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The Relationship Between Racial Identity Development and Multicultural Counseling Competency: A Second Look Teraesa S. Vinson and Gregory J. Neimeyer The relationship between racial identity development and multicultural coun- seling competency across a 2-year period of time was examined in this study. Significant increases were found in multicultural counseling competency but Not in their levels of racial identity development across time. Possible explana- tions for and limitations of this research are discussed. La relacion entre el desarrollo de la identidad racial y la competencia para consejeria multicultural a través de un periodo de dos afios se examina en esta investigacién. Se encuentran aumentos significantes en la competencia para consejeria multicultural, pero no en el nivel de desarrollo de identidad racial a través del tiempo. Se examinan las posibles explicaciones y las limitaciones de esta investigacién también. acial identity development, or “one’s sense of belonging to an ethnic group and the part of one’s thinking, perceptions, feelings, and behav- ior that is due to an ethnic group membership” (Phinney & Tarver, 1989, p. 266), and multicultural counseling competency, or “counseling that takes place between or among individuals from different cultural backgrounds” (Jackson, 1995, p. 3), have long been thought to be related logically. One would assume that ability to counsel those who are different from oneself is increased with greater awareness and understanding of one’s own culture. Some researchers have even included racial identity development as a “significant underlying construct” of multicultural counseling competence (Sodowsky, Taffe, & Gutkin, 1991). Recent research has documented a positive relationship between multicultural counseling competency and racial identity development (Neville et al., 1996; Ottavi, Pope-Davis, & Dings, 1994; Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). More ad- vanced levels of racial identity development have generally been linked to higher levels of multicultural counseling competency. Although these find- ings suggested the potential value associated with the examination of one’s Teraesa S. Vinson and Gregory J. Neimeyer, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Correspon- dence concerning this article should be addressed to Gregory J. Neimeyer, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Box 112250, Gainesville, FL. 32611-2250 (e-mail: neimeyer@ufl.edu). 262 JOURNAL OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT « October 2003+ Vol. 31 own culture and its possible impact on therapeutic process and outcome, this work had several limitations. First, most research to date has been limited to studying majority populations (e.g., Neville et al., 1996; Ottavi et al., 1994). The relationship between racial identity development and muiticultural counseling skills among non-White trainees is an equally critical area but remains largely unexamined. Second, no work to date has provided a longitudinal assessment of racial identity development, multicultural counseling skills, or the relationship between these vari- ables. The limitations of a cross-sectional design prevent the examination of changes in racial identity, changes in multicultural competency, or changes in the relationship between these variables across time. The primary pur- pose of the present research is to provide an exploratory, longitudinal assessment of multicultural counseling skills and racial identity develop- ment in order to expand or qualify previous findings concerning these variables across time. The current study provides a 2-year follow-up of participants who were originally sampled in 1997 (see Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000); all of the par- ticipants were incoming students in counseling psychology at 26 universi- ties across the United States. At the time of the second sampling 2 years later, we expected that (a) members of the original sample would have participated in additional multicultural training, (b) that training would be linked to changes in multicultural counseling competence, and (c) these changes would be related to racial identity development over time, These predictions are all consistent with recent research. Sodowsky, Kuo-Jack- son, Frey Richardson, and Tiongson Corey (1998), for example, have docu- mented that self-reported multicultural skills, multicultural awareness, and multicultural knowledge all increased with multicultural training. In ad- dition, Steward, Wright, Jackson, and Jo (1998) have indicated that multicultural counseling training significantly influenced the counseling competence of White counselors. Thus, for the participants of this study, we expected an overall increase in multicultural experience and compe- tency across the 2-year period of time. In addition, Parker, Moore, and Neimeyer (1999) and Neville et al. (1996) found that both racial conscious- ness and comfort increased over the course of multicultural training, there- fore, we