Factors related to integrating persons with chronic mental illness into a peer social milieu

Client characteristics and their perceptions of the milieu in a psychosocial rehabilitation program were used to predict the clients' level of involvement in the peer-based social network. 81 clients in a psychosocial rehabilitation program participated in the study. The results indicated that client perceptions of higher support and clarity in the staff-client milieu, and being female, were strongly related to higher peer social involvement. Milieu factors were generally more important than client characteristics in predicting client social functioning. The implications of these findings for psychosocial intervention and for research on the social functioning of this population are discussed.