Preliminary Evaluation of a Questionnaire to Measure Program-Level Sense of Belonging Among Student Physical Therapists

Introduction. A greater sense of belonging has been found to correspond with better academic performance/motivation, retention, and general mental well-being among college students. As a result, it is important to be able to meaningfully assess student physical therapists’ sense of belonging. Review of Literature. While there are questionnaires available to assess sense of belonging at the university level, it is also important to be able to assess students’ sense of belonging in a narrower context, such as within their program of study. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a program-specific tool, referred to as the Program Sense of Belonging (ProSB) questionnaire, that could be used to assess sense of belonging among student physical therapists. As part of this study, we examined the internal structure of the ProSB questionnaire items and assessed internal consistency. Subjects. One hundred twenty-four student physical therapists from 2 different physical therapist education programs completed the ProSB questionnaire. Methods. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis to examine the internal structure of the ProSB questionnaire and examined Cronbach's alpha to assess the internal consistency of the items associated with each retained factor. Results. For the final 10-item version of the ProSB questionnaire, 2 factors were retained, which explained 57.5% of the variance (factor 1 = 30.9%, factor 2 = 26.6%). The 5 items that loaded on factor 1 were related to “social acceptance,” while the 5 items that loaded on factor 2 were related to “valued competence.” Both subscales exhibited acceptable levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ≥0.84). Discussion. The ProSB questionnaire appears to capture different dimensions of student physical therapists’ sense of belonging (social acceptance, valued competence) at the program level. Conclusion: Based on our preliminary findings, the ProSB questionnaire appears to be a valid tool for assessing program-level sense of belonging among student physical therapists.