Stephen J. Leierer

Predictors of Vocational Rehabilitation Return-to-Work Outcomes in Workers' Compensation

The postinjury return-to-work (RTW) status of 502 injured workers in Montana who were referred for vocational rehabilitation services between 1984 and 1991 was examined to determine which variables improved the capacity to predict RTW outcomes after injury. Predictor variables included age, education, attorney involvement, mandated vocational rehabilitation, and time from injury to referral. The number of years of preinjury education was found to be a strong predictor of postinjury RTW outcomes. Age, attorney involvement, mandated vocational rehabilitation, and timely provision of services were also found to be significant predictors.

Analysis and Interpretation of Findings Using Multiple Regression Techniques

Multiple regression and correlation (MRC) methods form a flexible family of statistical techniques that can address a wide variety of different types of research questions of interest to rehabilitation professionals. In this article, we review basic concepts and terms, with an emphasis on interpretation of findings relevant to research questions of interest to rehabilitation researchers. To assist readers in using MRC effectively, we review common analytical models (e.g., mediator and moderator tests) and recent thinking on topics such as interpretation of effect sizes and power analysis.

Modeling Rehabilitation Counselor Clinical Judgment

To evaluate three proposed models of the rehabilitation counselor judgment process, we asked a sample of masters level rehabilitation counselors selected from a random list provided by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification to engage in a series of judgment tasks. Counselors made multiple judgments about a large number of clients whose information we systematically varied across three dimensions: severity of disability, degree of psychosocial adjustment, and IQ level. These data were then analyzed using path analytic techniques to determine which of the three models (complex, fully mediated, or simple) was the best description of the process rehabilitation counselors followed to make two predictive judgments (likelihood of progress in counseling and likelihood of obtaining employment) about clients with disabilities. In both instances, the fully mediated model was the most parsimonious yet most explanatory model of the process. Implications for theory, research, practice, and education are discussed.

Validity and the Employment Expectation Questionnaire: Do Disability-Related Attitudes Affect Employment Selection Outcomes?.

This article considers the validity of the Employment Expectation Questionnaire (beta version; EEQ-B) from construct-, content-, and criterion-related perspectives. Experimental and nonexperimental designs were incorporated into this study to address the following two research questions: Does the EEQ-B model predict worker satisfactoriness? and Are disability label-related biases identified in the EEQ-B related to differential judgments of worker satisfactoriness? A convenience sample of 316 students was analyzed. Results indicate that the factors of the EEQ-B accounted for 33% of the variance in predicting worker satisfactoriness and that people with cognitive disability labels were rated significantly higher than other groups. The authors contend that this supports the construct- and criterion-related validity assumptions of the instrument, and they suggest directions for further efforts at validation and related attitude research.

The Newly Revised Strong Interest Inventory A Profile Interpretation for Rehabilitation Counselors

Using aggregate scores from 281 female and 133 male rehabilitation counselors, the researchers developed prototypical Strong Interest Inventory (SII) profiles. They used these profiles to explore the interests, preferences, and professional identity of rehabilitation counselors. Using the General Occupational Themes (GOTs), Basic Interest Scales (BISs), Occupational Scales (OSs), and Personal Style Scales (PSSs), which make up the newly revised SII, the authors obtained empirically defined prototypical profiles for female and male rehabilitation counselors. The Social—Artistic Holland-code dyad was a reoccurring theme across the each profile. Although there are differences in each of the SII scales across genders, the authors found congruence not only within the scales of a particular gender but also across genders. Consistencies and inconsistencies among the GOTs, BISs, OSs, and PSSs are discussed. Implications for counselor recruitment and practice are also discussed.

Counselor Preferences of Clients Entering a Counselor-Training Clinic

This research examined the expressed counselor preferences of individuals entering a community-based counselor-training clinic. Previous research examining the counselor preferences of individuals with and without disabilities has not used individuals who were actually entering counseling. Clients being screened for entry into a counselor-training clinic were asked whether they had a preference regarding counselor age, disability status, education, gender, and race. Of these characteristics, only for gender did even a moderate number of clients (30%) express a preference. The disability status of a counselor was a factor in client preferences for only 9.5% of all clients and only 15.4% of clients with disabilities. Research, education, and practice implications are discussed.

The Rehabilitation Counselor Scale A New Scale for the Revised Strong Interest Inventory

The vocational interests of rehabilitation counselors were explored by developing an occupational scale for the Strong Interest Inventory, Revised Edition (SII; 2004). A sample of 414 rehabilitation counselors who were satisfied with rehabilitation counseling as their profession completed an experimental version of the SII. Based on these data, the Rehabilitation Counselor Scale (RCS) was developed. In this article, the authors examine data on the characteristics of the scale, differences between males and females on this scale, and differences between privately and publicly employed rehabilitation counselors. Implications for recruitment and selection of new members of the rehabilitation counseling profession are discussed.

The Career Decision State and Rehabilitation Counselor Education Programs

Undergraduate and graduate students enroll in rehabilitation counselor education programs with varying degrees of commitment to a career goal in the field. The career decision state (CDS) comprising certainty, satisfaction, and clarity is a snapshot of one’s career goals. It is bidimensional, differentiates between undergraduate and graduate rehabilitation counseling students, and is associated with negative career thinking. Implications for using CDS in the form of a brief questionnaire, in student orientation and ongoing advising, and in future research are discussed.

Threat and Visibility Impact of Disabilities and Other Conditions on Social Distance Preferences.

One-hundred and two graduate level, allied health students’ preferences for social distance from persons with various conditions were surveyed. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that participants’ preferred social distance from various conditions would reveal a significant interaction between perceived threat (i.e., threatening vs. non-threatening) and visibility (i.e., obvious vs. hidden) status of each condition. Results from a repeated-measures ANOVA showed support for an interaction in that (a) participants preferred the most social distance from persons with threatening conditions regardless if the conditions were obvious or hidden, and (b) the amount of social distance preferred from non-threatening conditions was significantly moderated by the conditions being obvious or hidden. Also, a one-way ANOVA revealed rehabilitation counseling students preferred significantly less social distance from persons with various conditions than communication sciences and disorders students and physical therapy students. Implications of these results for rehabilitation research, practice, and education are discussed.

The Mediating Influence of Treatment Participation Rate on Post-Treatment Employment

This study explored treatment participation rate as a mediator between individuals’ baseline alcohol use, drug use, and psychiatric issue levels and post-treatment employment status. The study sample included 106 unemployed or underemployed individuals with substance use disorders who were participants in an intensive drug abuse treatment program. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine relationships between study variables. The results showed that (a) the direct effect of individuals’ baseline alcohol use, drug use, and psychiatric issue severities reduced treatment participation rate; (b) the direct effect of treatment participation rate ameliorated post-treatment employment status; and (c) the indirect effect of individuals’ baseline alcohol use, drug use, and psychiatric issue severities on post-treatment employment status was mediated by treatment participation rate, which reduced the negative influence of baseline issue severity on employment. This significant mediating effect has both practical and theoretical importance in that it indicates the need for increased focus on treatment participation in practice and future research.