TPC Journal V7, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

130 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 2 stakeholders who may not fully understand the components of an effective school counseling program (Bemak & Chung, 2008). Indeed, school counselors report not spending adequate time engaged in the professional activities that they prefer (Scarborough, 2005; Scarborough & Luke, 2008), even though these preferences are consistent with best practice recommendations (Scarborough & Culbreth, 2008). Therefore, for many school counselors, performing within their professional role and sticking to best practice recommendations regarding their service delivery can be challenging and stressful (McCarthy, Kerne, Calfa, Lambert, & Guzmán, 2010). Given that school counseling program implementation and interventions that align with ASCA are associated with positive outcomes for students in a variety of domains, and that tension exists between the actual and preferred practice of school counselors, the question now becomes: What factors contribute to effective school counseling service delivery? Studies indicate a positive relationship between years of experience and school counselor practice (Scarborough & Culbreth, 2008; Sink & Yillik-Downer, 2001), as it may take several years of experience to implement the breadth and complexity of interventions in a programmatic manner. Research outside the field of school counseling also has expanded beyond demographic variables to indicate that a number of individual characteristics, such as attachment style (Dozier, Lomax Tyrrell, & Lee, 2001; Hazan & Shaver, 1987), emotional stability, locus of control, self-esteem (Judge & Bono, 2001) and self-efficacy (Judge & Bono, 2001; Larson & Daniels, 1998), are related to an individual’s work performance. To understand the underlying mechanisms that affect school counselor work performance, studies have explored potential organizational (e.g., school climate, perceived administration support), structural (e.g., training, supervision), and personal variables (e.g., experience, self-efficacy) related to counselor practice (Scarborough & Luke, 2008). Two school counselor interpersonal variables are of special focus in this study: self-efficacy and attachment. Individuals with higher levels of self- efficacy set higher goals for themselves and show higher levels of commitment, motivation, resilience and perseverance in achieving set goals (Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005), making the examination of school counselor self-efficacy important in investigating effective service delivery. On the other hand, attachment theory highlights the process by which early childhood development influences an individual’s capacity to relate to others and regulate emotion. Many lines of theoretical and empirical research in education and psychology have examined how attachment characteristics influence adult functioning, supporting the introduction of school counselor attachment style as a factor relating to work performance (Desivilya, Sabag, &Ashton, 2006; Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Kennedy & Kennedy, 2004; Marotta, 2002). School counselor self-efficacy and attachment characteristics are personal attributes conceptualized to contribute to the ability of school counselors to perform intervention activities that align with ASCA recommendations and positively impact student development and achievement. Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy involves beliefs about one’s own capability to successfully perform given tasks to accomplish specific goals (Lent & Hackett, 1987). As individuals confront important problems and tasks, they choose actions based on their beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1996). Self-efficacy may be a critical factor in school counselor work performance. Two meta-analytic studies of empirical research examining self-efficacy have shown that for a variety of occupations, there is a positive relationship between self-efficacy and work performance (Larson & Daniels, 1998; Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). Studies examining school counselor self-efficacy have been a more recent addition to the literature, with reported results indicating that self-efficacy is related to school counselor gender, teaching experience (Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005), and supportive staff and administrators (Sutton & Fall, 1995).