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Genetic Counseling Supervisors’ Self-Efficacy for Select Clinical Supervision Competencies

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Journal of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

Supervision is a primary instructional vehicle for genetic counseling student clinical training. Approximately two-thirds of genetic counselors report teaching and education roles, which include supervisory roles. Recently, Eubanks Higgins and colleagues published the first comprehensive list of empirically-derived genetic counseling supervisor competencies. Studies have yet to evaluate whether supervisors possess these competencies and whether their competencies differ as a function of experience. This study investigated three research questions: (1) What are genetic counselor supervisors’ perceptions of their capabilities (self-efficacy) for a select group of supervisor competencies?, (2) Are there differences in self-efficacy as a function of their supervision experience or their genetic counseling experience, and 3) What training methods do they use and prefer to develop supervision skills? One-hundred thirty-one genetic counselor supervisors completed an anonymous online survey assessing demographics, self-efficacy (self-perceived capability) for 12 goal setting and 16 feedback competencies (Scale: 0–100), competencies that are personally challenging, and supervision training experiences and preferences (open-ended). A MANOVA revealed significant positive effects of supervision experience but not genetic counseling experience on participants’ self-efficacy. Although mean self-efficacy ratings were high (>83.7), participant comments revealed several challenging competencies (e.g., incorporating student’s report of feedback from previous supervisors into goal setting, and providing feedback about student behavior rather than personal traits). Commonly preferred supervision training methods included consultation with colleagues, peer discussion, and workshops/seminars.

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Notes

  1. Post hoc analysis to allow for more direct comparison with Atzinger et al. (2014) found no significant relationship between years of supervision experience and the self-efficacy factors [λ = .945, F(4,122) = 1.78, p = .14].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Genetics Program, Greenville Health Systems, 900 W. Faris Road, Greenville, SC, 29605, USA

    Sabra Ledare Finley

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Pat McCarthy Veach

  3. Department of Psychology, Austin College, Sherman, TX, USA

    Ian M. MacFarlane

  4. Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Bonnie S. LeRoy

  5. Genetic Counseling Program, School of Health and Human Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Nancy Callanan

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  1. Sabra Ledare Finley
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  2. Pat McCarthy Veach
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  3. Ian M. MacFarlane
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  4. Bonnie S. LeRoy
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  5. Nancy Callanan
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Correspondence to Sabra Ledare Finley.

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Conflict of Interest Sabra Ledare Finley, Pat McCarthy Veach, Ian M. MacFarlane, Bonnie S. LeRoy, and Nancy Callanan declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human Studies and Informed Consent All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Animal Studies This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Finley, S.L., Veach, P.M., MacFarlane, I.M. et al. Genetic Counseling Supervisors’ Self-Efficacy for Select Clinical Supervision Competencies. J Genet Counsel 25, 344–358 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-015-9865-1

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