A follow-up study of a token economy program at Selkirk hospital for mental diseases

Abstract

A group of 19 patients who had been on a token econony ward whlle hospltalized, was compared with a matched group of traditional ward patients on the Katz Adjustment inventory, a measure of post-hospital adjustment. Both patient andi informant ratlngs were obtained. In addition, groups were conpared on community tenure and some behavioral indices of adjustment. The only significant main effect of treatnent was on the KAS scale of Symptom Discomfort, on which token patients scored significantly higher than control subjects. There was one significant interaction between treatment, length of hospitailzatlon, and sex on the patient form of Level of Satisfaction with Free-Time Activities and one significant main effect of sex, females scoring higher than males on the informant ratings of Level of Socially-Expected Activities. One other interesting finding was that token economy patients had a higher recidivism rate than control patients. A number of possible explanations for these results were discussed.