TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - To report, or not to report, animal abuse: the role of perceived self-efficacy in veterinarians' decision-making
JO  - Veterinary record
A1  - Alleyne, Emma
A1  - Sienauskaite, Ornela
A1  - Ford, Jade
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0042-4900
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.105077
ID  - ref1
ER  -