Measuring motivational interviewing self-efficacy of pre-service students completing a competency-based motivational interviewing course

Background: Improving health outcomes requires health care practitioners to work collaboratively with clients to make healthy lifestyle changes. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based approach found to evoke and support behavior change.Objective: The aim of this study was to examine changes over time in pre-service professional students' confidence in their MI skills after a 15-week interprofessional MI course.Methods: Students (N = 22) completed a newly developed 24-item Motivational Interviewing Confidence Survey (MICS pre and post participation in the course). Summary statistics, initial scale reliability assessment and t-tests were carried out. Results: MICS was a reliable measure (Cronbach's a = 0.98) and detected significant changes in students' self-perceived skill set. Using t-tests, significant differences were noted in pre- and post-assessments in students' confidence in their skills; students (p values<0.001) demonstrated significant gains in confidence on 23 of 24 MICS items.Conclusion: After participating in the course, students' confidence in their MI skills improved significantly. Adding preservice training in MI may increase future healthcare practitioners' confidence in their MI skills and improve their capacity to engage in individually tailored, client-driven practice.