Primary care pediatrician perceptions towards mental health within the primary care setting

Mental health (MH) conditions are highly prevalent, yet only marginal portions of children receive adequate services. Access to specialized mental healthcare is limited and, consequently, pediatricians remain the source of management and care of children with MH disorders. Despite this, research suggests that pediatricians report lack of access to training and support regarding MH care of youth, leading to discomfort with managing the population they are asked to treat. An additional barrier to care that has less research is perceptions regarding MH disorders among pediatricians. This scoping review aims to describe the state of science regarding perceptions and possible stigma towards MH in pediatric primary care.

PsychInfo, PubMed Medline, Ovid Medline, CINAHL, and Embase were searched with terms related to stigma, pediatricians, and MH disorders. New research articles were included after review, which addressed stigma in pediatricians treating youth with MH disorders.

Our initial search produced 457 titles, with 23 selected for full-text review, and 8 meeting inclusion criteria, N = 1571 pediatricians.

While a limited number of studies focus on physician-based perceptions/stigma, and even less data on pediatrician stigma towards MH, more studies are needed to explore how this impacts patient care.

In this scoping review, we sought to shed light on the limitations regarding MH care access, especially with the increasing need for care and not enough MH specialists, adding to an already tremendous burden pediatric primary care providers face daily. We also reviewed barriers to said care within pediatric primary care, including the potential for physician stigma towards MH diagnosis, treatment, and management. This review adds a concise summary of the current limited studies on stigma towards MH within primary care pediatricians and the importance of continued research into how perception and stigma affect patient care. This material is an original project and has not been previously published. This work is not submitted for publication or consideration elsewhere.