Development and Validation of the Therapist Barriers to Engaging Parents (TBEP) Measure

Abstract

Parent engagement is a well-documented challenge when delivering child and adolescent mental health treatments. Therapists' internal experiences, and how they respond to parents, may create a barrier to the parent engagement process. The current study developed the 13-item Therapist Barriers to Engaging Parents measure (TBEP) to assess providers' internal and external experiences that operate as barriers to parent engagement. The TBEP was completed by 148 child and family therapists across the United States. The TBEP demonstrated strong internal reliability (Cronbach α = .86), and was negatively correlated with counselor efficacy, and significantly positively correlated with burnout, indicating convergent validity. Incremental validity of the subscales of the TBEP was also demonstrated. The TBEP appears to be a psychometrically sound measure of the internal barriers mental health providers experience when trying to engage parents.

Predictors of play therapists’ attitudes toward parent engagement.

“…To measure internal barriers, participants completed the 13-question TBEP measure (Dynes et al, 2018). The TBEP measure was created specifically for child and family therapists to measure internal barriers counselors experience when engaging parents.…”

“…Once participants self-selected into the study, they were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, the 13-item Therapist Barriers to Engaging Parents (TBEP) measure (Dynes et al, 2018), and the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE; Larson et al, 1992).…”

“…However, his sample did not include any play therapists with fewer than 3 years of experience; therefore, studies with newer, less experienced play therapists may include more variability. Using a validated instrument, Dynes et al (2018) measured play therapists’ self-efficacy and found that years of practice and counselors’ age were statistically significantly correlated with beliefs and judgments about their own abilities. Beyond the two studies mentioned (Dynes et al, 2018; Seymour, 2001), play therapists’ internal self-concept is not a factor that is often considered in research, though it is a large consideration for conceptual pieces (Brooks et al, 2022; Cuschieri, 2016).…”

“…Using a validated instrument, Dynes et al (2018) measured play therapists’ self-efficacy and found that years of practice and counselors’ age were statistically significantly correlated with beliefs and judgments about their own abilities. Beyond the two studies mentioned (Dynes et al, 2018; Seymour, 2001), play therapists’ internal self-concept is not a factor that is often considered in research, though it is a large consideration for conceptual pieces (Brooks et al, 2022; Cuschieri, 2016). Research on the connection between self-efficacy and parent engagement could provide a more holistic understanding of play therapists’ needs.…”

A Collaborative Learning Guidance Program Based on Need Analysis of Students’ Learning Motivation and Behavior

“…Such collaboration may enhance teachers' competence in providing academic services for students in a vulnerable group (Hastiani, 2014), strengthening relevant association between learning and the environment, (Cardwell & Fisher College, 2011), supporting parents' involvement in students' academic life (Dynes et al, 2018), and optimize the school's limited resources (Wiburg et al, 2017). Subject teachers' involvement in guidance and counseling services may also be helpful for depicting the learning design, method, and procedure that suits students' academic needs (Adriani et al, 2013).…”