Adolescent sexual abuse: clinical discussion of a community treatment response.

Abstract

Adolescent sexual abuse is an overwhelming issue for society and the medical community. Adolescent medicine has only begun to emerge in the mainstream of medical practice. Sexual medicine, adolescent chemical dependency, and abusive medicine are emerging subspecialties of mainstream medicine, with victimization syndromes just beginning to be explored. Adolescent sexual abuse, sexual addiction disorders, family incest, eating disorders, depression, and suicide in adolescents all need to be viewed from epidemiologically regarding family and community orientation. I refer to physician and troubled adolescent relations as the quadruple passivity syndrome. The ego-centered, troubled adolescent denies he or she has problems but no desire for treatment; the physician denies that the adolescent has health problems and has no desire to evaluate them. Physicians need to take an aggressive role in identifying, treating, and preventing the victimization process in children, adolescents, adults, spouses, families, and geriatric patients. Physicians need to be trained to identify these patients and to develop treatment protocols. The victimization syndrome needs more research, publication, and surveillance by all medical associations, but primarily by family physicians and pediatricians. In conclusion this clinical discussion describes four main points: Sexually abused adolescents can be successfully treated by a multidisciplinary advocacy team. A community multidisciplinary team can work in a unified approach for the good of the community by putting an end to future generations of victimized adolescents and families. The medical community has the greatest challenge in training, educating, and becoming more aware about adolescent sexual abuse. The community must provide support for victims of sexual abuse.