Intimate partner abuse and the reproductive health of sexually active female adolescents
Received 15 December 2003; accepted 21 June 2004.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between verbal and minor physical abuse by an intimate partner and reproductive health behavior.
Methods
Logistic regression analyses of 1996 cross-sectional data from 973 sexually active, dating female adolescents surveyed for wave II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Public Use Dataset examining the relationship between abuse by an intimate partner and reproductive health. We measured verbal (insulted in public, sworn at, or threatened with violence) and minor physical (threw something at them, pushed them, or shoved them) abuse by any intimate partner during the past 18 months and by any current intimate partner. Reproductive health variables included condom use with most recent intercourse, contraception use with most recent intercourse, history of sexually transmitted infection, and history of pregnancy.
Results
After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, number of intimate partners, and history of forced sexual intercourse, the current involvement in a verbally abusive relationship was associated with not using a condom during the most recent intercourse (odds ratio, 1.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–2.40), and both a history of involvement and current involvement in a physically abusive relationship were associated with a history of pregnancy (odds ratio, 2.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.47–4.17; and odds ratio, 3.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.85–6.67, respectively). Neither verbal nor physical abuse were associated with the other reproductive health outcomes.
Conclusions
Physical abuse by an intimate partner is associated with pregnancy and current involvement in a verbally abusive relationship is associated with decreased condom use among sexually experienced female adolescents. Health care providers should be attentive to the association between abuse and pregnancy among adolescents.
aDivision of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Strong Children’s Research Center, Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York
bAmerican Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research, Rochester, New York
Address correspondence to: Timothy A. Roberts, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, 620 John Paul Jones Circle, Portsmouth, VA 23708-2197.
ABSTRACT