Abstract
While most primary care pediatricians acknowledge the importance of identifying child behavior problems, fewer than 2% of
children with a diagnosable psychological disorder are referred for mental health care in any given year. The present study
examined the potential role of parental characteristics (parental affect, parenting style, and parenting self-efficacy) in
pediatrician identification of child behavior problems, and determined whether these relationships differed across practices.
Parents of 831 children between 2 and 16 years completed questionnaires regarding demographic information, their child’s behavior,
their affect, their parenting style, and their parenting self-efficacy. Pediatricians completed a brief questionnaire following
visits in four community-based primary care practices in the Midwest. Logistic regressions controlling for child behavior
and demographic predictors of pediatrician identification found that an authoritarian parenting style, in which parents yell
or strongly negatively react to problem behavior, was negatively associated with likelihood of identification in the overall
sample. However, the variables that were predictive of pediatrician identification differed depending on the specific practice.
Parental characteristics can aid in understanding which children are likely to be identified by their pediatrician as having
behavioral problems. The finding that practices differed on which variables were associated with pediatrician identification
suggests the need to potentially individualize interventions to certain physicians and practices to improve identification
of child behavior problems in primary care.
children with a diagnosable psychological disorder are referred for mental health care in any given year. The present study
examined the potential role of parental characteristics (parental affect, parenting style, and parenting self-efficacy) in
pediatrician identification of child behavior problems, and determined whether these relationships differed across practices.
Parents of 831 children between 2 and 16 years completed questionnaires regarding demographic information, their child’s behavior,
their affect, their parenting style, and their parenting self-efficacy. Pediatricians completed a brief questionnaire following
visits in four community-based primary care practices in the Midwest. Logistic regressions controlling for child behavior
and demographic predictors of pediatrician identification found that an authoritarian parenting style, in which parents yell
or strongly negatively react to problem behavior, was negatively associated with likelihood of identification in the overall
sample. However, the variables that were predictive of pediatrician identification differed depending on the specific practice.
Parental characteristics can aid in understanding which children are likely to be identified by their pediatrician as having
behavioral problems. The finding that practices differed on which variables were associated with pediatrician identification
suggests the need to potentially individualize interventions to certain physicians and practices to improve identification
of child behavior problems in primary care.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-11
- DOI 10.1007/s10880-011-9268-x
- Authors
- Robert M. Dempster, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
- Beth G. Wildman, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
- Diane Langkamp, Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH, USA
- John C. Duby, Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH, USA
- Journal Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
- Online ISSN 1573-3572
- Print ISSN 1068-9583