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Development of the Awareness, Skills, Knowledge: General (ASK-G) Scale for Measuring Cultural Competence in the General Population
PLOS One
  • Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University
  • Alexandra K. Reveles, LifeStance Health
  • Kaylee Litson, Utah State University
  • Christina A. Patterson, University of Nevada
  • Alejandro L. Vázquez, Utah State University
Document Type
Article
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Publication Date
9-15-2022
Disciplines
Abstract

Measuring cultural competence has been difficult for conceptual and practical reasons. Yet, professional guidelines and stated values call for training to improve cultural competence. To develop a strong evidence-base for training and improving cultural competence, professionals need reliable and valid measures to capture meaningful changes in cultural competence training. We developed a measure for cultural competence that could be used in a general population to measure changes in awareness, knowledge, and skills in interacting with culturally diverse others. We built an 81-item scale with items conceptually categorized into awareness, knowledge, and skills and was presented to an expert panel for feedback. For evaluation, a national panel of 204 adults responded to the new scale and other measures associated with cultural competence. Factor analysis revealed four factors with strong reliabilities: Awareness of Self, Awareness of Others, Proactive Skills Development, and Knowledge (as = .87 - .92). The final overall scale, Awareness, Knowledge, Skills—General (ASK-G) had 37 items and strong reliability (a = .94). The ASK-G was then compared to validated scales to provide evidence of concurrent, convergent, and divergent validity. Strong evidence emerged for these. The ASK-G is a promising tool to measure cultural competence in a general population.

Citation Information
Domenech Rodrı´guez MM, Reveles AK, Litson K, Patterson CA, Va´zquez AL (2022) Development of the awareness, skills, knowledge: General (ASK-G) scale for measuring cultural competence in the general population. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0274505. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274505