[Adaptation to the community by young adults after one or more psychiatric hospitalizations]

This longitudinal study aimed at elaborating a model explaining the adaptation to the community of young adults suffering from mental illness. During their sick leave, an interview evaluated their social support, the stress experienced, coping strategies and emotional distress. Six months later, therapists were interrogated as to the recourse of these young adults to psychiatric services, their loyalty to therapeutic and medical treatment as well as how they kept busy during that period. Analyses by structural equations (LISREL) have allowed to develop a model which adequately reproduces relations observed between variables and explains 43% of the total variance. This model also indicates that the level of psychological distress has a direct impact on a psychiatric rehospitalization.