Assessing Counselors’ Self-Efficacy in Suicide Assessment and Intervention

Abstract

Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs Standards state that counseling students must be adequately trained in suicide assessment and intervention. To evaluate how well students or practicing counselors are prepared, there is a need to measure self-efficacy specific to the tasks required in suicide assessment and intervention. The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the validity evidence for the Counselor Suicide Assessment Efficacy Survey (CSAES), a measure of self-efficacy related to suicide assessment and intervention. CSAES was studied for use in measuring the outcomes of suicide assessment curricular and professional development. Detailed results of reliability and validity studies are reported.

• counselor self-efficacy
• suicide assessment
• outcome measure

Notes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/orPUBLICation of this article.

Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/orPUBLICation of this article: This research was funded by an award from the Purdue Research Foundation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kerrie Anna Douglas

Kerrie Anna Douglas is a visiting assistant professor at Purdue University. She holds a Master’s of Science in Education degree in School Counseling and a PhD in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue.

Carrie A. Wachter Morris

Carrie A. Wachter Morris is an associate professor in School Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She holds a doctoral degree in Counseling and Counselor Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her scholarship interests include pedagogy and practical applications of research in counselor education.