Development of a Measure of Interprofessional Collaboration Among School Mental Health Professionals

Collaboration is frequently put forth as one way to improve academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for K-12 students. Yet to date, there is little evidence-based research supporting this claim (Mellin, 2009; Trach, 2012). In order to collect such research, collaboration must be a measurable variable. This study was a first step in understanding interprofessional collaboration specifically among school mental health professionals such as school psychologists, school social workers, school counselors, and other school-based mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of school mental health professionals\u27 current perceptions of interprofessional collaboration with and among their school mental health colleagues. The measure was entitled the School Mental Health Interprofessional Collaboration (SMHIC). Through five distinct phases of research - focus groups, cognitive interviews, expert evaluations, a pilot administration, and a field administration - the SMHIC was developed. Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch model analysis were used to assess the factor structure and unidimensionality of the SMHIC. Results of these analyses indicated that the SMHIC measures one factor, perceptions of interprofessional collaboration, with items being relatively easy to agree with. Analysis of group differences showed a significant difference in perceptions of interprofessional collaboration among school mental health professionals by school mental health group (e.g., school psychologists perceived interprofessional collaboration in their school differently than school counselors). Cronbach\u27s alpha for the original and revised versions of the measure were .92 and .90, respectively. Study limitations, implications for the field of school mental health, and future directions for the SMHIC were discussed