The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between experiences with client violence and attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities among mental health professionals and the roles of their coping methods between them. It also...
The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between experiences with client violence and attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities among mental health professionals and the roles of their coping methods between them. It also aimed to help them reduce their negative attitudes toward their clients who were people with psychiatric disabilities by taking effective coping methods after experiencing violence and thus increase the quality of service provided to people with psychiatric disabilities. For those purposes, a mail survey was taken among 274 mental health professionals working at mental health centers across the nation, and their responses were used in analysis.
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out to understand the mediating effects of coping methods in mental health professionals' attitudes toward their clients who were people with psychiatric disabilities. Major research findings were as follows:
1. As for the effects of experiences with violence on their authoritarianism, their higher perceptions of physical, verbal and sexual violence led to greater effects on their authoritarianism. As for the mediating effects of emotionally alleviating coping on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities after experiencing client violence, only physical violence was mediated by emotionally alleviating coping on the effects on their authoritarianism, which suggests that the more emotionally alleviating coping they adopted, the more authoritarianism they exercised on physical violence. In short, emotionally alleviating coping seems to have negative effects on the mental health professionals' attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities.
2. As for the effects of violence experiences on benevolence, their higher perceptions of physical and sexual violence led to greater effects on their benevolence. As for the mediating effects of problem-based coping on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities after experiencing client violence, only physical violence was mediated by problem-based coping on the effects on their benevolence, which suggests that the more problem-based coping they adopted, the more benevolence they had on physical violence. In short, problem-based coping seems to have positive effects on the mental health professionals' attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities.
3. As for the effects of violence experiences on social restrictiveness, their higher perceptions of physical and sexual violence led to greater effects on their social restrictiveness. As for the mediating effects of such coping methods as pursuit of social support, emotional alleviation, and wishful thinking on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities after experiencing client violence, only physical violence was mediated by the three coping methods on the effects on social restrictiveness, which suggests that the more pursuit of social support, emotional alleviation, and wishful thinking they adopted, the more social restrictiveness by physical violence they experienced. In short, the three coping methods seem to have negative effects on the mental health professionals' attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities.
4. As for the effects of violence experiences on community mental health ideology, their higher perceptions of physical and sexual violence led to greater effects on their community mental health ideology. As for the mediating effects of emotionally alleviating coping on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities after experiencing client violence, only physical violence was mediated by emotionally alleviating coping on the effects on their community mental health ideology, which suggests that the more emotionally alleviating coping they employed, the more community mental health ideology by physical violence they had. In short, emotionally alleviating coping seems to have positive effects on the mental health professionals' attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities.
The analysis results reveal that client violence experienced by mental health professionals had effects on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities and that only problem-based coping had positive mediating effects on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities after experiencing physical violence enforced by their clients. Considering those results, it is critical for mental health professionals to learn and master how to prevent violence and take effective coping measures, for which the following conditions should be met: first, there should be a safety device on the field to prevent client violence in advance; second, there is a need for a pair of mental health professionals to visit client homes to prevent and take effective measures against client violences; third, risk management education should be offered to increase problem-based coping, which turned out to have positive mediating effects on their attitudes toward people with psychiatric disabilities, and psychological counseling should be provided to those who experienced client violence so that they can actively solve a problem in a future risky situation involving violence; and finally, mental health centers need to reinforce supportive measures for those who experienced client violences.