Strength in the midst of pain: Abuse as a predictor of sexual relationship power among substance-abusing Black women.

The aim of this research was to explore the association of abuse experiences (child sexual abuse and adult physical/sexual violence) to sexual relationship power among Black substance-abusing women. The study was a secondary analysis of baseline data collected from 124 Black women in 12 drug treatment programs across the United States who initially participated in an HIV risk reduction trial conducted within the NIDA Clinical Trials Network. The findings revealed that adult sexual abuse, but not childhood sexual or adult physical abuse, was associated with lower relationship control and decision-making dominance as measured by the Sexual Relationship Power Scale.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that a history of adult sexual abuse may disempower Black substance-abusing women from negotiating for safer sex. That argues for addressing a history of adult sexual abuse as a strategy for empowering women to advocate for their sexual health. Designing and implementing sexual risk reduction interventions that address adult sexual violence may enhance the relationship power of Black substance-abusing women and in turn may promote safer sex practices.

Related protocols: CTN-0019