TPC Journal V8, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

318 The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 4 developed to be completed by supervisors, it has been adapted for use with counselors and clients (e.g., Client : My counselor is aware of his or her own cultural heritage; Counselor : I am aware of my own cultural heritage; Fuertes et al., 2006; Owen et al., 2011). The CCCI-R is scored utilizing total scores, with higher scores indicating more perceived multicultural competence. Cronbach’s alpha results for this study were .92 for clients and .85 for CITs (Lafromboise et al., 1991). The WAI-S (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989; Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989) was used to measure client and CIT perceptions about the strength of the working alliance relationship in counseling. The WAI-S is a 12-item assessment rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 7 (1 = never to 7 = always ), intended to measure the strength of the therapeutic relationship as perceived by client and counselor (e.g., Client : I am confident in my counselor’s ability to help me; Counselor : I am confident in my ability to help my client; Bachelor, 2013; Fitzpatrick et al., 2005; Hatcher & Barends, 1996). Tracey and Kokotovic (1989) indicated strong internal consistency for both the client version (α = .98) and the counselor version (α = .95) of the WAI-S. The WAI-S total score is the summation of three subscales (task, bond, and goal), with higher scores indicating a stronger therapeutic relationship. Cronbach’s alpha results for this study were .82 for clients and .81 for CITs. The SDS (Reynolds,1982) was used to measure social desirability in this study. The SDS is a shortened version of the original Marlow Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS; Crowne & Marlow, 1960). The SDS is an 11-item dichotomous (i.e., 0 = True , 1 = False ) scale designed to assess whether participants are responding truthfully in response to assessments or answering in a biased way to put forward a more socially desirable self-image (e.g., I’m always willing to admit when I make a mistake). Scoring ranges from 0–11, with a higher score indicating participant likelihood of answering in a socially desirable manner to avoid disapproval from others. Reliability for the shortened social desirability scales has been adequate (Reynolds, 1982). Cronbach’s alpha results for this study were .68 for clients and .73 for CITs. Clients’ SDS Cronbach’s alpha levels were slightly lower than the CITs’ levels; however, some authors, such as Aiken (2000), have indicated that a Cronbach’s alpha between .60 and .70 is adequate, and Streiner (2003) has indicated that the reliability on a scale of clinical samples such as the clients in this study can be different than those measured on the general population. The OQ 45.2 (Lambert et al., 1996) contains 45 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0–4 (0 = almost always to 4 = never ) and intended to measure clients’ distress status (e.g., I feel blue; I feel lonely). The OQ 45.2 has been used in various settings, including community clinics in a university setting similar to the one in this investigation (e.g., Wolgast, Lambert, & Puschner, 2004). The OQ 45.2 total score consists of the sum of scores of three subscales (i.e., symptomatic distress, interpersonal relationships, and social roles) and the reverse scores of nine items, with higher scores indicating more distress among clients. The total score cut off is set at 63, indicating that scores above 63 are of clinical significance (Lambert et al., 1996). Reported overall internal consistency for OQ total score (α = 93) and three subscales (α = .70) is strong (Lambert et al., 1996). Cronbach’s alpha results for this study were .82 for the OQ 45.2 pretest and .83 for the OQ 45.2 posttest. Results Average total scores for clients on the OQ 45.2 pretest, completed on the first session, were M = 69.37 and SD = 25.009. Average OQ 45.2 posttest scores, completed on the third session, were M = 63.73 and SD = 27.56. Average total SDS scores for clients were M = 5.74 and SD = 2.27, and average scores for CITs were M = 5.71 and SD = 2.66. Average total score of clients’ CCCI-R ratings of their CITs’ multicultural competence after completion of the third counseling session were M = 102.81 and SD = 10.42. CITs’ ratings of their own multicultural competence were M = 96.98 and SD = 7.66.