Sexual victimization and clinical challenges in women receiving hospital treatment for depression

The study examined the prevalence of sexual victimization among 60 female inpatients and outpatients with depression. Sixty-five percent of the sample reported previous sexual violation in either childhood or adolescence/adulthood. Of these, 52% indicated that they had been victimized both in childhood and adolescence/adulthood. Based on the history of sexual victimization, participants were allocated to one of three groups. Body satisfaction, global self-esteem, and internality were progressively lower from Group 1 (no history), to Group 2 (childhood or adolescent/adult victimization), to Group 3 (both childhood and adolescent/adult victimization). Body satisfaction was further shown to be independently affected by sexual violation.