Family Backgrounds of Emotionally Disturbed Children1

This study reports on family backgrounds of 32 children and adolescents who were patients in one mental hospital in a midwestern state. Parent figures, all of whom lived in rural areas, were interviewed and data from hospital records obtained to examine possible association between problems of children and problems of their families. Family stress and a lack of family unity from marital discord, low incomes, and inability of the parents and children to relate to each other were evident. Parents, as well as children, had symptoms of emotional instability. Community mental health resources were often inadequate or financially unavailable.