The significance of emotions in the affective presentation of sexually abused girls.

This study examined emotions and internalizing symptoms in sexually abused females. Children seen for outpatient evaluation for sexual abuse were compared to a normative sample on measures of emotional expression, anxiety and depression. The outpatient sample reported higher levels of emotions, lower levels of depression and statistically lower levels of anxiety as compared to non-abused peers. The outpatients also were compared to two inpatient samples: inpatient with no history of abuse, and inpatient with a history of abuse. Results are discussed in terms of the need to find different ways to assess emotional adjustment of sexually abused children.