Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T04:59:43.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Childhood Sexual Experiences with Adults Reported by Female Psychiatric Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

R. L. Palmer*
Affiliation:
University of Leicester, and Leicester Health Authority
D. A. Chaloner
Affiliation:
Leicester Health Authority
R. Oppenheimer
Affiliation:
Leicestershire Social Services Department and Leicester General Hospital
*
University Department of Psychiatry, Leicester General Hospital, Gwendolen Road, Leicester LE5 4PW

Abstract

A group of 115 female psychiatric in-patients and out-patients were studied, using a self-report questionnaire followed by interview, for evidence of childhood sexual activity with adults. About half of the sample reported some childhood sexual experience, ranging from full sexual intercourse to sexual suggestions. Future research should study the possible role of such experience in the genesis of subsequent psychiatric disorder.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, A. & Duncan, S. (1985) Child sexual abuse: a study of prevalence in Great Britain. Child Abuse and Neglect, 9, 457467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Browne, A. & Finkelhor, D. (1986) Impact of child sexual abuse: a review of the research. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 6677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burnham, M. A., Stein, J. A., Golding, J. M., et al (1988) Sexual assault and mental disorder in a community population. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 6, 843850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmen, E., Rieker, P. P. & Mills, T. (1984) Victims of violence and psychiatric illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 378383.Google ScholarPubMed
Finkelhor, D. (1979) Sexually Victimised Children. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. (1984) Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory and Research. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. (1986) A Sourcebook in Child Sexual Abuse. New York: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1896) The aetiology of hysteria. In The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. III. London: Hogarth.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1914) On the history of the psychoanalytic movement. In The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. XII. London: Hogarth.Google Scholar
Gelinas, D. (1983) The persisting negative effects of incestuous abuse in childhood. Psychiatry, 46, 312332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herman, J., Russell, D. & Trocki, D. (1986) Long term effects of incestuous abuse in childhood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 12931296.Google ScholarPubMed
Jacobsen, A. & Richardson, B. (1987) Assault experiences of 100 psychiatric inpatients: evidence of the need for routine enquiry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 908913.Google Scholar
James, J. & Meyerding, J. (1977) Early sexual experiences and prostitution. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 13811385.Google ScholarPubMed
Kercher, G. & McShane, M. (1984) The prevalence of child sexual abuse: victimisation in an adult sample of Texas residents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 9, 495501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukianowicz, N. (1972) Incest I: paternal incest. British Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 301313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGuire, L. & Wagner, N. (1978) Sexual dysfunction in women who were molested as children: one response pattern and suggestions for treatment. Journal of Sex of Marital Therapy, 4 (Spring), 1115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masson, J. (1984) The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory. London & Boston: Faber & Faber.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, M., Oppenheimer, R., Dignon, A., et al (1990) Childhood sexual experiences reported by male psychiatric patients. Psychological Medicine, 20, 925929.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnar, G. & Cameron, P. (1975) Incest syndromes; observations in a general hospital psychiatric unit. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 20, 373377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullen, P., Romans-Clarkson, S., Walton, V., et al (1988) Impact of sexual and physical abuse on women's mental health. Lancet, i, 841845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nash, C. L. & West, D. J. (1985) Sexual molestation of young girls: a retrospective survey. In Sexual Victimisation (ed. West, D. J.). Aldershot: Gower.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, R., Howells, K., Palmer, R. L., et al (1985) Adverse sexual experiences in childhood and clinical eating disorders: a preliminary description. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 19, 357361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmer, R. L., Oppenheimer, R., Dignon, A., et at (1990) Childhood sexual experience with adults reported by women with eating disorders: an extended series. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 699703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenfield, A. A. (1979) Incidence of a history of incest amongst 18 psychiatric patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 791795.Google Scholar
Russell, D. (1983) Incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse of female children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 133146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sibert, M. & Pines, A. (1981) Sexual child abuse as an antecedent to prostitution. Child Abuse and Neglect, 5, 407411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD–9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Wyatt, G. E. & Johnson-Powell, G. (1988) The Lasting Effects of Child Sexual Abuse. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.