TPC Journal V8, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

316 The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 4 positive association between clients’ ratings of their counselors’ multicultural competence and client outcomes. Tao and colleagues’ meta-analysis comparing the correlations and effect sizes between quantitative studies (between the years of 2002–2014) of multicultural competence and other measures of the clinical process indicated that clients ratings of their counselors’ multicultural competence accounted for 37% of the variance in the working alliance. Owen et al.’s and Tao et al.’s findings highlight the need to further explore the dynamics between clients’ and counselors’ perceptions of multicultural competence and the working alliance. Overall, the lack of multicultural competence outcome research may be a hindrance to counselors being able to fulfill the ACA Code of Ethics because of a lack of empirical justification (D’Andrea & Heckman, 2008). In order for multicultural competence scholarship to further advance, professional counseling organizations and scholars (ACA, 2014; Bachelor, 2013; Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, 2016; Owen et al., 2011) recommend exploring how multicultural competence may influence client outcomes. Additionally, research is needed exploring the similarities and differences between clients’ and counselors’ views on the working alliance and multicultural competence. Further, in self-report counseling investigations, researchers can minimize potential threat to the study by using a social desirability scale as a control variable (Drisko, 2013; McKibben & Silvia, 2016). Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to explore the relationship between the effects of multicultural competence and the working alliance on client outcomes from both client and CIT perspectives, while controlling for social desirability. As such, we aimed to answer three research questions: (a) Do CITs’ multicultural competence and the working alliance (as perceived by clients) predict client outcomes, while controlling for social desirability from the client’s perspective? (b) Do CITs’ multicultural competence and the working alliance (as perceived by counselors) predict client outcomes, while controlling for social desirability from the CIT’s perspective? and (c) What differences exist between clients’ and CITs’ perceptions of CITs’ multicultural competence and the working alliance, while controlling for social desirability? Method Participants This investigation was conducted at a university-based community counseling research center located in the southeastern region of the United States. The primary investigator worked in the clinic in which the research study was conducted; thus, convenience sampling was used. CITs’ criteria to participate in this study was that the student had to be enrolled in their first or second semester of practicum in a master’s-level counselor education program. In addition, client criteria to participate was that they had to be an adult (over the age of 18) receiving counseling services from the CITs at the counseling research center. A total of 146 adult clients and 85 CITs participated in this study. Missing values and clients who completed the assessments more than twice were removed, yielding a response rate of 82% for clients and 84% for CITs. Client participants self-identified as female ( n = 71, 59.7%) and male ( n = 48, 40.3%). The number of clients by age range was: 18–30 ( n = 56, 47.1%), 31–40 ( n = 27, 47.1%), 41–50 ( n = 22, 18.5%), 51–60 ( n = 12, 10.1%), and 61–65 ( n = 2, 1.7%). Lastly, clients identified as White ( n = 64, 53.8%), African American/Black (non-Hispanic, n = 21, 17.6%), Hispanic/Latino ( n = 20, 16.8%), Biracial/Multiracial ( n = 7, 5.9%), American Indian ( n = 2, 1.7%), Asian ( n = 1, 8%), and Other ( n = 4, 3.4%).