Development and piloting of a Situational Judgement Test for emotion-handling skills using the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES)

Abstract

Objective: Emotion-handling skills are key components for interpersonal communication by medical professionals. The Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES) appears useful to develop a Situational Judgment Test (SJT) for assessing emotion-handling skills.

Methods: In phase 1 we used a multi-stage process with expert panels (n_panel1 = 16; n_panel2 = 8; n_panel3 = 20) to develop 12 case vignettes. Each vignette includes (1) video representing a critical incident containing concern(s) and/or cue(s), (2) standardized lead-in-question, (3) five response alternatives. In phase 2 we piloted the SJT to assess validity via an experimental study with medical students (n = 88).

Results: Experts and students rated most of the 'Reduce space' responses as inappropriate and preferred 'Explicit' responses. Women scored higher than men and there was no decline of empathy according to students' year of study. There were medium correlations with self-assessment instruments. The students' acceptance of the SJT was high.

Conclusion: The use of VR-CoDES, authentic vignettes, videos and expert panels contributed to the development and validity of the SJT.

Practice implications: Development costs were high but could be made up over time. The agreement on a proper score and the implementation of an adequate feedback structure seem to be useful.

Keywords: Assessment; Communication skills; Emotion-handling skills; Medical education; Situational Judgment Test (SJT); Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES); Video-based assessment.