title: Sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and the risk of early pregnancy among women ages 18-22.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This clinic- and community-based study of young women investigated the relationship between previous sexual abuse and early pregnancy, examining the effect of the developmental period in which sexual abuse occurred and type of sexual abuse, while also providing methodological advances in the assessment of distinctive sexual abuse and its sequelae.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary data analysis using Cox proportional hazards models was conducted to determine the association between sexual abuse in childhood, in adolescence, or both, and risk of early pregnancy among 1,790 young women. In addition, this study examined the type of sexual abuse that occurred during each period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As compared with women with no history of sexual abuse, women who experienced sexual abuse only in childhood had a 20% greater hazard of pregnancy; women who experienced sexual abuse only in adolescence had a 30% greater hazard of pregnancy; and women who experienced sexual abuse in both childhood and adolescence had an 80% greater hazard of pregnancy. Across these periods, attempted rape and rape were associated with an increased hazard of pregnancy. The association between sexual abuse and pregnancy was mediated by age at first intercourse and moderated by a woman's education level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence that both the developmental timing and the type of sexual abuse contributes to an increased risk for early pregnancy. The study findings indicate that sexual abuse leads to an earlier age of first sexual intercourse, which in turn increases the likelihood of an early pregnancy. Women with higher educational attainment are less likely to experience early pregnancy as a result of abuse.
authors.affiliation: Community Health and Human Development Division, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7360, USA. mariaelenayoung@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Maria-Elena D
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Julianna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deardorff
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lahiff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult