Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey

Abstract

The Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey (CMHPS), developed by Rossi, Klein, vonFelsinger, and Plaut in 1961, is an original instrument designed to systematically collect data regarding the professional activities of psychologists actively engaged in Community Mental Health (CMH). Beyond documenting current responsibilities, the survey sought to capture the informed opinions of these professionals concerning the essential education and training requirements necessary for personnel working within the burgeoning field of CMH. The CMHPS is structured into seven primary thematic sections, utilizing a mixed-methods approach incorporating multiple-choice selections, listing tasks, and detailed short-answer response formats. These sections cover present activities, anticipated future activities, desired content areas for education, and the optimal locus and level for predoctoral and postdoctoral training.

Keywords

Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey, Psychologist Attitudes, Test Development, Community Mental Health Services, Community Mental Health Training, Test Construction, Health Psychologists.

Authors

Rossi, Ascanio M., Klein, Donald C., vonFelsinger, John M., Plaut, Thomas F. A.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the CMHPS was twofold. First, it aimed to establish a comprehensive baseline of the actual professional activities undertaken by psychologists who had integrated their practice into community settings. This data was crucial in understanding the practical scope of CMH work during its early development phase in the 1960s, documenting roles such as research, therapy, consultation, and administration.

Second, the survey was intended as a needs assessment tool. By soliciting the expert opinions of practitioners, the authors aimed to identify critical gaps and requirements in the existing professional preparation models, thereby informing future directions for the education and training of those entering or transitioning into Community Mental Health activities. The results provided guidance on which content areas (e.g., public health principles, epidemiology, community organization) were deemed most necessary for effective CMH practice.

Construct

The central construct measured and explored by the CMHPS is Community Mental Health, particularly as it relates to the professional roles, required competencies, and perceived future direction of psychologists working in this domain. Unlike scales measuring individual psychological traits, this instrument focuses on occupational structure, educational needs, and professional attitudes within an organizational and societal context.

The survey meticulously segments the construct across seven areas: 1) Present Activities (e.g., research, therapy, consultation); 2) Future Activities (anticipated shifts in professional focus); 3) Desired Content Areas for education; 4) Optimal Educational Level (predoctoral vs. postdoctoral); 5) Locus for Predoctoral Training; 6) Locus for Postdoctoral Training; and 7) Influences in the Development of CMH Interest. This holistic approach captures both the objective actions and the subjective professional attitudes defining the CMH role.

Validity

No specific quantitative data regarding the validity of the Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey was indicated in the primary source documentation (Rossi et al., 1961). As a descriptive data collection survey focused on capturing activities and opinions at a specific historical juncture, validation efforts likely centered on content relevance and representativeness of the sample rather than psychometric construct validation.

The instrument demonstrates strong content validity, ensuring that the questionnaire covered the entire domain of professional engagement in CMH, including consultation, administration, teaching, and specific training needs, as understood by leading experts at the time of its development.

Reliability

Formal reliability data, such as internal consistency metrics (e.g., Cronbach’s Alpha) or test-retest reliability, were not indicated or reported for the CMHPS. Since the instrument functions primarily as a descriptive professional survey tool rather than a standardized psychological scale designed to measure stable traits, traditional psychometric reliability standards may have been considered less critical by the authors.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis was not indicated in the original documentation for the Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey. Given the instrument’s structure—a collection of multi-modal questions designed to capture broad occupational data and educational preferences—it was not intended to measure underlying latent constructs through factor structure analysis.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: Multiple choice, listing, and short-answer response formats

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human

Age Group: Adult (specifically, professional psychologists)

Population Details: Psychologists involved in Community Mental Health activities and practice.

Test Methodology: Data Collection on Psychologist Activities and Opinions using a structured Survey method.

Keywords

Psychologist Activities, Professional Training Needs, Occupational Development, Consultation, Administration, Public Health, 7000 Organizational Occupational and Career Development.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey was developed and published in 1961. Information regarding current permissions, usage fees, or licensing requirements for administering the original instrument is not specified in the initial source documentation. The test record itself is cataloged with the DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/t13821-000.

Reference’s

Rossi, A. M., Klein, D. C., von Felsinger, J. M., & Plaut, T. F. A. (1961). A survey of psychologists in community mental health: Activities and opinions on education needs. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 75(4), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093769

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Items of the Community Mental Health Psychologist Survey

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

INSTRUCTIONS

A sample range of answers has been provided for each question. These have been included only to indicate the type of answers we have in mind. They in no way were meant to be inclusive of all possible answers.

Therefore, please feel free to answer each question in your own way , always attempting to be as specific as possible under the circumstances.

