NCJ Number
226701
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 258-275
Date Published
March 2009
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined several behavioral mechanisms that link gender-based violence (GBV) to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), primarily chlamydia, among sexually active adolescent girls (n=198) recruited from 8 youth detention facilities.
Abstract
A key finding was that detained adolescent girls who had experienced either physical or sexual abuse from their boyfriends (31 percent of the sample) were more likely to test positive for biologically confirmed chlamydia. This is consistent with previous research that has found a link between GBV and self-reported STD among representative samples of adolescent girls. Further, the results suggest that the STDs of the girls in the current study were indirectly related to adolescents’ use of substances, either alcohol or drugs, and condom failures. A post hoc test showed that using substances--either by the girls or their partners or both--while having sex resulted in more condom failures. These factors have been previously shown to be linked to STDs. The association between GBV and condom failures may be explained by the use of substances by the adolescents and/or their partners during sex, since adolescent girls who use alcohol or drugs during sex had significantly more condom failures than their counterparts. In addition, a study by Mazzaferro et al. (2006) found that among 14- to- 19-year-old adolescent girls, depression and elevated stress were associated with a greater likelihood of condom-use problems and a reluctance to challenge partners who refused to use a condom. The sample provided a first-catch urine specimen for STD testing. Self-report data were obtained on the prevalence of vaginal intercourse, the prevalence of gender-based violence, STD-associated risk behaviors, and sociodemographic variables. 2 tables and 54 references