Children's Behavioral Adaptation Early in Psychiatric Hospitalization

Abstract Behavioral patterns over lime were assessed during the Bret 24 days of hospitalization for 98 child psychiatric inpatients. Staff completed daily behavioral monitoring and ratings. Patients were categorized as improved, unchanged or deteriorated during this time. Thirty‐four percent or patients initially exhibited well‐controlled behavior, but then significantly worsened after a period averaging 6.8 days This result empirically supports the “honeymoon” phenomenon. Other patients showed either improvement during the initial period (15%). no change (30%), or could not be reliably classified (21%). Therefore, many child inpatients show rapid symptom stabilization after admission, but a large number then worsen. Clinical, scientific and administrative implications of these results arc discussed.