Open this publication in new window or tab >>2005 (English)In: Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, ISSN 1351-0126, E-ISSN 1365-2850, Vol. 12, no 3, p. 365-371Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Introduction: The aims of this study were to investigate: (1) the prevalence of childhood abuse in women admitted to psychiatric services in a county in the south of Sweden; (2) who the perpetrators were; and (3) the women's self-reported consequences of childhood abuse.
Method: The study had a cross-sectional design and was a part of a more comprehensive study. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was used which included both closed and open-ended questions. The data material were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U-test and manifest content analysis.
Results: The total number of women who participated in the study was 259, 51% of whom reported experiences of abuse during childhood, with 53% of these having been exposed to more than one type of abuse. The most frequent perpetrator was the woman's parents; mainly the fathers but also the mothers turned out to be frequent perpetrators of abuse. Some 75% of the women reported current psychological problems in adulthood related to abuse in childhood. According to a manifest content analysis, five themes of self-reported psychological problems emerged: psychiatric problems, shortcomings in social relations, poor self-confidence, fears and bad memories.
Keywords
abuse, adulthood, childhood, domestic violence, mental health, trauma
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-7924 (URN)10.1111/j.1365-2850.2005.00848.x (DOI)15876245 (PubMedID)
2011-03-242011-03-242017-12-11Bibliographically approved