NCJ Number
176166
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: March 1997 Pages: 323-329
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Sexually abused boys and girls and their non-sexually abused counterparts in the Netherlands were compared with regard to mental health problems they experienced and the number and pattern of these problems.
Abstract
The sample included 745 secondary school students between 12 and 19 years of age who had a self-reported history of sexual abuse (151 boys and 594 girls) and 745 matched students without such a history. Sexually abused and non-sexually abused boys and girls were compared with regard to four problem categories: emotional problems, aggressive criminal behaviors, addiction risk behaviors, and suicidality. A larger proportion of sexually abused adolescents than nonabused adolescents reported problems in the separate categories and in a combination of problem categories. Sexually abused boys had considerably more emotional and behavioral problems, including suicidality, than their female counterparts. Differences were noted between specific combinations of problem categories reported by sexually abused boys and girls. These differences could not be attributed to the finding that sexually abused boys were more often the victim of concurrent physical abuse than sexually abused girls. Although there was a strong association between being sexually abused and the existence of a multiple problem pattern in both sexes, the aftermath for boys appeared to be worse or more complex than for girls. 18 references and 4 tables