An Evaluation of the Practice Element Response Form in a Sample of Preservice Trainees

Abstract

Modal public sector in-service provider trainings tend to inadequately prepare therapists for effective evidence-based practice (EBP) delivery. Typically constrained by financial and other types of barriers, these trainings tend to be brief and generally do not sufficiently change therapist behaviors and improve patient outcomes. To address this issue, some dissemination and implementation efforts have slowly turned to investigating and potentially improving preservice training, as doing so may provide a venue for ongoing training and competency evaluation. This investigation aimed to further study the psychometric properties of the Practice Element Response Form (PERForm), a vignette-prompted, open ended response measure of procedural knowledge in specific EBP components, and a potential resource for clinical training programs considering modular approaches to treatment. A total of 67 preservice participants from three different institutions were administered the PERForm before and after participating in an in-class training on the practice elements of exposure and/or problem-solving. Results indicated good to excellent interrater reliabilities for the PERForm as well as some evidence supporting the measure’s sensitivity to preservice instruction. Additionally, this was the first study to attempt to explore the relationships between students’ background characteristics and their procedural knowledge in the graduate school setting. Students’ year in the program, number of semesters in practicum, and group supervision hours per week were found to be associated with PERForm score change, although these variables did not significantly predict procedural knowledge after controlling for the effect of cohort. While this investigation’s main purpose was to analyze the psychometric properties of the PERForm in a graduate school setting, the results of this study may have the potential to inform implementation and dissemination efforts in other aspects of therapist training.