Health behavior in adolescent women reporting and not reporting intimate partner violence.
OBJECTIVE
To determine similarities and differences between adolescent women reporting intimate partner violence (IPV) and/or forced sexual intercourse (FSI) and those not reporting these experiences on a series of health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in high schools throughout the United States.


METHODS
One thousand six hundred and eight female students among whom 450 reported no IPV or FSI, 457 reported IPV, 473 reported FSI, and 228 reported experiencing IPV and FSI.


METHODS
Descriptive statistics and discriminant function analysis.


RESULTS
Statistical analyses revealed that the groups of adolescent women experiencing IPV and FSI were more alike than disparate, so groups were combined for further analysis. Results reveal that adolescent women reporting IPV and FSI are more likely to participate in health-compromising behaviors and less likely to participate in health-enhancing behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
Adolescent women reporting either IPV or forced sex are more likely to be engaging in risky behaviors and less likely to be engaged in health-enhancing behaviors. These findings have important implications for health care professionals who care for adolescent women.
Hanson
Monica J
MJ
College of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300, USA. mhanson@umassd.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D011582:Psychological Theory; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*