The shift towards competency-based training in clinical psychology and the focus on capabilities for mental-health practitioners (Ten Essential Shared Capabilities DOH 2004) emphasises the need for trainees to develop transferable clinical skills. This raises the challenge of how clinical skills can be usefully assessed. The Clinical Skills Rating Form (CSA-RF) is a seven-domain rating scale developed to assess trainee clinical psychologists' generic skills in working with clients in-vivo.
The proposed mixed-methods miniproject aims to evaluate and enhance the validity and reliability of the CSA-RF by ascertaining the underlying factor structure of the scale assessing the process whereby discriminations are made between ratings and enhancing consistency across raters. A psychometrically-robust scale would have great applicability to training courses across the UK and would address the recognised need for valid reliable multi-dimensional assessments of trainees' clinical competence.
Funding: £3 151.80
Start Date: February 2009
Contact: Alison Tweed School of Psychology (Clinical Section) University of Leicester 104 Regent Road Leicester LE1 7LT
