A 10-Year Follow-Up of 55 Hospitalized Adolescents

Fifty-five young adults hospitalized for mental illness were followed up 10 years after their discharge as a sequel to three earlier follow-up studies. The majority of subjects were still poorly adjusted. The area of greatest competence was in school and work, whereas social relationships were almost universally inadequate. Pre-admission variables most predictive of good long-range outcome were "chumship" and leadership experiences and healthy parental attitudes. The only therapeutic variables related to long-range outcome were those which described degree of illness. Evidence pointed strongly to the need for postdischarge vocational services for patients and therapy for parents.