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Perceived Knowledge and Training Needs in Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention
Results From a Multidisciplinary Survey
Wendy L. Hellerstedt, MPH, PhD;
Alison E. Smith, MPH;
Marcia L. Shew, MD, MPH;
Michael D. Resnick, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:679-684.
Objectives To examine health care professionals' knowledge and interest in training in adolescent pregnancy prevention and whether an association exists between perceived knowledge and interest in training.
Design A cross-sectional mailed survey.
Participants Random, stratified sample design that identified 800 psychologists, 800 social workers, 1000 nurses, and 400 pediatricians from national professional membership lists. Response rate to the mailed survey was 51%. After removing respondents who did not currently work with adolescents, 1242 surveys (41%) were available for analyses.
Main Outcome Measures Descriptive analyses were conducted on self-report data concerning perceived knowledge and interest in training about adolescent pregnancy prevention separately for each of the 4 disciplines. Within disciplines, perceived knowledge and interest in training were correlated for each of 3 content areas (ie, sex education and contraceptive counseling, adolescent pregnancy, and counseling after a negative pregnancy test) and for a summary measure of the content areas.
Results Less than half of the nursing, pediatrics, psychology, and social work professionals reported high perceived knowledge in the 3 content areas. Psychologists and social workers reported the lowest perceived knowledge. However, with the exception of psychologists, more than two thirds of the other respondents reported moderate or high interest in training in the 3 content areas. Interest in training was not strongly correlated with perceived knowledge within any discipline.
Conclusions The need to integrate psychosocial components into adolescent health care is a core assumption in the field, yet these data indicate that psychologists and social workers perceive low levels of knowledge and interest in training. These disciplines may benefit from more targeted professional training about their role in preventing adolescent pregnancy.
From the Maternal and Child Health Program, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health (Dr Hellerstedt, Ms Smith), the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research Center, Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, (Drs Hellerstedt, Shew, and Resnick and Ms Smith), and the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, School of Medicine (Drs Shew and Resnick), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Dr Shew is now with the Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
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