Childhood victimization and subsequent risk for promiscuity, prostitution, and teenage pregnancy: a prospective study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the extent to which being abused and/or neglected in childhood increases a person's risk for promiscuity, prostitution, and teenage pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective cohorts design was used to match, on the basis of age, race, sex, and social class, cases of abused and/or neglected children from 1967 to 1971 with nonabused and nonneglected children; subjects were followed into young adulthood. From 1989 to 1995 1196 subjects (676 abused and/or neglected and 520 control subjects were located and interviewed. RESULTS: Early childhood abuse and/or neglect was a significant predictor of prostitution for females (odds ratio [OR] = 2.96). For females, sexual abuse (OR = 2.54) and neglect (OR = 2.58) were associated with prostitution, whereas physical abuse was only marginally associated. Childhood abuse and neglect were not associated with increased risk for promiscuity or teenage pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings strongly support a relationship between childhood victimization and subsequent prostitution. The presumed causal sequence between childhood victimization and teenage pregnancy may need to be reevaluated.

Moving Parts and Balancing Acts: Building and Maintaining a Collaborative Community-Based Research Partnership in Detroit

“…Both sex work and substance abuse may be viewed from an economic perspective as phenomena representing rational decisions, made by individuals operating within severely constrained circumstances (Goldstein, 1979;Goldman, 1981;Romero-Daza, Weeks & Singer, 1998;Hanson, Lopez-Iftikhar, Alegria et al, 2002;Maher, 1996;Maher & Daly 1996;Bretteville-Jensen & Sutton, 1996). Research has shown that women who engage in street sex work are more likely to have suffered from child sexual abuse (Widom & Kuhns, 1996;McClanahan et al, 1999), to demonstrate signs of psychological distress (Young, Boyd and Hubbell 2000), and to experience stigmatization and poor overall health (Baker, Wilson, & Winebarger, 2004;Jeal & Salisbury, 2004). As a result, some researchers have emphasized the need for intensive social and health services, including mental health services, to address the underlying issues that contribute to risky behavior patterns (Briere & Jordan, 2004;Golder & Logan, 2006;Potterat et al, 1998).…”

The consequences of antisocial behavior in older male siblings for younger brothers and sisters.

“…Victimization, in turn, increases risk for a variety of later problems, including violence, drug use, and early high-risk sexual behavior (Gully, Dengerink, Pepping, & Berstrom, 1981;Widom & Kuhns, 1996;Widom, Weiler, & Cottler, 1999).…”

Interpersonal functioning among women reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse: empirical findings and methodological issues

“…After taking family and social background into account, Mullen et al (1994) found only the most severe forms of CSA to be predictive of early pregnancy. Abused and nonabused females matched on the basis of age, race, gender, and social class have also been found not to differ on age of pregnancy (Widom & Kuhns, 1996). Regarding family size, one study indicates that sexually abused mothers may have more children at an early age than do their nonabused counterparts, even after adjustments for demographic differences were made (Herman-Giddens et al, 1998).…”