What Motivates Mental Health Clinicians-in-Training to Implement Evidence-Based Assessment? A Survey of Social Work Trainees
Abstract
Mental health clinicians do not consistently use evidence-based assessment (EBA), a critical component of accurate case conceptualization and treatment planning. The present study used the Unified Theory of Behavior to examine determinants of intentions to use EBA in clinical practice among a sample of Masters’ level social work trainees (N = 241). Social norms had the largest effect on intentions to use EBA. Injunctive norms in reference to respected colleagues accounted for the most variance in EBA intentions. Findings differed for respondents over 29 years of age versus younger respondents. Implications for implementation strategies and further research are discussed.
Keywords
Pre-service implementation strategies Behavioral health Evidence-based assessment Measurement-based careNotes
Acknowledgements
The authors express cordial gratitude to Benjamin Lane, Rachel Shin, H’Vanna Samuels, Lily Kirschenbaum, Unique Starks, Leilei Huang, and Matthew Macauley, for coordinating and conducting data collection and other important functions during this research project.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by New York University Internal Renew Board (IRB Number: IRB-FY2017-603). This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
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