Al. Pillay et Mbw. Vanderveen, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL AND DISCLOSURE IN SEXUALLY ABUSED-CHILDREN, South African medical journal, 87(12), 1997, pp. 1688-1691
Objective. To investigate the relationship between sexual abuse disclo
sure, developmental level and psychopathology in children. Design. A r
etrospective analysis of case records, using chi-square and t-tests fo
r statistical significance, Setting. Child and Adolescent Unit, Midlan
ds Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, Subjects. One hundred children consecut
ively admitted for all types of mental health problems. Outcome measur
es. Diagnostic evaluations were made using the American Psychiatric As
sociation's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd
edition, revised). Results. Forty of the 100 children had been sexual
ly abused, but 14 (35%) of the abused children did not disclose their
abuse until after admission. The postadmission disclosure group had a
significantly higher mean age (13.71 years) than the pre-admission dis
closure group (10.96 years). Also, significantly more postadmission di
sclosure children received a diagnosis of major depressive disorder th
an their pre-admission disclosure counterparts. Conclusion. The study
highlights the issue of sexual abuse disclosure and its relationship t
o depression and developmental level. Internal psychological and devel
opmental mechanisms appear to influence the disclosure/non-disclosure
of sexual abuse.