Date of Award

1-1-2010

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

School of Social Welfare

Content Description

1 online resource (ix, 170 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Brenda D Smith

Committee Members

Lynn A Warner, Michael T Flaherty

Keywords

evidence-based practices, implementation, organizational commitment, substance abuse treatment, Substance abuse, Evidence-based social work, Organizational commitment

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Social Work

Abstract

Organizational commitment (OC) has been linked to different types of work-related behaviors including innovation implementation and professional behavior change but the influence of OC on technology transfer or research to practice processes is as yet unknown. Using a social exchange perspective, the study employed constructs derived from Klein & Sorra (1996) - perceived implementation climate and practitioner innovation-values fit - to understand the association between practitioner level OC and evidence-based practice implementation (EBP) in substance abuse treatment settings. Method: A secondary data analysis was conducted utilizing a 2008 cross-sectional survey of outpatient substance abuse practitioners in eastern New York State (n = 293). Measures: Standardized instruments and instruments developed by the P.I. in the original study were used to measure perceived implementation climate on 5 dimensions: Training Exposure, Training Utilization, Environmental Aids, Knowledge & Skills and Formal Organizational Policies. EBP implementation was measured using items adapted from standardized instruments of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. OC was measured using an abbreviated form of the Affective, Continuance & Normative Commitment Scales (Meyer & Allen, 1991; Meyer, Allen & Smith, 1993). Results: OLS regression models show that perceived Environmental Aids are associated with both Affective OC and EBP use. However, interaction analysis found that perceived Environmental Aids have little to no effect on EBP use among practitioners with high levels of Affective OC. Perceived Knowledge & Skills were shown to have greater influence on EBP use among practitioners with lower levels of Continuance OC. Results for Practitioner Innovation-Values Fit were mixed showing that fit type and not fit per se had the most significant influence on both OC and EBP use. Conclusions: Overlapping determinants of EBP implementation and OC suggest that OC may be operating as a latent variable in the technology transfer process. OC among front-line practitioners should be considered when developing EBP implementation strategies in substance abuse treatment settings. The study also lends empirical support for Affective and Continuance OC as conceptually distinct constructs.

Download

Share

COinS