Childhood Sexual Abuse Among Homosexual Men

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Title:	Childhood Sexual Abuse Among Homosexual Men: prevalence and association with unsafe sex
Investigators:	William R. Lenderking, PhD,^1,2,3,4, Cheryl Wold, MPH,5,6 Kenneth H. Mayer, MD,7,8 Robert Goldstein, MPH,7 Elena Losina, MS,9 George R. Seage, III, MPH, DSc,5,6,9,10
Institute:	1Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health; 2Department of Psychiatry; Robert B. Andrews Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; 3Harvard Medical School; 4Phase V Technologies, Inc.; 5Institute for Urban Health Policy and Research; 6Department of Health and Hospitals; 7Fenway Community Health Center; 8AIDS Program, Brown University School of Medicine; 9Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health; and 10Abt Associates, Inc.
Data Collection:	1993 to 1994
Publication:	Journal of General Internal Medicine 1997; 12: 250-253
Funders:	CDC, National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, AIDS Bureau, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

RESEARCH

Site:	Fenway Community Health Center, Boston MA.
Population:	327 homosexual and bisexual men, already taking part in two ongoing studies looking at factors related to HIV infection
Methods:	Methods:359 members of a cohort of 422 were eligible for participation. 91.1% (327) completed a questionnaire regarding childhood sexual abuse and interviewed about sexual and health behaviors.
Summary:	Summary:Researchers hypothesized that homosexual and gay men who had been abused as children would engage in higher rates of unsafe sexual practices than those who had not been abused. The type of information provided by participants included age at time of abuse, relationship to perpetrator, whether experience was contact or non-contact, and duration of abuse. Outcome measures involved sexual behaviors (unsafe sex identified as one instance within the past six months of either anal insertive or receptive intercourse without a condom), behavioral intentions (ever lying in order to have sex, and if prior to having sex there had been a discussion regarding sexual history), and substance abuse issues (whether participants had used drugs and or alcohol within the past six months and if they had a history of drug use). Researchers found that 35.5% of the study sample reported sexual abuse as children and had an increased risk of engaging in risk behavior related to HIV infection. Statistically significant associations were found for the relationship between abuse and unprotected receptive anal intercourse, having more than 50 lifetime partners and more likely to have lied in order to get sex.