Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Intergenerational Associations Between A Consensual Childhood Sexual Experience And Adult Substance Abuse Among Latina Mothers And Daughters, Patria Rojas, Sunny Kim, Frank R. Dillon, Theophile Niynonsenga

School of Social Work

Purpose: Early onset of sexual activity has been linked to later substance abuse. Our study aimed to further describe the associations between Latina mothers’ and daughters’ early sexual activity and adult substance abuse.

Methods: A survey was conducted with 92 Latina mother–daughter dyads whose members never experienced sexual abuse. Childhood sexual experience was defined as the occurrence of a consensual sexual encounter at the age of 15 years or younger. Substance abusers were identified by the extent of substance use during the 12 months prior to the interview. Path analysis was used to fit our conceptual models to the data. …