Potential Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse Among Males, by Whether It Occurred at or After Sexual Debut.

This study compares risk behavior in men with no history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) with men with CSA histories that had occurred at sexual debut versus after debut. Using random-digit dialing from half the zip code areas of Philadelphia, information is retrieved from 197 men about CSA; first willing sex; and other sexual, drug, and legal histories. Forty-three (22%) participants have CSA histories, 35 at debut and 5 after debut. When their risk behaviors are compared to men without CSA (n = 154), the at-debut subgroup is found to have the highest rates, the after-debut subgroup is found to have the lowest rates, and the no-CSA subgroup rates are in the middle. This ordering is significant (p </= .05) for the number of lifetime sexual partners, sex under the influence, no long-term partner, and experience of ever having injected drugs. CSA-associated risk behavior outcomes in men may be influenced by when CSA occurred vis-à-vis sexual debut.