Document Type
Article
Abstract
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is linked to substance use and lower antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. However, studies examining the mediational role of substance use between CSA and ART adherence are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the potential mediational role of substance use between CSA and ART adherence among older adults living with HIV (OALH) (n = 91). Mediation analyses assessed the direct and indirect relationships between CSA, substance use, and ART adherence. Statistically significant differences existed in substance use by gender (male vs. female: 12.3 vs. 9.97) and ART adherence by race (Black vs. White: 98.2% vs. 99.6%) and employment. CSA was associated with ART adherence (β = −3.27, p < .001) and substance use (β = 2.14, p = .035), but substance use was not associated with ART adherence, and did not mediate the pathway between CSA and ART adherence in the adjusted model. Trauma-informed interventions may lower substance use among OALH with CSA.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in Journal of Applied Gerontology, Volume 44, Issue 2, 2025, pages 222-230.
Rights
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
APA Citation
Brown, M. J., Zhang, J., Nii, P., Kaur, A., Amoatika, D., Crouch, E., & Cohen, S. A. (2024). Childhood Sexual Trauma, Substance Use, and Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Older Adults Living With HIV: A Mediational Analysis. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 44(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648241271903