Knowledge and management strategies in incest cases: a survey of physicians, psychologists and family counselors.

A questionnaire was mailed to all 255 psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family counselors listed in the 1983 telephone directory. Of the 108 private practitioners who responded, over one-half had treated a child or adult incest victim in the past year; 86% requested more training in this area. Practitioners had a high level of general knowledge about intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, one-third stated they would not refer to protective services a child who had first made, but then retracted, an incest allegation. While most pediatricians would recommend physical examination of a child who had retracted, only half of other professionals would do so. Women practitioners were more realistic about the high frequency of actual father-daughter incest and were more likely to report the hypothetical case of the retracted allegation.