CONCOMITANT with the need for prompt and effective treatment of mental disorders is the need for continuing research on the prevention of these disorders and the promotion of mental health. Knowledge of etiology is crucial, in the long run, for the attack on this highly prevalent health and social problem.
The present investigation, a retrospective case-control study, was designed to determine some of the ways the experiences and environment of children who are or were psychiatric clinic outpatients differed significantly from those of control group children. Data were collected that bear on possible etiologic factors suggested by theoretical formulations and the results of previous empirical research. Major areas of our investigation were: parental behavior and attitudes in early socialization of the child, the nature of family relationships, and separations of the child from either parent. Demographic variables and certain behaviors of the child were also