Maternal sexual abuse of male children

Preview

Sexual abuse of boys by their mothers is being increasingly reported and must be considered in the course of history taking and physical examination. Often there is little objective evidence of such abuse, and only a cluster of signs and risk factors may reveal the victimization. Drs Elliott and Peterson list characteristics that can help physicians identify sexually abusive mothers and sexually abused children; they also discuss how to retrieve a report of abuse from a child and assess its credibility.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew J. Elliott

Andrew J. Elliott, MD Dr Elliott is a resident, department of psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. His interests include research and geriatric psychiatry.

Linda W. Peterson

Linda W. Peterson, PhD Dr Peterson is associate professor, departments of pediatrics and psychiatry, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno. Her research interests include medical education, child sexual abuse investigations, and attention-deficit disorder. She recently completed a study of heart rate variability and stress arousal in children undergoing genital examination for sexual abuse.