Residential Treatment of Males: The Influential Role of Parental Attitudes

Considering the enormous financial cost and the clinical complexity of treating disturbed children in a psychiatric inpatient program, it seems important to look at the factors involved in successful residential treatment. The present study assessed the relation between attitudes and reactions expressed by parents prior to their children's admission and the outcome of treatment. The results show that parents may influence the hospital course of their children in ways that seem subtle and indirect. The extent to which parents expressed relief was predictive of negative outcome. More surprisingly, the parents' subjective sense of control over the hospitalization process was negatively associated with progress, and separation difficulties forecast positive outcome. The results raise the question of whether a child's progress in a psychiatric inpatient program can be augmented by addressing these factors prior to and in the course of the child's hospitalization.