Victimization, smoking, and chronic physical health problems among sexual minority women.

BACKGROUND

Sexual minority women (SMW) have been shown to be at increased risk for abuse, smoking, and chronic physical health problems compared with heterosexual women. In the general population, abuse and smoking are associated with physical health problems. However, there has been little research on their associations among SMW.

PURPOSE: The current study examined a mediational model of abuse, smoking, and self-reported physical health conditions in a national sample of SMW.

METHODS

Participants (N = 1,224) were recruited via the Internet and completed measures of childhood trauma, adult sexual assault, smoking, body mass index, and chronic medical conditions.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling demonstrated that childhood abuse was associated with adult sexual assault, smoking, and physical health problems, but smoking was not a significant mediator.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlight the impact of childhood abuse on physical health problems among SMW and the need to examine other health behaviors that may mediate this relation.