Self-efficacy and consumer satisfaction with housing.

Abstract

During clinical recovery mental health consumers express increasing interest in assuming control over their community living arrangements. Despite recent policy initiatives toward consumer empowerment in housing services and supports, few studies have explored empowerment issues, such as self-efficacy, in relation to housing satisfaction. This study explored the extent to which specific areas of support and self-efficacy predict consumer satisfaction with housing. This study also explored how different types of housing, and consumer housing preferences, also explain consumer satisfaction with housing. One-hundred twenty-five randomly selected consumers completed structured interviews. As hypothesized, hierarchical multiple predictor regression analyses revealed type of housing and self-efficacy as significant predictor variables. The total regression equation accounted for 67 percent of the explained variance in housing satisfaction. Chi-square analyses across housing groups indicated that consumers prefer less restrictive residential settings. Findings suggest that consumers prefer less restrictive housing, as such relate in part to increasing levels of self-efficacy. Further study is recommended to explore how self-efficacy may best be promoted across different clinical groups and different residential settings.