Level of psychosocial development, perceived level of psychological difficulty, counseling readiness, and expectations about counseling: Examination of group differences.

Abstract

Multivariate analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the relation between students' expectations about counseling and three measures of students' psychosocial development. A sample of 172 undergraduate college students completed the Expectations About Counseling Questionnaire-Brief form (EAC-B) and the Developing Purpose scale of the Student Developmental Task Inventory (2nd edition; SDTI-2), the Counseling Readiness Scale (CRS) of the Adjective Check List, and the Career Counseling Diagnostic Inventory (CCDI). Significant relations between students* expectations about counseling and their scores on the SDTI-2 were found after the variance in expectations attributable to gender, age, and year in school had been extracted. No significant relations were found between scores on the EAC-B and scores on the CRS or CCDI, Research has shown that students and clients have expectations about what counseling will be like and the roles they and their counselors will assume (Hardin & Subich, 1985;Tinsley, Workman, & Kass, 1980). These expectations can affect not only the process and outcome of counseling but also whether a person chooses to enter counseling (Tinsley, Brown, de St. Aubin, & Lucek, 1984;Yanico & Hardin, 1985). Much of the research on expectations about counseling to date, however, has focused on demographic characteristics of the respondents or the counseling situation. For example, Pecnik and Epperson (1985), Subich and Course! (1985), Subich and Hardin (1985), Tinsley and Harris (1976), Tinsley et al. (1980), and Yanico and Hardin (1985 have reported gender differences in respondents' expectations about counseling. Tinsley and Harris (1976) found differences in expectations about counseling as a function of college class level. Other investigators have reported that students had different expectations about individual and group counseling (Subich & Coursol, 1985) but none in regard to a requirement that students pay a fee or the amount of the fee for counseling services (Subich & Hardin, 1985).Research has begun to look beyond surface traits to examine expectations about counseling as a function of the person's core personal, attitudinal, and cognitive attributes, Yuen and Tinsley (1981) found evidence that clients' social and cultural background affects their expectations for counseling. They discovered that international students expect a counselor to be more concrete, directive, empathic, nurturant, and expert than do American students. American students, on the other hand, reported a greater readiness than international students to take action and to admit responsibility for counseling progress. Pecnik and Epperson (1985) found that students

Young adults' ideas of cure prior to psychoanalytic psychotherapy

“…Clients with high levels of psychological symptoms showed preferences for all psychological models of treatment in Pistrang and Barker's (1992) study, in contrast to those with lower levels of symptoms. Associations have been found between expectations and personality characteristics such as conservatismliberalism, external-internal directedness, and convergent-divergent thinking (Caine, Wijesinghe, & Wood, 1973;Caine & Wijesinghe, 1976), decision-making style (Leong, Leong, & Hoffman, 1987), and social adjustment (Tinsley, Hinson, Holt, & Tinsley, 1990).…”

Development and evaluation of new factor scales for the expectations about counseling inventory in a college sample

“…Whereas earlier research on the EAC/EAC-B focused almost exclusively on the relationships between expectations about counseling and easily measured demographic variables, such as gender or client/nonclient status (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1992), more recent investigations have focused on the relationships between participants' expectations and more complex psychological variables (e.g., AEgisdóttir & Gerstein, 2004;D. J. Tinsley et al, 1990).…”

Group difference in psychosocial development of undergraduate students.

“…Organizations and individuals can influence the development of autonomy. They found that psychosocial development can be: used to discover what type of programs are needed for individuals, subgroups, and groups (Hess & Winston, 1995;Rice & Brown, 1990;Tinsley et al 1990). …”

“…Tinsley et al (1990) added that expectations about counseling could be measured by psychosocial development.…”

“…The study suggested that cognitive and psychosocial developmental processes were not directly linked, that they occurred at varying rates, and that they were influenced by a wide array of life experiences. Tinsley, Hinson, Holt, and Tinsley (1990) examined the relationship between · students' expectations about counseling and three measures of students' psychosocial development. Participants included 172 students at a large midwestern university.…”