Citation

Paradise JE, Rostain AL, Nathanson M. Pediatrics 1988; 81(6): 835-839.

Affiliation

Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic.

Comment In:

Pediatrics 1990;86(3):488-90.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3368282

Abstract

Recent news reports have implied that charges of sexual child abuse during parental separation or divorce are often deliberately falsified. Such a conclusion could be harmful if it biased practitioners faced with such allegations in clinical practice. To investigate this concern, sexual abuse cases in a hospital-based consecutive series and in one author's clinical practice were reviewed. Abuse allegations with and without a concomitant custody or visitation dispute were compared. A custody or visitation dispute occurred in 12 (39%) of 31 sexual abuse complaints lodged against a parent. Allegedly abused children whose parents contested custody or visitation were significantly younger than those for whom custody or visitation was not an issue (5.4 v 7.8 years, P = .02). Sexual abuse allegations were substantiated less frequently when there was concomitant parental conflict (67% v 95%, nonsignificant) but were nevertheless substantiated more than half of the time.

Language: en