Adaptation and validation of the Psychologist and Counsellor Self-Efficacy Scale (PCES) among Brazilian psychologists and psychology students

Abstract

This study aimed to: (i) Translate, adapt, and evaluate the linguistic and semantic properties of the Psychologist and Counsellor Self-Efficacy Scale (PCES) for use among psychology students and psychologists in Brazil; (ii) Assess the psychometric attributes of the adapted PCES, including its construct validity and other related psychometric properties. A total of 2,139 participants, comprising psychologists and psychology students (Mage = 25.36 years; SD = 9.46), partook in this study. The PCES exhibited commendable fit indices (CFI = .990; TLI = .989; SMR = .043), and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis revealed a consistent level of invariance between students and practicing psychologists, as well as between male and female participants. Network analysis offered significant insights into the distribution of factors, while the convergent validity of PCES was corroborated by its correlations with the subscales of the General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (GPSS). These findings unequivocally affirm the reliability and suitability of PCES as an assessment instrument for both psychologists and psychology students in the Brazilian context.

Keywords

• self-efficacy
• psychometric properties
• psychological assessment
• validity
• invariance