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Rape, sex partnership, and substance use consequences in women veterans
Author(s) -
Booth Brenda M.,
Mengeling Michelle,
Torner James,
Sadler Anne G.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20643
Subject(s) - substance abuse , psychiatry , mental health , depression (economics) , demographics , psychology , suicide prevention , sexual abuse , poison control , injury prevention , odds , clinical psychology , medicine , demography , logistic regression , medical emergency , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
The association of rape history and sexual partnership with alcohol and drug use consequences in women veterans is unknown. Midwestern women veterans ( N = 1,004) completed a retrospective telephone interview assessing demographics, rape history, substance abuse and dependence, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One third met lifetime criteria for substance use disorder (SUD), half reported lifetime completed rape, a third childhood rape, one quarter in‐military rape, 11% sex with women. Lifetime SUD was higher for women with rape history (64% vs. 44%). Women with women as sex partners had significantly higher rates of all measures of rape, and also lifetime substance use disorder. Postmilitary rape, sex partnership, and current depression were significantly associated with lifetime SUD in multivariate models (odds ratio = 2.3, 3.6, 2.1, respectively). Many women veterans have a high need for comprehensive mental health services.