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Abstract
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Few studies have addressed the prevalence of violence among pregnant adolescents. We interviewed 342 pregnant teenagers 17 years of age or younger for a history of assault; 9% reported physical assault, 8% sexual assault, and 8% both physical and sexual assault. Of those physically abused, 40% had been hit during pregnancy. The most common perpetrator of physical assault was a member of their family of origin as compared to a mate (46% versus 33%), although a boyfriend or spouse was the attacker in 80% of cases in which abuse had increased during pregnancy. The face or neck was the most common site of contact. A total of 14% reported being hit in the abdomen, one-third of them while pregnant. We conclude that a significant proportion of pregnant teenagers have experienced violence and therefore should be screened routinely for a history of abuse.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Berenson et al. was to examine the prevalence and patterns of physical and sexual assault among a group of pregnant adolescents.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 95% of all new patients under the age of 17 years at a teen pregnancy clinic at the University of Texas, between May 8, 1989 and December 8, 1990. Researchers conducted structured interviews about histories of physical and sexual abuse with 342 individuals; no patient refused to participate. Physical assault was operationalized as whether the patient had been slapped, hit, kicked or physically injured. Data were also collected about the relationship of the victim to the assailant, about the most recent incident of abuse, about the nature of the injury, if medical attention had been sought and if the attacks had increased in severity or frequency during the pregnancy. Sexual abuse questioning centered upon whether the girl had ever been sexually assaulted or raped. Hospital records were used to obtain sociodemographic data. Subjects were divided into three groups: those who had been physically abused, but not sexually abused, those who had been sexually but not physically assaulted, and those who had experienced both physical and sexual attacks. Analysis included comparison of means via use of t-tests, prevalence estimates and development of odds ratios.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The sample consisted of 45% whites, 34% blacks and 21% Hispanics, with 83% of the sample being single and 94% unemployed. 25% of the subjects reported that they had been the victims of violence: 9% had been physically but not sexually abused, 8% reported sexual but not physical abuse, and 8% had been victims of both physical and sexual assault. Of the 58 subjects who had been assaulted, 23 had been victimized during pregnancy, mostly by a partner. Five of these patients said that the frequency or the severity of the attacks had increased during the course of her pregnancy. Of those adolescents who had been physically assaulted, only 14% had sought some type of medical attention. 59% of those who had been hit in a single place during the last assault had been hit in the face or neck, with 24% being hit on the extremities. 24% were hit in more than one place, with 14% being struck in the abdomen - one third of these whilst pregnant. A total of 40% reported violence during pregnancy, with 23% reporting violence perpetrated by a member of their family of origin. Pregnant teenagers who live at home are at double risk - from being assaulted by their partners, as well as being attacked by members of their families. Whilst attacks by boyfriends that increased during pregnancy involved only abuse from the partner, parental abuse that had been the sole form of assault decreased during pregnancy - perhaps due to the expectation of the role of grandparent. White adolescents were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to report sexual assault or physical and sexual assault combined, and those who had experienced sexual abuse obtained prenatal care earlier than did those with no history of such incidents. Sexual abuse victims, and those who were victims of sexual and physical abuse, were twice as likely to have left school early than were those without any victimization experiences. Physically assaulted teenagers, however, were no more likely to drop out of school than were those with no history of abuse. The authors cautioned that their questions were administered as part of the routine of the initial prenatal visit, limiting the number of questions that could be asked about assault history, and perhaps targeting primarily those who had experienced severe forms of abuse. They also suggested that ethnic differences might be due to response bias, with whites being more likely to confide in their clinicians.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested that the ethnicity of the clinician be matched to that of the client, in order to facilitate the open expression of thoughts and experiences. By making the most of the frequent visits to medical care that occur during pregnancy, adolescents can be taught that abuse is not an acceptable or permissible part of life, and they can be provided with counseling and parenting skills training. By identifying those adolescents at risk for abuse and continued victimization, support, education and counseling can be offered as a basis for positive intervention.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an important piece of research for the field of the assaulted adolescent. The good sample size allows for confidence in the generalizability of the results, as does the distribution of ethnicities. It would have been interesting to examine the different prevalence rates for those who had been abused on a long-term basis, and those who had been assaulted only once, and to investigate any demographic differences in such a classification. The use of self-report data might have led to an underreporting of abuse, and this factor should have been taken into account. Nonetheless, this study, and the recommendations suggested by the authors, should be considered as a basis upon which to build future research and policy and prevention planning. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - 1980s
KW - 1990s
KW - Texas
KW - Sexual Assault Victim
KW - Sexual Assault Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Juvenile Female
KW - Juvenile Pregnancy
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Female Victim
KW - Battering During Pregnancy
KW - Violence During Pregnancy
KW - Dating Violence Victim
KW - Dating Violence Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Juvenile Dating Violence
KW - Domestic Violence Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Child Abuse Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Physical Abuse Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Victim
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Violence Against Women
Language: en |