Table 1.
Comparison of Attitudes Towards CAM Among Psychologists in Australia and Indonesia
| Psychologists’ Attitudes Towards Complementary and Alternative Therapies (PATCAT) Scale | Australia# (N = 115) | Indonesia (N = 247) |
PATCAT scale interpretation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-scale and item | (M; SD) | (M; SD) | (Med; IQR) | |
| A. Attitudes towards CAM in general | 4.58 (0.91) | 4.67 (0.79) | 4.70 (0.60) | A higher score indicates greater positive attitudes and lower scores indicate negative attitudes towards CAM. |
| B. Attitude towards knowledge of CAM | 4.36 (1.23) | 4.70 (1.12) | 4.67 (1.00) | A higher score indicates greater appreciation and lower scores indicate disinterest on CAM knowledge. |
| 1. Psychology professionals should be able to advise their clients about commonly used complementary therapy methods. | 4.56 (1.35) | 4.24 (1.31) | 4.00 (1.00) | |
| 2. Information about complementary therapy practices should be included in my psychology degree curriculum. | 4.09 (1.51) | 4.82 (1.32) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| 3. Knowledge about complementary therapies is important to me as a practicing clinical psychologist. | 4.43 (1.51) | 5.05 (1.21) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| C. Attitude towards integration of CAM | 5.33 (0.92) | 4.94 (1.10) | 5.00 (0.67) | A higher score indicates greater favorableness on integrating CAM and lower scores indicate lesser positive attitude. |
| 4. Clinical care should integrate the best of conventional and complementary practices. | 5.61 (1.15) | 4.84 (1.21) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| 5. Complementary therapies include ideas and methods from which conventional psychotherapy could benefit. | 5.37 (1.17) | 4.92 (1.13) | 5.00 (0.00) | |
| 6. A number of complementary and alternative approaches hold promise for the treatment of psychological conditions. | 5.01 (1.10) | 5.06 (1.19) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| D. Attitude concerning the risks associated with CAM | 4.18 (1.02) | 4.43 (0.73) | 4.50 (0.75) | A higher score indicates greater perceived risk and lower scores indicate a positive attitude (low risk associated with CAM). |
| 7. Complementary therapies should be subject to more scientific testing before they can be accepted by psychologists. | 5.21 (1.49) | 2.11 (1.00) | 2.00 (1.00) | |
| 8. Complementary therapies can be dangerous in that they may prevent people getting proper treatment. | 4.37 (1.43) | 4.78 (1.24) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| 9. Complementary therapy represents a confused and ill-defined approach. | 3.36 (1.42) | 5.05 (1.11) | 5.00 (1.00) | |
| 10. Complementary medicine is a threat to public health. | 2.34 (1.15) | 5.80 (0.98) | 6.00 (0.00) | |
Note. Score was from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree); #From previous study3; M = mean; SD = standard deviation; Med = median; IQR = interquartile range.