Skip to main content
Article
Family violence exposure and sexual risk-taking among Latino emerging adults: the role of posttraumatic stress symptomology and acculturative stress
Journal of Family Violence (2015)
  • Peter M. Rivera, Florida State University
  • Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen, Florida State University
  • Jennifer Yedlin
  • Elissa J. Brown, St. John's University
  • Seth J. Schwartz, University of Miami
  • S. Jean Caraway, University of South Dakota
  • Robert S. Weisskirch, California State University, Monterey Bay
  • Su Yeong Kim, University of Texas at Austin
  • Lindsay S. Ham, University of Arkansas
Abstract
This study proposes that posttraumatic stress symptomology and acculturative stress may further explain the relationship between family violence exposure and sexual risk-taking behaviors among Latino emerging adults (N = 1,100). A moderated mediation analysis indicated that lifetime rates of family violence exposure were positively associated with sexual risk-taking via posttraumatic stress symptomology, and this mediation significantly varied as a function of acculturative stress. Overall, the findings of the current study underscore a need for a better understanding of how family violence exposure puts Latino emerging adults at risk for aversive health outcomes and suggest the use of an ecological systemic framework that examines the interactions between family, individual, and cultural systems in relation to health risk-taking behaviors.
Keywords
  • Child maltreatment,
  • Trauma,
  • Culture,
  • Public health,
  • Cultural processes
Disciplines
Publication Date
November, 2015
DOI
10.1007/s10896-015-9735-5
Citation Information
Peter M. Rivera, Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen, Jennifer Yedlin, Elissa J. Brown, et al.. "Family violence exposure and sexual risk-taking among Latino emerging adults: the role of posttraumatic stress symptomology and acculturative stress" Journal of Family Violence Vol. 30 Iss. 8 (2015) p. 967 - 976
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rob-weisskirch/9/