RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A Comparison of Risky Health Behaviors of Sexually Active, Sexually Abused, and Abstaining Adolescents
JF Pediatrics
JO Pediatrics
FD American Academy of Pediatrics
SP 570
OP 575
VO 93
IS 4
A1 Nagy, Stephen
A1 Adcock, Anthony G.
A1 Nagy, M. Christine
YR 1994
UL http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/93/4/570.abstract
AB Objective. To report on rates of sexual abuse among a normative sample of adolescents and identify psychosocial correlates associated with sexual abuse. Method. An anonymous self-report survey examining an array of psychosocial items to which 3448 grade 8 and 10 students from rural and metropolitan school districts in a southern state responded. Results. There was a 105 rate of sexual abuse among this normative sample. Victims of forced sex were disproportionately female and African-American, and were more likely to reside in single-parent households. These sexually abused girls reported significantly higher levels of risky health behaviors and risky attitudes on 11 (P < .001) of the 12 comparisons. Sexually abused boys showed a similar pattern on eight (P < .001) comparisons. Conclusions. Indications are that forced sex experiences are associated strongly with risky health behaviors in some adolescents, which should alert clinicians to the possibility of sexual abuse.