Citation

DE Benedictis L, Dumais A, Stafford MC, Côté G, Lesage A. J. Psychiatr. Ment. Health Nurs. 2012; 19(10): 875-880.

Affiliation

Psychiatrist Statistician, Philippe-Pinel Institute Psychiatrist, Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, Fernand-Seguin Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry of the University of Montréal, Montreal, and Head of the Research Centre of the Philippe-Pinel Institute, Fernand-Seguin Research Centre, Department of Psychology, Quebec University in Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01870.x

PMID

22295950

Abstract

ACCESSIBLE SUMMARY: •  Staff attitudes to violence by psychiatric patients may have an impact on the therapeutic relationship. •  The French versions of the Perception of Aggression Scale and of a new Modified version of the Overt Aggression Scale are two useful tools for evaluating the subjective experience of and attitudes towards inpatient violence. •  Future study on the management of inpatient violence may use the French version of these scales to evaluate and monitor psychiatric staff attitudes towards violence and subjective experience of the frequency of inpatient violence. ABSTRACT: Psychiatric staff perceptions of aggression by psychiatric patients may affect the therapeutic relationship between care providers and patients in institutions. Attitudes to and the subjective experience of violence may also differ substantially between members of a single care team. This study seeks to validate the French versions of scales of staff attitudes to and subjective experience of institutional violence: a new, modified version of the Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) to measure the subjective perception of the frequency of aggression in the ward; and the Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS) to assess attitudes to the expression of violence by psychiatric patients. Frontline staff (n= 362) from eight French-language psychiatric institutions in the province of Quebec were surveyed. Factor analyses were performed to determine the validity of the French-language MOAS and POAS. As expected, a four-factor structure emerged for the MOAS. For the 12-item POAS, a three-factor structure was found: (1) 'Aggression as a dysfunctional/undesirable phenomenon'; (2) 'Aggression as a positive expression'; and (3) 'Aggression as a protective measure'. This study supports use of the French MOAS and POAS in assessing staff attitudes to and subjective experience of aggression in future projects to explore the perception and management of inpatient violence.

Language: en