Client satisfaction with mental health treatment: Methodological Considerations in Assessment

This article critically assesses the evaluation of consumer satisfaction in mental health treatment settings. Methodological problems addressed include uniformity myths, inclu sion of items not measuring satisfaction, ambiguity in response alternatives, lack of precision in the use of terminology, failure to distinguish dissatisfaction and lack of satisfaction, failure to sufficiently probe, poor psychometric practice, the absence of accepted measures, failure to identify norms for satisfaction, lack of control over proce dure, sampling bias, biasing responses, the lack of variability in responses, and primitive design, analyses, and reporting. Consumer satisfaction emerges as an important indicator of the quality of care, but one that must be interpreted with caution.