Teenage School Refusers Grow Up: A Follow-up Study of 168 Subjects, Ten Years on Average after In-Patient Treatment

Abstract

Efforts were made to follow up 168 young teenage school refusers ten years, on average, after they had been treated as inpatients in an adolescent psychiatric unit. Almost half were well or much improved throughout the follow-up period. Outcome was most satisfactory in intellectually bright children treated under the age of 14 and among those who were well or substantially better shortly after discharge. Thirty per cent of the group had received treatment for psychiatric illness, 14% had seen a psychiatrist and 5% had been admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment during the follow-up period. Thirty per cent appeared to be disturbed at the time that they were reviewed. The ‘decennial-inception’ and ‘point-prevalence’ rates for psychiatric disorder appeared unduly high by comparison with local and national rates of disturbance.