ERIC Number: ED527297
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 183
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-1-1242-9087-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
An Examination of Factors that Affect Occupational Therapists' Self Efficacy Related to Working with Students Who Have Emotional Disturbance
Chandler, Barbara Ellen
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, TUI University
This research examined factors that affect occupational therapists' self efficacy related to working with students who have emotional disturbance. Social cognition (Bandura, 1986, 1997a), of which self efficacy is an integral part, is the theoretical perspective for this study. The research used the Professional and Practice Profile to examine age, years as an occupational therapist, years as a school based occupational therapist, practice setting, environmental factors, formal or informal leadership experiences, professional development activities, work or have worked with students who have emotional disturbance, work or have worked with children or youth who have emotional, affective or behavior disorders as a primary diagnosis, and work or have worked with other occupational therapists in relation to self efficacy, as measured by a modified version of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 2001). The research also used five open-ended questions to explore occupational therapists' perspectives of their self efficacy related to working with students who have emotional disturbance. The self efficacy of occupational therapists was moderate to high with a mean of 6.08 (on a scale of 1 to 9) with a standard deviation of 0.89. There was no significant relationship between the factors researched and the self efficacy of the occupational therapists. The not significant results could be attributed to limitations of the quantitative instrumentation. Themes that emerged from responses to the open-ended questions were: I Was Taught, On the Job, My Responsibility, I Know What I Am Doing, What I Bring, What is There, Working the System, No You Can't (Well, Maybe), What I Don't Bring, What isn't There, I Try, Not Me, They Don't Understand Me, and That's Not the Way We Do It. This study is confirmatory of Bandura's description of self efficacy as the result of an individual reflective process and contributes to the understanding of the development of self efficacy of occupational therapists. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Self Efficacy, Emotional Disturbances, Behavior Disorders, Social Cognition, Measures (Individuals), Occupational Therapy, Allied Health Personnel, Age Differences, Experience, Environmental Influences, Leadership, Professional Development, Affective Behavior
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A