Follow-up of adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Psychiatric hospital services for adolescents have steadily increased in recent years and great interest has been generated in determining treatment outcome. In this study, 74 adolescent inpatients completed structured telephone interviews one year after discharge. The questions probed school, job, and family adjustment, as well as drug and alcohol use, participation in treatment, and legal problems. At the time of discharge, they had undergone objective, standardized psychologic tests including personally, locus of control, and parent-adolescent communication assessments. Statistically, the discharge locus of control test correlated with several areas studied. The more external the locus of control at discharge, the greater the likelihood of poor peer relations, poor family relations, and poor job adjustment at one-year follow-up. The discharge personality alienation scale was found to correlate inversely to school adjustment one year later. High emotional discomfort shown by the personality test was associated with increased likelihood of being in treatment at follow-up. Finally, a statistical profile of the adolescents one year after discharge is presented.