Che cosa chiedono i clinici alla ricerca? Atteggiamenti e opinioni di psicologi clinici e studenti di psicologia

Target: a questionnaire was prepared to investigate attitudes and opinions which clinical psychologists and psychology students have towards clinical psychology research. Methods: the sample consists of 694 clinical psychologists and 253 psychology students, attending the last year of the 5-year degree. The questionnaire deals with three areas of clinical psychology research - attitude towards research, judgment/evaluation on the various fields of research, opinions on statements concerning clinical research. For both samples the statistic analysis covers the frequency of reply and the relevant percentages for each item of the first two investigated areas. To the answers to the third investigation area the factorial analysis by main components was applied so as to detect the implied factors of the evaluations expressed. Results: Both with professionals and with students a dicothomy between science and practice comes out: both groups prefer to use the results of research rather than making it personally. A certain difficulty towards statistical processing appears. Indications on the areas of clinical research of primary interest for professionals are given, but at the same time fields of research are detected, of which both students and psychologists seem to have a scarce knowledge. Conclusions: From an analysis of the results it appears that the dicothomy between research and clinical science could be overcome: both samples believe that an integration between research activity and clinical science may be performed at educational level, most during university years.