Assessing the need for follow-up: the relationship of prognosis to posthospitalization adjustment.
Parents of children (N-64) hospitalized at a psychiatric hospital between the years 1971 and 1976 rated their child's adjustment in a number of behavioral areas. Problems in school, making friends, acting age-appropriately, and handling aggression were reported to be the major sources of difficulty for 40% of the former patients. No statistical relationship was found between clinicians' prognosis at discharge and children's post-hospitalization adjustment. The authors discuss some of the variables that mitigate against accurate outcome prediction and argue for the integration of an organized follow-up program into their treatment program.
D000293:Adolescent; D000359:Aftercare; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008884:Milieu Therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D012917:Social Adjustment