Characteristics of 60 children and adolescents with a history of sexual assault against others: Evidence from a comparative study

Abstract

Sixty individuals aged 9 to 17 in two residental treatment centres for severely disturbed children and adolescents were identified as having a history of sexual assault against others. Comparison with 320 age- and sex-matched individuals indicated that the sexually assaultive individuals displayed the following statistically significant differences: more self-concept problems, more hyperactivity or restlessness, more aggression towards father, more anxiety, more depression, more histories of substance abuse, more running from home, more encopresis, more fire-setting, and more early-onset neurological conditions or illnesses. The sexually assaultive youth displayed significantly fewer acts which fell in the range of traditional delinquency (physical assault and theft). They tended to come from intact, ‘hothouse’ families which often manifested gross pathology, including physical and sexual assault of the child