The Student Comfort Scale measures the comfort level of

graduate level occupational therapy students pre and post

exposure to and intervention with adults with a psychiatric

disability including learning disabilities, mental illness,

and/or autism spectrum disorders. Prior to this, no such

scale existed. This scale was developed from a literature

review that discussed the factors that influenced

occupational therapy students’ attitudes regarding

individuals with psychiatric disabilities. It was designed

specifically for use with the Bridge Program to determine

the change in level of comfort of MSOT students after

working with the mental health population (Gutman et al.,

2007). Test-retest reliability was determined through the

use of the Spearman’s rho correlation. Cronbach’s alpha

was used to determine internal consistency of this measure

(Schindler, 2011).

STUDENT COMFORT SCALE

Occupational Therapy Student Comfort ScaleRae Aaronson, Emily Heerema, Jess Kline, Danielle Lance, Keith Silfan; Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program

Faculty Advisor: Victoria Schindler PhD, OTR, BCMH, FAOTA

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Overall Themes:

1.MSOT students’ general impressions of people with

psychiatric disabilities• Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students indicated

that this population was unpredictable, but could

live normal lives.• Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students

indicated that this population is often

misunderstood, but with proper support and

treatment individuals can be successful members of

society.

2.MSOT students’ biggest concerns about working with

people with psychiatric disabilities• Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students had a

fear of the unknown in terms of how this population

would act and behave in various situations.• Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students

indicated that they began to understand the actions

and behaviors of this population after working one-

on-one with individuals in the Bridge Program.

3.Influences of previous experiences on MSOT students’

feelings of working with people with psychiatric

disabilities• Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students had a

fear of incompetence due to little experience and

stereotypes with this population.• Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students

indicated an increased level of confidence and

competence level with this population.

• Sample selection bias: sample was not

randomized and no control group• Detection bias: lack of independent evaluation,

memory bias• Co-intervention bias• Generalizability• Subject ability

•Data analysis was conducted on 20 MSOT students

using related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank test.

•N = 20; 5 Males and 15 Females, age 22-38•Pre-Test Mean= 35.85•Post-Test Mean= 41.95•Difference Pre-Test to Post-Test = 6.10 •P value = 0.000

Total average post-test scores were higher than total

average pre-test scores.

•Statistical Significance Achieved

•10 question, 5- point Likert scale with three

open ended questions. The possible

responses were: (1) Strongly agree, (2) Tend

to agree, (3) Neither agree or disagree, (4)

Tend to disagree, (5) Strongly disagree. • The pre-test was given at the start of the first

year of the MSOT program, Fall 2011.•The post-test was given at the end of the

second year of the MSOT program, Spring

2013.

QUANTITATIVE RESULTSQUALITATIVE RESULTS LIMITATIONS

DISCUSSION

The results show that MSOT students who worked with

individuals with a psychiatric disability reported an

increased level of comfort in working with this population.

This is evidenced by the statistically significant difference in

quantitative post-test mean scores compared to pre-test

mean scores. The qualitative results support the

quantitative results. Themes in the qualitative results

indicate that MSOT students had more confidence after

working with this population and had a more positive

outlook on this population’s ability to function successfully in

society with proper support. This study adds to the body of

knowledge in this area by reporting quantitative and

qualitative results that indicate that students have a higher

level of comfort in working with people with mental health

diagnoses after exposure to an intervention with this

population.

PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST METHOD

CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of this study was to report the comfort

level of MSOT students before and after working with

individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Quantitative

and qualitative results demonstrate that through

working with this population overall impressions

became more positive, fears diminished, and comfort

level increased. Implications from this study indicate

that programs that expose students to working

therapeutically with the mental health population will

allow students to have a more positive impression of

this community and will be more confident and

comfortable in working with these individuals.

REFERENCES

Gutman, S. A., Schindler, V. P., Furphy, K. A., Klein, K., Lisak, J. M., & Durham, D. P.

(2007). The effectiveness of a supported education program for adults with psychiatric

disabilities: The bridge program. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 23(1), 21-38.

Schindler, V. P. (2011). Using service-learning to teach mental health and research skills.

Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 25(1), 54-64.