MFT trainee adjustment to training program lifestyle stress: A theoretical model and 30 item self-report scale (TAPS)
Abstract
The Trainee Adjustment to Program Stress (TAPS) theoretical model was proposed as a process model for individual adjustment to training stress. Adjustment was conceptualized as the short-term outcome from program related stressors interacting with coping mechanisms and resource utilization. Four constructs were chosen to represent specific stressors and coping responses: Training Program Demands, Graduate Student Lifestyle Demands, Perceived Professional Development Resources, Personal/Interpersonal Coping. The DV, Adjustment to Program Stress, was conceptualized as ranging on a continuum from high growth, high coping, and low distress to restricted growth, low coping, and high distress. From the theoretical model, the "Trainee Adjustment to Program Stress Questionnaire" was developed. The initial TAPS consisted of four subscales corresponding to the theoretical model's four constructs. Seventy items were generated from propositional statements based on the constructs. Following pretesting, 329 out of 900 sampled Student Members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) sent back mailed questionnaires for a return rate of 36.5%. Test-retest returns were 70%. Initial internal consistency reliability analysis for the initial 50 item scale estimated alpha at.9205. Test-retest correlation was.811 with a 9 week interval. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) procedures began with LISREL 7 (structured equational modeling) analysis and disconfirmed the four factor/subscale TAPS model. LISREL CFA found the best fitting model was a single factor model. Additional CFA analyses were conducted with Principle Components, Factor Analysis. A theoretical 2 factor model oblique solution model found both factors highly intercorrelated. Additional internal consistency reliability analyses produced a final 30 item TAPS single factor scale (alpha =.91). Items from the initial constructs Academic Demands, and Professional Resources dropped from the analysis, eliminating them from the TAPS model. The examination of psychometric validity resulted in a revised TAPS model emphasizing inter-related domains Training Program Lifestyle Demands, Personal/Interpersonal Coping. The scale was re-defined as measuring the more general DV, Trainee Adjustment to Training Program Lifestyle Stress. The 30 items TAPS scale appears to measure adjustment to program induced stress in the trainee's "lifestyle" rather than academic, clinical, and workload demands.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Piercy, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Educational psychology
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