The relationship between counselor suicide training/assessment self-efficacy, teaching self-efficacy and perceived preparation among counselor education doctoral students and new faculty

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teaching self-efficacy, suicide training/assessment self-efficacy, and perceived preparation as measured by master’s level education and clinical experiences by counselor education doctoral students and early career faculty in counselor education. A cross-sectional design was utilized to answer research questions in the present study. Data was obtained by sending the survey link to potential participants through listservs, emailing doctoral chairs in counselor education directly to request survey dissemination, and by posting to online forums through the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association. A total of 54 participant responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics to assess frequency and distribution and to determine the nature of the relationship between the TSES, master’s level education, clinical experiences and the CSAES through correlational analysis. Further, the predictive nature of master’s level education and clinical experiences for the CSAES and TSES were analyzed using stepwise regression. A positive relationship resulted between the TSES and clinical experience as predictor variables with the criterion variable set as the CSAES utilizing a stepwise regression model showing a statistically significant result with an R² =.4014 with a p=.002. When assessing for clinical experience predictor variable and the CSAES as the criterion variable , the stepwise regression model resulted in R² =.330 and p=.001. Further research is needed to determine how this relationship may better inform training opportunities provided to counselor education doctoral students in preparation for careers as faculty members in counselor education programs.