Citation

Miller KM, Briggs HE, Elkins J, Kim I, Mowbray O. J. Child Adolesc. Trauma 2020; 13(1): 55-62.

Affiliation

2School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, GA USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s40653-018-0221-0

PMID

32318228

PMCID

PMC7163811

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to examine the direct effects of child physical abuse on sexual behaviors and whether mental health problems and substance use moderated the associations between exposure to child physical abuse and sexual behavioral practices among adolescents who participated in the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). The data show statistically significant relationships between physical abuse and risky sexual behaviors for youth who met the clinical criteria for lifetime Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and reported marijuana use. Data from future studies can inform sexual health practice development with adolescents and emerging adults with a history of physical abuse, marijuana use/abuse and PTSD. These findings underscore the importance of exploring presence of symptoms associated with PTSD and marijuana use as part of a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment for physically abused adolescents and emerging adults to determine if they are engaging in risky sexual behaviors.

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.

Language: en

Keywords

Anxiety; Condom use; Depression; Marijuana use; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Sexual partners