Males Exposed to Violence During Childhood are More Likely to Impregnate Adolescent Females, Finds Study

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Males who were exposed to physical and/or sexual abuse or to a battered mother during childhood are more likely than those who were not to impregnate an adolescent female, according to a study published in the February issue of Pediatrics Electronic Pages. The study findings were based on data from questionnaires completed by 4,127 males ages 19 to 94 who were part of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study.

• Males who had experienced physical abuse most frequently were 1.7 times more likely to have impregnated an adolescent female than those who had not experienced physical abuse;



• Males who had been sexually abused by age 10 had an 80% increased risk of having impregnated an adolescent female; and



• Males whose mothers had been battered most frequently were approximately twice as likely as those whose mothers had not been battered to have impregnated an adolescent female.

The authors conclude that "the medical care of boys and men should include routine assessment of sexual and physical abuse, exposure to domestic violence, as well as counseling regarding sexual practices and contraception among those who have had these experiences."

Anda RF, Felitti VJ, Chapman DP, et al. 2001. Abused boys, battered mothers, and male involvement in teen pregnancy. Pediatrics Electronic Pages 107(2):e19. Available at http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/2/e19.

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MCH Alert. 2001. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. http://www.ncemch.org/alert.