Patients' Affective Reactions to Receiving Diagnostic Feedback

Concern over the potentially stigmatizing and discouraging effects of diagnostic labels motivates many clinicians to withhold diagnostic information. To better understand how patients are emotionally affected when they receive diagnostic feedback, this clinical effectiveness study examined clients' affective reactions to the receipt of diagnostic feedback at an outpatient community clinic. Fifty–three adult outpatients at a community–based clinic participated in this study. A within–subjects design was employed in which clients' mood and attitudes towards therapy were rated at five points during the interview and diagnostic feedback process. Results indicated that clients reported no change in negative emotions (such as shame and fear) and significant increases in positive emotions (such as hope and validation) following diagnostic feedback provision. These results suggest that diagnostic feedback, when provided in a careful and constructive manner, tends to increase clients' positive emotions and potentially their hope for treatment. The results do not support the notion that provision of diagnostic feedback will lead to an increase in clients' negative emotions.