Inpatient treatment of abused children and adolescents

Objective: Inpatient rehabilitation and treatment systems, the Residential Treatment Centers (RTC) are widely used in the treatment of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) cases and offer the advantages of keeping a combination of several applications. 'Oguz Kagan Koksal Social Care and Rehabitation Center' is the first RTC in Turkey providing services to girl CSA victims. In this study, demographic, clinical and follow-up findings of patients treated in this center since the establishment of the six year period will be presented. Methods: This study included 152 girls aged between 8-18 years who had histories of CSA, neglect or other kinds of adverse experiences, and in need for treatment or protecttion. Demographic and abuse-specific data were obtained from file records. The Child Beck Depression Inventory, the Trait-State Anxiety Inventory-1, -2, the Moudsley Obsessive Compulsive Questionnaire, and the Clinical Global Impression Scale were administered at the beginning and at the end of the treatment period. Results: A history of CSA was reported by 120 girls. Almost half of the cases were diagnosed as posttraumatic stress disorder, 23.7% as borderline personality disorder, 21.1% as destructive behavior disorders, and 9.2 as bipolar disorder. In the treatment, 95% of cases taken at least one psychotropic medication. The most commonly used drugs were antipsychotics, and given in treatment of 81.4% of girls. In addition, 51.7% of cases taken mood stabilizers, and 25.5% of them took antidepressants. Mean score of all psychometric tests were improved significantly at the end point compared to the baseline. Conclusion: Our findings support the usefulness of the system presented herein for child and adolescent victims