The role of religiosity, coping strategies, self-efficacy and personality dimensions in the prediction of Iranian undergraduate rehabilitation interns’ satisfaction with their clinical experience

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between religiosity, coping styles, self-efficacy and personality dimensions as predictors of satisfaction with clinical experience in rehabilitation interns during transition from academic study to clinical internship. Design: A cross-sectional survey design. Setting: Five rehabilitation faculties. Participants: Three hundred and eighteen undergraduate rehabilitation interns, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech and language pathology students. Main outcome measures: Islamic Religiosity Scale, Ways of Coping Questionnaire, General Self-efficacy Scale, NEO Five Factor Inventory, and Satisfaction with Clinical Experiences Questionnaire. Results: Religiosity, problem-focused coping and general self-efficacy had significant positive correlation with satisfaction with clinical internship in rehabilitation students. Among personality dimensions, openness, agreement and consciousness had significant positive correlation with satisfaction with clinical experience and neuroticism had significant negative correlation with satisfaction with clinical experience. The results of regression analysis demonstrated that religiosity and self-efficacy had important roles in the prediction of satisfaction with clinical experience in all the rehabilitation intern students of three disciplines (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language pathology). Conclusion: Religiosity, problem-focused coping and general self-efficacy seem to be good predictors of satisfaction with clinical internship in rehabilitation students.