The development of a self‐report scale to assess therapists' acceptance of telepsychotherapy

Abstract

Objective We aimed to develop a self‐report measure of therapist acceptance of telepsychotherapy based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. Methods Using a cross‐sectional survey design, 1265 therapists completed the UTAUT‐T, as well as additional questions. Results Confirmatory analysis indicated that the original UTAUT model did not fit the therapist context well. Exploratory factor analysis specified a better‐fitting five‐factor model, which showed good internal validity fit (χ2 = 17,753.36, RMSEA = 0.063, TLI = 0.886, SRMSR = 0.04). The five UTAUT‐T subscales showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.86) and together predicted the intention to use online therapy in the future (R2 = 0.42, F(5, 1259) = 181.9, p < 0.001). Conclusion The 21‐item UTAUT‐T offers a promising self‐report measure of therapist acceptance of telepsychotherapy and intention towards using it in the future. Future studies on the convergent and predictive validity of the UTAUT‐T are warranted.

Clinicians’ Attitudes Toward Telepsychology in Addiction and Mental Health Services, and Prediction of Postpandemic Telepsychology Uptake: Cross-sectional Study

“…Consistent with previous work, this study demonstrated the utility of the UTAUT for predicting the intention to use telephone and video technologies [ 12 , 16 , 22 , 24 ]. Specifically, performance expectancy was predictive of the intention to use both video and telephone services, while social influence and facilitating conditions were additionally predictive of the intention to use telephone services.…”

“…The UTAUT-Therapist Version [ 22 ] assessed technology acceptance using 13 items based on the original UTAUT, on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with subscales for performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions.…”

“…The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) [ 18 ] predicts uptake of new technology into practice from the following 4 factors: (1) performance expectancy, the degree to which a technology is expected to improve performance; (2) effort expectancy, the user’s self-efficacy with the technology; (3) social influence, the perceived norms of technology use; and (4) facilitating conditions, including availability of training and technology fit [ 18 - 22 ]. The UTAUT is based on the theory of planned behavior, wherein attitudes predict intentions, which predict behavior [ 23 ].…”

The complexity of teletherapy: Not better or worse, but different.

“…Indeed, recent empirical studies appear to confirm the multitude of teletherapy experiences; not better or worse per se, but different. Patient and therapist responses in international longitudinal surveys and in-depth interviews that we conducted (Aafjes-van Doorn, Aafjes-van Doorn, Békés, Luo, Prout, et al, 2021;Békés et al, 2021Békés et al, , 2022 suggest that the teletherapy process reflects a complex amalgamation of potentially helpful and unhelpful therapeutic experiences. Many therapists and patients reported difficulties with emotional connection, distractions, and privacy when they transitioned to teletherapy.…”

“…This suggests that besides the “objective” measurements of efficacy and effectiveness of teletherapy outcomes, it might also be important to examine therapists’ and patients’ attitudes towards teletherapy technology. Because no such measure existed for the use of teletherapy, we developed “attitudes towards teletherapy” scales based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology -model to assess patients’ and therapists’ attitudes, concerns, and future intention of using teletherapy (UTAUT-T; Békés et al, 2021; UTAUT-P; Békés et al, 2022).…”