Development of a new scale to measure ambiguity tolerance in veterinary students

Hammond, J. A., Hancock, J., Martin, M. S., Jamieson, S. and Mellor, D. J. (2017) Development of a new scale to measure ambiguity tolerance in veterinary students. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 44(1), pp. 38-49. (doi: 10.3138/jvme.0216-040R) (PMID:28206843)

Abstract

The ability to cope with ambiguity and feelings of uncertainty is an essential element of professional practice. Research with physicians has identified that intolerance of ambiguity or uncertainty is linked to stress and some authors have hypothesised that there could be an association between intolerance of ambiguity and burnout (e.g. Cooke et al 2013). We describe the adaptation of the TAMSAD (Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors) scale for use with veterinary students. Exploratory factor analysis supports a unidimensional structure for the Ambiguity tolerance construct. Although internal reliability of the 29 item TAMSAD scale is reasonable (α = 0.50), an alternative 27 item scale (drawn from the original 41 items used to develop TAMSAD) shows higher internal reliability for veterinary students (α = 0.67). We conclude that there is good evidence to support the validity of this latter TAVS (Tolerance of Ambiguity in Veterinary students) scale to study ambiguity tolerance in veterinary students.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Martin, Dr Margaret and Mellor, Professor Dominic and Hammond, Mrs Jennifer and Jamieson, Professor Susan
• Authors: Hammond, J. A., Hancock, J., Martin, M. S., Jamieson, S., and Mellor, D. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine; College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Journal Name: Journal of Veterinary Medical Education
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• ISSN: 0748-321X
• ISSN (Online): 1943-7218
• Published Online: 16 February 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 AAVMC
• First Published: First published in Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 44(1): 38-49
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy