Citation

Becker-Lausen E, Rickel AU. J. Prim. Prev. 1995; 16(1): 39-53.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF02407232

PMID

12290975

Abstract

A review of the literature on adolescent pregnancy and child abuse, both of which are showing alarming increases in the US, suggests a strong link between these two fields as well as potential for integrated research. Numerous studies have identified a significant incidence of childhood sexual abuse in teenage mothers who neglect or abuse their own children. The experience of child abuse has been associated with psychiatric sequelae such as somatization, anxiety, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive behavior, dissociation, and suicidality. Another study found that dissociation and depression were significant mediators between a child abuse history and negative life outcomes such as victimization and interpersonal difficulties. Also recorded has been a tendency for abuse survivors to use rapidly initiated sexual activity with multiple partners as a means of coping with feelings of depression, abandonment, and emptiness. A positive correlation has been noted between the severity of childhood abuse and the intensity of subsequent psychopathology. Also found has been considerable overlap between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores of pregnant/parenting teens and abuse victims. If further research continues to substantiate the association between these two social problems, treatment of childhood trauma in high-risk teens may emerge as an important pregnancy prevention strategy.

Language: en