Predictors of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among African American HIV-positive Women

A Review of the Health Effects of Sexual Assault on African American Women and Adolescents

“…Sample sizes were robust in most of the studies with the number of African American females ranging from 33 (22.3% of total sample) to 823 (1% of total sample). Four studies recruited African American females exclusively (Bryant-Davis, Ullman, Tsong, & Gobin, 2011;Miner, Flitter, & Robinson, 2006;Sublette, 2008;Teitelman et al, 2011). Findings were reported separately for African American females in 12 of the 21 studies.…”

“…Anxiety. In three studies there was no significant relationship between sexual assault and anxiety (McFarlane et al, 2005;Ramos et al, 2004;Sublette, 2008), whereas there were significant relationships in two studies (Kimerling et al, 2010;Plichta & Falik, 2001). Researchers in only one study examined whether anxiety differed after sexual assault by racial or ethnic group and found no significant difference (McFarlane et al).…”

“…Table 1, in the majority of the studies, sexual assault was a significant risk factor for depression with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 2.96 to 5.32, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) (Kimerling et al, 2010;Plichta & Falik, 2001, respectively). Researchers in two studies found a nonsignificant relationship between sexual assault and depression (McFarlane et al, 2005;Sublette, 2008). Compared with other ethnicities, African American women and adolescents were not more likely to experience depression (Kaukinen & DeMaris, 2005;McFarlane et al;Plichta & Falik, 2001) but were more likely to display withdrawal behaviors, such as heavy episodic drinking and illicit drug use (Kaukinen & DeMaris).…”