expected increases in levels of racial identity development for the participants of this study as well. The positive relationship between multicultural counseling skills and racial identity development has been noted in numerous studies (Neville et al., 1996, Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000), thus causing us, again, to expect that our results would support this rela- tionship in a longitudinal context. Finally, no data to date have examined the long-term stability of measures of racial identity development or raulticultural counseling skills, so this study also provided the opportu- nity to generate this data. JOURNAL oF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003+ Vol. 31 263 method PARTICIPANTS Participants for this study were drawn from the sample of doctoral trainees who participated in the Vinson and Neimeyer (2000) study. That sample, which was originally studied in 1997, consisted of 87 incoming counseling psychology students (65 White and 22 people of color~4 African Americans, 3 Hispanics, 8 Asians, 1 Native American, and 6 other) from 26 American Psychological Association-approved programs in the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs. Attempts to solicit the participation of these 87 trainees a second time yielded responses from 44 of the original 87 participants (51%) from 21 institutions, with 31 White students and 13 non-White students (4 African Americans, 2 Hispanics, 3 Asians, and 4 others). This group constituted the sample used in the current study. By mail or e-mail, each doctoral trainee received the identical measures used in the 1997 data collection (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000): a multicultural coun- seling competency measure (Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale-Form B [MCAS-B]; Ponterotto, Sanchez, & Magids, 1991) and a racial identity devel- opment measure (either the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale [WRIAS]; Helms & Carter, 1991, or the People of Color Racial Identity Attitudes Scale [POCRIAS]; Helms, 1996) appropriate for the participant’s racial background. In addition, students also received a social desirability measure (Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions Scale [MTCPR]; Fazio, Jackson, Dunton, & Williams, 1995) and a demographic questionnaire designed to assess the nature of their multicultural training experiences (e.g., number of courses, percentage of diverse clientele) and their self-reported multicultural counseling and gen- eral counseling skills. INSTRUMENTATION WRIAS. The 50-item WRIAS was developed by Helms and Carter (1991) to measure the attitudes related to the five statuses of Helms’s (1984) theory of White racial identity: Contact (“I hardly ever think about what race I am’), Disintegration (“I don’t understand why Black people blame all White people for their social misfortune”), Reintegration (“I believe that Blacks are inferior to Whites”), Pseudo-Independence (“I am comfortable wherever I am”), and Autonomy (“I involve myself in causes regardless of the race of the people involved”). The measure is scored on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Helms and Carter (1991) found the fol- lowing Cronbach’s alpha-coefficient reliability estimates for the WRIAS subscales: Contact, .53 to .67; Disintegration, .75 to .77; Reintegration, .75 to .82; Pseudo- 264 yOURNALOF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT «October 2003+ Vol. 31 Independence, .62 to .77; and Autonomy, .65 to .74. A validity study by Tokar and Swanson (1991) found that self-actualization tendencies were related to scores on WRIAS subscales in theoretically consistent ways. Recently, Behrens (1997) and Behrens and Rowe (1997) suggested that the WRIAS may not be as complex as the theory of White racial identity development, raising conceptual and psychometric concerns regarding the validity of this instrument. Helms (1997) responded to this claim, offering alternative explanations for these find- ings, such as failure to correct for artifacts and mismatch of measurement mod- els and the theory. POCRIAS. The POCRIAS is an instrument developed by Helms (1996) to fill the need for a racial identity development measure that is applicable for all people of color. The instrument was designed to measure the four statuses of people of color racial identity defined by Helms (1996), using four subscales: Conformity/Pre-Encounter (“In general, I believe that Anglo-Americans [Whites] are superior to other racial groups”), Dissonance (“I don’t know whether being the race I am is an asset or a deficit”), Immersion/Resistance (“I limit myself to activities involving people of my own race”), and Internalization (“I am comfortable being the race I am”). Participants rate their response to the 50- item measure on a scale of | (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The instru- ment is scored by summing the items assigned to each subscale. There cur- rently are no psychometric data available for the POCRIAS. The instrument was chosen