Clinical and psychosocial characteristics of youth with abuse histories served in community mental health programs

Ybarra, Michele, Walrath, Christine, Sheehan, Angela, Holden, Wayne, & Burns, Barbara. (2004, December). Clinical and Psychosocial Characteristics of Youth with Abuse Histories Served in Community Mental Health Programs. Presented at the San Francisco General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Services, Grand Rounds, San Francisco, CA.

Summary: 

This study examines the demographic, psychosocial, clinical and service
history characteristics of youth with reported histories of sexual, physical, and multiple abuses as compared to youth with no abuse history. Using data from the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program study collected in 1997 and 2000, this presentation will expand upon earlier research by including the  simultaneous comparison of single and multiple subtypes of abuse.

Findings include:

- Prevalence of child abuse among youth with serious emotional disturbance:
     Over 1/3 have a history of some type of child abuse;
     Estimates range between 10 to 15 percent, depending on type of abuse.

-The role of risk factors:
     Increasing proportions of child and family risk factors are seen as number of abuses  increases

- Youth who experience both sexual and physical abuse are:
     More likely to engage in risky and problematic behaviors;
     Victimized by domestic violence and substance abuse in other family members.

- Outpatient and school-based services were the two most highly utilized across all groups of youth

- History of multiple types of abuse, a unique contribution of the current study, was associated with:
     Elevated rates of sexually abusive behavior;
     Internalizing problems;
     Markers of problems within the family (i.e., domestic violence and substance abuse).

Download PDF here