Emotional Victimization and Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors Among Adolescent African American Women

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that a history of gender-based victimization is associated with higher rates of sexual risk-taking behaviors among adolescents. Victimization can occur in various forms. To date, no published studies have examined the relationship between the different forms of victimization and sexual risk-taking behaviors among African American adolescent women. This study explored the association between different forms of victimization and sexual risk behaviors using baseline data from participants (N = 715) with a mean age of 17.9 (SD = 1.7), who were enrolled in a larger intervention study. The results revealed that a history of any form of victimization was associated with some form of sexual risk behaviors.