Adolescent health brief
Adolescent Exploratory Behavior—What Do Trainees Know?

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Abstract

This is the first known study in the United Kingdom to investigate, among Specialist Registrars (i.e., doctors in training in pediatrics), the priority afforded to, the prevalence of, and the ability to recognize, diagnose, and manage three key areas of exploratory behavior: namely, sexual health, substance misuse, and self-harm. We demonstrate that, although trainees recognize the importance of diagnosis and intervention, they lack training and do not believe that they have the appropriate skills, knowledge, or confidence to carry out these important tasks.

Section snippets

Mortality, morbidity, and impact on adult life

Exploratory behaviors are common and can result in mortality and morbidity, suicide, aggressive behavior, mental health disorders, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. They have also been shown to be significant factors in non-adherence in adolescent chronic disease management [3], [4]. Of particular concern are the findings that exploratory behaviors cluster in adolescents, especially in those who are depressed, homeless, young offenders, or who have other problems that

Development and administration of questionnaire

A modified version of the Perceptions of Adolescent Issues & Resources: Care of Adolescents questionnaire [7] was used. The questionnaire was distributed during two regional (West Midlands) pediatric SpR training days, followed by postal distribution and a reminder e-mail. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 10.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).

Demographic data

A total of 84 questionnaires were completed. The response rate was 68%, including 48% male and 52% female SpRs. Of the cohort, 70% of the cohort were from the first years of SpR training.

Training experience

Of the SpRs, only 41% reported that they had received any training in adolescent health. Nine of 10 SpRs reported receiving training in asthma, whereas less than 50% had received training in relation to self-harm and only 20% had training regarding alcohol and other substance misuse.

Barriers to providing care

The most frequently

Relevance

As far as we are aware, this is the first study to investigate the priority afforded to exploratory behaviors by pediatric SpRs as well as their perceptions of their ability to detect and manage these conditions. This study demonstrates that, although SpRs recognize the importance of diagnosis and intervention for exploratory behaviors, they lack training in this area; as a result, they do not have the skills, knowledge, or confidence to tackle this challenging but common feature of adolescent

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Janet McDonagh for support, help, and the use of her questionnaire; Dr. Vasudevan for his assistance with the SPSS package and data inputting; the University Hospital North Staffordshire Research and Development department for assistance with design; and Corrina Knight for proofreading. Finally, the authors thank all pediatric Specialist Registrars in the West Midlands for taking the time to complete the questionnaire for this study.

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