ABSTRACT
Objectives
Many forms of psychiatric treatment include social experiences as part of treatment. Patients often have both formal and informal opportunities to interact with their peers while receiving treatment in settings such as residential, inpatient, and partial hospital levels of care. However, patients’ perceptions of these formal and informal social encounters are not routinely assessed in clinical care or clinical research, and the extent to which these social experiences are related to positive or negative outcomes during treatment is unclear.
Methods
The authors developed a 19-item self-report measure of social experiences during treatment, with input from stakeholders comprised of former patients at the study site.
470 adults receiving psychiatric treatment at a partial hospitalization program then completed this novel measure, the “Fellow Travelers in Treatment” Scale, alongside symptom and personality measures. These measures were used to test the factor structure of the new Scale, and the hypothesis that more positive and more frequent social interactions would be associated with less post-treatment depression and anxiety symptoms. We also assessed whether more frequent and more positive social interactions with peers were related to established measures of extraversion and social anxiety. Finally, we conducted exploratory analyses of symptoms and frequency of specific social behaviors.
Results
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded a 3-factor solution for the measure, with domains of learning from others, frequency of social contact, and respect from peers; in addition, a separate set of items not included in the factor analysis assessed frequency of specific social behaviors. Broadly, these subscales showed the expected relationships with extraversion, social anxiety, and social support. Mostly consistent with hypotheses, higher levels of respect from peers and learning from peers were associated with lower depression and anxiety scores; however, frequency of social contact was unrelated to symptom measures.
Conclusion
Results of this preliminary study illustrate the potential value of assessing patients’ social experiences with peers during acute treatment, and demonstrate that peer social interactions are a significant correlate of treatment outcome. Future research is needed to further establish the validity of this novel measure.