Psychiatric services to adolescents: 1970-1980

A study based on the National Institute of Mental Health's Sample Survey Program for 1970, 1975, and 1980 provides an overview of the services to adolescents supplied by the mental health sector. Data are presented mainly for nonfederal general hospitals, state and county hospitals, private psychiatric hospitals, and, to a lesser extent, outpatient clinics. Among the trends found by the analysis are that private psychiatric and private general hospitals admitted an increasing share of adolescents while state and county hospitals admitted fewer; the overall proportion of younger adolescents admitted for inpatient treatment increased; all types of study facilities except state and county hospitals admitted relatively low proportions of adolescent substance abusers; and the use of psychotropic drugs decreased in some types of facilities, especially for younger adolescents.