling prior to submission.

 

Scientific Symposium

Scientific Symposium Guidelines

Submissions for scientific symposia will be considered for 75-minute sessions. Symposium proposals can include a maximum of 3 speakers and a Moderator. Each speaker will prepare a 15 to 20-minute oral presentation. The role of the Moderator will be to facilitate a question-and-answer session with audience members; the Moderator will not prepare or present their own data or slides.  Scientific symposium proposals are required to have at least 1 presenter at a psychologist and/or faculty level. Non-psychologist co-presenters (patients, parents, and professionals from other disciplines) are encouraged.   

Scientific symposium proposals must include: 

1. Presenter information, including full names, degrees, and affiliations.  
2. A summary of the proposed session, including the purpose, structure, relevance to the conference theme, approach to addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and incorporation of patient and family voices (max 400 words). 
3. Three to five specific learning objectives that participants will achieve from the session 
4. Individual structured abstracts from each contributing speaker including the following headings: Introduction (background, objective), Methods (sample, procedures, measures, analysis), Results (primary findings), and Conclusions (implications) (max 300 words each).
5. Please note if the submission represents a collaborative effort among members of a SIG, across SIGs, or across institutions
6. Please specify the learner level (beginner, intermediate, and/or advanced). 

Scientific symposium proposals will be reviewed based on the following six categories: 

1. Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology. 
2. Approach: Quality of the research methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations. 
6. Incorporation of patient and family voices. 

Preference will be given to proposals that are relevant to the conference theme, are inter-institutional collaborations, and that include first-time presenters and speakers from diverse backgrounds. The Scientific Program Committee may recommend revisions to scientific symposia proposals prior to acceptance.  

 

Scientific Symposium Scoring Rubric

Scientific symposium submissions will be reviewed based on the following six categories. 

1. Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology. 
2. Approach: Quality of the research methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 
6. Incorporation of patient and family voices.  

Significance, Approach, and Overall Quality. Please rate submissions on the following 3 categories, each on a scale from 1 = Outstanding to 5 = Unacceptable. Select the most appropriate score for each category type. Please use the full 5-point scale when rating submissions. This will help the program committee differentiate the highest quality proposals.  

Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology, broadly defined. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Approach: Quality of the research methods. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Summary Score:  Overall quality of the proposal. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 – Unacceptable

Conference theme: Does this proposal relate to the conference theme?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations: Did the authors consider diversity, equity, and inclusion in the methods, reporting, and interpretation of study findings? 

1 = Yes
0 = No  

Did the authors use bias-free language to describe race and ethnicity of the sample (https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language)? Did the authors report the source used to identify race and ethnicity categories (e.g., funding agency categories, electronic health record categories, self-report)? Did the authors comprehensively report demographic categories individually rather than collapsing data across groups (e.g., ‘Other’)? Did the authors consider race and ethnicity as social constructs in the interpretation of study findings?  

(Adapted from https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/pages/author_instructions).  

Does this proposal address a research topic or question directly relevant to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does the research seek to understand or address the impact of bias, discrimination, or racism on the health and well-being of individual youth, families, communities, and/or public policy? Does the research focus on an underserved or underrepresented population? 
 

Patient and family voices: Are patient and family voices represented in this proposal? 

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does the research involve youth, family members, and/or patients as research partners (e.g., advisory board, qualitative methods, community involvement)? Did youth, family members, and/or patients provide input on the study design or interpretation of results? 

 

Professional Development

Professional Development Seminar Guidelines

Proposals for 75-minute professional development seminars will be considered. Professional development seminars can include a maximum of 3 speakers and a Moderator. Each speaker will prepare a 15 to 20-minute oral presentation. The role of the Moderator will be to facilitate a question-and-answer session with audience members; Moderators will not prepare or present their own data or slides.   

 

Professional development seminar proposals must include: 

1. Presenter information including full names, degrees, and affiliations.  
2. A description of the proposed session, including the purpose, structure, and relevance to the conference theme (max 400 words).  
3. A brief description of the career development stage of the target audience (i.e., students/early career/mid-career/late career or senior career) and background (researchers, clinicians, administrators, scholar practitioners, etc.), and how the proposed session will meet the professional development needs of that audience (max 200 words). 
4. A brief description of the relevant expertise of the presenters, proposed teaching methods, and approach to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (max 200 words).  
5. Three to five specific learning objectives. 
6. Individual abstracts from each contributing speaker describing what the speaker will contribute to the session, the teaching strategies that will be used, and their relevant expertise (max 300 words each).
7. Please note if the submission represents a collaborative effort among members of a SIG, across SIGs, or across institutions
8. Please specify the learner level (beginner, intermediate, and/or advanced). 

Professional Development Seminar submissions will be reviewed based on the following five categories: 

1. Significance: Relevance to the professional development of pediatric psychologists. 
2. Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 

Preference will be given to proposals that are relevant to the conference theme, are developed for a target audience at more than one career stage, are inter-institutional collaborations, and that include first-time presenters and speakers from diverse backgrounds. The Scientific Program Committee may recommend revisions to professional development seminar proposals prior to acceptance.  

