Impact of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist: Physician Identification and Response to Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health Concerns

2012

Given the relationship between childhood and adult mental health concerns, it is imperative to accurately detect concerns early in order to prevent later, more severe, and often more costly problems. The purpose of the presented study was to investigate how the implementation of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC; Jellinek & Murphy,1988) impacted primary care physician identification and response to behavioral health problems. An A-B-A-B reversal design was used to examine the effect of implementing the PCS. Data on dependent variables was collected through review of medical records for each eligible patient seen over the course of the study. Results indicated no functional relation between implementation of the PCS and behavioral health concerns identified or physicians? responses to such concerns. Data did suggest that physicians identified behavioral health concerns even without a screener. Study limitations and implications are discussed.

Conference presentations and posters presented

Consumers/Families, Professionals, Policymakers, Students

[email protected]

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