Social status determinants of control in individuals' accounts of their mental illness.

Full Abstract

We examine the determinants of patients' accounts of their own mental illness. In particular, we examine the factors that affect the likelihood of attributing one's own mental illness to controllable factors rather than non-controllable factors. Our quantitative measure of attributional control is derived from the coding of in-depth interviews with people with severe mental illness seeking treatment for the first time (N = 144). We find that those who occupy positions of social disadvantage (particularly African-American males and those who receive public assistance) are less likely to attribute their illness to controllable sources, suggesting that personal mental illness attributions are systematically related to a person's social location. We outline the significance of these findings for research on the psychological consequences of mental illness attributions.

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Author information

Author/s: Maher, Erin J (EJ); Kroska, Amy (A);

Affiliation: Human Services Policy Center, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. emaher(-atsign-)u.washington.edu

Grants: R29 MH44780 (Agency:United States NIMH)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Evaluation Studies; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Social science & medicine (1982) (Soc Sci Med), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Sep; vol 55 (issue 6) : pp 949-61

Dates: Created 2002/09/10; Completed 2002/09/24; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 12220096, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
African Americans - psychology
Age Factors
Attitude to Health - ethnology
Female
Humans
Internal-External Control
Interviews as Topic
Male

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