NCJ Number
213905
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 231-246
Date Published
April 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study compared the relationships between lifespan childhood and adult partner victimization and drug-related lifestyles for women among a drug treatment sample, a domestic violence shelter sample, and a matched community sample.
Abstract
Overall, the findings suggest that the varying characteristics of the women in the different samples accounted for differences in their victimization experiences and drug-related lifestyles. Results indicated that lifespan childhood and adult partner victimization were strong predictors of women’s drug-related lifestyles. The relationship between lifespan victimization and drug-related lifestyle was modified in a negative direction by education and household income and in a positive direction by marital status, partner substance abuse, and parental substance abuse. The findings also revealed that the drug treatment and domestic violence shelter samples demonstrated higher levels of each of the variables under examination and the drug treatment sample had the highest drug-related lifestyle activities score. Participants were 609 women aged 18 to 65 years who were recruited from battered women’s shelters, outpatient drug treatment programs, and the community from the Buffalo, NY metropolitan region. Participants completed four in-depth interviews conducted at 6-month intervals over the course of 1.5 years. Interviews probed the women’s childhood family history, parental drug use, parental education, and personal childhood victimization and sexual experiences. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multiple regression models. Future research should attempt to replicate these findings with women from middle- and upper-class backgrounds in order to further probe the relationship between lifespan victimization and drug-related behaviors. Tables, note, references