Factual sources of psychiatric patients' perceptions of coercion in the hospital admission process
Authors
Lidz, Charles W.Mulvey, Edward P.
Hoge, Steven K.
Kirsch, Brenda L.
Monahan, John
Eisenberg, Marlene
Gardner, William
Roth, Loren H.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Center for Research on Mental Health ServicesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
1998-09-12Keywords
AdultAged
Aged, 80 and over
*Attitude to Health
*Coercion
Commitment of Mentally Ill
Female
Hospital Records
*Hospitals, Psychiatric
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Mental Disorders
Middle Aged
*Patient Admission
Patient Participation
Persuasive Communication
Questionnaires
Research Design
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychiatry
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine what predicts patients' perceptions of coercion surrounding admission to a psychiatric hospital. METHOD: For 171 cases, the authors integrated data from interviews with patients, admitting clinicians, and other individuals involved in the patients' psychiatric admissions with data from the medical records. Using a structured set of procedures, coders determined whether or not nine coercion-related behaviors occurred around the time of admission. Correlation and regression analyses were used to describe the predictors of patients' scores on the MacArthur Perceived Coercion Scale. RESULTS: The use of legal force, being given orders, threats, and "a show of force" were all strongly correlated with perceived coercion. A least squares regression accounted for 43.3% of the variance in perceived coercion. The evidence also suggested that force is typically only used in conjunction with less coercive pressures. CONCLUSIONS: Force and negative symbolic pressures, such as threats and giving orders about admission decisions, induce perceptions of coercion in persons with mental illness. Positive symbolic pressures, such as persuasion, do not induce perceptions of coercion. Such positive pressures should be tried in order to encourage admission before force or negative pressures are used.Source
Am J Psychiatry. 1998 Sep;155(9):1254-60.
DOI
10.1176/ajp.155.9.1254Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/38517PubMed ID
9734551Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1176/ajp.155.9.1254