Abstract
Background
The Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) is a widely used measurement tool to assess mental health providers’ attitudes toward adopting research-based interventions. To date, this scale has yet to be used or validated among mental health professionals in Latin America. This study investigated the factor structure, psychometric properties, cross-cultural validity, and model fit of the EBPAS in an interdisciplinary sample of social workers, counselors, and psychologists.
Methods
The original 15-item EBPAS scale was administered to a sample (N = 237) of Puerto Rican mental health professionals (e.g., social workers, counselors, and psychologists) working in diverse settings, such as schools, clinics, and community settings, child protection and welfare services, etc. The EBPAS’s scores are derived from four distinct constructs involving willingness to adopt EBPs (i.e., requirements, openness to innovation, appeal, and divergence from research). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the EBPAS scale. Several first and second-order factor models were specified. A global and approximate fit examination of the measurement model and composite reliability estimation for each subscale was conducted. RStudio version 4.3.1 software was used for the CFA.
Results
The CFA supported a first-order factor model. Most subscales were found to have strong reliability coefficients ranging between 0.83 and 0.91, except for the divergence subscale. After allowing for covariance between two items in the appeal dimension, the correlated factor model was found to adequately fit the data, although some misspecification was observed.
Conclusions
The EBPAS-15 has adequate psychometric properties in a Latinx sample of mental health professionals, suggesting that the factor structure and reliability may be useful in a Spanish-speaking and Caribbean sample of mental health professionals working in a variety of settings and contexts. Findings contribute to the scant literature on culturally validated measures examining attitudes toward EBPs in Latin America.