Factors influencing the development of psychiatric disorders in the victims of sexual abuse: A study on Turkish children

The purpose of this study is to test empirically whether there are sex differences in childhood sexual abuse characteristics and psychiatric disorders, and there is an association with sexual abuse characteristics and psychiatric disorders caused by abuse. Files of 482 cases referred to the Child Surveillance Center due to sexual abuse between September 2012 and September 2014, for whom legal reports were prepared, were investigated retrospectively. Of the abused children, 82.2% (n = 396) were girls and 17.8% (n = 86) were boys. The mean age of girls was 14.1 ± 2.9 years, while that of boys was 11.6 ± 3.8 years. The most common type of abuse was sexual touching in girls, while it was anal penetration in boys. The rate of being diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder was found to be 68.9% (n = 273) in girls, while it was 38.4% (n = 33) in boys. When the abuser was from the family or someone close to the victim, when the numbers of abuse incidents and abusers were greater than one, and in cases of force and violence, the rate of being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder was found to be higher. With greater duration of time passing after the abuse, in those who became pregnant due to abuse, and in those who did not tell their parents about the incident, the rate of psychiatric diagnosis was significantly higher. In addition, it was found that when there were more than one abused people in the same event, the rate of psychiatric diagnosis was lower. Among all these variables, independent variables affecting the development of psychiatric disorders in victims were gender, number of abuse, presence of force and physical violence, and presence of more than one abuse victim in the same event. Because of high rates of psychiatric disorders in children exposed to sexual abuse, it is crucial to evaluate these children in a careful and closely manner by clinicians.