Childhood victimization and HIV risk behaviors among university students in Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Abstract

Exposure to childhood victimization and abuse has been shown to affect HIV risk in adult populations. In Russia, the existence of child abuse was largely unrecognized until 1990s and its behavioral consequences remain understudied. Our goal was to assess childhood victimization and HIV risk behavior among young adults in Saint-Petersburg, Russia: 743 students from 15 local universities were surveyed. Unprotected sexual intercourse was the most common type of HIV risk behavior: study participants reported no condom use at last intercourse (65.17%), inconsistent condom use (58.43%) and 30.81% never used condoms in the past 3 months. Childhood sexual victimization was significantly associated with unprotected sex at last intercourse and with inconsistent condom use in the past 3 months. Young adults in Russia are vulnerable to HIV epidemic due to the pervasiveness of unprotected sexual intercourse, and childhood sexual victimization is associated with risky sexual behavior in this population. Efforts to combat HIV epidemic in Russia must include programming for the prevention of childhood sexual abuse and the development of services for the survivors of childhood victimization.

Maus-tratos infantis e comportamentos sexuais de risco na idade adulta: uma revisão sistemática

“…Foram identificados 34 estudos elegíveis, os quais estão resumidamente descritos em https:// doi.org/10.48331/scielodata.YPXI29. Foram publicados entre os anos de 1991 e 2018, em 12 países diferentes (Estados Unidos 8,13-15,18,19,24-40 , Nova Zelândia 7,17,41 , Austrália 9 , Suécia 42 , Filipinas 43 , Canadá 44 , Rússia 45 , China 46 , Costa do Marfim 47 , Zimbábue, Tanzânia e África do Sul 48 ).…”

“…Os participantes dos estudos foram selecionados entre população geral 7,9,19,26,32,33,41 , escolares ou universitários 30,31,[34][35][36][37][38][44][45][46][47] , e casos registrados em atendimento de proteção infantil 15,[24][25][26] . Doze estudos avaliaram amostras compostas apenas por mulheres 8,17,18,27,28,31,[34][35][36]40,41,44 e três incluíram somente indivíduos do sexo masculino 32,33,39 .…”

“…Doze estudos avaliaram amostras compostas apenas por mulheres 8,17,18,27,28,31,[34][35][36]40,41,44 e três incluíram somente indivíduos do sexo masculino 32,33,39 . Com relação aos tipos de estudos, 15 possuem delineamento longitudinal [7][8][9][13][14][15]17,19,[24][25][26][27][28][29]41 (14 coorte e um caso-controle) e 19 são transversais 18,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] .…”

Child sexual abuse: The suffering untold

“…[ 11 ] History of CSA was also found to be associated with high-risk sexual behavior among adolescents, of which unprotected sexual intercourse was the most common. [ 12 ] Consequences of CSA are summarized in Table 1 . [ 13 14 ]…”

“…There was a positive relationship between the risk of disorder and extent of CSA, with the highest risk of disorder in those had suffered forcible intercourse during abuse. [ 12 ] A systematic review and meta-analysis of 37 longitudinal, epidemiological studies with 3,162,318 participants found a significant association between sexual abuse and anxiety disorder, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, sleep disorders, and suicidal attempts but not with schizophrenia or somatoform disorders. [ 17 ]…”