Predictors of the adaptation of people with psychiatric disabilities in group homes, supportive apartments, and board-and-care homes

In this research, we compare the housing qualities, social support, persona l empowerment, and emotional well-being of 111 people with psychiatric disa bilities across three different types of housing: group homes (GH), support ive apartments (SA), and board-and-care homes (BCH). Residents of GH and SA report more resident control, and fewer living companions, and are more li kely to have their own rooms than people in BCH residences. Also, residents of GH and SA report higher levels of personal empowerment (independent ski lls and perceived control) but lower levels of emotional well-being (positi ve and negative affect) than people in BCH residences. Hierarchical regress ion analyses show that housing and social support measures are significant predictors of the measures of personal empowerment and emotional well-being , over and above type of housing and demographic variables. The results are discussed in terms of previous research and their implications for policy and practice in supportive housing for psychiatric consumer/survivors.