In the Moment: Attitudinal Measure of Pediatrician Management of Maternal Depression

Park, Elyse R.; Storfer-Isser, Amy; Kelleher, Kelly J.; Stein, Ruth E.K.; Heneghan, Amy M.; Chaudron, Linda; Hoagwood, Kimberly Eaton; O’Connor, Karen G.; Horwitz, Sarah McCue

doi:10.1016/j.ambp.2007.03.002

« Previous Next »Ambulatory Pediatrics
Volume 7, Issue 3 , Pages 239-246, May 2007

In the Moment: Attitudinal Measure of Pediatrician Management of Maternal Depression

Elyse R. Park, PhD
- Departments of Psychiatry/Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
- Address correspondence to Elyse R. Park, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, 50 Staniford St, 9th Floor, Boston, MA 02114.
Amy Storfer-Isser, MS
- Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio
Kelly J. Kelleher, MD, MPH
- Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Ruth E.K. Stein, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Amy M. Heneghan, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio
Linda Chaudron, MD
- Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Kimberly Eaton Hoagwood, PhD
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY
Karen G. O’Connor, BS
- Department of Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Sarah McCue Horwitz, PhD
- Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio

Received 2 January 2006; accepted 11 March 2007.

Objective

Pediatricians are in a good position to identify women who struggle with depression, but studies show low rates of pediatrician identification and management. It is likely that pediatricians’ management of maternal depression may vary on the basis of their attitudes, but no instrument has been developed to measure these attitudes. We sought to develop a measure of pediatricians’ attitudes about managing maternal depression and to identify characteristics associated with pediatricians’ attitudes about managing maternal depression.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data provided by 651 practicing, nontrainee pediatricians (response rate 57.5%) surveyed through an American Academy of Pediatrics 2004 Periodic Survey. An exploratory principal components analysis was used to investigate the interrelationships among the attitudinal items. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the adjusted associations between physician and practice characteristics and attitudes.

Results

The attitudinal measure consisted of 3 subscales: acknowledging maternal depression, perceptions of mothers’ beliefs, and treating maternal depression. Clinical approaches (eg, interest in further education on identifying or treating maternal depression) and training and work characteristics were significantly related to pediatricians’ attitudes; patient characteristics (eg, type of insurance and ethnicity/race) were not significantly associated with pediatricians’ attitudes.

Conclusions

We developed a measure to assess pediatricians’ attitudes about managing maternal depression. The findings from this study can be used to develop and assess interventions that improve pediatricians’ attitudes about acknowledging maternal depression, perceptions of mothers’ beliefs, and treating maternal depression.

Key words: attitudes, maternal depression, survey