200-203 Stock

Family Planning Perspectives studies of pregnant teenagers have reported a sexual abuse prevalence of 15–26%,2 rates no higher than those most commonly reported for the general population of women.3 Whereas data on a small group of college women suggested that those who had been sexually abused were at no higher risk for early pregnancy than their peers who had not been abused,4 findings from a population-based sample indicated that women who had been abused before age 18 were at increased risk of having an unintended pregnancy.5 Among a sample of women considered to be at risk for acquiring HIV infection, those who reported sexual abuse were three times as likely as those who had not experienced abuse to become pregnant before 18 years of age.6 In a study of sexually experienced adolescents, those who had ever been forced to have sexual intercourse were significantly more likely than others to have ever been pregnant.7 While it is clear that forced sexual intercourse may directly result in pregnancy among pubescent adolescents, the path by which sexual abuse at young ages leads to teenage pregnancy is less direct and reJacqueline L. Stock was a graduate student in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, when this analysis was conducted. She is now research study manager, Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Seattle. Michelle A. Bell is associate professor, and Frederick A. Connell is director and professor, maternal and child health services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine; and Debra K. Boyer is affiliate assistant professor, Women’s Studies Program—all at the University of Washington, Seattle. This study was supported by grant MCJ9043 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services. The authors are grateful to Carol R. Strong, Eric L. Einspruch and James P. Pollard for assistance in accessing the data; to Allen Cheadle for statistical assistance; and to David Fine for his related groundbreaking work. Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexual Risk-Taking Among Sexually Abused Girls