Recovery attitudes questionnaire: Development and evaluation

A questionnaire to assess attitudes toward recovery from psychiatric disord ers was developed in conjunction with consumers from the Hamilton County Re covery Initiative. People with mental disorders, family members, profession als and others were surveyed and 844 completed questionnaires constituted t he final sample. This study reports the development and analysis of the que stionnaire. The original 21 item scale was reduced to 7 items loading on tw o factors: Factor 1 "Recovery is possible and needs faith, " Factor 5 "Reco very is difficult and differs amoung people". II Differences in attitudes w ere found among professionals, people with mental disorders, family members , and others, The questionnaire can be used to help assess feelings about r ecovery and possibly determine for whom services focusing on advocacy and s elf-help might be more efficacious Ban traditional mental heath services.