Scientist-practitioner interests, research self-efficacy, perceptions of the research training environment and their relationship to dissertation progress

This study was designed to explore scientist interests, practitioner interests, research self-efficacy, perceptions of the research training environment and their relation to dissertation progress in doctoral students who entered APA-approved Counseling Psychology Programs between the years 1987 and 1991. Surveys including the following instruments, Scientist-Practitioner Inventory, Self-Efficacy Research Measure, Research Training Environment Scale, and the Dissertation and Demographic Questionnaire, were mailed to 23 programs. A total of 255 subjects returned usable surveys.;The major findings at the.05 level of significance of this study were that: (a) research self-efficacy was positively related to dissertation progress, (b) perceptions of the research training environment were not significantly related to dissertation progress, (c) scientist interest and research self-efficacy were positively interrelated, (d) perceptions of the research training environment varied across programs, and (e) using discriminant function analysis, research self-efficacy was the most influential predictor of dissertation progress (other variables did not make a significant contribution). Implications of these findings for training of counseling psychologists are discussed.