Encounter With Family Violence and Risky Sexual Activity Among Young Adolescent Females

• NCJ Number: 198412
• Journal: Violence and Victims Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2002 Pages: 569-592
• Author(s): Gregory C. Elliott; Roger Avery; Elizabeth Fishman; Brandon Hoshiko
• Date Published: October 2002
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study analyzed the relationship between exposure to family violence and risky sexual activity for female adolescents (age 14-17).

Abstract

The study focused on two forms of family violence experienced by young adolescent females: physical abuse perpetrated against the adolescent by a parent or parent figure and the witnessing of interparental physical violence. This study hypothesized that either form of violence would increase the odds that the adolescent female would engage in risky sexual behavior. For the purposes of this study, risky sexual activity is defined as any of the following: having multiple partners within the last 12 months or having sex with partners who are themselves engaging in risky behavior (e.g., having multiple partners of either sex, injecting unprescribed drugs, sharing unprescribed needles for injecting drugs). The study analyzed data from 710 respondents selected from the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle V, who were living with at least 1 biological parent. The survey showed that being physically abused by a parent greatly increased the likelihood of risky sex, even when controlling for the experience of forced sex, age, mother's age at first birth, race, socioeconomic status, and religiosity. Female adolescents who had experienced forced sex, those who were older (especially 17-year-olds), non-Hispanic Blacks (but not Hispanics), those living in a family with low educational attainment (less than a high school diploma), and those for whom religion was not or only somewhat personally important were more likely to report risky sex compared to others. These effects were not changed by whether the respondents lived in single-parent or two-parent families. An interaction between the two forms of physical violence suggests that either form is sufficient to increase significantly the chances of risky sex. An analysis in which respondents were differentiated by their experience of either form of violence showed a strong effect of that experience on risky sex. 4 tables, 1 figure, 8 notes, and 78 references