Effects of sexual and physical abuse: A comparison of adolescent inpatients

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Abstract
The present study was designed to collect descriptive data on a sample of hospitalized adolescents who were victims of sexual and/or physical abuse, and to compare these groups to patients without a history of abuse. A questionnaire was administered to 51 inpatient teenagers at Fort Logan Mental Health Center, a state psychiatric hospital in Denver, Colorado. Information was obtained about, family background, type, extent and duration of abuse, drug and alcohol abuse and self-reported metal health and general adjustment problems. In addition, clinical staff completed the revised Behavior Problem Checklist (1) for the subjects. The results indicated statistic ally significant differences (p<.05) between groups with adolescents who were both physically and sexually abused reporting the most problems. The implications for the findings for treatment are discussed.