Incidence of a history of incest among 18 female psychiatric patients

Abstract

The author ascertained the frequency of reports of a history of incest among the 18 female psychiatric outpatients he first evaluated or treated in a one-year period. Six of these patients (33%) reported a history of incest. The author suggests that if this figure reflects actual prevalence, previous estimates of a history of incest among female psychiatric patients may have been mistakenly low. He discusses the implications and limitations of the statistics.