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Impact of legal intervention on sexually abused children
D K Runyan1, M D Everson, G A Edelsohn
1Department of Social and Administrative Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Medicine 27599.
Objective:
Examining the psychologic risks of court and related interventions on child sexual abuse victims.
Design:
A prospective cohort study with follow-up at 5 months.
Setting:
Eleven county social service departments in central North Carolina.
Subjects:
100 sexually abused children, ages 6 to 17 years, were recruited from consecutive referrals by social service departments; 75 completed the study.
Measurements And Results:
Using a structured psychiatric inventory, the Child Assessment Schedule, we found a high degree of distress at referral. The level of distress fell by 26% over the next 5 months (p less than 0.001). The 33 children not involved in criminal proceedings improved 30%, in comparison with a 17% improvement in the 22 children waiting for the proceedings (p = 0.042). The 12 children who had testified in juvenile court improved 42% on the Anxiety subscale, in comparison with a 17% improvement in all other subjects (p less than 0.01). With mathematical modeling that controlled for the factors of vaginal or anal penetration, the relationship to the perpetrator, an estimate of verbal IQ, duration of abuse, and whether counseling was received, it was estimated that children waiting for court proceedings at the follow-up examination were only one twelfth as likely to have improved by one standard deviation on the Depression subscale (p less than 0.05). A second model revealed that children who testified in juvenile court were 20.11 times more likely to improve by one standard deviation on the CAS Anxiety subscale (p less than 0.05).
Conclusions:
Testimony in juvenile court may be beneficial for the child, whereas protracted criminal proceedings may have an adverse effect on the mental health of the victim.