Table 1.

Positive and negative physician communication behaviors

	Specific communication behaviors
Behavioral categories	Positive	Negative
Friendly	Greeted patient warmly	Did not greet patient
	Apologized for delay	Did not apologize for delay
Personal interest in patient	Asked informal questions	Asked no informal questions
Gave patient undivided attention	Always seemed in a hurry to finish
	Made eye contact	Made no eye contact
Emotionally supportive	Praised patient for quitting smoking during pregnancy	Admonished patient for having smoked before pregnancy
Offered condolences on death of patient's father	No repsonse to death of patient's father
	Never critical when making recommendations	Often critical when making recommendations
Provided explanations	Explained changes patient experienced during pregnancy	Did not explain changes patient experienced during pregnancy
	Pointed out possible obstacles to patient adherence	Did not point out any obstacles to patient adherence
Communicated clearly	Rarely used medical terms	Often used medical terms
	Explained terms when used	Did not explain terms
Confirmed understanding	Encouraged patient to ask questions	Did not encourage questions
	Listened carefully to patient	Interrupted patient frequently
Made suggestions to make pregnancy easier	Offered referral for counseling	Did not offer counseling referral
	Provided strategies for overcoming obstacles to adherence	Provided no strategies for overcoming obstacles to adherence