Anxiety and parent's beliefs about medication in primary pediatric health care

The goal of the present study is to explore the relation between parents’ anxiety and cognitive representations of medication in pediatric treatment of their children, seeking possible differences as a function of gender and age. A total of 1,772 parents of children attended in primary pediatric health care centers of the public health care system of Andalusia, Spain participated in this study. Of the sample, 25.1% were men and 74.9% were women. Negative beliefs about medicines were found to be associated with higher levels of anxiety in parents during primary pediatric health care. Among the variables studied, the beliefs in medication abuse predicted higher levels of anxiety. Intervention initiatives could substantially improve patients and their relatives’ well-being during pediatric consultation, adherence to treatment, and lastly general satisfaction. Findings are discussed with reference to other authors, clinical implications, and the need of future research.