The purpose of this study was to compare the delinquent behavior, psychological
health, and emotional wellbeing of maltreated and nonmaltreated adolescents in a
chemical dependency treatment program. Data were collected over a seven year period
from intake interviews and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scores
of 522 adolescent patients at a chemical dependency treatment program in a Northwest
city of about 100,000. The subjects consisted of 220 females and 302 males.
Maltreatment was selfreported by 43% of the females and 17% of the males. Results
indicated that maltreated, drugaddicted adolescents engaged in significantly more
delinquent behavior, including arrests and drugrelated arrests, suicide attempts,
runaway behavior and illicit drug use than nonmaltreated adolescents in the program.
Results of the MMPI scores revealed that maltreated adolescents scored significantly
higher than nonmaltreated adolescents on eight of the ten clinical scales, indicating that
maltreated adolescents entered the drug treatment program with higher levels of
psychological and emotional distress than did their peers. Analyses run separately for
males and females revealed that differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated
patients could be accounted for, in large part, by differences between maltreated and
nonmaltreated females. Maltreated females, but not males, scored significantly higher on
total drug use, and on the Hypochondriasis (Hs), Hysteria (Hy), Psychasthenia (Pt), and
Schizophrenia (Sc) scales of the MMPI. The unique needs of maltreated adolescents, in
particular maltreated females, in drug treatment programs are discussed. / Graduation date: 1992
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/37299 |
| Date | 16 March 1992 |
| Creators | Keefe, Margaret A. |
| Contributors | Moran, Patricia |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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