Adolescent Relationship Abuse, Gender Equitable Attitudes, Condom and Contraception Use Self-Efficacy Among Adolescent Girls. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Introduction: Experiencing adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) negatively impacts sexual health and influences risk behaviors of adolescent girls. ARA may be associated with more inequitable gender attitudes among girls, a potentially modifiable factor in violence prevention. This study examines the association among gender equitable attitudes, experiences of ARA, and sexual behaviors among girls participating in Sisterhood 2.0, a community-based violence prevention program implemented in low resource neighborhoods. Methods: Data were from baseline surveys collected for Sisterhood 2.0 implemented in Pittsburgh, PA. Participant demographics, gender equitable attitudes, self-efficacy to use condoms with partners, and self-efficacy to select appropriate contraception were assessed. A latent class analysis (LCA) estimated probability of responses to nine indicators, including sexual behavior self-efficacy and violence. Multigroup LCA by grade (9-12) was also estimated and analyses were performed with SAS V9.4. Results: Female-identified adolescents ages 13-19 (n = 246) were primarily Black (75%) and evenly distributed across grade in school. Sixty-five percent reported emotional relationship abuse and 31% reported physical abuse within the previous nine months. A three-class solution was best fitting for the LCA. Experiences of violence were related to less equitable gender attitudes, being sexually active, and lower condom and contraception self-efficacy. Younger participants who were sexual minorities with less educated heads of household had more experiences with ARA and less equitable gender attitudes. Discussion: Gender equitable attitudes were lower in adolescent girls with greater experiences of ARA and worse condom and contraception self-efficacy. Integrating discussions about healthy sexual relationships and gender equity may be salient factors in violence prevention.

published proceedings

  • J Interpers Violence

altmetric score

  • 0.75

author list (cited authors)

  • Hill, A. V., Hill, A. L., Jackson, Z., Gilreath, T. D., Fields, A., & Miller, E.

citation count

  • 0

complete list of authors

  • Hill, Ashley V||Hill, Amber L||Jackson, Zachary||Gilreath, Tamika D||Fields, Alana||Miller, Elizabeth

publication date

  • January 2022