The Relationship Between Volition and Independent Occupational Performance in People with Mental Disorders

ABSTRACT

Mental disorders and psychiatric institutionalization reduce the volition and limit the occupational performance of those affected. This article investigates the relationship between volition and occupational performance of people with mental disorders and analyzes the influence of sociodemographic variables on their volition. The results show that high levels of volition and regular participation in occupational therapy programs improve independence in daily occupational performance but also show that psychiatric pathology and the length of institutionalization reduce this volition.

KEYWORDS:

• Independence
• institutionalization
• volition

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the management of Fuente Bermeja Hospital for allowing this study within three psychiatric units in the public health system. Our thanks to Crescencia Fernández, occupational therapist at the center, for assisting with the selection of the sample, for serving as a nexus between the principal investigator of the study and the hospital management, and for participating in data-gathering. Finally, we would especially like to thank the people who formed the sample group for making the study possible.