STIGMATIZING EFFECTS OF BLAME FOR ILLNESS ONSET ON NURSE-PATIENT INTERACTIONS (ATTRIBUTIONAL THEORY, IMMUNE DEFICIENCY).
Contributors: California School Of Professional Psychology - San Diego.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 171
Subjects: Psychology, Clinical.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not blaming a patient for illness-onset would result in stigmatization of the patient in nurse-patient interactions. Stigmatization was empirically defined by four criterion measures of distancing: time spent with patient, physical distance from patient, and scores on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory rating the nurses' responses to the patient from both the nurses' and the patient's perspectives.

Fifty-four student nurses were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: blame and no blame. Prior to conducting an educational interview with a patient/confederate, student nurses were provided background data on etiology in the form of one of two vignettes. The illness onset-responsible vignette stated that the patient contracted AIDS by failing to take sexual precautions in spite of knowing his partner was HIV+. The illness onset-not responsible vignette stated that the patient contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion after sustaining a car accident which was not his fault. A manipulation check demonstrated that the vignettes were effective in eliciting blaming and non-blaming responses. With few exceptions, nurses in the onset-responsible condition blamed and nurses in the onset-not responsible condition did not blame.

It was hypothesized that in a teaching interview with a patient-confederate, compared to non blaming nurses, nurses who blamed would terminate interviews sooner, maintain greater physical distance, rate their responses to the patient lower on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, and that the patient/confederate would rate blaming nurses responses to him lower than he would rate responses of non-blaming nurses.

None of the hypotheses were supported, therefore the experiment failed to demonstrate that blaming a patient for illness onset is a stigma which results in distancing from the patient. Supplementary analyses further found that the blame and no blame groups were not significantly different on the Marlowe-Crowne Social-Desirability Scale. However, compared to the Marlowe-Crowne norms, the overall sample was higher by approximately one-half standard deviation.

In addition to the possible effects of a social desirability factor, other characteristics specific to the population from which the sample was drawn were identified. Possible methodological limitations and potentially confounding variables were considered in making recommendations for future research.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: B, page: 1056.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY - SAN DIEGO, 1991.

School code: 0379.