Citation

Mylant M, Mann C. J. Child Adolesc. Psychiatr. Nurs. 2008; 21(3): 164-176.

Affiliation

South Dakota State University, Rapid City, SD, USA. marylou_mylant@sdstate.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1744-6171.2008.00148.x

PMID

18667049

Abstract

PROBLEM: The highest rate of reported intimate partner violence (IPV) is among women 15-45 years old (Hart and Jamieson, 2001) with 20% of pregnant teens reporting abuse (Campbell, 1999); however, little research on IPV and American Indian teen mothers has been done. METHOD: The purpose of this paper is to describe the degree of IPV and current sexual trauma among a group of Northern Plains adolescents being served by an American Indian teen mother program. FINDINGS: The relationship of trauma, substance abuse, and trauma symptoms are described. IPV was reported by 61% of the participants, with 37.5% reporting IPV during pregnancy and 22.5% reporting current sexual trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Development and testing of interventions for American Indian teen mothers, specifically related to trauma, are needed in addition to primary mental health services by agencies caring for this population.

Language: en