Assessing the professional social capital of psychiatrists: development of the Resource Generator for Psychiatrists (RG-Psy).

Background: In the field of psychiatry, the dissemination of clinical innovations greatly depends on the social capital of clinicians. An instrument specifically aimed at measuring their professional social capital therefore needs to be developed.

Methods: This survey was conducted to develop and validate the Resource Generator for Psychiatrists, an 11-item questionnaire measuring the social capital of psychiatrists. The online questionnaire was administered through a link sent by e-mail to all psychiatrists and residents in psychiatry licensed to work in Belgium, after excluding ineligible psychiatrists. A total of 1618 psychiatrists or residents were reached. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Internal consistency was assessed using Pearson's correlation, item-total correlation and Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was also measured. Multivariable linear regression analysis assessed the association between the total score of the social capital and psychiatrist demographics.

Results: A total of 196 psychiatrists responded to the survey (response rate: 12.1%). The Resource Generator for Psychiatrists showed a normal distribution with a mean of 23.6 (SD = 15.5), good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.81) and a good total Cronbach's alpha (0.74). Exploratory factor analysis revealed two main subtypes in psychiatrists' social capital: "Resources for the clinician" and "Resources for the professional", with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.62 and 0.7 respectively. Clinicians attending institutional seminars (β = 5.52, SE = 2.2, p = .013) and working in multidisciplinary settings, such as hospitals (β = 4.75, SE = 2.06, p = .023) or a mobile team (β = 8.75, SE = 3.52, p = .014) were more likely to have higher social capital.

Conclusion: Psychiatrists' access to professional resources can be reliably measured by using an 11-item questionnaire.