Childhood abuse in Swedish female users of psychiatric services.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
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.
Nilsson
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G
Department of Health Sciences, Kristianstad University, Sweden. Gabriella.Nilsson@staff.hkr.se
Bengtsson-Tops
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Persson
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012649:Self Concept; D013548:Sweden; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data