The discharged psychiatric patient: a review of social, social-psychological, and psychiatric correlates of outcome.

The authors review research over the past decade on the social, social-psychological, and psychiatric correlates of community adaptation among discharged psychiatric patients. A review of 33 studies suggests that little theoretical or methodological progress has been made in identifying the factors that are conductive to the adjustment of discharged patients on their return to the community. To stimulate subsequent efforts in this area, the authors suggest applying new approaches, such as the stress process perspective that has been used to study mental health in the general population.