Acceptability of Psychotherapy and Hospitalization for Disturbed Children: Parent and Child Perspectives

Abstract

The present investigation examined the acceptability of alternative treatments for disturbed children. Parents of severely disturbed children, as well as their children (N = 96), evaluated alternative treatments. Clinical cases of children who displayed severe behavioral problems at home and at school were presented along with descriptions of two treatments: outpatient psychotherapy and hospitalization. In addition to alternative modalities of treatment, the influence of the therapeutic focus of treatment (either on the child or on both child and parents) on ratings of treatment acceptability was also examined. The results indicated that parents viewed each of the treatments as more acceptable than did the children. Moreover, parents viewed hospitalization as more acceptable than outpatient treatment, although the reverse was true for children. Differences in the perceptions of treatment acceptability between parent and child appeared to be related to differences in the relation of the perceived strength ...