NCJ Number
164021
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 20 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1996) Pages: 867-872
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The prevalence of a history of child sexual abuse in a series of admissions to a general psychiatric hospital in the United Kingdom was estimated based on a survey of subjects who completed self-administered questionnaires.
Abstract
Case notes were also examined to determine previously documented disclosure, diagnosis, and rates of admission and deliberate self-harm. Of 133 patients eligible to participate in the survey, 126 received questionnaires and 120 (90 percent) returned them; 57 were male and 63 were female. Of the 120 patients who returned questionnaires, 46 percent reported a history of childhood sexual abuse in questionnaires. Case note review revealed a rate of 14 percent of previously documented disclosure. Patterns of abuse broadly corresponded with those usually reported as causing adjustment problems in adult life. The authors conclude that a high proportion of psychiatric inpatients report a history of childhood sexual abuse and that many have not disclosed this history to their psychiatrists. 22 references and 2 tables