Family satisfaction with psychiatric evaluations.

In the current study, psychiatric patient, family, and evaluator satisfaction with initial treatment recommendations was examined in relation to patient compliance with treatment methods and clinical improvement. Only family satisfaction was positively correlated with both compliance and improvement. This finding challenges the predominant view that families play negative roles in psychiatric illness by exacerbating symptomatology and, instead, stresses the positive facilitating role of the family. Implications for involving families in treatment evaluations and social work practice are discussed.