Substance Use, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and Sexual Risk Behavior among Women in Methadone Treatment

Abstract

Background: Substance use and a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are risk factors for unprotected sex among women, yet questions remain as to how their combined influence may differentially affect sexual risk. Objective: The current study investigated how complex relationships among drug use and CSA may contribute to unprotected sexual occasions (USO). Methods: A Generalized Linear Mixed Model was used to examine the interaction between current cocaine/stimulants and opioid use and CSA on number of USOs in a sample of 214 sexually active women in outpatient methadone maintenance treatment. Results: For women with CSA, an increase in days of cocaine/stimulant use was associated with a significant increase in USOs. In contrast, an increase in days of opiate use was associated with a significant decrease in USOs. For the group of women who did not report CSA, there was a significant increase in USOs with increased opiate use. Conclusions: Findings indicate that CSA is related to unprotected sexual occasions depending on drug type and severity of use. Scientific Significance: Women with CSA using cocaine are at particularly high risk for having unprotected sex and should be specifically targeted for HIV prevention interventions.

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