NCJ Number
217569
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 39-53
Date Published
January 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the influence of childhood neglect on adult women survivors' subsequent involvement in behaviors that increased their risk for acquiring HIV.
Abstract
The study found that childhood neglect increased the likelihood that women would have negative attitudes toward condom use. Thirty-five percent of the women reported having been neglected during their childhoods and/or adolescent years. Childhood neglect was also related to the following risk behaviors for HIV: having sex while the respondent and/or her partner was intoxicated, having sex with an injection drug user, having anal intercourse, having sex with a man who may have had sex with other men, and having sex with multiple partners. The link between childhood neglect and these risky behaviors was low self-esteem. Childhood neglect was linked to low self-esteem, and low self-esteem was related to the aforementioned risky behaviors. These findings suggest that HIV intervention programs should target women who experienced neglect in their childhoods. Study data came from the Female Atlanta Study (Project FAST), which was conducted between August 1997 and August 2000 in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area. The 250 women who participated in the study met at least one of a set of criteria for being "at risk." Childhood neglect was defined as the experience of being "treated in a manner that was unacceptable by community and professional standards at the time by not being provided with adequate food, clothing, shelter, and/or basic emotional needs like love, encouragement, belonging, and support prior to the age of majority." Self-esteem was assessed with a shortened version of Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. The women were asked about how may different types of risky behavior they practiced during the year prior to the interview. 1 table, 2 figures, and 67 references