Assessment of the social atmospheres of psychiatric wards.

Abstract

The development of a Ward Atmosphere Scale, which differentiates between the social atmospheres of psychiatric inpatient wards, is described. An initial form of the scale was given to patients and staff on 14 wards from Veterans Administration, state, community, private, and university hospitals. The 2nd form of the scale consists of items which significantly differentiate between wards for patients and/or staff. This form includes 12 subscales, e.g., Spontaneity, Autonomy, Affiliation, Aggression, Variety, and Support, each of which measures the emphasis on 1 dimension of ward atmosphere. Ward profiles which compare average patient perceptions of different wards have been constructed. The importance of developing measures of psychological environments and the implications relating to the matching of individual needs and environmental press were discussed. Most current personality theories subscribe either explicitly or implicitly to the belief that behavior is a joint function of both the person and the environment. Until the present, however, personality theorists have emphasized and studied the person and have paid relatively little attention to the systematic conceptualization and assessment of environmental dimensions. Notable exceptions to this generalization have been Cattell, Lewin, and Murray, all of whom have attempted to include environmental as well as person variables in their theories. For example, Murray's concept of environmental press provides an external situational counterpart to internalized personality needs. If one seriously believes the general proposition that behavior is some interactive function of individual needs and environmental