Psychiatric Disorders in Adolescents Exposed to Domestic Violence and Physical Abuse

The relationship between abuse and psychiatric diagnoses was investigated in two groups of physically abused adolescents, 57 living in homes with interparental violence and 32 in homes without such violence, and in 96 nonabused adolescents living in nonviolent homes. Adolescents in the first group were found to be at greater risk for depression, separation anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder than were those in the second group. Adolescents in the first group also appeared more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.