Self-reported stresses of adolescent rape victims.
This paper identifies the self-reported concerns of 122 sexually abused teenagers and compares them with their parents' reactions and the assessments made by pediatric housestaff and trained rape counselors. The predominant rape reaction reported by the teenagers was a fear for their life or safety. Second was embarrassment and self-blame. Physicians and counselors, similar to parents, emphasized anger toward the perpetrator and anxieties about future sexual relations. Physicians and counselors often missed subtle, fantasized fears of bodily damage, which were also common concerns of these teenagers. They also judged parents more often supportive of the victims than did the victims themselves. The data suggest that professionals tend to identify with parental reactions, which do not always coincide with teenager's concerns.
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011902:Rape; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*