The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between resource loss, social support, self esteem, and the sexual risk behaviors of low income urban African American women with abuse histories. The present study was a secondary data analysis from an experimental HIV prevention intervention with low income urban women with abuse histories in a mid-western US city and only examined data collected from African American women at pretest and posttest between 2002 and 2004.
Participants in this sample (n = 442) were sexually active low income urban African American women between ages 16-29 with histories of abuse (adult rape, childhood physical abuse, and childhood sexual abuse). Participants were recruited from two women’s health clinics serving low income urban women and answered questions about their levels of resource loss, social support, self esteem, sexual behaviors, childhood and adult abuse histories, drug and alcohol use, their perception of AIDS risk, levels of depression and post traumatic disorder, and socio demographic characteristics.
SPSS was used to analyze the data in this study. The instrument data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and binary logistic regression. Eight predictors were used to predict sexual risk behavior represented by percentage condom use and having a recent STD in the past three months. Hierarchical regression results indicate that the overall model failed to predict the percentage of times condom were used with vaginal sex. No statistically significant differences were found between groups on any of the measures. For the logistic regression, the overall chi-square test for was not significant indicating that there were no differences between the two groups on the eight predictors. However, results indicate that child physical abuse was the strongest predictor of percentage condom use.
In summary, the findings although not significant highlight the need for continued investigation into the relationship between resource loss, social support, self esteem and sexual risk behaviors in abused low income urban African American women.