Determinants of academic survival: survey of AACAP poster authors.

OBJECTIVE

To assess personal and institutional factors that may influence the development and retention of child psychiatry researchers and to estimate academic survival rates of full-time child psychiatry researchers.

METHOD

One hundred forty-seven (79%) of 187 physician-first authors of research posters presented at the annual meetings (1984 to 1990) of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists were surveyed for demographic data, current academic status, level of research involvement, career path from 1984 to 1991, and factors facilitating or hindering research career success.

RESULTS

Survival analysis of strictly defined full-time researchers (N = 46) revealed a 67% 7-year survival rate. Significantly higher survival rates were obtained for investigators with more than 2 years of research training or with affiliation with major child psychiatric research institutions when beginning a full-time research position. Both these factors were significant and independent predictors of academic survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Research training and affiliation with a major child psychiatric research institution are associated with longer academic survival for full-time researchers.