Research Article | Open Access

Development of Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners
(EDDS-MHP)

    Muqadas Fatima

    Department of Psychology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Uzma Ilyas

    Department of Psychology, Forman Christian College, University, Lahore, Pakistan


An ethical dilemma arises when a psychologist encounters a situation where it is unable to find an immediate resolution. In psychotherapy, this situation can act as an "ethical canary," similar to a canary in a mineshaft serving as an early sign of trouble. This study aimed to create a scale for measuring the ethical dilemma distress that is experienced by mental health practitioners when dealing with ethical dilemmas in their practice. The study was conducted in three phases: Phase I involved generating items, followed by Phase II, which encompassed constructing the scale, and in Phase III, the scale underwent reliability and validity analysis. Expert review was sought from 8 experts on 75 items developed in the item generation stage. The assumptions for factor analysis were satisfied as KMO and Bartlett's test of sphericity were significant and significant correlations were found within the items. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on 27 items, employing Promax rotation. EFA suggested the retention of four factors, which included ethical distress in clinical practice, ethical quandaries concerning professional boundaries, ethical disclosure dilemmas, and conflicts of values leading to distress. The Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners (EDDS-MHP) was thus found to be a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of ethical dilemma distress among mental health practitioners. The instrument developed can be a crucial step in timely and accurately assessing ethical dilemma distress among mental health practitioners. It may also help to develop a tailored ethical training program as well as design interventions to inculcate ethical decision-making skills.

How to Cite this paper?


APA-7 Style
Fatima, M., Ilyas, U. (2024). Development of Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners
(EDDS-MHP). Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 39(3), 613-637. https://doi.org/10.33824/PJPR.2024.39.3.34

ACS Style
Fatima, M.; Ilyas, U. Development of Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners
(EDDS-MHP). Pak. J. Psychol. Res 2024, 39, 613-637. https://doi.org/10.33824/PJPR.2024.39.3.34

AMA Style
Fatima M, Ilyas U. Development of Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners
(EDDS-MHP). Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research. 2024; 39(3): 613-637. https://doi.org/10.33824/PJPR.2024.39.3.34

Chicago/Turabian Style
Fatima, Muqadas , and Uzma Ilyas. 2024. "Development of Ethical Dilemma Distress Scale for Mental Health Practitioners
(EDDS-MHP)" Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research 39, no. 3: 613-637. https://doi.org/10.33824/PJPR.2024.39.3.34