Predicting Competency in Motivational Interviewing Through an Objective Empathy Task
Abstract
In the process of disseminating motivational interviewing (MI) it is important to identify who benefits from initial workshops and which trainees would benefit from an extended training model that involves coaching and performance feedback, which has recently been advocated. Prior research attempting to determine who benefits from training has failed to show associations between baseline self-reported empathy and training outcomes. However, the use of an objective empathy task may address the shortcoming of prior research. The purpose of the present study was to predict competency in motivational interviewing skills following training using an objective empathy task. In addition, we investigated if self-report measures of empathy were more susceptible to social desirability than an objective empathy task. This study was a longitudinal design that is based on a pre-test objective empathy task and a post-test measure of MI skills/proficiency. Prior to a three-day training in motivational interviewing, participants completed a social desirability scale, self-reported empathy based on the empathy quotient and an objective empathy task based on the multifaceted empathy test. Following the training, participants interacted with a standardized patient which was audio recorded and subsequently scored on the motivational interviewing treatment integrity. Competency in motivational interviewing was based upon the average scores on the global measures of cultivating change talk, softening sustain talk, empathy, and partnership. It was anticipated that the empathy quotient would be more strongly correlated with social desirability than the multifaceted empathy test. In addition, we anticipated that the multifaceted empathy test would be a stronger predictor of competency than the empathy quotient.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Personality psychology
Recommended Citation
Clark, Kylah Moneek, "Predicting Competency in Motivational Interviewing Through an Objective Empathy Task" (2020). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI27955265.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI27955265