title: The construct validity of empowerment among consumers of mental health services.
abstract: Subscales of the Empowerment Scale (Rogers, E. S., Chamberlin, J., Ellison, M. L., Crean, T., 1997. A consumer-constructed scale to measure empowerment among users of mental health services. Psychiatr. Serv. 48, 1042-1047) were examined to see whether they fit a model of consumer empowerment that distinguishes self- and community orientations. In addition, the relationship of these two superordinate factors to several psychosocial factors was examined. Thirty-five participants in a partial hospitalization program were administered the Empowerment Scale and measures of quality of life, social support, self-esteem, psychiatric symptoms, needs and resources, global functioning, and verbal intelligence. Analysis of the subscales of the Empowerment Scale yielded two factors consistent with self- and community orientations to empowerment. Correlational analyses revealed that the two superordinate factors were associated with different sets of psychosocial variables. A self-orientation to empowerment was significantly associated with quality of life, social support, self-esteem, and psychiatric symptoms. Community orientation was correlated with self-esteem, resources, verbal intelligence, and ethnicity. The implications of these findings for a model of consumer empowerment are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Chicago, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Tinley Park, IL 60477, USA. pcorriga@mcis.bsd.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Corrigan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leary
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002641:Chicago; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support