A psychometric and behavioral comparison of delinquents who were abused as children with their non-abused peers.

Investigated responses of abused and non-abused juvenile delinquents to Bell's Adjustment Inventory and Gough's California Psychological Inventory, and information with regard to several related behavioral measures. The Ss were 52 institutionalized adolescent males and females. Results indicated that the abused Ss scored significantly higher than the non-abused group on the Home Adjustment Scale (indicative of poorer adjustment) and significantly lower than the non-abused group on the Flexibility, Tolerance, and Socialization Scales. Subsequent analysis showed a significant interaction effect on the behavioral measure with regard to the number of runaway attempts; abused males made significantly more attempts than abused females and non-abused males and females.