Staff Attitude Towards Coercive Measures in Hospital and Community Psychiatric Settings in Journal of Clinical Medicine

2025
ASL Torino 5

Tipo pubblicazione

Article

Autori/Collaboratori (9)Vedi tutti...

Di Lorenzo R
Department of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, AUSL-Modena, Modena, Italy
Mucchi F
Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
Magnani N
Adult Mental Health Functional Unit, ASL Toscana Sud-Est, Grosseto, Italy

et alii...

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The use of coercive measures in psychiatry is an ethically controversial issue. Staff attitude towards coercive measures could explain the different application frequencies of coercive measures across psychiatric services. Methods: We analyzed the attitude towards coercion held by professionals working in a psychiatric department using the Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale (SACS). We statistically evaluated the correlation between the SACS score and the demographic and work characteristics of professionals. Results: The most represented category of participants was nurses (73.03%). Most professionals worked in a Mental Health Community Service (MHCS) (72.09%). We reported a score of 41.9 ± 8.8 SD in total SACS and high scores in two SACS factors: “Coercion as offending” and “Coercion as care and security”. Professionals working in Service for Psychiatric Diagnosis and Care (SPDC) showed reduced scores in total SACS and the SACS dimension “Coercion as offending” score. Place of work, particularly “working in SPDC”, was statistically significantly associated with total SACS in a positive way and with the “Coercion as offending” score in a negative way in our regression multivariate test. Conclusions: Our professionals showed a predominantly critical and pragmatic attitude towards coercive measures. The professionals who are more frequently exposed to violent and aggressive behavior, such as those who work in SPDC, showed a reduced critical attitude towards coercion in comparison with those working in MHCS, suggesting that exposure to violence can shape the response of professionals.

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DOI : 10.3390/jcm14092886

Keywords

adult; article; coercion; community care; correlation analysis; demographics; female; health personnel attitude; human; male; medical staff; mental health care; multiple regression; nurse; nursing assistant; observational study; prospective study; psychiatric rehabilitation technician; psychiatrist; psychologist; rating scale; Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale; statistically significant result;