Incidence and Impact of Sexual Abuse in a Child Outpatient Sample: the Role of Direct Inquiry

64 charts of child psychiatry outpatients were reviewed in 2 phases: 29 were randomly selected & 35 were examined after clinicians were asked to directly query sexual abuse. Reference to a history of sexual abuse was 4.5 times more frequent in the charts of children asked about molestation. Children with an identified history of sexual abuse reported more psychological symptoms, had made more suicide attempts & were more likely to receive a diagnosis of major depression. (21 refs.)