The Development and Initial Validation of the Cultural Humility and Enactment Scale in Counseling

Cultural humility (CH) involves a stance of curiosity, a never-ending learning attitude, and a life-long process of self-reflection when encountering cultural diversity. Study of CH in the context of counseling is at a preliminary stage, primarily due to the dearth of conceptually and psychometrically sound measures. The study is intended to develop a client-report measure of counselors’ cultural humility, entitled the Cultural Humility and Enactment Scale (CHES). The researcher examined the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity of the CHES in this study. This study was correlational in nature and adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The sample for the development of CHES consisted of 434 adults over the age of 18 who currently are or have received mental health services from a licensed professional in a clinical setting in the United States. All data were collected through a web-based survey, using Amazon Mechanical Turk and various social media platforms. The researcher developed an initial measure with sound content validity through (a) clear operationalization of the construct; (b) generating an initial item pool; (c) determining the format; (d) conducting an expert review; and (e) inclusion of validity checks. Exploratory factor analyses were used to examine the initial factor structure of the CHES. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the convergent and discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity of the CHES. The results supported a 3-factor structure of the CHES, with excellent internal consistency reliability for the both the full scale and the factors. Evidence was found for the convergent and discriminant validity of the CHES in relation to the Cultural Humility Scale (CHS) and the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory-Revised-7-item (CCCI-R7). The CHES was also found to significantly predict the therapeutic working alliance, above and beyond the variances explained by the CHS and gender. Limitations and the methodological highlights and contribution of the study were discussed. Moreover, implications for future research and the incorporation of the CHES in counseling and counselor education were discussed