School mental health professionals’ training, comfort, and attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration with pediatric primary care providers

Abstract

Abstract Despite the well-documented need for interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between school mental health (SMH) professionals and pediatric primary care providers (PCPs), research on current collaborative practices of these professionals is limited. Accordingly, using survey methodology, this study investigated SMH professionals’ previous training and training interests, degree of comfort with, attitudes toward, and current practices in IPC with pediatric PCPs. The majority of SMH professionals reported having received some training in IPC and endorsed high levels of interest in additional training. Further, comfort in IPC skills varied considerably based on the skill queried. While SMH professionals indicated IPC was of high importance, results revealed the relative infrequency of IPC with pediatric PCPs. Finally, increased frequency of IPC with pediatric PCPs was associated with positive attitudes toward IPC. Study results underscore the importance of addressing attitudes toward IPC and have implications for advancing research and training in SMH professionals IPC with pediatric PCPs.