Ethical beliefs and behaviors of pediatric psychologists: a survey

There is an absence of data concerning the beliefs about and compliance with ethical principles of pediatric psychologists. Survey data were collected from 169 psychologist members of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 12, Section 5 of APA) regarding the degree to which they engaged in each of 101 behaviors and the degree to which they considered each behavior ethical. The data were categorized and examined in terms of the APA Ethical Principles. Results indicated that pediatric psychologists show significantly different beliefs and behavior comparing children, adolescents, and their parents. A "majority belief" scale was developed where 80% of pediatric psychologists agreed that a clinical behavior was ethical or not ethical. Female pediatric psychologists, compared to males, more strongly endorsed the majority belief items (p less than .01). In addition, psychologists who graduated from APA-approved graduate programs more strongly endorsed the majority belief items than did psychologists from non-APA programs (p less than .05). Increased awareness of ethical issues is hoped to improve self-regulation by psychologists.