ABSTRACT
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between dating violence perpetration and victimization and sexually risky behaviors among sexual minority and heterosexual adolescent girls. DESIGN: Adolescent girls reported on sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and risk-taking, and their use of, and experience with, dating violence in the past year. Data were analyzed using multinomial regression adjusted for race, poverty, living in a single parent household, and gender of current partner to examine (1) whether sexual minority status was associated with sexual risk behaviors after sociodemographic correlates of sexual risk were controlled; and (2) whether dating violence context accounted for elevated risk. SETTING: Urban, population-based sample of girls interviewed in the home. PARTICIPANTS: 1,647 adolescent girls (38% European American, 57% African American, and 5% other) aged 17 years. Over one-third of the sample lived in poverty. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Sexual risk-taking. RESULTS: Sexual minority status differentiated girls engaging in high sexual risk-taking from those reporting none, after controlling for sociodemographic and relationship characteristics. Dating violence perpetration and victimization made unique additional contributions to this model and did not account for the elevated risk conferred by sexual minority status. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual minority girls (SMGs) were more likely than heterosexual girls to report high sexual risk-taking and teen dating violence victimization. As with heterosexual girls, sexual risk-taking among SMGs was compounded by dating violence, which was not explained by partner gender. Adolescent girls' risky sexual behavior may be reduced by interventions for teen dating violence regardless of sexual minority status.
