THE VALIDITY OF MENTAL-PATIENTS ACCOUNTS OF COERCION-RELATED BEHAVIORS IN THE HOSPITAL ADMISSION PROCESS

Although the recent development of a measure for perceived coercion ha s led to great progress in research on coercion in psychiatric setting s, there still exists no consensus on how to measure the existence of real coercive events or pressures. This article reports the developmen t of a system for integrating chart review data and data from intervie ws with multiple participants in the decision for an individual to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The method generates a ''most plau sible factual account'' (MPFA). We then compare this account with that of patients, admitting clinicians and other collateral informants in 171 cases. Patient accounts most closely approximate the MPFA on all b ut one of nine dimensions related to coercion. This may be due to wide r knowledge of the events surrounding the admission.