TY - JOUR PY - 1998// TI - Sexual and physical abuse among incarcerated youth: implications for sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and teenage pregnancy JO - Child abuse and neglect A1 - Mason, W. Alex A1 - Zimmerman, L. A1 - Evans, William SP - 987 EP - 995 VL - 22 IS - 10 N2 - OBJECTIVE: In the present study, physical and sexual abuse among incarcerated youth were examined with respect to sexual activity, contraceptive use, and pregnancy. METHOD: The self-report survey data were collected from 62 females and 334 males who were incarcerated in Nevada youth correctional facilities in the summer of 1994. Of the males, 46.8% (n = 156) reported a history of physical abuse and 9.9% (n = 33) reported sexual abuse. A surprisingly high 73% (n = 46) of the females reported a history of physical abuse and 68.3% (n = 43) reported sexual abuse. RESULTS: The analyses indicated that females who reported a history of sexual abuse had an earlier mean age of first intercourse than those who reported no sexual abuse. In addition, male and female respondents with a history of physical and/or sexual abuse reported using no method of contraception as compared to youth with no history of abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of these results for detention-based counseling and prevention programming are discussed.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0145-2134 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -