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Published on: June 20, 2020

Development of a Children's Trust in General Physicians Scale

K J Rotenberg1, J Cunningham, N Hayton

  • 1School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. k.j.rotenberg@keele.ac.uk

Child: Care, Health and Development
|October 31, 2008
PubMed

Insights

A new scale, the Children's Trust in General Physicians Scale (CTGPS), was developed. This scale measures children's trust in doctors and is linked to better adherence to medical treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Psychology
  • Medical Sociology

Background:

  • Adult trust in physicians is linked to health behaviors and physical health.
  • Existing measures focus on adult trust beliefs.
  • The need for a pediatric-specific measure of physician trust was identified.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop the Children's Trust in General Physicians Scale (CTGPS).
  • To assess the relationship between children's trust in physicians and their health behaviors, specifically adherence to medical regimes.

Main Methods:

  • Two studies were conducted with elementary school children (Years 5 and 6) in the UK.
  • Participants completed the nine-item CTGPS, reporting their trust in doctors.
  • Study 2 included parent-reported data and assessed adherence to medical regimes.

Main Results:

  • Factor analysis confirmed the CTGPS has three factors: Honesty, Emotional, and Reliability.
  • The CTGPS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and validity, correlating with reported trust in doctors.
  • Study 2 results showed a significant association between CTGPS scores and adherence to medical regimes.

Conclusions:

  • A valid and reliable Children's Trust in General Physicians Scale (CTGPS) was successfully developed.
  • The CTGPS is associated with children's adherence to medical treatments.
  • Findings support the importance of physician trust in pediatric health behavior.
Abstract

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