Evaluation of Society of Pediatric Psychology initiatives to support trainees in pediatric psychology

The Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP) outlines the need to devise strategies to develop and retain the future generation of pediatric psychologists within its strategic objectives. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the use and perceived value of the training initiatives offered by SPP and to examine differences based on trainee demographics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, type of training program). The training initiatives fall into 4 categories: leadership, networking, awards/funding, and publications/ newsletters. A brief questionnaire assessing use and perceived value of training initiatives, as well as number of presentations and outcomes, was sent via e-mail to the SPP division listservs. One-hundred and 34 trainees completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and multiple regressions were used to examine the associations between demographic variables, use and perceived value, and outcomes (e.g., publications and presentations). Within this sample, initiatives were well known and utilized. With few exceptions, training initiatives were rated as having moderate to high perceived value. There were significant associations between the number of initiatives which respondents had utilized and indicators of career success, including authored publications, F(7, 102) = 5.45, p < .001 and conference presentations, F(7, 99) = 9.47, p < .001. SPP training initiatives have a high perceived value, and use of initiatives is associated with indicators of career success. Results highlight the importance of continually assessing the initiatives for perceived benefit and value in order to optimize resource allocation, increase visibility of initiatives, and meeting the training needs of a diverse body of pediatric psychology trainees.