Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the psychological characteristics of psychiatric inpatients with battered experience from family under the age of 16. Subjects were 24 inpatients(13 males, 11 females) at the Neuropsychiatric Department of Hanyang University Hospital who were examined with psychological test battery consisting of Wechsler Intelligence Scale, MMPI(Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), and Rorschach test. Results demonstrated that there was no difference in the subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale and the MMPI between subjects with battered experience and subjects without it. Of the specific MMPI content scales, subjects with battered experience showed higher scores on the antisocial personality disorder, bizarre thoughts, family conflicts, and alcoholic problems and lower scores on the ego strength. They also showed lower score on Egocentricity Index on the Rorschach test. Furthermore, subjects with battered experience exhibited higher frequency in Anatomy content(An) and Anatomy+Xray content(An+Xy) and lower frequency in Landscape content(Ls) and Form Dimension response(FD). It could be concluded that patients with battered experience from family under the age of 16 have low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy and deficit in interpersonal skills.