title: Childhood sexual abuse and age at initiation of injection drug use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the relation between childhood sexual abuse and injection drug use initiation among young adult injection drug users.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used mixed effect linear models to compare age at first injection among 2143 young injection drug users by first sexual abuse age categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants were predominantly male (63.3%) and White (52.8%). Mean age and age at first injection were 23.7 and 19.6 years, respectively; 307 participants (14.3%) reported childhood sexual abuse. After adjustment for gender, race/ethnicity, noninjection drug use before first injection drug use, and recruitment site, childhood sexual abuse was independently associated with younger age at first injection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Childhood sexual abuse was associated with earlier initiation of injection drug use. These data emphasize the need to integrate substance abuse prevention with postvictimization services for children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: New York Academy of Medicine, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, 1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029, USA. dompad@nyam.org
authors.forename: Danielle C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ompad
authors.forename: Robin M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Crystal M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kerndt
authors.forename: Carey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maslow
authors.forename: Yingfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlahov
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garfein
authors.forename: Steffanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Strathdee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population