THERAPEUTIC ADVENTURES OUTDOORS - A DEMONSTRATION OF BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL-ILLNESS

Fifty-seven people with serious and persistent mental illness receivin g outpatient treatment ill psychosocial rehabilitation programs partic ipated in an outdoor adventure program involving weekly day-long outin gs for 9 weeks. Adventure activities included hiking, rock-climbing an d rappelling, spelunking (caving), and canoeing In addition to adventu re sport stills instruction, self-instruction training was incorporate d into the program. Nineteen patients receiving treatment ill the same facilities who were interested but unable to participate due to sched ule conflicts (work or other treatments) served as controls. Significa nt increases In scores on the Self-Efficacy Scale, the two subscales o f the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (Perceived Physical Ability and Phy sical Self-Presentation Confidence), The Generalized Self-Efficacy Sca le, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory were seen in the experimen tal group compared to controls. There were also significant reductions in scores oil the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Brief Sympt om Inventory in the experimental group compared to controls. Patients with affective or schizoaffective disorders showed all increase in sco res olt the Trust and Cooperation Scale, and decreased BSI Hostility a nd Intepersonal Sensitivity Methodological problems inherent in such r esearch are discussed, and suggestions for future research in this are a are offered.