Individual and Organizational Factors Influencing Recovery-Promoting Competency Among Mental Health Practitioners

Background and Purpose:

Recovery-promoting competency (RPC) among mental health practitioners is a key component of effective, recovery-oriented care for individuals with serious mental illness. While prior research has emphasized the importance of individual-level recovery-related attributes and organizational support, few studies have systematically examined how demographic characteristics, organizational and individual-level recovery factors collectively explain variability in RPC. Drawing on the person-in-environment framework, this study highlights the importance of examining both individual attributes and organizational features in shaping practitioners’ capacity to promote recovery. This study investigates how these multilevel factors contribute to practitioners’ self-assessed RPC.

Methods:

A cross-sectional design was employed using an anonymous online Qualtrics survey administered between June 2024 and March 2025. Participants were licensed mental health clinicians in the United States who were currently employed in mental health organizations (excluding private practice) and actively providing clinical services to adults with serious mental illness. To be eligible, clinicians were required to have at least 40% of their caseload composed of clients diagnosed with serious mental illness. Snowball sampling was conducted via provider directories, professional networks, and social media. Standardized measures assessed recovery-promoting competency, recovery knowledge, attitudes toward recovery, organizational recovery-oriented administrative practices, and organizational culture. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted in four steps using the subset of participants with complete data on all model variables (n = 198). Predictors were entered in the following order: (1) demographic characteristics, (2) organizational culture and recovery-oriented structure, (3) program and facility type, and (4) recovery knowledge and attitudes.

Results:

Each step significantly improved model fit, with the final model explaining 69% of the variance in RPC (Adjusted R² = .62). Recovery attitudes (β = .39, p < .001) and recovery knowledge (β = .30, p < .001) emerged as the strongest predictors. Organizational recovery-oriented administrative practices were also positively associated with RPC (β = .21, p < .001), as was a supportive organizational culture (β = .11, p = .069). Among demographic variables, gender (Male; β = –.13, p = .017), age (β = –.11, p = .064), and years of working experience (β = .11, p = .069) showed marginal or significant effects. In contrast, program and facility types were not statistically significant predictors in the final model.

Conclusions and Implications:

These findings suggest that both individual and organizational factors play complementary roles in shaping practitioners’ recovery-promoting competencies. This underscores the importance of integrating both individual competencies and organizational conditions to strengthen recovery-oriented practice. Enhancing recovery knowledge and fostering positive recovery attitudes through training may be particularly effective. Additionally, cultivating supportive and recovery-oriented organizational structures can further empower practitioners to implement recovery-oriented care. These findings highlight the need for coordinated, multi-level strategies to improve recovery outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness across diverse mental health settings.