How successful is inpatient treatment in child and adolescent psychiatry?
OBJECTIVES: From 1999 to 2006, the inpatient treatment of a complete clinical sample in a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital was evaluated in a naturalistic effectiveness study in order to obtain detailed information about the outcome of the therapies. METHODS: The project was realized as a longitudinal 1-sample design with measurements at three points in time (admission assessment; discharge assessment and 6-week follow-up; 1 1/2 year follow-up). An essential part of the assessments was conducted using standardized telephone interviews with the parents of the inpatients. The project included 1,321 inpatients; the 1 1/2 year follow-up was accomplished for 776 cases. RESULTS: In all repeated measurements, there were highly significant effects. The pre-post effect sizes were higher than 1. The effects which were achieved during inpatient treatment were stable over time with a slight improvement after treatment. The outcome of different diagnostic groups showed significant differen
