ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1516773
This article is part of the Research TopicDismantling Disparities: Advancing Mental Healthcare Access for Diverse YouthView all 7 articles
"Treatment is both psychological and medical": Applying mixed methods to the understanding of mental and behavioral health in pediatric specialty medicine
Provisionally accepted
- 1Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, United States
- 2Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
- 3Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States
- 4School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States
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Abstract Introduction: Mental and behavioral health (MBH) access varies in pediatric specialty medicine and rural healthcare. This study aimed to characterize healthcare professionals' perceptions and experience with MBH services and readiness for change. Methods: Thirty rural healthcare professionals completed validated questionnaires and semi-structured interviews designed to meet study objectives. A convergent mixed methods design with a comparison method of interpretation was followed. Results: Thematic analysis yielded three major themes highlighting the prevalence of MBH concerns in practice, global perceptions of MBH care, and related barriers/facilitators to implementation. Current levels of MBH integration varied though overall readiness for change was high. Discussion: Findings highlight stakeholder perceptions about the role of MBH in pediatric specialty medicine. Key considerations for those who utilize or plan to adopt integrated MBH care at various levels are discussed, including readiness to change and other structural (e.g., organizational) or individual factors serving as facilitators and barriers to implementation.
Keywords: Pediatric Psychology, psychosocial, healthcare, subspecialty care, multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary
Received: 24 Oct 2024; Accepted: 08 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Williford, Kelleher, Davidov and Duncan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Desireé Nicole Williford, desiree.williford@cchmc.org
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