International students in supervision: Multicultural discussion as a moderator between supervision related constructs: Acculturation, counselor self-efficacy, supervisory working alliance, and role ambiguity

Recent studies have focused on international students’ needs and experiences in counseling training and supervision, however, there is a lack of research regarding effective approaches for supervising international students. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether international counseling supervisees' perceptions regarding the degree to which multicultural discussion occurred in their university supervision moderates the relationship among supervision related variables, including acculturation, counselor self-efficacy, supervisory working alliance, and role ambiguity in supervision. The research questions were: (a) Does the frequency of cultural discussions in university supervision, as perceived by international counseling supervisees, moderate the relationship between acculturation to the US and counseling self-efficacy among international counseling students in the US, (b) Does the frequency of cultural discussions in university supervision, as perceived by international counseling supervisees, moderate the relationship between supervisory working alliance and counseling self-efficacy among international counseling students in the US, and (c) Does the frequency of cultural discussions in university supervision, as perceived by international counseling supervisees, moderate the relationship between supervisory working alliance and counseling self-efficacy among international counseling students in the US. Three moderation analyses were utilized, using regression analysis, to answer each research question. The results from the analysis indicated no significant moderating affect of frequency of multicultural discussions among supervision related variables of interest. Interpretation of the results included possibility of a direct relationship among the variables, or other potential moderators as well as probability of false negative results (Type II Error)