While many studies report that ARA is associated with adverse outcomes, such as poor mental health, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy, their designs preclude assessment of whether associations are a cause or consequence of ARA (Exner-Cortens, Eckenrode, & Rothman, 2013). Given the important distinction between cause and consequence, we herein highlight those studies that make note of this difference even if they are unable to determine causality. [this could also be a footnote…]
Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, one study found that ARA among heterosexual adolescents is related to negative behavioral and mental health outcomes in young adulthood for both male and female victims, even when controlling for race, age, socioeconomic status, child maltreatment, pubertal status, and gender (Exner-Cortens, Eckenrode, & Rothman, 2013). The authors noted that, compared to study participants who had experienced no victimization, female victims of ARA “reported increased heavy…show more content… While the authors were unclear whether abusive partners were involved in each instance of pregnancy, and whether abuse was associated with inability to effectively use contraception, they indicated that the implicit coercion involved in abusive relationships would likely have implications for pregnancy prevention. Concerning STIs, data suggests that regardless of directionality or mechanism, adolescent females experiencing ARA have an elevated risk for having multiple sex partners, thereby making them more vulnerable to contracting STIs than those who have not experienced abuse (Silverman, Raj, Mucci, & Hathaway,