Medical specialization, profession, and mediating beliefs that predict stated likelihood of alcohol screening and brief intervention: Targeting educational interventions

Abstract

Practitioner‐level educational approaches that promote screening and brief intervention (SBI) seldom consider providers' profession and medical specialization. Strategies that consider these variables may be better equipped to affect change in beliefs and behavior. The aim of this study was to identify beliefs that predict stated likelihood of practicing SBI by specialty and health profession in order to guide the direction of educational strategies. Physicians and nurse practitioners were studied that specialized in family, internal, obstetric gynecology (ObGyn), and pediatric medicine. The results indicated that independent of amount of previous postgraduate alcohol education and knowledge, self‐rated competence mediated between specialty and likelihood of practicing SBI. For instance, low self‐rated competence for ObGyn was a barrier that suppressed likelihood of practicing SBI. Other findings were that role legitimacy mediated the association between profession and likelihood of SBI, so that lack of role legitimacy was a barrier for physicians but not for nurse practitioners. We suggest that targeted educational strategies for ObGyn and pediatric clinicians may prove more effective than the prevalent one‐size‐fits all approaches aimed at general adult populations.