Abstract
Homeless minority women are at an elevated risk for contracting HIV and other STDs as a result of injection drug use (IDU), unprotected sexual activity, sex with multiple partners, and victimization. This study contrasts various predictors of risky drug use (including cocaine, heroin, and heroin and cocaine IDU) and risky sexual behaviors (number of partners, frequency of sex, no condom use) in a sample of 978 African-American (N=608) and Latina (N=371) homeless women. Specifically, we explored ethnic differences in relationships among social support from deviant sources (e.g., drug-using family or friends); protective health behaviors (e.g., seeing a doctor or dentist, having a Pap smear, having a TB test); childhood abuse (e.g., sexual, physical, verbal); adult victimization (e.g., being attacked, robbed, burglarized, or assaulted); and two behavioral risk outcomes, drug use and risky sexual behaviors. For African-American women, only deviant social support predicted less IDU. For Latinas, childhood abuse predicted more IDU, and adult victimization predicted more risky sexual behaviors. Greater acculturation among the Latinas predicted more deviant social support, childhood abuse, adult victimization, IDU, and risky sexual behaviors. The implications of the findings provide relevant information for salient leverage points to reduce risky health behaviors among impoverished African-American and Latina women.