Staff members' feelings toward psychiatric patients related to their own and the patient's self-image and gender.

Abstract

The relation between staff members' feelings toward a patient and their own and the patient's self-image in different gender combination groups was studied. Staff at 16 psychiatric treatment homes for patients with severe psychopathology reported their feelings toward their patients on a number of occasions. At the start of treatment, both staff members and patients rated their self-images using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). Male staff seemed less influenced by the patient, with their feelings relating mainly to aspects of their own self-image, while the feelings of the female staff were more related to the patient's self-image. The patient's diagnosis was less important for a staff member's feelings than that member's self-image. Generally, the relation between feelings and self-image was stronger for negative feelings. The results point to the importance of understanding more about the influence of staff members' self-structure on their negative feelings toward their patients and how this relates to both the staff member's and patient's gender.