Professional Development Seminar Scoring Rubric

Professional Development Seminar submissions will be reviewed based on the following five categories. 

1. Significance: Relevance to the professional development of pediatric psychologists.  
2. Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 

Significance, Approach, and Overall Quality. Please rate submissions on the following 3 categories, each on a scale from 1 = Outstanding to 5 = Unacceptable. Select the most appropriate score for each category type. Please use the full 5-point scale when rating submissions. This will help the program committee differentiate the highest quality proposals.  

Significance: Relevance to the professional development of pediatric psychologists, broadly defined. Preference will be given to proposals that are relevant to a target audience at more than one career stage. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Summary Score:  Overall quality of the proposal. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable  

Conference theme: Does this proposal relate to the conference theme?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations: Does this proposal address professional  

development areas directly relevant to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does this professional development seminar seek to address the impact of bias, discrimination, or racism on the health and well-being of individual youth, families, communities, and/or public policy? Does the proposed seminar focus on an underserved or underrepresented population (e.g., patients, trainees, faculty) 

 

Pre-Conference Workshop

 

Pre-Conference Workshop Guidelines 

We invite proposals for 150-minute (2.5 hour) pre-conference workshops that explore a topic in-depth in order enhance pediatric psychologists’ skills in advocacy, leadership, research, and/or clinical practice. Presenters must have established expertise in the topic area. All pre-conference workshops will be held on Thursday, March 30, 2023.  

Submissions for Pre-Conference Workshops must include: 

1. A summary of the proposed pre-conference workshop, including the purpose, structure, and relevance to the conference theme (max 400 words). 
2. A brief description of the relevant expertise of the presenters, proposed teaching methods, and approach to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (max 200 words). 
3. A brief description of the career development stage of the target audience (i.e., students/early career/mid-career/late career or senior career) and background (researchers, clinicians, administrators, scholar practitioners, etc.), and how the proposed session will meet the education and training needs of that audience (max 200 words). 
4. Three to five specific learning objectives. 
5. Please note if the submission represents a collaborative effort among members of a SIG, across SIGs, or across institutions.
6. Please specify if there is a need to limit the session to a certain number of attendees and provide a rationale.  
7. Please specify the learner level (beginner, intermediate, and/or advanced). 

Pre-conference workshop submissions will be reviewed based on the following five categories: 

1. Significance: Relevance to pediatric psychologists’ skills in advocacy, leadership, research, and/or clinical practice.  
2. Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 

Preference will be given to proposals that are inter-institutional collaborations, relate to the conference theme, are developed for a target audience at more than one career stage, employ effective and active teaching strategies, and prioritize our organization’s values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Scientific Program Committee may recommend revisions to pre-conference workshop submissions prior to acceptance.  

 

Pre-Conference Workshop Scoring Rubric

Pre-conference workshop submissions will be reviewed based on the following five categories. 

1. Significance: Relevance to pediatric psychologists’ skills in advocacy, leadership, research, and/or clinical practice.  
2. Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 

Significance, Approach, and Overall Quality. Please rate submissions on the following 3 categories, each on a scale from 1 = Outstanding to 5 = Unacceptable. Select the most appropriate score for each category type. Please use the full 5-point scale when rating submissions. This will help the program committee differentiate the highest quality proposals.  

Significance: Relevance to pediatric psychologists’ skills in advocacy, leadership, research, and/or clinical practice.  

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Approach: Quality of the teaching methods. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Summary Score:  Overall quality of the proposal. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Conference theme: Does this proposal relate to the conference theme?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations: Does this proposal address topics and/or skill development directly relevant to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does this pre-conference workshop seek to address the impact of bias, discrimination, or racism on the health and well-being of individual youth, families, communities, and/or public policy? Does the proposed workshop focus on an underserved or underrepresented population (e.g., patients, trainees, faculty)?  

 

Paper and Poster Abstract

 

Paper and Poster Abstract Guidelines

Submissions for paper and poster abstracts must not exceed 300 words (not including authors, affiliations, and title). Please list author affiliation based on where the work was completed. Tables, figures, and references are not permitted. Authors are limited to one first-authored abstract submission. Authors can indicate if they would like their abstract submission to be considered for paper presentation only, poster presentation only, or both. Accepted paper abstracts will be presented orally by the first author in a scientific symposium. Accepted poster abstracts will be presented in poster sessions.

All abstract submissions must include the following headings: 

1. Introduction (background, objective) 
2. Methods (sample, procedures, measures, analysis) 
3. Results (primary findings) 
4. Conclusions (implications) 

Paper and poster abstracts will be reviewed based on the following six categories: 

1. Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology. 
2. Approach: Quality of the research methods 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 
6. Incorporation of patient and family voices. 

 

Paper and Poster Abstract Scoring Rubric

Paper and poster abstracts will be reviewed based on the following six categories. 

1. Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology. 
2. Approach: Quality of the research methods 
3. Summary score: Overall quality of the proposal. 
4. Alignment with the conference theme. 
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations. 
6. Inclusion of patient and family voices.  

