Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Childhood sexual abuse and sexual risk behavior among men and women attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic.

Senn TE, Carey MP, Vanable PA, Coury-Doniger P, Urban MA

Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University, NY 13244-2340, USA. tsenn@syr.edu

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. The authors investigated the relation between CSA and sexual risk behavior in 827 patients recruited from a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic. Overall, CSA was reported by 53% of women and 49% of men and was associated with greater sexual risk behavior, including more sexual partners, unprotected sex, and sex trading. Alcohol use for men and drug use for women mediated the relation between CSA and the number of sexual partners in the past 3 months; intimate partner violence mediated the relation between CSA and the number of episodes of unprotected sex in the past 3 months for women. These results document the prevalence of CSA among patients seeking care for an STD and can be used to tailor sexual risk reduction programs for individuals who were sexually abused.

Published 2 August 2006 in J Consult Clin Psychol, 74(4): 720-31.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Child Abuse Research Today. All Rights Reserved.