Intergenerational pathways linking childhood sexual abuse to HIV risk among women

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse is prevalent among women, and it has been linked to a number of problems affecting women's health and functioning, including women's parenting practices. Another body of literature has linked specific maternal parenting practices--including mother-daughter sex communication, monitoring/knowledge about daughters' activities, mother-daughter relationship quality, attitudes toward sex, and modeling of sexual values--to daughters' HIV risk. This article reviews and links these two bodies of literature to indicate how mothers' histories of childhood sexual abuse may compromise their parenting practices, which may in turn impact daughters' HIV risk. We also build upon R. Malow, J. Devieux, and B. A. Lucenko's (2006) model of the associations between childhood sexual abuse and HIV risk to present a model indicating potential intergenerational pathways between childhood sexual abuse and HIV risk among women. The literature supporting this model and gaps in the literature are described.

Figure 1

Childhood sexual abuse and HIV risk: A proposed model of the association (Malow, et al., 2006)

Figure 2

Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV risk: Intergenerational Pathways Among Women Note: Solid lines indicate that, in general, all variables in one box are posited to impact the variables in the other box. Dashed lines indicate that only some variables are posited to impact variables in the adjoining box.