A questionnaire survey was carried out in one practice to
determine the relationship between sexual abuse in childhood and
subsequent psychological morbidity. Out of 418 women who replied (62%
response rate), 60 (14%) admitted experiencing some form of sexual
abuse as a child. Twenty of these (33%) were found to have a record of
some form of psychological problem in adult life, compared with 14% of
a sample of the non-abused respondents and 20% of the
non-respondents. In particular, 54% of 13 women who had experienced
oral, genital or anal penetration or attempted penetration had
psychological morbidity recorded. There was no relationship, however,
between sexual abuse and psychosexual or marital problems in later
life.