for this study for three reasons: (a) the POCRIAS is one of the few instruments developed to assess all ethnic minorities; (b) the racial iden- tity development instrument (the WRIAS) used for Anglo-American partici- pants was also developed by Helms and was designed to maximize the corre- spondence of the two measures and their conceptual underpinnings; and (c) the POCRIAS was used in Vinson and Neimeyer’s (2000) earlier study, and its long-term stability could be assessed by administering it a second time in this longitudinal follow-up. MCAS-B. The MCAS-B is a 45-item instrument devised by Ponterotto et al. (1991) to measure segments of multicultural counseling competency according to components specified in Sue et al. (1982): multicultural knowledge/skills (“I am aware of certain counseling skills, techniques or approaches that are more likely to transcend culture and be affective with any client”) and awareness (“I think that clients who do not discuss intimate aspects of their lives are being resistant and defensive”). Responses on the MCAS-B fall on a 7-point con- tinuum, ranging from 1 (not at all true) to 7 (totally true). The instrument produces scores for the two subscales, Knowledge/Skills and Awareness, with higher scores demonstrating higher multicultural counseling competence. The range for the Knowledge/Skills subscale scores is 28 to 196, and the range for the Awareness subscale scores is 14 to 98. Factor analysis has yielded two factors that correspond to these subscales (Ponterotto et al., 1991). Internal JourNal.oF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003 Vol. 34 265 consistency coefficient alphas for the MCAS-B are .93 for the Full Scale and .93 and .78 for the Knowledge/Skills and Awareness subscales, respectively (Ponterotto et al., 1991). Content validity of the MCAS-B was substantiated by expert agree- ment on items’ clarity and domain appropriateness (Ponterotto et al., 1991). MTCPR. The MTCPR is a 17-item instrument created by Fazio et al. (1995) to measure “motivation to engage in more deliberative processing when negative racial attitudes are automatically activated” (Dunton & Fazio, 1997, p. 318). In essence, the MTCPR is a measure of cultural social desirability. Responses on the MTCPR fall on a 7-point continuum, ranging from -3 (strongly disagree) to +3 (strongly agree). Some items are reverse-scored so that higher scores reflect greater motivation to control prejudice. Three separate large surveys have yielded Cronbach’s alpha correlations of .77, .76, and .74 for the instrument (Dunton & Fazio, 1997). Factor analysis has revealed two main factors, Concern With Act- ing Prejudiced and Restraint to Avoid Dispute, which are combined to form an overall MTCPR score. Content validity was established by Fazio et al. (1995) and Dunton and Fazio, who found that scores on the MTCPR predicted scores on the Modern Racism Scale and on direct self-reports by participants. Demographic questionnaire. The demographic questionnaire, similar to the one used in the 1997 data collection (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000), consisted of indicators of the participants’ race/ethnicity, gender, age, most recent completed degree (either bachelor’s or master’s), number of multicultural courses and workshops completed, self-reported overall counseling competence, multicultural counseling competence, and overall percentage of White and non-White clients seen for counseling. results DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS Descriptive analyses were first performed to characterize the nature of the current sample (N= 44) and to compare it with the earlier sample (V= 87) from which it was drawn (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). The proportion of women to men in the larger earlier sample (64.4% women, 39% men) was compared with the proportion of respondents included in the current study (72.7% women, 27.3% men, 72= .586, p = .44, ns). Likewise, the proportion of White individuals to non-White individuals in the earlier sample (74.7% White, 25.3% non-White) was compared with the propor- tions of respondents in the current study (70.5% White, 29.5% non-White, (2 = .251, p = .62, ns). In both cases, these proportions were not signifi- cantly different, suggesting the representativeness of the sample used in the current study. The participants had an average age of 29.45 years, and all participants had spent 2 years in their doctoral programs since the time of the first sampling (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). 266 JOURNAL oF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT «October 2003 Vol. 31 STABILITY OF RACIAL IDENTITY AND MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCY MEASURES The data from both studies allowed for the calculation of test-retest correla- tions for both the racial identity and the multicultural counseling competency measures, The multicultural counseling competency measure (MCAS-B) re- mained relatively stable across the 2-year period of time (Awareness: r=.57, p<.001; Knowledge: r= .60, <.001). The racial identity subscales reflected greater variability in this regard. On the WRIAS, Contact (r= .53, < .001), Reintegration (r= .38, < .04), and Autonomy (r= .43, p < .02) showed significant stability, whereas Disintegration (r= .22) and Pseudo-Independence (r= .16) did not reach significance. On the POCRIAS, Conformity (r= .58, p<.04) and Dissonance (r=.76, p<.001) showed significant stability, whereas Immersion/Emersion (r= .02) and Internalization (r= .23) did not. LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCY Paired étests were used to compare the mean racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency scores between the students in the Vinson and Neimeyer (2000) study and those in the current study. Only the scores for trainees who participated in both studies were used in this analysis. The re- sults can be found in Table 1 for White and non-White students. Both sets of students seemed to follow a similar trend, showing significant increases in multicultural awareness, with the White trainees also showing increased levels of knowledge and skills. Neither group, however, showed significant changes in any of the subscale scores on the racial identity development instruments over time (see Table !) COMPARISON OF WHITE AND NON-WHITE TRAINEES The next set of analyses addressed comparisons between White and non-White trainees (see Table 2). We conducted independent ¢ tests, using the MCAS Awareness subscale, MCAS Knowledge/Skills subscale, the number of multicultural courses and workshops completed, self-reported overall counsel- ing and multicultural counseling competency, percentage of White and non- White clients, and the MTCPR scale (social desirability). Significant differences were found only between White and non-White students on the Knowledge/ Skills subscale of the MCAS-B (¢= 3.91, 6 < .001), number of multicultural workshops completed (t= 3.25, p< .01), and self-reported multicultural coun- seling competency (f= 4.86, p < .001). These differences replicate those re- ported in the original study (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). Significant differences JOURNAL OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003 Vol. 31 267 TABLE 1 t-Test Comparison of Original and Follow-Up Groups of White Trainees (n = 31) and Non-White Trainees (n = 13) Scale/Subscale Original Study M Follow-Up M pValue White Trainees WRIAS Contact 3.18 3.09 43 Disintegration 1.81 4.70 15 Reinteration 1.64 1.57 33 Pseudo-Independence 3.83 3.89 33 Autonomy 3.96 4.04 52 MCAS-B Awareness 82.87 86.58 02" Knowledge/Skills 116.35 131.65 00"* Non-White Trainees POCRIAS Conformity 1.65 1.65 96 Dissonance 2.54 2.32 07 Immersion/Emersion 2.66 2.42 16 Internalization 4.42 4.52 31 MCAS-B Awareness 85.46 88.62 .03* Knowledge/Skills 140.15 151.85, 08 Note. WRIAS = White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale; MCAS-B = Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale-Form B; POCRIAS = People of Color Racial Identity Attitudes Scale. *p<.05."*p<.0t. were also found in the percentage of culturally diverse clients seen by the two groups of trainees (¢= 3.50, p< .001). In all cases, higher means were associ- ated with the non-White students (see Table 2). Although the ¢ tests provided data regarding the differences between the groups, they could not test for a possible interaction between race and group across time. For this reason, we conducted a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) along measures of multicultural awareness and multicultural knowledge and skills taken from the MCAS-B (see Table 3). Results indicated that White and non-White students were not significantly different regarding multicultural awareness, although, collectively, they increased levels of multicultural awareness over time (F= 7.84, p<.01). Concerning multicultural knowledge and skills, non-White participants reported significantly higher levels of multicultural knowledge and skills than did White participants, F= 11.50, p < .0001, and both groups showed significant increases over time, F= 12.75, p < .0001. The absence of a significant interaction between race and time, however, suggests that there were no significant differences over time in the ways in which White and non-White participants changed regarding their multicultural knowledge and skills. 268 -JOURNALOF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT «October 2003 » Vol. 31 TABLE 2 Mean Scores for White and Non-White Trainees White (n = 31) Non-White (n = 13) Variable ™ SD mu sD p MCAS-8 ‘Awareness 86.58 8.40 88.62 4.34 32 Knowledge/Skiils 131.65 21.87 151.85 12.09 .00** Other Multicultural courses 1.42 0.96 4.62 0.87 st Multicultural workshops 1.19 1.58 3.25 1.96 “01 SRCC 3.61 0.62 3.92 0.84 15 SRMCC. 2.87 0.72 3.85 0.56 -00"* Percentage of White clients 79.26 15.38 57.31 20.37 00" Percentage of non- White clients 20.70 15.36 42.69 20.37 MTCPR 12.00 9.95 8.62 9.64 Note. MCAS-B = Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale-Form B; SRCC = Self-reported counseling competency; SRMCC = Self-reported multicultural counseling competency; MTCPR = Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions Scale. *p<.05."