Child Sexual Abuse and Negative Affect as Shared Risk Factors for Sexual Aggression and Sexual HIV Risk Behavior in Heterosexual Men

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that sexually aggressive behavior and sexual HIV risk behavior are associated. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a well-established risk factor for both types of problematic sexual behavior. Negative affect (i.e., anxiety, depression, and anger) is a less well-studied risk factor, but it has been theorized to relate to both sexual aggression and HIV risk behavior. Thus, this study sought to (1) confirm the relationship between sexual aggression and HIV risk behavior, (2) establish CSA and negative affect as shared risk factors for sexual aggression and HIV risk behavior, and (3) evaluate whether negative affect mediates the relationship between CSA and sexual aggression and between CSA and HIV sexual risk in a sample of heterosexual men. We recruited 18- to 30-year-old heterosexual men (N = 377) from urban sexually transmitted infection clinics. Men completed measures of sexual HIV risk history (number of partners and condom use), sexual aggression history, CSA history, and trait negative affect (anger, anxiety, and depression). Structural equation modeling was used to examine hypothesized direct and indirect relationships. In the final SEM model, sexual aggression history and sexual HIV risk behavior were correlated. CSA was associated with both types of problematic sexual behavior. Anxiety significantly mediated the relationship between CSA and sexual aggression and between CSA and sexual HIV risk behavior (χ [1300] = 2121.79, p< .001; CFI = 0.905; RMSEA [90% CI] = .044 [.041-.047]). Sexual aggression appears to be part of a constellation of sexual risk behaviors; thus, it may be possible to develop prevention programs that target both sexual HIV risk and sexual aggression. CSA is a shared risk factor for sexual aggression and HIV risk behavior through the pathway of anxiety. Thus, anxiety might be one promising target for intervention.

Sexual attitudes and behaviors among men who are victims, perpetrators, or both victims and perpetrators of adult sexual assault.

“…However, contrary to our expectations, the Victim-Only and the Perpetrator-Only groups did not differ from men with no ASA history in terms of rates of CSA. In previous research, CSA consistently has been found to be related to ASA victimization and ASA perpetration (Casey et al, 2009;Classen et al, 2005;Lambie et al, 2002;Peterson et al, 2017); however, no study to our knowledge has compared CSA history among victims with and without a perpetration history or among perpetrators with and without a victimization history. Our results provide some preliminary evidence that CSA may represent a unique risk factor for co-occurring ASA victimization and perpetration.…”

Bullying victimization and child sexual abuse among left-behind and non-left-behind children in China

“…The options of the ten items were all binary (1 = yes, 0 = no).The children suffered CSA if they answered yes to any of these items ( Hawton et al, 2018 ; Peterson et al, 2018 ; Sanchez et al, 2017 ).…”

The impact of college men’s sexual coercion perpetration on proclivity toward sexual assault and their cognitive and emotional reactions.

“…); or that our visual scenario included a more severe situation of sexual aggression than their scenario of sexual coercion. Due to the vast majority of studies about the relationship between emotions and perpetration of sexual aggression focusing on analyzing how negative emotions predict perpetration (e.g., Carvalho & Nobre, 2013;Peterson et al, 2018) instead of how a situation of sexual aggression predicts emotional responses on perpetrators, it is necessary for future researchers to further examine this inverse association to strengthen the results found here. Table 2 Attributions and Emotions: Means, Standard Deviations, and Hypothesized Contrasts…”