Development and Initial Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Barriers to Implementation Scale (BTI-S)

Objective: We examined the psychometric properties of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Barriers to Implementation Scale (BTI-S). Method: Participants were clinicians completing a bipartite training, separated by 6 months of self-study, to implement DBT. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with data collected from the initial training period (N = 790), while confirmatory factor analysis was based on data from the final training period (N = 660). Results: The final model included 26 items and 4 factors with overall acceptable fit, χ²(293, N = 660) = 460.989, p <.001, comparative fit index =.909, Tucker-Lewis index =.899, root mean square root mean square error of approximation (90% confidence interval) =.015. The internal reliability of the scores was low (range =.56 to.72). Conclusion: The final model fits reasonably well and measures four domains considered important for implementation of DBT. However, the low reliability of the scores indicates that the BTI-S would be improved with further development.