*p<.01. RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AND MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCY Finally, to explore the consistency of the relationship between levels of racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency, we constructed a correlation matrix of Pearson r correlations for White and non-White stu- TABLES Repeated Measures ANOVA Results for Awareness and Knowledge (N= 44) Variable F Sig. of F Awareness Main effects Race 1.01 82 Time 7.84 01 Race by group 0.05 82 Knowledge Main effects Race 11.50 .00** Time 12.75 00"* Race by group 0.23 64 Note. ANOVA = analysis of variance; Awareness = Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale- Form B; Knowledge = Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale-Form B, Knowledge/Skills Scale. *p<.08. *p<.01. souANAL OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003 Vol. 31 269 dents. White and non-White students’ correlation matrices for this study were compared with correlation matrices from the original study (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). The significant correlations found in the Vinson and Neimeyer study are shown in italics in Tables 4 and 5. With White students, higher levels of multicultural counseling competency were generally correlated with racial identity development in a theoretically consistent fashion. Levels of multicultural awareness were negatively corre- lated with lower levels of racial identity statuses (Contact, r=-.21; Disintegra- tion, r = -.50; Reintegration, r = -.56) and were positively correlated with selected higher identity statuses (Autonomy, r= .41). Likewise, multicultural knowledge and skills were negatively correlated with lower identity statuses (Contact, r= -.25; Disintegration, r=-.54; Reintegration, r= -.42) and were positively correlated with higher racial identity statuses (Pseudo-Independence = 29; Autonomy, r=.47). For non-White students, the pattern was different. Multicultural aware- ness, although positively correlated with the highest level of racial iden- tity development (Internalization, r= .56), did not approach significance or follow any consistent trend in relation to other racial identity develop- ment statuses (Contact, r= .25; Dissonance, r= .00; Immersion/Emersion, r= .20). Similarly, multicultural knowledge and skills was not correlated with racial identity development in any theoretically consistent pattern (Contact, r = -.07; Dissonance, r = -.02; Immersion/Emersion, r= .31; Internalization, r= -.17), _discussion Pere te The focus of this study was to explore aspects of racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency across time. Several findings were noteworthy. First, the multicultural counseling measure (MCAS-B) showed moderately high levels of reliability across the 2-year period of time, provid- ing the first evidence for the instrument’s long-term stability. The racial iden- tity development measures, however, produced greater variability in this re- gard. Results indicated moderate levels of reliability for the least advanced statuses (the Contact stage for White trainees and the Conformity stage for non-White trainees), but relative inconsistency among the remaining subscales, which was contrary to the findings of Helms and Carter (1991). Several factors may account for these findings. First, the least advanced stage for each measure included historical information (e.g., types of cultural discussions one had as a child, one’s exposure to other races) that might not be subject to change over time and, for that reason, might remain relatively stable across time. Second, the instability associated with more advanced stages of racial identity develop- ment may be due to the cyclical nature of development through these phases. 270 JOURNALOF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003 Vol. 31 “L0°> 4. °G0' >, ‘Apms jeuiBuo ey wos suoNe|e0o jUeoy}uB)s eyeo;put so1]e}] ‘sUEI[9 BuyjesuNod eYyUM-UOU Jo eBejUE0Jed = edpo ‘ef20g WIS!OBY fONUOD O} LONEANOW = HOLW ‘Aouajedwioo Buy =J@SUNOD jesNyNoNINW peyOodel-sag = DOWHS ‘Aoue}edwo9 Buyjesunod peyiodel-!eS = QOUS ‘sdoysyOM JEsNyNONINW = YOM YOMeSINOD feinyjnoyinw = esunooy ‘ajeosqns si4S/e6pe/MoUy g-SVOW = S/UD ‘efeosans ssouesemy G-SVOW = elem ‘q LU0J-a/20g ssoueZEMy Bul}es -unog [eIMINNINYY = G-SVOW ‘eleosqns AWOUOINY SYIM = olny ‘e[eosqns eouepuedepul-opnesd SVIHM = Nesd ‘efeosgns uoHeiBeIuieY SVIHM = 84 ‘efRosans uoNeBeqisid SVIHM = SIG ‘efeosqns joBJUOD SYIUM = YOO ‘afe9g sepmimy Ainuep| [BIOeY SUM = SVILIM ‘eION im ee~ 82" $0"- as be alt st 02" sey" 40" ee"~ 60- sedpg iat 0Z- 60- eb ee 1o~ gb oe eb zo"- ce" oe YHOLW ‘an ve OF ce 69 6a ee wh Ba BP 90°- SOWHS aa g0- oL wO- 2-80-00" +0" £0" 9O0uS — Zi ee" 20° ge £0 80" 00- 0° LOM, — or ze oz Bb be EGR asinoow 48410 an ae ol 6a" ah a go~ sy oo abt’ 6b 9G 05 1e- elem a-SvVOW ee lS" CE aS or ony oe ob ce ee" nesq cae wh” 10" ey _ oe sid _ uog SVIMM 4odpd YOLW SOWHS SONS 4OMP esINOoW S/uyX aleMY OInY nesd oy sid ued ayes: 19uI0 a@svow SVIUM (Lg =u) seaures) ayy AA 10} SUONBIau0g UOSuBad vaigvi 271 “Lo >d,, ‘s0" >, ‘Apnys jeui6y0 ey; wosy suoR aye) “Squaljo Buljesunoo ei1yM-UoU jo eBejUedled = sedpg ‘efeog WIS}OeY [0.]UOD 0} UONANOWY = YO.LW ‘AoUe} -eduwioo Guljasunos jeinynoyjnw peyodel-4ag = QOWHS ‘Aoueedwioo Buyjesunoo peyodel-1jag = JOYS ‘sdoyssom jeanynoyjnw = yom, ‘YOM asinod jesNYNoWINW = esinooW ‘afeOSqns siI}4S/eBPe|MoUy G-SVOW = G/Uy ‘elBoSGns sseuBleMY A-SVOI = BeMy ‘gq WO4-e/29g sseuesemy Buljesunog jeinyinoniny = g-SVOW ‘eleosqns UoHeZIeWo1U| SYIHDOd = Jul ‘efeosans uO|seWS/UCISIEW) SYIHDOd = WAAL ‘ejeosqns BoURLOSsIG SYIHOOd = SIC ‘8/e9Sqns AYUOJUOD SYIHOOd = UOD ‘Beg sepnimy AmuEN} [eIDeY 10109 Jo a|doed = SVIHDOd "ION 7H ve 6S be Ge ab 6h so” £0" 6e- 40> 8c sedpo Sa to~ 9a oe or s8S— Ob v0" 6e— oe se YOLW ri Lg tb 1e so v0" 0g Zi so LO~ OOWHS Sa ee— 41a ve~ ov Ee" 92"- ae ot 98S Pee 8S a or se 20° 20 Bb JOM _ a os" ez" Ww sv ov asinoow 180 aa 20 abo ie zZ0'— L0— suy oo 9S oz 00° so" oemy a-SVOW - “eo 6r~ eb qu] et 20" 0a waAu| al se sid _ uog SVIdOOd 4edpQ HOLIN OOWHS SOHS OMI eSinooOW S/Uy eaeMy yw) wa/ul sid uo 389s 48ui0 e@-svow svido0d (€L = 1) Se@uredL a1YM-UON 10} SUOHE|e1I09 UOsIeeq sa1avi 272 Helms (1996) has posited a more circular framework, arguing that each status represents a period of temporary consolidation as the individual confronts new racial experiences. In short, racial identity development may not be linear and for that reason would not be expected to show consistency across time (cf. Behrens, 1997; Behrens & Rowe, 1997). Third, it may be that the sample sizes, particularly the non-White sample (n= 13), were too small to obtain adequate stability estimates. Finally, it is possible that these findings do, in fact, reflect psychometric instability that might qualify the use of the instruments or warrant additional attention in future research in the field A second set of findings in this study concerned changes in trainees’ multicultural counseling competency over time. In general, results were consistent with predictions. Both White and non-White students reported increased multicultural knowledge and skills and awareness across the 2- year period, and these changes were similar for both groups. This result is similar to other research that demonstrated increases in multicultural coun- seling competency as a product of educational interventions, such as multicultural course work and workshops (Byington, Fischer, Walker, & Freed- man, 1997; Klausner, 1998; Moss, 1998; Salvador, 1998; Steward et al., 1998), and it extends this research to naturally occurring contexts (e.g., doctoral training) across a 2-year period. These changes in multicultural counseling knowledge and skills and awareness, however, were not accom- panied by similar changes in racial identity development. Contrary to ex- pectations, neither White nor non-White trainees showed significant changes in any of the stages of racial identity development. The third set of analyses involved the comparison of the two groups of trainees (White and non-White) in the current study. In the earlier data collection (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000), non-White trainees exhibited signifi- cantly higher levels of multicultural knowledge and skills. They also re- ported higher self-reported levels of multicultural counseling competency and a higher number of multicultural workshops (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000). Results from the current study supported continuing differences in this re- gard 2 years later. Non-White students had significantly higher levels of multicultural knowledge and skills and reported having completed signifi- cantly more multicultural workshops and having achieved higher levels of multicultural counseling competency. One reason for these differences could be the finding that non-White students reported having seen significantly higher numbers of culturally diverse clients, a new factor included in the current study. This result could help to explain the higher levels of multicultural knowledge and skills for non-White students, a result consis- tent with the work of Carlson, Brack, Laygo, Cohen, and Kirkscey (1998) and Moss (1998), which showed that higher levels of multicultural client contact may lead to higher levels of multicultural counseling competence. JOURNAL OF MULTIGULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT * October 2003 Vol. 31 273 Finally, the fourth area of study focused on the relationship between racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency over time. Results were intriguing. Despite some similarities over time, the relationship be- tween the two variables was different for the two groups. Similar to results of the 1997 study, White students’ scores remained in a theoretically consis- tent pattern; higher levels of multicultural awareness and knowledge and skills were positively correlated with more advanced levels of racial iden- tity development and were inversely correlated