School of Health and Life Sciences

Background: Visual attention is known as a critical base for learning. The purpose of the present study was to design, develop and evaluate the test-retest and internal consistency reliability as well as face, content and convergent validity of the computer- based selective visual attention test (SeVAT) for healthy first-grade school children. Methods: In the first phase of this study, the computer-based SeVAT was developed in two versions of original and parallel. Ten experts in occupational therapy helped to measure the content validity using the CVR and CVI methods. Face validity was measured through opinions collected from 10 first-grade children. The convergent validity of the test was examined using the Spearman correlation between the SeVAT and Stroop test. In addition, test-retest reliability was determined by measuring the intra-class correlation (ICC) between the original and parallel versions of the SeVAT in a single session. The internal consistency was calculated by Cro...

Background: The Intentional Relationship Model is specifically focused on the relational aspect of therapy. The model describes six therapeutic modes; these represent different types of interaction for the therapist. However, preferences for therapeutic mode use are under researched.
Aims: This study aims to describe preferences for therapeutic modes in undergraduate occupational therapy students, as well as to explore factors associated to each of the therapeutic modes.
Methods: A sample of 96 occupational therapy students, based at two different Norwegian universities, participated in the study. They completed the Norwegian Self-Assessment of Modes Questionnaire along with sociodemographic information. Descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation and linear regression analysis were employed.
Results: The problem-solving mode was most frequently endorsed. There were generally weak associations between the variables, but female sex and being a student in the education program in Trondheim were associated with higher preference for collaboration.
Conclusion: There is diversity in students’ preferences for the modes, but the problem-solving mode was the most preferred. Students need to be aware of the mode they feel more comfortable with and make sure they use modes that fit with the specific client.
Significance: The occupational therapy education programs need to incorporate raising awareness about therapeutic modes.

Background and Aim: The role of parents in children's development is very important. Good understanding of this role and its tasks is helpful in all aspect of children's life. The purpose of this research was to construct and validate a questionnaire to assess parental role tasks.

Background. The Intentional Relationship Model (IRM) proposes six therapeutic modes as ways of relating to clients. The Norwegian self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use (N-SETMU) was found to have a one-component structure. However, its items reflect abstract concepts rather than concrete behaviors.

Aim. To validate further the N-SETMU by linking its items to the Norwegian client assessment of modes (N-CAM), with 30 items constituting six scales (linked to each mode), possessing concrete, behavioral content.

Methods. Occupational therapy students (n = 111) completed the N-SETMU and the N-CAM derived items, along with sociodemographic information. Component structure was analyzed with Principal Components Analysis (PCA), internal consistency of scales with Cronbach's alpha, and associations between scale scores with Pearson's rŸ. Results. All items on all N-CAM derived scales loaded on one latent component, except one item related to problem-solving. After removing this item, the scale functioned appropriately. Cronbach's alpha for all N-CAM derived scales ranged 0.88–0.94, and the associations between the N-CAM derived scales and the corresponding N-SETMU items ranged between 0.60 (advocating) and 0.79 (encouraging). Conclusions. In view of the strong associations between the concrete, N-CAM derived scales and the abstract N-SETMU items, this study supports the concurrent validity of the N-SETMU.

Background: The intentional relationship model (IRM) proposes six distinct ways of relating to clients. A new instrument for measuring self-efficacy for using the therapeutic modes in occupational therapy practice was recently found to have good psychometric properties. To date, however, no research has investigated factors associated with self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use. Aim: This study aimed to explore sociodemographic and education-related factors associated with self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use in a sample of occupational therapy students in Norway. Methods: Occupational therapy students (n = 111) from two education programs completed the Norwegian version of the recently developed " Self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use " (N-SETMU), in addition to reporting sociodemographic and education-related information. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to examine factors independently associated with the students' N-SETMU scores. Results: Higher N-SETMU scores were associated with better average academic performance among the students. Otherwise, none of the associations were statistically significant. Conclusions: As better academic results were linked with higher self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use, the study indicates that some students perform well academically and have high self-efficacy for practical skills, whereas others perform less well academically and have lower self-efficacy for practical skills. A potential transfer of self-efficacy beliefs from one area of performance (academic) to another (practical skills) seems possible, and this may be investigated in future studies.

Background: Occupational therapy has long emphasized the concepts doing, being, becoming and belonging, and a notion of balance between them. Measures of these concepts are in a developing stage.

Aim: This study aimed to develop and examine the properties of the Norwegian version of the Occupational Wholeness Questionnaire (N-OWQ), which is proposed to measure being, becoming, and belonging, in addition to occupational wholeness as a higher-order concept.

Methods: An anonymous sample of 248 persons over the age of 18 years completed the N-OWQ along with sociodemographic information. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on the scale items when examining factor structure. Item reduction was based on considerations of communalities, factor loadings, scale consistency if item deleted, and conceptual issues. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach’s α.

Results: Following the PCA, the ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ scales merged into one five-item ‘Self’ scale (Cronbach’s α 0.77). The ‘Belonging’ scale items were split into two scales comprised by three items each: ‘Closeness’ (Cronbach’s α 0.70) and ‘Relatedness’ (Cronbach’s α 0.73).

