title: Older adults' perceptions of recovery from mental illness: Impact of psychiatric hospitalization prior to 1990.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We tested the hypothesis that older adults are more likely than younger adults to consider their current mental health status when estimating their own recovery from psychiatric illness because many older people were first hospitalized for psychiatric illness prior to the emergence of the recovery movement in the 1990s, before recovery was redefined to include life improvements other than symptom alleviation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one members of a rehabilitation program (age 23 to 69; M = 49) were asked to rate satisfaction with their own recovery and with their current mental and physical health. The study hypothesis was tested in two hierarchical regression analyses that examined variation in the correlation between mental health and recovery self-ratings first by age and then by year of first hospitalization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The correspondence between mental health and recovery self-ratings was twice as strong for adults age 50 and older compared with those younger than age 50 and this same age difference in self-ratings was also evident for participants first hospitalized for a psychiatric illness earlier versus later than 1990. The correlation between physical health and recovery self-ratings did not vary by age or year of first hospitalization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recovery-oriented interventions will be most effective for older individuals when service providers take into account their personal histories and the propensity of many older adults to associate recovery with symptom improvement even while embracing other life improvements.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Health Alliance, Central Street Health Center, 26 Central Street, Somerville, MA 02143, USA. mtepper@challiance.org
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tepper
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smiley
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hinde
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult