NCJ Number
138471
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: (July/August 1992) Pages: 567-573
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This research examined several psychosocial, psychosomatic, and psychodynamic factors in 33 female psychiatric patients who had been incest victims.
Abstract
The biographic histories of all 165 female inpatients at the Psychosomatic Unit of the Department of Psychiatry at the Innsbruck University Clinics in 1989 were assessed. All patients were interviewed in depth regarding their experiences of major childhood trauma. Whenever the suspicion of incestuous abuse arose, data collection was expanded to address the following areas in a semistructured interview: sexual history; situation before and when incestuous abuse started; life events at the onset of mental disorder; type, duration, and frequency of incestuous abuse; coping strategies and defense mechanisms; and social and sexual behavior as well as relationships since the incest. Thirty-three female patients undoubtedly experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The majority of these patients were severely sexually abused; intercourse had occurred in more than 75 percent of the cases. Findings support Bowlby's view (1989) that sexual and physical abuse and hostile rejection of the child lead to hazardous psychological effects and emphasize the necessity for the psychiatrists to take them into consideration in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. The experience of sexual abuse was characterized by feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and powerlessness, consequently evolving into a limitation of active coping with situations of aggression and helplessness. Overall, the incest leads to ego weakness, to an autoplastic model of coping with aggression, and to patterns of objectal relationships that predispose them to object loss. The links between a girl's traumatic experiences in relationships and her vulnerability to separation in later life, as well as their importance for the incidence of mental disorders are discussed on the basis of Bowlby's attachment theory. 3 tables and 45 references