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Childhood violence exposure and the development of sexual risk in low-income African American girls

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Abstract

Low-income, urban African American (AA) girls are at heightened risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and violence exposure may be an important risk factor. AA girls (N = 177) from low-income communities in Chicago completed a 2-year longitudinal study of HIV-risk behavior involving five waves of data collection (ages 12–16 at baseline) and a sixth wave (ages 14–22) assessing lifetime trauma and victimization history. Childhood exposure to violence (CEV) represented reports of physical, sexual, or witnessed violence before age 12. Latent growth curve analysis examined CEV as a covariate of sexual experience, number of sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use trajectories. CEV was associated with greater sexual risk, although the pattern differed across the three outcomes. Overall, findings emphasize the need for early interventions to reduce sexual risk among low-income urban girls who have experienced violence. Efforts to address or prevent violence exposure may also reduce rates of STIs in this population.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (R03MH086361; R01MH065155) and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD067511-01). We thank the mothers and daughters who participated in the study, and gratefully acknowledge the administrators and clinical staff at the outpatient mental health clinics who worked with us to identify eligible families. These data reflect self-reported behaviors that place girls at risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and may not represent girls’ willingness to engage the behavior. We also thank Gloria Coleman, Bola Animashaun, Tiffany Brakefield, Neha Darji, Laura Pettineo, Paige Saltzberg, and Mary Beth Tull for their invaluable assistance in recruiting families, conducting interviews, and entering data.

Conflict of interest

Helen W. Wilson, Geri R. Donenberg and Erin Emerson declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94304-5718, USA

    Helen W. Wilson

  2. Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) and Community Outreach Intervention Projects (COIP), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Geri R. Donenberg & Erin Emerson

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  1. Helen W. Wilson
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  2. Geri R. Donenberg
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  3. Erin Emerson
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Correspondence to Helen W. Wilson.

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Wilson, H.W., Donenberg, G.R. & Emerson, E. Childhood violence exposure and the development of sexual risk in low-income African American girls. J Behav Med 37, 1091–1101 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-014-9560-y

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