Rejecting the Patient: Preliminary Validation of a Self-report Scale*

The authors describe an easily administered scale being developed to assess the rejecting feelings of family respondents toward former mental patients who return to live with their families. Based upon a sample of 133 discharged mental patients and family members, the scale demonstrates a moderately high reliability (alpha = .78) and test-retest correlation (r = .72). Data are presented for evaluating the construct validity of the scale.