Adolescent abuse victims displayed physical health complaints and trauma symptoms during post disclosure interviews

We investigated whether adolescents who had recently disclosed sexual abuse or family violence displayed more psychological trauma symptoms and physical health complaints than unaffected controls. We also investigated to what degree physical health complaints were associated with trauma symptoms in these abuse victims.

Abuse, trauma symptoms and physical health complaints were assessed during face-to-face interviews with 40 sexual abuse victims and 35 family violence victims aged 10-18 years. They had all attended forensic interviews at the Barnehus in Oslo, a specialised Norwegian police unit where evidence is gathered in adolescent-friendly surroundings, from October 2016 to November 2018. Their symptoms were compared with 41 controls from the general population. Linear regression analyses investigated associations between trauma symptoms and physical health complaints.

Sexually abused adolescents displayed higher levels of post-traumatic stress reactions, depression, dissociation and physical health complaints than unaffected controls. Family violence victims displayed higher levels of post-traumatic stress reactions. Trauma symptoms were associated with physical health complaints, and these were most prominent in the adolescents with the highest burden of symptoms.

Based on the high burden of symptoms revealed, clinical examinations of abused adolescents should include a systematic assessment of trauma symptoms and physical health complaints.