Histories of Childhood Trauma and the Effects on Risky HIV Behaviors in a Sample of Women Drug Users

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the association between childhood trauma and current human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors of 181 active illicit-drug-using women in San Antonio, Texas. We found very few statistically significant associations, which could be explained by (a) childhood trauma subtypes not being mutually exclusive, (b) clustering of mild-to-severe forms of abuse, and (c) childhood trauma having an indirect, rather than direct, effect on HIV risk behavior. Public health implications from this study are that prevention programs need to consider past and current individual and environmental factors that influence HIV sexual risk behaviors in women drug users.