The difficult adolescents who are referred to a psychiatric unit--I. Classification

The first 206 cases referred to an adolescent psychiatry unit were coded on a clinical inventory. This inventory proved to have acceptable inter-rater and test retest reliability, as well as quite a high degree of validity. Cluster analysis using Yule's similarity coefficient produced a series of near neighbours which, when combined with relevant history details produced four diagnostic groupings which seem to have clinical relevance to referrals to an adolescent psychiatric clinic. The importance of correct diagnosis in this age group is emphasized because of the part it plays in the search for more effective treatments of adolescent disorders.