The Supervisor Trainee Quarterly Evaluation (STQE): Psychometric Support for Use as a Measure of Competency

The Supervisor Trainee Quarterly Evaluation (STQE) has been available to preinternship doctoral training clinics nationwide for more than a decade, via the Association for Psychology Training Clinics (APTC). However, no psychometric examinations of the measure have been published. The current study sought to explore the factor structure of this measure and assess its basic psychometric properties (i.e., descriptive statistics, scale internal consistency, interitem correlations, and predictive validity). Data came from 217 STQE forms based on supervisor rating of 38 trainees (6 consecutive and complete training cohorts). A 1-factor model had acceptable fit, but a bifactor model showed the best fit and suggested the STQE measures overarching general competency as well as specific foundational and functional competencies. Internal consistency for the general scale was high, and the total scale score demonstrated predictive validity by being significantly correlated with (a) formal remediation or termination from doctoral training, (b) program-vetted total number of intervention hours, and (c) program-vetted total number of supervision hours. The STQE provides a psychometrically sound measure of overall competency that predicts important preinternship benchmarks.