The specific characteristics of a CSA experience may be less important than the occurrence of CSA and the family environment of women for predicting long-term outcomes.

Social support was examined among 290 Black and White women recruited from the community. We hypothesized that (1) social support, adjusted for social class, would not vary by race and (2) social support would be related to well-being. Standardized measures were administered, examining support provided by friends versus kin separately. Multivariate models showed that Black women reported similar numbers of kin and fewer friends than Whites, while satisfaction with support did not vary by race. Measures of social support were generally associated with well-being. These findings question earlier reports that Black women have stronger kin support than White women, suggesting that clinicians should not assume that Blacks can rely on kin for social support.

Recruiting a heterogeneous community sample of White and African American subjects for a research study is a challenging task. Researchers have frequently failed to recruit African Americans or to recruit racially balanced samples. This paper describes the experiences of one social work research team in recruiting a community sample of White and African American women. Specific strategies are presented as a primer for developing samples that are diverse and balanced sociodemographically. A recruitment model is proposed, including use of multiple strategies, simultaneous attention to each segment of the targeted population, and periodic midcourse correction. The results of our recruitment efforts suggest that attracting a sociodemographically balanced sample can be successful when appropriate strategies are implemented.

Differences in childhood sexual abuse (CSA) between Black women and White women are explored in a community sample of 290 women raised in two-parent families.A self-administered questionnaire and a face-to-face interview assessed CSA characteristics, aftermath, and prevalence as well as family structure and other childhood variables. Siblings served as collateral informants for the occurrence of CSA. Overall, comparisons of the nature, severity, and aftermath of CSA showed similarities by race; some differences, for example, in age of onset, are potentially relevant for the planning of prevention programs. Logistic regression models examined effects of childhood variables on CSA prevalence. Initial analyses showed a higher CSA prevalence among Black women (34.1% [45] of Black women vs. 22.8% [36] of White women) that was attenuated when family structure (e.g., living with two biological parents throughout childhood or not) and social class were considered. Of interest, differences in family structure remained important even among these two-parent families. Understanding the dynamics of abuse by race and family structure will facilitate the design of more targeted CSA prevention programs.