I. What are your present professional activities (including part time activities)?

1. □ Research. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Type (e.g., program assessment, operational, action, laboratory, clinical, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Subjects (e.g., college students, adult hosp. patients, juvenile delinquents, workers in industry,
      families, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   3. Role in research (e.g., administrative only, collection of data, consultant in various phases, analysis
      of data, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
2. □ Teaching Psychology. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Setting (e.g., Dept. of Psychology, School of Public Health, Dept. of Psychiatry, Institute, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Course content (e.g., general, clinical, social, consultation, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   3. Level (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
3. □ Training Psychologists. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Setting (e.g., child guid. clinic, hosp. outpatient dept., personnel dept. in industry, community
      clinic, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Subject matter (e.g., therapy, diagnosis, consultation, community organization, administration,
      etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
4. □ In-Service Training (excluding psychologists). Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Setting (e.g., child guid. clinic, hosp. outpatient dept., community clinic, state dept. of mental
      health, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Audience (e.g., psychiatrists, social workers, teachers, nurses, ministers, probation officers, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
5. □ Therapy. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Setting (e.g., guid. dept. in school, V A mental hyg. clinic, state hosp., private practice, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Clients (e.g., grossly-disturbed children, delinquents, underachieving students, adult offenders,
      alcoholics, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   3. Methods (e.g., group, individual, long-term individual, short-term individual, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
6. □ Diagnosis. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Setting (e.g., guid. dept. in school, V A mental hyg. clinic, state hosp., private practice, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Purpose (e.g., aid treatment, research, selection, discharge planning, vocational guid., etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
7. □ Administration. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Primary type of program (e.g., service, research, educational, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Institutional setting (e.g., child guid. clinic, hosp. outpatient dept., state dept. of mental health,
      etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
8. □ Consultation. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. To whom (e.g., schools, social agencies, correction agencies, health units, industry, etc.)?
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. In what areas (e.g., program planning, treatment, research training, personnel practices, diagnosis,
      etc.)?
      _________________________________________________________________________________
9. □ Community Education. Hours per month spent in this activity __________.
   1. Method (e.g., discussion groups, lectures, sociodrama, TV, radio, newspaper articles, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
   2. Primary audience (e.g., parents, PTA groups, church groups, civic organizations, community at
      large, etc.)
      _________________________________________________________________________________
10. □ Other activities. (Please specify and indicate number of hours per month.)
    __________________________________________________________________________________
    __________________________________________________________________________________
    __________________________________________________________________________________
    __________________________________________________________________________________
    __________________________________________________________________________________
    __________________________________________________________________________________

A Reminder: The sample answers are meant ONLY AS EXAMPLES; therefore, please feel free to answer each
question in your own way.

IIA. If you could have had (or did have) specific education or training in any of the content areas listed below,
which ones do you think would have (or have) best prepared you for your present professional activities?
(Note: Please rank order your choices.)

1. □ administration
2. □ community organization
3. □ short-term (crisis) therapy
4. □ consultation theory and techniques
5. □ public health principles and techniques
6. □ action research
7. □ epidemiology, ecology, biostatistics, etc.
8. □ principles and concepts of allied social sciences
   other content areas (specify):
9. □ _________________________________________________________________________________
10. □ _________________________________________________________________________________
11. □ _________________________________________________________________________________

IIB. If the opportunity for education or training in the specific content areas you have checked above were to
become generally available to psychologists, at what level should this opportunity be offered? (It is realized
that you may feel that some content areas may be appropriate at one level while other content areas may be
appropriate at another level. However, if you had to choose one level, which level would that be?)

1. □ predoctoral
2. □ postdoctoral right after PhD
3. □ postdoctoral after a few years post-PhD experience
4. □ other (specify)

A Reminder: The sample answers are meant ONLY AS EXAMPLES; therefore, please feel free to answer each
question in your own way.

IIC. Predoctoral training of this type for psychologists should be offered primarily

1. □ within Departments of Psychology.
2. □ within interdepartmental programs or institutes.
3. □ other (specify)

IID . Postdoctoral training of this type for psychologists should be offered primarily

1. □ within Departments of Psychology.
2. □ within interdepartmental programs or institutes.
3. □ within Schools of Public Health.
4. □ by means of workshops.
5. □ within the framework of well-organized on-going community mental health programs.
6. □ other (specify) __________________________________________________________________________
   _______________________________________________________________________________________

III. On the basis of your present knowledge concerning the demands made upon your time in your professional
duties and the development of your interests, what activities do you feel you will be doing more of in the
foreseeable future? (Note: Please rank order your choices.)

1. □ consultation
2. □ administration
3. □ community education
4. □ in-service education
5. □ research
6. □ therapy
7. □ diagnosis
8. □ teaching
9. □ ______________________________
10. □ ______________________________
11. □ ______________________________
12. □ ______________________________

A Reminder: The sample answers are meant ONLY AS EXAMPLES ; therefore, please feel free to answer each
question in your own way.

IVA. In what year would you say your interest in community mental health developed to the point where you
would state explicitly, “I am interested in the area of community mental health”?

1. 19 □
2. not yet □
3. □ never

IVB. What were the strongest influences in the development of your interest in community mental health
activities? (Note: Please rank order your choices.)

1. □ university staff during my education
2. □ supervisors during my internship
3. □ specific colleagues or friends within psychology
4. □ specific colleagues or friends outside psychology
5. □ job duties which involved community mental health activities
6. □ dissatisfaction with traditional activities (e.g., testing, therapy, etc.)
7. □ Zeitgeist
8. □ _____________________________________________________________________________________
9. □ ______________________________________________________________________________________
10. □ ______________________________________________________________________________________

V. Within the foreseeable future, “community mental health” for psychologists should primarily be: (Note:
Make only one choice.)

1. □ a specialty, comparable to clinical psychology, industrial psychology, etc.
2. □ an attitude, comparable to the clinical attitude or public health attitude, etc.
3. □ an area of interest, comparable to juvenile delinquency, geriatrics, etc.
4. □ other (specify) _________________________________________________________________________

A Reminder: The sample answers are meant ONLY AS EXAMPLES ; therefore, please feel free to answer each
question in your own way.

VI. We would like to include as broad a sample as possible in this questionnaire survey. However, since there is
no available list of psychologists interested in community mental health, we must rely on “word-of-mouth”
procedures to learn who these psychologists are. You can be of great aid in this task by listing below the names
of those psychologists who you know to be interested in, or engaged in, community mental health activities,
and whom you feel that we might not have included in this survey.

1. ________________________________________
2. ________________________________________
3. ________________________________________
4. ________________________________________
5. ________________________________________
6. ________________________________________
7. ________________________________________
8. ________________________________________
9. ________________________________________
10. ________________________________________

VII. General comments concerning any of the areas covered by this questionnaire or concerning the education
and training- of psychologists for community mental health activities.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________