Pediatricians' Practices and Desired Resources for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence

To explore pediatricians' perspectives on supporting intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, including (a) clinical practices and resource use, (b) ideal resources, and (c) barriers to the use of existing resources, we conducted dyadic and individual virtual interviews with pediatricians recruited through Twitter and the American Academy of Pediatrics Council, section, and chapter listservs. The interviews were approximately 60 minutes in length, audio recorded, and transcribed verbatim. We used a thematic analysis approach and hybrid deductive-inductive coding. Twenty-three pediatricians participated in 14 interviews. We identified four themes. Participants' current practices primarily focused on IPV screening and response to disclosure. They described strategies for IPV resource provision and decision-making involving child protective services. They identified multilevel barriers to addressing IPV, including barriers, such as time, identified in previous studies as well as barriers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth, the electronic health record, and disclosure-focused approaches. The participants desired provider-facing and caregiver-facing resources to strengthen the capacity to address IPV; some were unaware of currently available resources. They noted the need for continued attention to optimizing systems to enhance their capacity to support IPV survivors. Pediatricians report varying practices to address IPV and identify several surmountable barriers to supporting IPV survivors. Our study suggests that disclosure-driven clinical practices, confidentiality concerns, and lack of resources limit pediatricians' capacity to address IPV. Additional resource development and dissemination efforts are needed to improve the awareness of IPV resources currently available to pediatricians and families.