Sexual Trauma and Depression in African‐American Women who Smoke Crack Cocaine

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to characterize five mutually exclusive groups of female crack cocaine abusers: (1) women with no history of sexual trauma, (2) women who had been sexually traumatized by a stranger (raped), (3) women who had been sexually traumatized by someone they knew but not a family member (date raped, molested, etc.), (4) women who had experienced sexual trauma by a family member (incest), and (5) women who experienced sexual trauma from a stranger and from a family member. Using a convenience sample of 208 African‐American women with a history of crack smoking, participants were interviewed for 2 to 4 hr and asked a variety of questions about their health, relationships, sexuality, and drug use. Sixty‐one percent (127) reported at least one sexually traumatic sexual event during their lives, with 67% of the 127 women experiencing sexual trauma before the age of 16. Women who experienced sexual trauma by a family member had significantly higher depression scores [as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)] than women who had been traumatized by both a stranger (rape) and a male family member (incest).