Spouse assault on mentally disordered wives.

To assess the prevalence and associated features of wife assault in psychiatric patients, 152 married women who had a psychiatric disorder and who were consecutively seen at or admitted to a psychiatric unit were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Forty-nine percent of the patients had been assaulted by their husbands. There was a significant relationship between hospital admission and recent assault. Parental violence and whether or not the husband had a criminal record were strongly related to wife assault. The wives' responses to the assaults were investigated.