To Commit or not to Commit: the Psychiatry Resident as a Variable in Involuntary Commitment Decisions

This study examined whether psychiatry residents’ personal variables (such as age, gender, level of training, previous experience with patient suicide, or lawsuits) & their temperamental predispositions had an impact on their decisions to seek involuntary commitment. In a prospective pilot study, all psychiatry residents in Massachusetts were surveyed using a questionnaire that assessed their risk-taking behaviour & clinical vignettes of patients with risk of harm to self or others. Data were analyzed using chi-squares & t-tests. Level of training & the residents’ risk-taking behaviour may be linked to their likelihood to seek involuntary treatment. (23 refs.)