Social disruption and residential relocation of mentally retarded children.

Effects of relocation on 50 severely and profoundly mentally retarded and physically disabled children transferred from two facilities into a third one were examined. Social disruption, which referred to changes in daytime staff and programming, was manipulated 3 weeks after the move; the health and personal adjustment were measured prior to and 1 to 3 weeks, 4 to 6 weeks, and 11 to 13 weeks after the move. Relocation resulted in short-term decrements in positive behavior and in deterioration in health for all the groups. High staff disruption produced a short-term increase in abnormal behavior.