Determining condom use in adolescence from survivors of physically-forced sexual assault

Background: It is important to understand the impacts of child sexual abuse on future sexual health and development.  While there is evidence that child sexual abuse leads to decreased condom use in adulthood, it is unknown if these behaviors develop in adolescence.

Methods:  Secondary data analysis was conducted on 2013 data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Physically-forced rape in childhood was operationalized by the question, “Have you ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when you did not want to?”  Condom usage was operationalized by the question, “The last time you had sexual intercourse, did you or your partner use a condom?” from within the percentage of youth who reported having sexual intercourse during the past three months.

Results:  The association between victimization and condom usage has been initially quantified through epidemiological analysis, demonstrating that victims of sexual assault are less likely to use condoms in adolescence when compared to non-victimized youth.  Final results by gender will be compiled and shared to describe the strength and precision of the association. 

Conclusions/Implications:  Screening adolescents for sexual assault is integral in order to identify adolescents who may require targeted services for future sexual health and development.  Comprehensive sexual education in adolescence is a social justice issue; victims may require special interventions and health programming may benefit from skills-based training and identifying situational barriers related to condom usage.  Violence prevention programs integrated during childhood may assist in improving reproductive health behaviors.