Childbearing Patterns in a Cohort of Women Sexually Abused as Children

• NCJ Number: 178947
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: August 1998 Pages: 504-513
• Author(s): Marcia E. Herman-Giddens; Jonathan B. Kotch; Dorothy C. Browne; Ellen Ruina; Jane R. Winsor; Jin-Whan Jung; Paul W. Stewart
• Date Published: August 1998
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): MCJ-37051; 90-CA1467
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services; US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Mothers in North Carolina were studied with respect to the relationship between their experience of child sexual abuse and their later childbearing characteristics, including the number of children and their age at the birth of their first child.

Abstract

The participants were 734 black and white mothers of newborns recruited in North Carolina hospitals and health departments in 37 counties from 1985 to 1987. Most were selected because their babies had one or more characteristics that placed them at risk for developmental and medical problems. The mothers were interviewed approximately 7 weeks after their babies were discharged from the hospital. Thirty-two percent of the participants reported experiencing child sexual abuse. The abused and nonabused mothers did not differ in their age at the first birth of a child, after controlling for poverty, race, maternal education, marital status, and age. However, the sexually abused group had more children than did the others. Fifty-five percent of the mothers with a sexual abuse history had had more than one child, compared to 39 percent of the nonabused mothers. Tables and 20 references (Author abstract modified)