Vocational Training to Increase Self-Efficacy for Transition-Age Students With Behavioral Needs

The purpose of this project is to answer the following question: does participation in a learning-based vocational program increase vocational self-efficacy for transition-age students? Wilson et al. (2022) noted there should be a focus on job skills early in the transition period of adolescents with mental and behavioral needs. This project aims to increase self-efficacy through a vocational program that provides students education and simulated training with vocational skills. The design of this study is quasi-experimental. Gilson et al. (2017) described how modeling tasks, simulating tasks, and providing feedback are effective for teaching students vocational skills in a school setting. Soft skills training is also pertinent for adolescents and was included in the design of this project (Sung et al., 2019). Students from a specialized school for mental health and behavioral needs were recruited for this project. They were recruited based upon inclusion criteria of ages 14–21 years old, English speaking, and appropriate behaviors determined by staff members. Methods to collect quantitative data will include the General Self-Efficacy Scale and self-created demographic questions. Data will be collected as a pretest and posttest. Results will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. Conclusions to this project are not finalized as the project has not yet been implemented. Projected conclusions include the increase in self-efficacy of participants. This project is important to practice and science as it includes the population of students with mental health and behavioral needs in a simulated work setting, which are not well represented by existing literature. By focusing on this population and setting, this project will further the science and practice of occupational therapy.

References

Gilson, C. B., Carter, E. W., & Biggs, E. E. (2017). Systematic review of instructional methods to teach employment skills to secondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 42(2), 89–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796917698831

Sung, C., Connor, A., Chen, J., Lin, C-C., Kuo, H-J., & Chun, J. (2019). Development, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an employment-related social skills intervention for young adults with high-functioning autism. Autism, 23(6), 1542–1553. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318801345

Wilson, C., Parke, S., VanDeusen, T. C., Millard, H., Qayyam, Z., & Kim, H. J. (2022). Systems of care for transitional-age youth with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Annals, 52(6), 238–242. https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20220527-01