title: Psychological intimate partner violence and sexual risk behavior: examining the role of distinct posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in the partner violence-sexual risk link.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research has examined how physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization increases sexual risk behavior, yet research is lacking on 1) the effect of psychological IPV on sexual risk behavior and 2) factors through which psychological IPV may be linked to sexual risk behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  The current study examined the relationship between psychological IPV and sexual risk behavior controlling for other forms of IPV (i.e., physical and sexual) in a sample of 186 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative community women currently experiencing IPV. Further, this study examined the potential mediating effects of four posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity clusters (i.e., re-experiencing, avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal) on this relationship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results revealed that greater severity of psychological IPV was uniquely and directly related to greater sexual risk behavior. Additionally, of the four PTSD symptom severity clusters, only avoidance symptom severity mediated the relationship between psychological IPV and sexual risk behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implications for addressing psychological IPV and PTSD to improve women's sexual health outcomes are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Overstreet
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Tiara C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Willie
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Julianne C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hellmuth
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Electronic address: tami.sullivan@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Tami P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult