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To Commit or Not to Commit: The Psychiatry Resident as a Variable in Involuntary Commitment Decisions

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Abstract

Objective

To study whether psychiatry residents’ personalvariables (such as age, gender, level of training, previous experience with patient suicide or lawsuits) and their temperamental predispositions have an impact on their decisions to seek involuntary commitment.

Method

In a prospective pilot study, all psychiatry residents in Massachusetts were surveyed using a questionnaire that assessed their risk-taking behavior and clinical vignettes of patients with risk of harm to self or others. Data were analyzed using chisquares and t tests.

Results

Level of training and the residents’ risk-taking behavior may be linked to their likelihood to seek involuntary commitment.

Conclusions

Psychiatric residency training should address non-patient variables that might inappropriately influence the residents’ decisions to seek involuntary commitment.

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Correspondence to S. Pirzada Sattar M.D..

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Sattar, S.P., Pinals, D.A., Din, A.U. et al. To Commit or Not to Commit: The Psychiatry Resident as a Variable in Involuntary Commitment Decisions. Acad Psychiatry 30, 191–195 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.30.3.191

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.30.3.191

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