Childhood Sexual Violence and Consistent, Effective Contraception Use among Young, Sexually Active Urban Women
Date
2015
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Publisher
Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Unintended pregnancy (UP) is a significant public health problem. The
consistent use of effective contraception is the primary method to prevent UP. We
examined the role of childhood sexual and physical violence and current interpersonal
violence on the risk of unintended pregnancy among young, urban, sexually active women.
In particular, we were interested in examining the role of childhood violence and
interpersonal violence while recognizing the psychological correlates of experiencing
violence (i.e., high depressive symptoms and low self-esteem) and consistent use of
contraception. For this assessment, 315 sexually active women living in Philadelphia PA
were recruited from family planning clinics in 2013. A self-administered, computer-assisted
interview was used to collect data on method of contraception use in the past month,
consistency of use, experiences with violence, levels of depressive symptoms, self-esteem
and sexual self-efficacy, substance use and health services utilization. Fifty percent of
young sexually active women reported inconsistent or no contraception use in the past
month. Inconsistent users were significantly more likely to report at least one prior episode
of childhood sexual violence and were significantly less likely to have received a
prescription for contraception from a health care provider. Inconsistent contraception users
also reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and significantly lower
levels of self-esteem. The relation between childhood sexual violence and UP remained
unchanged in the multivariate models adjusting for self-esteem or depressive symptoms.
These findings highlight the long-term consequences of childhood sexual violence,
independent of current depressive symptoms and low self-esteem, on consistent use
of contraception.
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Keywords
contraception use, depressive symptoms, childhood sexual violence, unintended pregnancy, self-esteem
Citation
Nelson, D. B., Lepore, S. J., & Mastrogiannis, D. S. (2015). Childhood Sexual Violence and Consistent, Effective Contraception Use among Young, Sexually Active Urban Women. Behavioral Sciences, 5(2), 230–246.