SYNOPSIS
In samples of patients attending a psychiatric day hospital, admissions to an in-patient psychiatric service, and in-patients admitted to a general hospital Department of Psychological Medicine, admission was found to come less often from families of “procreation” and “orientation” than would be predicted. The previously investigated hypothesis of diminishing risk of admission with increasing family size was confirmed for day hospital patients and for one-parent families. For more organized and formalized hospital care, the admitted patients differed in their family characteristics.