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Victimization and Vulnerability: A Study of Incarceration, Interpersonal Trauma, and Patient–Physician Trust

Psychiatric Quarterly volume 88, pages 459–472 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Despite the critical importance of patient–physician trust, it may be compromised among vulnerable patients, such as (1) incarcerated patients and (2) those patients who have been victims of trauma. The purpose of this study was to examine patient–physician trust among forensic and civilian psychiatric inpatient populations and to explore whether it varied based on a patient’s history of incarceration and/or victimization. A trust survey (WFPTS) and a trauma instrument (LEC-5) were administered to 93 patients hospitalized on forensic and civilian psychiatric hospital units in a large, urban public hospital. Results showed no difference in patient–physician trust between incarcerated and civilian patients. Similarly, there was no effect of a history of physical assault or sexual assault on ratings of patient–physician trust. However, the hospitalized civilian and forensic patients who reported being the victim of weapons assault had significantly lower patient–physician trust scores than their counterparts.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Rudin Humanities Fellowship at the New York University School of Medicine.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York City, NY, USA

    Alexandra Junewicz

  2. Janian Medical Care, New York City, NY, USA

    Kelly J. Kleinert

  3. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Nancy Neveloff Dubler

  4. New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, New York City, NY, USA

    Nancy Neveloff Dubler

  5. Division of Medical Ethics, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City, NY, USA

    Nancy Neveloff Dubler

  6. Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York City, NY, USA

    Arthur Caplan

Authors
  1. Alexandra Junewicz
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  2. Kelly J. Kleinert
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  3. Nancy Neveloff Dubler
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  4. Arthur Caplan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Junewicz.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Cite this article

Junewicz, A., Kleinert, K.J., Dubler, N.N. et al. Victimization and Vulnerability: A Study of Incarceration, Interpersonal Trauma, and Patient–Physician Trust. Psychiatr Q 88, 459–472 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9463-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9463-x

Keywords

  • Trust
  • Patient–physician relationship
  • Incarceration
  • Trauma