@article{ref1,
title="To report, or not to report, animal abuse: the role of perceived self-efficacy in veterinarians' decision-making",
journal="Veterinary record",
year="2019",
author="Alleyne, Emma and Sienauskaite, Ornela and Ford, Jade",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Veterinarians are on the frontline of animal welfare, but little is known about the factors that facilitate their decision to report cases of abuse to authorities. Using perceived self-efficacy as a basis, the primary aim of this study was to examine the psychological and experiential factors linked to veterinarians' reporting behaviour. <br><br>METHODS: We administered questionnaires to 176 veterinarians assessing the amount of training received on detecting/reporting animal abuse, perceived self-efficacy to report animal abuse, and whether they have reported animal abuse incidents to the relevant authorities. <br><br>RESULTS: We found that perceived self-efficacy positively correlated with suspecting and reporting animal abuse, number of hours of specialised training, and years working in practice. As hypothesised, we also found that perceived self-efficacy explained the relationship between specialised training (in hours) and reporting animal abuse. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the psychological impact of specialised training on veterinarians' reporting behaviour. Simply put, specialist training equips veterinarians with the confidence and self-efficacy to report suspected cases of animal abuse. The implications for training curriculum and veterinary policy are discussed.<br><br>© British Veterinary Association 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0042-4900",
doi="10.1136/vr.105077",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.105077"
}