with lower levels of racial identity development. Non-White students, however, displayed a different pattern. Although some variables remained related, non-White students’ scores generally failed to reflect any consistent relationship between levels of ra- cial identity development and multicultural counseling knowledge and skills. The differences between the two groups are difficult to explain, although the small sample size in the non-White group (m= 13) and the absence of strong psychometric data in support of the POCRIAS may be important factors in this regard. In addition, although the two racial identity measures used (the WRIAS and the POCRIAS) were developed with similar theoreti- cal frameworks, the fact that the two measures are not completely equiva- lent may also contribute to the differing findings between the two samples. Another possibility is that racial identity development and multicultural counseling knowledge and skills are not related for non-White trainees. Pre- vious work has suggested that multicultural counseling competency follows a linear pattern over the course of multicultural training (D’ Andrea, Daniels, & Heck 1991; Ottavi et al., 1994; Pope-Davis, Reynolds, Dings, & Nielson, 1995), whereas racial identity development may follow a more fluid, spiral pattern (Helms, 1996). With White students, these differences seem to be inconsequential, given that a theoretically consistent pattern was established. However, the non-White students may have approached the level at which these two variables traveled in different directions and were no longer cor- related. But this and other explanations for the differences between White and non-White trainees should be tested in future work that is designed to increase the understanding of the relationship between these variables. Both theoretical and practical implications follow from the current study’s results. For example, for White students, the results suggest that racial iden- tity development may continue to covary with multicultural counseling competency, raising the possibility that changes in either one may influ- ence the other. One suggestion for training programs might be to incorpo- rate both of these constructs into ongoing professional training and to sys- tematically test whether increases in one are related to increases in the other. In addition, the current study supports the likelihood that non-White trainees enter their doctoral training program with higher levels of multicultural counseling experience and are not “trained out” over time, but 274 Journal oF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT + October 2003+ Vol. 31 instead that these differences continue to endure with these trainees across at least the first 2 years of doctoral training. Despite the generally significant results of this research, there were sev- eral limitations regarding the interpretability of its findings. First and fore- most, the sample for the study was small, particularly for the number of non-White participants, underscoring the importance for future replica- tion efforts to use larger sample sizes. Another limitation in the current study involves the use of strictly self- report instruments. The use of other data sources, such as supervisor assess- ments or behavioral observations, for example, could be an important con- tribution to the growing understanding of the relationship among multicultural counseling competency and racial identity development variables. A third limitation concerns the data analyses used in this study. We con- structed a correlation matrix for both groups that included measures of racial identity development, multicultural counseling competency, and other variables. Because of the number of subscales in the measures, as well as the additional variables examined in the current study, it is possible that some significant correlations could have occurred by chance. However, many of the correlations that were found to be significant in the earlier study (Vinson & Neimeyer, 2000) were again found to be significant in the current study, minimizing concerns regarding chance findings. Nonethe- less, this limitation could be addressed in future research by (a) increasing the sample size, (b) decreasing the number of variables examined, or (c) providing a more conservative correction for alpha inflation. Finally, our use of correlational design prevents the determination of causal relationships. Changes in racial identity development could lead to greater muiticultural counseling competency, changes in multicultural counseling competency could lead to more complex racial identity development, or a third variable could significantly affect both constructs. This limitation could be addressed either by conducting studies that have the ability to systemati- cally vary levels of racial identity development or multicultural counseling competency or by using analytic methods, such as structural equation mod- eling, that specifically test or assess causal propositions. 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