Abuse, Social Support, and Depression Among HIV-Positive Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Lesbian Women

SUMMARY

A nonprobability sample of HIV-positive mostly African American and Puerto Rican women in New York City were surveyed regarding abusive experiences, social support, and depressive symptoms. Seventy-five percent reported experiencing physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Multiple regression analyses controlling for relevant sociodemographic variables indicated that child physical and sexual abuse and adult sexual abuse were significantly associated with depressive symptomatology (i.e., CES-D scores). HIV-related social support had a significant negative correlation with CES-D scores but did not have a moderating impact on the effects of physical or sexual abuse. Lesbian/bisexual women reported higher rates of lifetime sexual and physical abuse than heterosexual women. However, there were no differences between the groups in total CES-D scores. Lesbian/bisexual women had significantly greater support from friends and groups/organizations than the heterosexual women. The implications of the findings for future research and the provision of services for HIV-positive women are considered.

Key Words:

• Trauma
• physical abuse
• sexual abuse
• social support
• HIV/AIDS
• psychosocial
• depression
• bisexual
• lesbian
• heterosexual
• women of color
• race/ethnicity