Attitudes toward standardized assessment tools and their use among clinicians in a public mental health service

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the use and attitudes toward standardized assessment tools among clinicians in a public mental health service in Norway. A total of 606 clinicians provided feedback on their use and attitudes regarding psychometric qualities of such tools, their practicality, and their benefit over clinical judgment alone using the Attitudes toward Standardized Assessment (ASA) Scales. Clinicians working in the adult mental health field scored significantly higher on use of diagnostic interviews, pre–post evaluations, and ongoing evaluations, whereas clinicians working in the child/adolescent mental health field scored significantly higher on use of screening instruments and held more positive attitudes towards using standardized assessment tools. Attitudes toward standardized assessment tools predicted use of such tools, and results were found to be similar to a study on US clinicians. Whereas the US study only found attitudes regarding the practicality of using such instrument as an independent predictor of assessment use, the current study found that attitudes regarding psychometric qualities of such tools, their practicality, and their benefit over clinical judgment alone were independent predictors of use.

Keywords:

• Standardized assessment
• attitudes
• ASA
• mental health service

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank clinicians at the community mental health clinics that participated in this study. We acknowledge Johannes H. Langeveld and Kjaersti Kjelsberg for contributions in the pilot study, Geir Egil Eide and Anastasia Ushakova for statistical consultation, and Inger Helen Berge for support in developing the online survey used in the study.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have conflicts of interest to declare.