There is a pressing need to understand how child sexual abuse (CSA) affects adolescent females'sexual risk behavior. Adolescent females have disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections, largely due to heterosexual contact (CDC, 2008). CSA females are especially vulnerable, as they tend to initiate sex at early ages, engage in higher rates of sexual risk behavior, and benefit less from traditional risk reduction efforts than their non-abused peers (Senn et al., 2008;Greenberg, 2001). Although the sexual risks associated with CSA begin in adolescence, little is known about the early sexual development of CSA youth or the mechanisms by which CSA confers heightened risk. This K01 Career Development Award proposes a plan of training and mentored research experiences that will lay the foundation for an independent program of developmentally-informed prospective research directed at articulating mechanisms of sexual risk among CSA youth. Training will be acquired in (1) sexual risk and risk-reduction;(2) methods and issues in conducting prospective longitudinal research with CSA youth;(3) physiological assessment of affect regulation;and (4) advanced longitudinal data analytic techniques. Training will occur in a resource-rich environment that encourages innovative and collaborative research. Training is also integrated into the research plan, which includes two studies that seek to identify CSA-specific pathways to emergent sexual risk. Study 1 examines longitudinal associations between psychopathology (PTSD and externalizing problems), physiological regulation of trauma-related affect, and sexual risk behavior using extant data from a long-term prospective study of CSA. Study 2 entails a new prospective data collection to examine trajectories of sexual risk during early adolescence and test two potential risk mechanisms: (1) traumatic sexualization TS), the process by which CSA distorts cognitive and affective orientations towards sexuality, and (2) psychopathology (PTSD and externalizing problems. TS is conceptualized in terms of cognitive and affective distortions that are manifest in youths'subjective and physiological experiences. Participants will include 120 sexually abused and non- abused young adolescent females between the ages of 11-14 years who will be followed over an 18-month period. TS and PTSD are expected to play a unique role in the emergence of sexual risk among CSA youth. Externalizing behavior problems are expected to predict sexual risk among non-abused youth. The proposed work will increase our knowledge of the factors that increase sexual among CSA youth risk so that more effective risk reduction programs can be developed for this highly vulnerable population. Results will inform the development of an R01 proposal for a longer-term, more comprehensive study of the role that traumatic sexualization plays in sexual health within casual and romantic relationships.

Public Health Relevance

Existing sexual risk reduction programs are less effective for sexually abused youth, and the reasons for this are unclear. This is particularly concerning because sexually abused youth are at heightened risk for sexual health problems beginning in early adolescence. The proposed work will increase our knowledge of the factors that increase sexually abused youths'sexual risk so that more effective risk reduction programs can be developed for this highly vulnerable population.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
1K01HD061230-01A1
Application #
7841213
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
King, Rosalind B
Project Start
2010-05-01
Project End
2015-04-30
Budget Start
2010-05-01
Budget End
2011-04-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$124,039
Indirect Cost
Name
Wayne State University
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
001962224
City
Detroit
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48202
Menke, Rena A; Morelen, Diana; Simon, Valerie A et al. (2018) Longitudinal Relations Between Childhood Maltreatment, Maltreatment-Specific Shame, and Postpartum Psychopathology. Child Maltreat 23:44-53
Simon, Valerie A; Barnett, Douglas; Smith, Erin et al. (2017) Caregivers' abuse stigmatization and their views of mental health treatment following child sexual abuse. Child Abuse Negl 70:331-341
Latack, Jessica A; Moyer, Anne; Simon, Valerie A et al. (2017) Attentional Bias for Sexual Threat Among Sexual Victimization Survivors: A Meta-Analytic Review. Trauma Violence Abuse 18:172-184
Fava, Nicole M; Simon, Valerie A; Smith, Erin et al. (2016) Perceptions of general and parenting-specific posttraumatic change among postpartum mothers with histories of childhood maltreatment. Child Abuse Negl 56:20-9
Simon, Valerie A; Feiring, Candice; Cleland, Charles M (2016) Early Stigmatization, PTSD, and Perceived Negative Reactions of Others Predict Subsequent Strategies for Processing Child Sexual Abuse. Psychol Violence 6:112-123
Simon, Valerie A; Smith, Erin; Fava, Nicole et al. (2015) Positive and Negative Posttraumatic Change Following Childhood Sexual Abuse Are Associated With Youths' Adjustment. Child Maltreat 20:278-90
Liu, Richard T; Frazier, Elisabeth A; Cataldo, Andrea M et al. (2014) Negative life events and non-suicidal self-injury in an adolescent inpatient sample. Arch Suicide Res 18:251-8
Gallagher, Michelle; Prinstein, Mitchell J; Simon, Valerie et al. (2014) Social anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of early adolescents: examining loneliness and social support as longitudinal mediators. J Abnorm Child Psychol 42:871-83
McManama O'Brien, Kimberly H; Becker, Sara J; Spirito, Anthony et al. (2014) Differentiating adolescent suicide attempters from ideators: examining the interaction between depression severity and alcohol use. Suicide Life Threat Behav 44:23-33
Feiring, Candice; Simon, Valerie A; Cleland, Charles M et al. (2013) Potential pathways from stigmatization and externalizing behavior to anger and dating aggression in sexually abused youth. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 42:309-22

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