Studied factors associated with the admission, diagnosis, and treatment of 50 male and female adolescents (aged 13-16 yrs) voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric care unit and 15 male and female adolescents (aged 13-16 yrs) involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Switzerland. Data on sociodemographic factors, clinical and psychiatric symptoms, and admission and treatment variables were obtained by questionnaire. The 10th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the General Health Questionnaire, and other psychometric tests were used. The results show that clinical severity was higher and social adaptation scores were poorer among involuntarily admitted patients. The results also indicate that acute psychiatric symptoms improved in both groups of patients within an average 24 days of admission and that hospitalization was perceived positively by patients and their family members. Implications for the development of durable therapeutic alliances are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)