An Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Consultation Self-Efficacy Scale in Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine an adaptation of the Consultation Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) and its psychometric properties among Chinese-speaking populations. The participants included 428 undergraduate and graduate-level students from school counseling training programs in Taiwan. We performed exploratory factor analyses to examine the factor structure of the Chinese version of the CSES and identified five relevant factors that were different from the original factor structure: (a) Process and Awareness, (b) Client Skills, (c) Cultural Sensitivity, (d) Intervention, and (e) Facilitation. The results of reliability estimates supported the internal consistency of each factor (ω and α >.91). Collectively, the five factors accounted for 67.59% of the variance among the items, indicating its psychometric adequacy. Possible explanations for the restructuring of the CSES factors with the cross-cultural sample are discussed. The validated Chinese version of the CSES can be utilized as a progress monitoring or outcome measure for pre-service and in-service consultation training purposes in Taiwan. Additional validation research is warranted for generalization of its usage to other Chinese-speaking professions.