The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale that can measure the level of professionalism in music therapists. To summarize the research, in the scale development stage of this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 music ...
The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale that can measure the level of professionalism in music therapists. To summarize the research, in the scale development stage of this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 music therapists and by analyzing previous studies and literature, the concept and components for the professionalism of music therapists were derived, leading to the development of 113 initial items. Afterwards, items for preliminary investigation were selected through the content validity test, a review by a scholar of Korean literature, the facial validity test, and final advice from a music therapist. For the preliminary survey, data from 330 music therapists were collected and exploratory factor analysis was conducted. As a result, 23 items were finally selected consisting of factor 1 ‘professional knowledge and skills (9 items)’, factor 2 ‘work attitude’ (5 items), factor 3 ‘work philosophy’ (4 items), and factor 4 ‘professional engagement’ (5 items). The internal consistency coefficient of the selected items showed a high level of reliability. In the scale validation stage, the main survey was conducted on 378 music therapists and data were collected to finalize the factor structure and items obtained through the preliminary survey. As a result of confirmatory factor analysis and convergence and discriminant validity assessment for construct validity verification, the model fit of the music therapist professionalism scale was at an acceptable level, and convergence and discriminatory validity were verified. In addition, as a result of correlation analysis with the scales assumed to be related to the professionalism scales - the counselor's professional identity scale (concurrent validity verified), the creative art therapist developmental assessment scales, the burnout inventory, and the job satisfaction scale (Convergent validity verified) - a statistically significant correlation was confirmed. The Music Therapist’s Professionalism Scale developed through this study was based on the experiences of domestic music therapists. Therefore, this study has the following significance: 1) practically, it is possible to present specific experience data on professionalism that is formed and developed in the domestic clinical field of music therapy, 2) the unique characteristics of music therapy different from other professions were reflected, and 3) it can be used in various educational and research fields related to the professionalism of music therapists considering the recent increase in social interest in music therapy and the importance of the professionalism of therapists.