Significance, Approach, and Overall Quality. Please rate submissions on the following 3 categories, each on a scale from 1 = Outstanding to 5 = Unacceptable. Select the most appropriate score for each category type. Please use the full 5-point scale when rating submissions. This will help the program committee differentiate the highest quality proposals.  

Significance: Importance of the study findings, contribution to pediatric psychology, broadly defined. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable  

Approach: Quality of the research methods. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Summary Score:  Overall quality of the submission. 

1 - Outstanding
2 - Good
3 - Satisfactory
4 - Poor
5 - Unacceptable 

Conference theme: Does this abstract relate to the conference theme?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations: Did the authors consider diversity, equity, and inclusion in the methods, reporting, and interpretation of study findings? 

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Did the authors use bias-free language to describe race and ethnicity of the sample (https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language)? Did the authors consider race and ethnicity as social constructs in the interpretation of study findings?  

(Adapted from https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/pages/author_instructions).  

Does the abstract address a research topic or question directly relevant to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?  

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does the research seek to understand or address the impact of bias, discrimination, or racism on the health and well-being of individual youth, families, communities, and/or public policy? Does the research focus on an underserved or underrepresented population?  

Patient and family voices: Are patient and family voices represented in this abstract? 

1 = Yes
0 = No 

Does the research involve youth, family members, and/or patients as research partners (e.g., advisory board, qualitative methods, community involvement)? Did youth, family members, and/or patients provide input on the study design or interpretation of results? 

Recommendation (select one): 

• Accept only as a poster presentation.
• Accept as a poster presentation or as an oral presentation in a paper session.
• Reject (abstract not appropriate for SPPAC; e.g., not related to pediatric psychology, does not include data)

 

Learning Objectives Guidelines

All oral presentation proposals (scientific symposia, professional development seminars, pre-conference workshops, and paper abstracts) must include three to five specific learning objectives that participants will achieve from the proposed session. Learning objectives are statements that clearly describe what the participants are expected to learn and how participants can apply this knowledge in practice or other professional contexts. These must be observable and measurable.  

Terms to consider when writing learning objectives: 

• List, describe, recite, write 
• Compute, discuss, explain, predict 
• Apply, demonstrate, prepare, use 
• Analyze, design, select, utilize 
• Compile, create, plan, revise 
• Assess, compare, rate, critique
  

Terms to avoid when writing learning objectives: 

• Know, understand 
• Learn, appreciate 
• Become aware of, become familiar with 

 

Online Submission Notes

This section contains helpful information to guide you through the online submission process. We recommend that you print this page and use it as a reference during this process. 

• Log onto the SPP abstract submission system by entering your SPP member login. If you are not a member, you will be asked to "create an SPP Account" which can be used in the future. Once you create a login/password, you will need to go back to the abstract submission page and click the "Log in with your SPP Account." This will take you to your main abstract page where you can start and submit multiple abstracts. 
• You can log off at any time without submitting your abstract and return to continue your work at another time. As long as you do not formally submit the abstract, it can be edited and revised online as many times as you want. If you give your username and password to another person (presumably a co-author), that person can access the abstract and make changes or complete it. 
• The abstract is to be typed or cut and pasted directly into the space provided on the submission form. Do not include the title of the abstract or the author(s) name in the body of the abstract. 
• Verify that your abstract is correct by clicking Preview Abstract. 

 

Meeting Registration for Selected Submissions

Authors and presenters will be responsible for their own travel expenses and will be required to register for SPPAC 2023. 

 

Instructions for Oral Presentations

Session rooms will be equipped with a data projector and computer as well as microphones.

Bring your presentation on a Windows readable USB stick/flash drive. All presentations must be downloaded to the provided computer. No personal computers will be used at the podium.

When building your presentation, use standard fonts (e.g., Times Roman, Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman). Basic fonts are included on the session room computers but if an unusual font is used it may not translate.

Include in the same folder as your presentation any external files utilized, e.g., movie files. Copy the entire folder to the USB flash drive.

Test your presentation on a separate PC compatible computer to ensure fonts are standard and components such as movies are included rather than merely linked in your presentation.

Review these specifications when preparing your presentation.

The computers in the session rooms will support PC and Mac presentations.

We recommend that you bring a backup presentation format to cover the possibility of luggage loss, theft, and/or incompatibility. 

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Poster specifications

Posters should not exceed the dimensions of 4 feet x 4 feet.  Poster Boards will have 2 posters displayed on each side of the poster boards. All posters will be assigned a poster # for each poster session.

 

Here are a few hints for good poster presentations:

• Make your poster simple and eye-catching
• Use simple drawings, diagrams, graphs and/or photographs
• Graphics should be explicit and brief
• Have clean and attractive layouts
• Use few panels, including an introduction/summary.
• Simple use of color can add emphasis effectively.
• The 6 best color combinations are:
• Black on white
• Red on white
• Green on white
• Blue on white
• White on blue
• White on black
• Use large print and a minimum of text
• Your poster should contain headings that organize and logically display the information.
• You may bring handouts for distribution (350 attendees are expected)
• Keep abbreviations and jargon to a minimum