The Organizational Readiness for Change scale in adolescent programs: Criterion validity

This study examined the convergent validity and concurrent validity of the Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC; Lehman WEK, Greener JM, Simpson DD, 2002. Assessing organizational readiness for change. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 22 197-210) scale among practitioners who treat adolescents. Within the context of a larger study, we administered the ORC scale and measures of practitioner attitudes toward evidence-based practices as well as treatment manuals to a heterogeneous sample of 543 community-based therapists in the state mental health and substance abuse treatment sectors. Using a contextual random-effects regression model, the association between ORC scale domains and measures of practitioner characteristics and attitudes were examined at both therapist and agency levels. The results support the convergent validity and concurrent validity of several domains. Namely, the domains focusing on motivational readiness and training needs were associated with higher appeal and openness to innovations. Those on program resources and climate were less related, however. Our discussion focuses on the utility of the ORC scale in helping evaluate the needs of programs considering the adoption of evidence-based practices.