| Summary: | Magister Psychologiae - MPsych (Psychology) === Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the responsive process of making clinical decisions on behalf
of the individual patient based on the best available research evidence, the clinician's expertise,
as well as the context and characteristics of the patient. As stipulated in the 2011 scope of
practice for the Psychology Profession (Government Gazette, 2011), offering evidence-based
interventions to people with psychological and psychiatric conditions has become a legal
requirement in South Africa. However, the adoption of EBP within the profession of Psychology
has been slow, which has raised concerns. Related to this, numerous barriers have been identified
as hindering the adoption of EBP in the field of Psychology, central among these being mental
healthcare provider attitudes. The current study focused on investigating mental healthcare
providers' attitudes to EBP in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in South
Africa and utilised a cross-sectional, descriptive, survey design using two self-reporting online
questionnaires, namely the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) and a demographic
questionnaire. Participants included registered clinical and counselling psychologists, social
workers, and counsellors in South Africa and were recruited from various websites through
purposive sampling. Findings indicated that participants generally held positive attitudes towards
EBP in the treatment of PTSD and demographic characteristics, specifically age and race, had a
significant impact on participants' attitudes toward EBP. Ethical approval was obtained by the
Senate Higher Degrees Committee of the University of the Western Cape.
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