Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Victimization And Substance Use Among Homeless And Runaway Female Adolescents, Kimberly A. Tyler, Sarah Gervais, Meghan Davidson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Each year, thousands of female adolescents run away from home due to sexual abuse yet they continue to be victims of sexual assault once on the street. To date, few studies have examined how various forms of victimization are related to different types of substance use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between street exposure, childhood abuse, and different forms of street victimization with alcohol and marijuana use among 137 homeless and runaway female adolescents. Results from path analysis revealed that child sexual abuse was positively linked to trading sex and sexual and physical victimization. Additionally, …