Clinician Optimism: Development and Psychometric Analysis of a Scale for Mental Health Clinicians

Abstract

Clinician optimism is an important factor in achieving treatment outcomes in counselling contexts. Currently, there are no measures of mental health clinician optimism which report substantial psychometric validation. This study sought to assesses the validity and reliability of the Therapeutic Optimism Scale (TOS). 223 mental health clinicians working in a range of clinical settings were administered the TOS and convergent and discriminate validity were established. Test–retest reliability was established over a period of 1 month. The TOS was found to achieve acceptable reliability (Cronbach's α = .68) and yielded consistent scores over a one month period (r = .68, p < .01). Factor analyses revealed a 3-factor solution reflecting (1) General Treatment Outcome Expectancy, (2) Personal Treatment Outcome Expectancy, and (3) Pessimism. These findings support the utility of the TOS for research purposes, but further revision is recommended to enhance the reliability of the scale.

Hope and improvements in mental health service providers' recovery attitudes following training

“…The developers of the scale report acceptable internal reliability (Cronbach's a ¼ .68). The TOS shows convergent validity with the Clinician Optimism Scale (r ¼ .54, p 5 .01), and moderately correlates with the HS (r ¼ .44, p 5 .01), consistent with hope and optimism literature (Byrne et al, 2006). Cronbach's alpha in the present study was .57.…”

“…The large effect size achieved on the measure of attitudes and hopefulness regarding consumer recovery (STARS) is especially significant given a documented link between hope and improved problem-solving and job performance, as well as the potential for provider hope to transfer to consumers. The large effect size improvements on provider optimism regarding recovery are noteworthy since optimism may predict persistence in service provision and reduce burnout (see Byrne et al, 2006).…”

“…The Therapeutic Optimism Scale (TOS; Byrne et al, 2006) consists of 10 items measuring providers' optimism. It assesses general and personal treatment expectancies (e.g., ''With my assistance most people with mental disorders will recover''), and pessimism.…”

“…Additionally, a measure of provider optimism has been included, the Therapeutic Optimism Scale (TOS; Byrne, Sullivan, & Elsom, 2006). Optimism is a person's belief good things will happen; and although hope and optimism are related, research indicates the two constructs are distinct and can be discriminated from each other (Peterson & Byron, 2008).…”

“…Optimism is a person's belief good things will happen; and although hope and optimism are related, research indicates the two constructs are distinct and can be discriminated from each other (Peterson & Byron, 2008). Studies suggest optimism may predict persistence in service provision and reduce the incidence of burnout (Byrne et al, 2006).…”