Increasingly, mental health policy planners and third-party payers are demanding data that demonstrate the efficacy of psychiatric care in achieving agreed-upon treatment goals. "Psychiatric Treatment - Advances in Outcome Research" summarizes the work to date in the important area of treatment outcome research. The rationale for measuring treatment outcome and a sampling of outcome studies in children, adolescents, and young adults treated in inpatient settings is reviewed. The focus on studies of both short- and long-term treatment outcome within specific diagnostic subgroups - including patients with schizophrenia, affective illnesses, alcoholism, eating disorders and various types of personality disorders - is also addressed. This volume offers direction for practitioners in an environment of economic uncertainty.