Background: Researchers have developed scales assessing adults' trust beliefs in physicians and found that those are associated with measures of health behaviour and physical health. The purpose of the research was to develop a Children's Trust in General Physicians Scale (CTGPS) and examine its relation to health behaviour: adherence to medical regimes.
Methods: The participants were 128 children (68 girls and 60 boys) in Study 1 and 198 children (105 girls and 93 boys) in Study 2 who attended years 5 and 6 of elementary school in UK (mean ages = 10 years and 10 months and 10 years and 7 months respectively). The children completed the nine-item CTGPS and reported their trust in doctors and (in Study 2) adherence to medical regimes. Parents also reported those behaviours.
Results: Principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis of the CTGPS yielded the expected three factors: Honesty, Emotional and Reliability. The CTGPS had acceptable internal consistency and, as evidence for its validity, was associated with reported trust in doctors. The results from Study 2 confirmed that the CTGPS was associated with adherence to medical regimes.
Conclusion: A CTGPS was developed that is associated with adherence to medical regimes.