Effects of patient gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on psychiatric assessments: A vignette-based experimental study
(2024) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology- Abstract
Objective
To investigate whether information about the gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of the patient affects psychiatric assessments in a sample of practicing clinicians in Swedish adult psychiatry.
Method
The study used an experimental design in which vignettes describing patients were identical except for information regarding their gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The outcome variables included assessments of the severity of the patient's clinical condition, how dangerous the patient was to themselves and others, the likelihood of reporting to social services (due to concern for the welfare of children), and whether the patient was recommended psychotherapy or psychopharmaceutical... (More)
Objective
To investigate whether information about the gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of the patient affects psychiatric assessments in a sample of practicing clinicians in Swedish adult psychiatry.
Method
The study used an experimental design in which vignettes describing patients were identical except for information regarding their gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The outcome variables included assessments of the severity of the patient's clinical condition, how dangerous the patient was to themselves and others, the likelihood of reporting to social services (due to concern for the welfare of children), and whether the patient was recommended psychotherapy or psychopharmaceutical treatment.
Results
A series of ANOVAs were performed to investigate main and interaction effects of the studied variables. The performed analyses identified several instances in which the clinicians' assessments varied as a function of the social categories under investigation. For example, male patients and “Arab Swedish” patients were perceived as more dangerous, “Arab Swedish” patients, male patients, and patients with low socioeconomic status were less likely to be recommended psychotherapy, and “Arab Swedish” patients were more likely to be reported to social services. The effect sizes were generally small.
Conclusions
The study provides support for the suggestion that information regarding patient gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status affects central aspects of psychiatric assessments. The results are interpreted and discussed in relation to other studies on the influence of social stereotypes on psychiatric assessments and the practice of clinical psychiatric assessments.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/08ce8c41-6f9f-4e67-8d60-60ac231d4647
- author
- Wolgast, Martin LU ; Wolgast, Sima LU and Levinsson, Henrik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-01-29
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- psychiatric assessments, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, stereotypes
- in
- Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85183886802
- ISSN
- 1467-9450
- DOI
- 10.1111/sjop.13004
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 08ce8c41-6f9f-4e67-8d60-60ac231d4647
- date added to LUP
- 2024-01-29 13:54:26
- date last changed
- 2024-02-27 10:35:02
@article{08ce8c41-6f9f-4e67-8d60-60ac231d4647,
abstract = {{<br/>Objective<br/>To investigate whether information about the gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of the patient affects psychiatric assessments in a sample of practicing clinicians in Swedish adult psychiatry.<br/><br/>Method<br/>The study used an experimental design in which vignettes describing patients were identical except for information regarding their gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The outcome variables included assessments of the severity of the patient's clinical condition, how dangerous the patient was to themselves and others, the likelihood of reporting to social services (due to concern for the welfare of children), and whether the patient was recommended psychotherapy or psychopharmaceutical treatment.<br/><br/>Results<br/>A series of ANOVAs were performed to investigate main and interaction effects of the studied variables. The performed analyses identified several instances in which the clinicians' assessments varied as a function of the social categories under investigation. For example, male patients and “Arab Swedish” patients were perceived as more dangerous, “Arab Swedish” patients, male patients, and patients with low socioeconomic status were less likely to be recommended psychotherapy, and “Arab Swedish” patients were more likely to be reported to social services. The effect sizes were generally small.<br/><br/>Conclusions<br/>The study provides support for the suggestion that information regarding patient gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status affects central aspects of psychiatric assessments. The results are interpreted and discussed in relation to other studies on the influence of social stereotypes on psychiatric assessments and the practice of clinical psychiatric assessments.<br/>}},
author = {{Wolgast, Martin and Wolgast, Sima and Levinsson, Henrik}},
issn = {{1467-9450}},
keywords = {{psychiatric assessments; gender; socioeconomic status; ethnicity; stereotypes}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
title = {{Effects of patient gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on psychiatric assessments: A vignette-based experimental study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjop.13004}},
doi = {{10.1111/sjop.13004}},
year = {{2024}},
}