Incest reported by children and adolescents hospitalized for severe psychiatric problems

This study of 65 children and adolescents hospitalized for psychiatric problems revealed a history of incest in 37.5% of the nonpsychotic female subjects. Ten percent of the psychotic girls and about 8% of all the boys had such a history. A comparison of the nonpsychotic girls who had a history of incest and those who had no known history of incest or sexual abuse showed no specific effects of incest. It seems that social and psychological pathology serious enough to warrant hospitalization is not a simple effect of incest itself but is a consequence of severe family disorganization and the resulting ego impairment.