Development of a Mentoring Behavior Index for Physical Therapists and Verification of Its Reliability and Validity

Abstract

[Purpose] To develop an index that represents the characteristics of mentoring behavior of physical therapists, and to verify its reliability and validity. [Participants and Methods] An anonymous web questionnaire survey was conducted, involving physical therapists with a work experience of 5 years or longer, who provided clinical services and had supervised other employees. After examining the reliability and factorial validity of the scale by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis was performed based on the obtained factor model. [Results] Analysis of 401 valid responses identified 5 factors: “effective education support”, “mental support”, “professional morality”, “model functions”, and “career support”, which confirmed sufficient reliability and validity. [Conclusion] The necessity of providing psychological/social support and training mentors in the physical therapist training process was suggested.