Self-Efficacy, Attachment, and School Counselor Service Delivery

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the self-efficacy beliefs and attachment characteristics of school counselors and the relationship of these variables to school counseling program implementation. The population for this study consisted of elementary school counselors who agreed to have their email addresses included as part of a national school counselor association database. All data were obtained via self-report measures and were collected through an internet survey that was accessed through a link within recruitment emails. Instruments used in the survey include a demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher, the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale (SCARS; Scarborough, 2005), the School Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (SCSE; Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005), and the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form (ECR-Short Form; Wei et al., 2007).

Correlation analyses were conducted to assess for a relationship between years of experience, ASCA National Model training and use, and delivery of school counseling services. Simple linear regressions were used to test the direct effects of self-efficacy and attachment on service delivery, and multiple regressions were used to test moderation effects of attachment in the relationship between self-efficacy and service delivery. The results suggested that school counselors with more years of experience and more ASCA National Model training and use, were more likely to be performing intervention activities (i.e. counseling, consultation, curriculum, and coordination). Supporting previous research, higher school counselor self-efficacy beliefs predicted higher levels of delivery of intervention activities that are consistent with the ASCA National Model. Specifically, self-efficacy beliefs most strongly predicted the coordination activities associated with program implementation. With regard to attachment characteristics, anxiety predicted the discrepancy between actual and preferred activities not considered within the scope of appropriate school counselor duties. Attachment anxiety but not avoidance predicted actual and preferred engagement in intervention activities. The results of the study did not support attachment anxiety and avoidance as a moderator in the relationship between self-efficacy and school counselor service delivery. This study adds to the current literature by replicating existing self-efficacy research and introduces school counselor attachment as a novel contribution to this research base.