Conclusions: The revised N-OWQ merged the ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ items into one factor, whereas the ‘Belonging’ items were split into two distinct factors. Internal consistency for all scales were satisfactory.

Background: The Intentional Relationship Model conceptualizes the therapeutic use of self in occupational therapy. To increase motivation for and success in establishing therapeutic relationships, therapists need self-efficacy for using the self in therapeutic practice. However, attempts to combine this model with self-efficacy theory are rare, and instruments by which to measure self-efficacy for therapeutic use of self are in a developing stage. This study aimed to examine the factor structure and internal consistency of the Norwegian Self-Efficacy for Recognizing Interpersonal Characteristics (N-SERIC).
Methods: Occupational therapy students (n = 100) from two education programs completed the instrument and sociodemographic information. The factor structure was examined with Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach’s α and inter-item correlations.
Results: The PCA revealed that all N-SERIC items belonged to the same latent factor, with factor loadings ranging between 0.75 and 0.89. The internal consistency of the scale items was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.96).
Conclusions: The N-SERIC scale is unidimensional and the items have very high internal consistency. Thus, the scale sum score can be useful for occupational therapy research and audits focusing on interpersonal aspects of practice.

Background. Occupational therapy students need to develop self-efficacy for managing the therapeutic relationship in practice. This study examined the 10-month trajectories of Norwegian students’ self-efficacy for use of self.
Methods. Eighty-nine students completed self-efficacy questionnaires related to the use of self after a workshop and at 3- and 10-month follow-up. Changes on the three outcome measures (self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use, for recognizing clients’ interpersonal characteristics, and for managing interpersonal events) were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA.
Results. Across the follow-up period, the students improved their self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use (partial 𝜂2 = 0.44, 𝑝 < 0.001), for recognizing clients’ interpersonal characteristics (partial 𝜂2 = 0.81, 𝑝 < 0.001), and for managing interpersonal events (partial 𝜂2 = 0.32, 𝑝 < 0.001).
Conclusion. The increased self-efficacy for use of self that was found at 3-month follow-up was maintained at 10-month follow-up.The results
indicate that studentsmay experience a boost in self-efficacy for therapeutic use of self after a brief workshop and that these changes
can be sustained over time.

Background: Research suggested combining modern test theory with classical test theory to achieve comprehensive evaluation of an assessment tool. However, the Norwegian Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Use of Self questionnaire has not yet been examined by the modern test theory.
Aims/objective: This study aims to examine psychometric properties of the Norwegian Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Use of Self questionnaire by using Rasch analysis.
Material and methods: One hundred and eleven occupational therapy students from two universities in Norway completed the questionnaire across four time points. Rasch analysis was used to examine the appropriateness of the rating scales, unidimensionality, person response validity, item/person separation, and the Wright map.
Results: The ten-point rating scale did not fully maximise the measurement potentials. Unidimensionality was confirmed except for two items. Person response validity needs further investigation. Excellent person/item separation and Wright map were found.
Conclusion: This study supports the psychometric properties of the Norwegian Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Use of Self questionnaire in assessing self-efficacy in therapeutic encounters. Further research is needed to address the misfit items and the rating scale issue.
Significance: Rasch analysis showed that the Norwegian Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Use of Self questionnaire is promising to be used as a reliable and valid tool.

Previous research has shown that occupational therapists have increased their self-efficacy for using self intentionally in therapeutic encounters. However, experiences related to such changes have not yet been explored. The authors developed a therapeutic use-of-self training workshop to support the confidence and competence of practicing occupational therapists in using the Intentional Relationship Model and possibly enhancing their self-efficacy for therapeutic use-of-self. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of practicing occupational therapists in transferring learning from a training workshop focused on the therapeutic use-of-self into real world practice. Thirteen occupational therapists participated in the workshop and subsequently completed between one and four reflection notes. These notes were subjected to qualitative thematic analysis. The findings were organized into four themes: therapeutic relationship reasoning, engrained previous learning, reflection on/in action, and level of skills in conducting reflection. Reflection skills seemed to be essential for establishing and developing therapeutic relationships; practicing such skills needs to be facilitated by the work environment through emphasis on reflective practice and mentoring.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to investigate psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Use of Self (SETUS) scales, a questionnaire based on the Intentional Relationship model, and to investigate the factor structure and internal consistency of the English version of three-part SETUS questionnaire in occupational therapy students. Design/methodology/approach-The sample of this cross-sectional study included 155 students with age range 18-30 years, of which 95% were women. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on the questionnaire scales, including the Self-Efficacy for Therapeutic Mode Use (SETMU), Self-Efficacy for Recognizing Interpersonal Characteristics (SERIC) and Self-Efficacy for Managing Interpersonal Events (SEMIE). The internal consistencies were calculated. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the strength of correlation among the scales. Findings-The PCA confirmed that the items of each of the three proposed scales loaded strongly on one factor (self-efficacy for three factors of therapeutic mode use, recognizing interpersonal characteristics and managing interpersonal events). The Cronbach's alpha for the SETMU, SERIC and SEMIE was 0.85, 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. The three scales significantly inter-correlated strongly (r ranging 0.74-0.83, all p < 0.001). Originality/value-The SETUS questionnaire comprises three valid and reliable scales. It can be used by occupational therapy supervisors as a means to reflect on students' self-efficacy in components of therapeutic use of self.