Attitudes Toward and Knowledge of Recovery-Oriented Care Among Community Mental Health Providers: An Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI)

Objective: The Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) is a self-report measure intended to identify the knowledge of and attitudes toward recovery-oriented care among mental health providers and staff. The developers of the RKI found good-to-poor reliability statistics on the original four-factor model. This study will reassess the psychometric properties of the RKI to find a factor structure that is a good fit for the model using an American sample. Methods: Data were collected from mental health clinicians and staff members within San Francisco County. A sample of 917 surveys were collected in the first measurement period and 805 in the follow-up. Exploratory factor analysis was used to find a new factor structure that better suited the data. With an identified factor structure, a confirmatory factor analysis assessed the new factor structure using the follow-up data. Results: A single factor structure was found, consisting of ten items. The ten items reflected the process of recovery and was named "Recovery Process." The omitted items primarily addressed the use of peer support in the recovery process. The factor loadings, however, did not support a second factor. Conclusions and Implications: The original developers recognized the limitations of the RKI's original four-factor structure and asked for further development of the measure. This study addresses the psychometric properties of the RKI and identifies a factor structure that better defines the recovery orientation of mental health staff and practitioners. As a result, it adds to the limited literature of measures that evaluate staff recovery orientation.