The Effect of a
Workbook Intervention on
College Students’ Reframes of Dysfunctional Career Thoughts:
Technical Report 37
Darrin L. Carr
February 27, 2004
Center
for the Study of Technology in Counseling and
(850) 644-6431 (voice) (850) 644-3273 (FAX)
http://www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter
Copyright
© 2004 by
All Rights Reserved
Darrin
L. Carr is a Research Assistant, Instructor, and Career Advisor at The Career
Center and a doctoral student in the Combined Program in Counseling Psychology
and School Psychology at The Florida State University. James P. Sampson, Jr. is
a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
and co-director of the Center for the Study of Technology in Counseling and
Career Development at The Florida State University. The author wishes to thank
James P. Sampson, Jr., Gary W. Peterson, Robert C. Reardon, Janet G. Lenz, Page
Purgar, James Murray, Scott Arkin, and Selah Rhoden for their support of and
participation in this evaluation. Furthermore, this report would not have been
possible without the data rating efforts of Beth Kegler, Katie Meyer, and Jon
Shy. Inquiries and comments should be addressed to Darrin Carr, at dcarr@admin.fsu.edu.
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This technical report documents the results from a quasi-experimental evaluation of the efficacy of Improving Your Career Thoughts: A Workbook for the Career Thoughts Inventory on college students’ acquisition of the skill of reframing dysfunctional career thoughts. Participants in this evaluation study were 86 undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of a career development course at a large southeastern university. A repeated measures ANOVA of effectiveness of reframed dysfunctional statements by initial level of dysfunctional career thinking and treatment status was conducted. A significant main effect and interaction between time and treatment status was found on an initial posttest measure. However, no effect or interaction was found for level of dysfunctional career thoughts on reframe effectiveness. At a two week, delayed posttest, a significant decay effect occurred for the treatment group. Furthermore, possible demand characteristics and treatment diffusion led to a significant improvement in the effectiveness of reframed thoughts of the control group.
The
Effect of a Workbook Intervention on
College Students’ Reframes of Dysfunctional Career Thoughts:
Technical Report 37
Most clients are unaware of the biases, misinformation, and distorted beliefs that they bring to career choice and that these presuppositions can lead to self-defeating and disabling experiences (Krumboltz, 1983). It is thought that these beliefs exist due to limited learning opportunities and act to limit additional learning (Krumboltz & Jackson, 1993). For example, Elliott (1995) noted that negative self-statements can impair a client’s ability to utilize occupational information, lead to career indecision, and inappropriate choices.
Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest the existence of such dysfunctional career beliefs and thoughts in both adolescence and adulthood. This phenomenon has been labeled by various professionals as myths (Dorn & Welch, 1985), self-defeating assumptions (Dryden, 1979), dysfunctional career beliefs (Krumboltz, 1990), and dysfunctional cognitions (Corbishley & Yost, 1989). Furthermore, Dorn and Welch (1985) found that high school students subscribed to various (nine of 13 postulated) career myths as measured by the Survey of Career Attitudes. Similarly, Krumboltz has standardized the Career Beliefs Inventory on a wide variety of groups, providing further evidence of dysfunctional beliefs and thoughts occurring independent of group membership (Krumboltz, 1994).
In response to the evidence of both the negative impact and commonness of dysfunctional thinking on career choice, the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and a companion intervention Improving Your Career Thoughts: A Workbook for the Career Thoughts Inventory (Workbook) were developed (Sampson, et al., 1996a, 1996b). While the CTI has been used in research since its release (Vernick, 1999; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004), the associated Workbook has received little attention in the literature. Specifically, Gilbert (1996) and Fontaine (2001) noted the lack of evidence in the CTI professional manual of the workbook’s ability to correct dysfunctional career thinking or improve career problem-solving and decision-making skills. A search of the literature also revealed no formal, empirical evidence of its efficacy.
This gap in the literature may be a specific instance of a more general lack of evidence on the efficacy of cognitive-behaviorally based interventions in teaching the skill of cognitive reframing. Instruction in reframing, by which clients learn to alter their dysfunctional thoughts to more functional ones, is often an important part of cognitive restructuring treatments for depression and anxiety. However, much of the focus in the literature has been on outcome measures (e.g., degree of change in depression, anxiety, career decidedness, vocational identity, etc.) of treatment and not on the intervening learning outputs that occur.
Therefore, this evaluation study attempts to fill the gap in the literature on the efficacy of the CTI Workbook, specifically investigating the effect of a cognitive behaviorally-based workbook intervention on college students’ skills to effectively reframe dysfunctional career thoughts. In the process, it is hoped that more general information on effective instruction related to cognitive reframing skills will also be gained. To achieve these goals, this paper will first briefly review the relevant theoretical and empirical literature and state the hypothesis of interest. Next, the method of investigation will be outlined, including a description of participants, instrumentation, and study design and procedure. Then, results will be presented and the paper will close with a discussion of study findings, their limitations, and resulting implications.
This section of the paper will review two theories underlying the CTI and Workbook; cognitive theory and cognitive information processing theory of career decision-making. Also the literature on the efficacy of interventions associated with each theory will be summarized. Furthermore, a model for evaluating the effectiveness of reframed dysfunctional thoughts based in both clinical experience and the theoretical literature will be introduced.
Assumptions. A basic assumption of cognitive theory is that individuals use information processing to represent themselves and the world in cognitive organizational structures known as schemata (Bartlett, 1958). These schemata, which represent individuals’ beliefs or assumptions about themselves and the world, yield the automatic thoughts of consciousness, which interact with affect and behavior. However, these thoughts can be vulnerable to systematic distortions which bias the processing of information from the environment (Beck, 1967; Beck, 1976; Beck, Emery, & Greenberg, 1979). Cognitive theory conceptualizes psychopathology (e.g., anxiety or depression) as a dysfunctional bias in the content, amount, or function of an individual’s thoughts as well as the monitoring and control (metacognition) of those thoughts (Beck & Weishaar, 2000; Wells, 2000). Furthermore, cognitive theory generally accepts the important role of physiological factors (e.g., neurotransmitter levels) as well as dysfunctional cognition in contributing to vulnerability to psychopathology (Strunk, 2001).
Cognitive theory has led to the development of two related kinds of interventions: self-instruction training and cognitive restructuring. Self-instruction training focuses on the proactive learning of metacognitive skills necessary to perform a novel task (Meichenbaum, 1974). Cognitive restructuring focuses on actively changing the preexisting schema underlying automatic thoughts that may be inhibiting performance of a specific task (Kinnier & Krumboltz, 1986). It should be noted that the distinction between the two interventions may be somewhat artificial, given that the two may be used interchangeably by both counselor and client.
Self-Instruction Training. In response to the limitations of behavioral techniques and to foster learning that was more durable and generalizable, Meichenbaum (1977) developed a skills-oriented therapy in which learners were instructed in how to “talk to themselves” in preparing for a stressor, confront and handle the stressor, cope with the feeling of being overwhelmed, and reinforce progress by use of these self-statements. This cognitive-behavioral training followed a sequence similar to Luria’s functional interiorization of language process for children (Luria, 1962). The training consisted of cognitive modeling by an expert, then overt, external guidance by an expert while the learner performed the task, then overt, self-guidance by the learner, then faded, overt self-guidance by the learner, and finally covert self-guidance by the learner. “The focus was not to teach the child [learner] what to think but how to think” (Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1974, p. 410). In short, Meichenbaum developed a process by which metacognition could be taught.
Self-instruction training has been found to be effective with a wide variety of ages and problem domains. Through self-instruction training impulsive hyperactive children have developed greater self control and greater cognitive reflectivity (Meichenbaum & Goodman, 1971); in-patients with schizophrenia improved on measures of interview behavior, proverb and inkblot responses, and measures of attention (Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1974); and college undergraduates significantly increased flexibility and originality on measures of divergent thinking relative to a control group (Meichenbaum, 1975). Also, standard behavior therapy procedures augmented with self-instruction have produced greater treatment efficacy, more generalization, and greater persistence of treatment effects than behavior therapy alone (Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1974).
Furthermore, Dush, Hirt, and Schroeder (1983, 1989) conducted two meta-analyses of the efficacy literature on self-statement modification. Their first meta-analysis of 69 controlled studies demonstrated that self-instruction combined with other cognitive methodologies is an effective technique. A second meta-analysis of 48 controlled studies of the effects of self-statement modification in children was less conclusive. A more recent review of the literature concluded that studies on self-instruction were confounded by the presence of more than one treatment technique (e.g., progressive relaxation for treatment of anxiety) (Lange, Richard, Gest, de Vries, & Lodder, 1998).
Cognitive restructuring. Bandura (1977) has stated that one of the most effective ways to change cognitions is to change performance (behavior). Based on this premise, cognitive restructuring uses experience to create feedback loops, which challenge dysfunctional automatic thoughts and assumptions and increase positive feelings. The desired outcome of cognitive restructuring is increased self-control by enabling more accurate processing of information and interpretation of events. “The ultimate goal in cognitive restructuring interventions should be to teach clients the art of auto cognitive restructuring. Clients should be trained to recognize, examine, and modify or refute maladaptive cognitions whenever they emerge in the future” (Kinnier & Krumboltz, 1986, p. 314).
Cognitive restructuring has become popular in the self-help literature. Burns (1999) offers The Feeling Good Handbook which emphasizes ten forms of twisted thinking and ten methods of untwisting thinking. Also, Bourne (1990) has authored a workbook for mistaken beliefs associated with anxiety and phobia. This workbook employs affirmations (short, easily repeated positive statements that counter mistaken beliefs) that are used to habituate positive thinking. Bourne suggests that the power of affirmation can be increased through repetition and injection of feeling.
Given the popularity of such interventions, it is fortunate that the empirical literature suggests that cognitive restructuring is effective in a wide variety of clinical applications. Such applications include the reduction of panic attacks (Salkovskis, Clark, & Hamel, 1991), mitigation of disruptions in public speaking associated with perfectionism