Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Family Factors That Differentiate Sexually Abused And Nonabused Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients, Dawn H.S. Reinemann, Kevin D. Stark, Susan M. Swearer Napolitano

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Sexual abuse research has traditionally focused on adult, retrospective accounts of potential correlates of abuse and their impact on functioning. However, only a few studies have examined sexually abused adolescents’ perceptions of their families, and results have proven inconclusive. This study examined whether family factors would differentiate sexually abused and nonabused adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Fifty-seven psychiatric inpatients, ages 11 to 17, who either had experienced sexual abuse or had no history of sexual victimization completed a diagnostic interview and were assessed on a variety of family indices. Results indicated that after controlling for level of depression, sexually abused adolescents could …