Long-term associations between childhood sexual/physical violence experience, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and risky sexual behaviors among young adult women

dc.contributor.advisorPomeroy, Elizabeth Cheney, 1955-
dc.creatorJun, Jinaen
dc.date.accessioned2013-09-23T18:43:13Zen
dc.date.issued2013-05en
dc.date.submittedMay 2013en
dc.date.updated2013-09-23T18:43:14Zen
dc.descriptiontexten
dc.description.abstractCurrent literature lacks longitudinal understandings of the association between childhood sexual/physical violence, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and indiscriminant sexual behaviors among young women, as well as the racial/ethnic differences in these associations. Therefore, using the 1994-2008 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined a) heterogeneous growth trajectories of problem alcohol use during the transition from adolescents to young adulthood and the impact of childhood sexual/physical violence on drinking trajectories, b) the long-term impact of childhood sexual/physical violence on alcohol use and depressive symptoms, and c) the structural associations between childhood sexual/physical violence and indiscriminant sexual behaviors by examining alcohol use and depressive symptoms as mediators between White and African-American women. First, with 1,702 women, LCGM was used to identify trajectories of problem alcohol use using the first three waves. Four trajectories of problem alcohol use emerged: stable abstainers; decliners (moderate-low); incliners (low-moderate); and rapid incliners (low-high). From the bivariate level analyses, in reference to stable abstainers, White women who experienced childhood sexual/physical violence were more likely to be rapid incliners (low-high). Second, with 1,756 women, autoregressive cross-lagged path models were performed to test longitudinal associations between childhood sexual/physical violence, problem alcohol use, and depressive symptoms of White and African-American women. Both groups demonstrated significant association between childhood sexual/physical violence and subsequent development of depressive symptoms, while only White women demonstrated significant association with subsequent problem alcohol use. Third, with 1,388 women, SEM and multigroup SEM were used to test pathways between childhood sexual/physical violence and indiscriminant sexual behaviors for White and African-American women. SEM indicates that problem alcohol use and depressive symptoms mediated the proposed relationship. Multigroup SEM indicates that, for White women, both problem alcohol use and depressive symptoms mediated the association between childhood sexual/physical violence and indiscriminant sexual behaviors, while only depressive symptoms mediated the proposed association for African-American women. These findings highlight the importance of designing and providing effective prevention and treatment programs for women who experienced childhood sexual/physical violence to interrupt subsequent problem alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and indiscriminant sexual behaviors.en
dc.description.departmentSocial Worken
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/21275en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.subjectChildhood sexual/physical violenceen
dc.subjectAlcohol useen
dc.subjectDepressive symptomsen
dc.subjectRisky sexual behaviorsen
dc.subjectLatent class growth modelingen
dc.subjectAutoregressive cross-lagged path modelingen
dc.subjectStructural equation modelingen
dc.subjectWomenen
dc.titleLong-term associations between childhood sexual/physical violence experience, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and risky sexual behaviors among young adult womenen
thesis.degree.departmentSocial Worken
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Worken
thesis.degree.grantorThe University of Texas at Austinen
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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