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.
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