%0 Journal Article %T Psychological, physical, and sexual abuse in addicted patients who undergo treatment %J Journal of interpersonal violence %D 2015 %A Fernandez-Montalvo, Javier %A López-Goñi, Jose J. %A Arteaga, Alfonso %V 30 %N 8 %P 1279-1298 %X This study explored the prevalence of a history as victims of abuse among patients who sought outpatient treatment for drug addiction. A sample of 252 addicted patients was assessed. Information was collected on the patients' lifetime history of abuse (psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse), sociodemographic factors, consumption factors, psychopathological factors, and personality variables. Drug-addicted patients who present a lifelong history of abuse were compared with patients who were not abused. Of the total sample, 46% of the patients (n = 115) who were addicted to drugs had been victims of abuse. There was a statistically significant difference between the victimization rates of men (37.8%) and women (79.6%). Moreover, for some variables, significant differences were observed between patients who had been abused and those who had not. Compared with patients who had not been abused, the addicted patients with a history of victimization scored significantly higher on several European Addiction Severity Index, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II, and maladjustment variables but not on the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. The current results indicate that patients who present a lifelong history of abuse exhibit both a more severe addiction than patients who were not abused and several comorbidities. The implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are discussed.

Language: en

%G en %I SAGE Publishing %@ 0886-2605 %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0886260514539843