Brief versus standard hospitalization: the families.

A total of 175 newly admitted inpatients who lived with families were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: standard inpatient care (discharge at the therapist's discretion), brief hospitalization (one week or less) with transitional day care available, and brief hospitalization without day care. Outpatient aftercare was offered to all patients. There was no major differential family burden as a function of length of hospitalization. Generally, brief hospitalization had several positive effects on family functioning, primarily earlier resumtption of occupational roles and less financial burden, with few significant deleterious effects.