CHILDHOOD SEXUAL EXPERIENCES WITH ADULTS - A COMPARISON OF REPORTS BYWOMEN PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS AND GENERAL-PRACTICE ATTENDERS

Reports of childhood sexual experiences with adults were collected fro m 120 women attending general-practice surgeries and 115 women psychia tric patients. The method of study, research team and county of reside nce were the same for the two groups. The psychiatric patients tended to report rates of events higher than the general-practice attenders b y a factor of 2-3. The results suggest an association between such exp eriences and later psychiatric patienthood and are compatible with a c ausal role for them in some cases.