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Supporting healthy outcomes in individuals with FASD: How do professional psychology programs across Canada support FASD-related learning?
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- Author / Creator
- Heath, Devon S.
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Psychologists have a unique role in diagnosing, assessing, and providing intervention for a variety of disorders, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a complex disorder that affects individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol. Each individual with FASD is unique. Thus, it is imperative that psychologists are well-equipped with FASD-related knowledge, so that they can provide the best evidence-based care. Previous research has found that psychologists around the world feel unprepared to support individuals with FASD, and that they did not receive FASD-related training in graduate school. Therefore, the current study aimed to get a first look into the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of faculty members in professional psychology programs across Canada using a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices survey. The results demonstrated unbalanced FASD-related knowledge; participants answered fact-based questions accurately but had difficulties with more nuanced questions about clinical outcomes and prevalence. Most participants endorsed the importance of teaching students about FASD, but they did not feel adequately prepared to teach it or that they have enough time. Additionally, FASD was the least taught disorder compared to other disorders in the same diagnostic category (e.g., autism, ADHD, learning disorders). It is imperative to support faculty members in their FASD-related knowledge and attitudes so that professional psychology students receive high quality training for clinical practice with this complex and systematically marginalized population.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2022
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Education
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.