Mothers of sexually abused children: an MMPI study.

Thirty-seven mothers of sexually abused children were contrasted with 41 mothers who were receiving outpatient psychotherapy and with 76 women with no history of psychiatric disturbance on the MMPI. The groups were matched on age and socioeconomic status, and significant between-group differences were noted. Outpatients and mothers of sexually abused children were significantly more elevated than the normal comparison group on the majority of the scales. Mothers of sexually abused children differed from psychiatric outpatient mothers on several scales. The 4-3 and spike 4 MMPI code-types were significantly more common in mothers of sexually abused children than in outpatient mothers. Differences in the child's sexual abuse characteristics were related to MMPI scales of the mother.