The relation of child sexual abuse and depression in young women: comparisons across four ethnic groups.

To investigate the relation of child sexual abuse to depression and whether this relation differed by ethnicity (African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and non-Hispanic whites), we surveyed 2,003 women between 18 and 22 years of age about family histories, sexual abuse, and depression. Reported rates of child sexual abuse were similar across ethnic groups; approximately one-third of each group reported some form of sexual abuse and about one-fifth of each ethnic group reported experiencing rape. After controlling for background characteristics identified as risk factors for both child sexual abuse and depression, severity of child sexual abuse was significantly related to depressive symptoms only for non-Hispanic whites and Mexican Americans. Child sexual abuse variables accounted for more variance in depression than background variables only for Mexican American women. Child physical abuse was the strongest predictor of adult depression and the only significant predictor for each ethnic group.

Sexual abuse, sex before age 16, and high-risk behaviors of young females with sexually transmitted diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in young women who were sexually abused, sexually precocious, and engaged in high-risk behaviors with the rates of STDs in young women who had none of these experiences. DESIGN: In this descriptive, comparative study, purposive, nonrandom sampling was used to obtain representation of women in four ethnic groups. Women completed a questionnaire on their sexual history and high-risk behaviors, sexual abuse and age of occurrence, and health issues, including STDs. Chi-square analyses were used to explore differences in these risk factors for STDs. SETTING: Data were collected at 44 urban and rural sites, including health clinics, private care providers, academic institutions, and Indian reservations. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 1,994 women ages 18-22 years and representing four ethnic groups. RESULTS: Sexually abused, precocious women who also engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors were the most likely to have had an STD: The sequence of these events was not significant. High-risk sexual behaviors appeared to be a greater risk factor for STDs than sexual abuse or precocity. CONCLUSIONS: Young women who engage in high-risk sexual behaviors, such as sex on a first date or with a stranger, are at great risk for acquiring STDs. Nurses must be advocates for sex education in high schools to inform teenagers about the dangers of high-risk behaviors and STDs, and to explain ways to handle sexual coercion and possible rape.

Ethnic differences in childhood and adolescent sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy.

PURPOSE: This study examined ethnic differences in childhood and adolescent sexual abuse and the effect on teenage pregnancy rates. METHODS: A 20-page questionnaire elicited information about women's sexual and pregnancy history, high-risk behaviors, and sexual abuse, based a modified version of the Koss and Oros Sexual Experiences Survey. Over 1,900 women between 18 and 22 years old were recruited at 44 urban and rural sites. Women representing four ethnic groups completed an English or Spanish version of the questionnaire. RESULTS: Almost 36% of the women reported sex abuse before age 18 years of age, and more than 26% were pregnant before reaching 18 years old (teenage pregnancy). Compared with their nonabused peers, twice as many women who were coerced into sex or raped had a teenage pregnancy. Minority group teens were more likely than Anglos to have a teenage pregnancy and to have been coerced into having sex, rather than raped, prior to teenage pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Over one-third of pregnant teenagers in this study have been sexually abused, usually involving sexual intercourse, prior to becoming pregnant. Coercive sexual abuse is more likely to contribute to teenage pregnancy among minority group teens, whereas rape is more likely to contribute to a teenage pregnancy among Anglos.

PIP: This report of a comparative study on the effect of ethnicity on sexual abuse experience and adolescent pregnancy opens with a review what is known about teenage pregnancy in the US, the sexual abuse of children and adolescents, and links between sex abuse and teenage pregnancy. Data for the current study, part of a larger study of adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and childhood victimization, were gathered using a 20-page questionnaire administered over 16 months beginning in the fall of 1993 to 1937 women aged 18-22 recruited from 44 urban and rural sites in a southwestern state. The sample included 785 Whites, 549 Hispanics, 283 Blacks, and 320 American Indians. It was found that higher levels of educational attainment led to increased age at first adolescent pregnancy. While 60% of the women had never married, over 54% of those who were separated, divorced, or widowed had become pregnant during their teenage years. Minority teenagers were more likely than Whites to become pregnant at younger ages. Almost 36% of the women reported at least one form of sexual abuse before age 18. Analysis of adolescent pregnancy by severity of sexual abuse (contact molestation, coercion into sex, attempted rape, and rape) revealed that nonabused Whites had the lowest percentage of teenage pregnancies but that, in all groups, experience of sexual abuse led to increased adolescent pregnancy rates. Minority teenagers who were coerced into sex were more likely than nonabused peers to become pregnant during adolescence as were White teenagers who had been raped. Additional studies are required to explore the interrelated factors that contribute to sexual abuse and adolescent pregnancy and to provide girls at greatest risk of teenage pregnancy with educational enhancement opportunities.