The influence of environmental factors on the community adjustment of the mentally ill.

The influence of social and geographic variables on the level of community adjustment of 60 former state hospital patients was examined. Community adjustment was operationalized to include measures of instrumental performance, social participation, and satisfaction with community circumstances. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to assess the contribution of social- and community-level predictors. The results of the study suggest that the character of a psychiatric patient's social milieu can influence the success he or she experiences in attempting to adjust to life in the community. Specifically, each of the measures of adjustment was closely related to significant other attitudes, i.e., expectations and tolerance of deviance. The nature of the community in which the patient resides seems to have less of an impact on community adjustment than social-level factors. Overall, the results suggest the importance of a social-environmental strategy as a means of achieving positive changes in patients' adjustment to community living.