Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109502

Nancy Palmadessa, BA, Department of Psychology, CUNY Hunter College, c/o CHEST 250 W. 26th St., Suite 300, New York, NY 10001, David S. Bimbi, MA, Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training, CUNY Hunter College, c/o CHEST 250 West 26th Street, Suite 300, New York, NY 10001, (212) 206-7919 x237, dbimbi@hunter.cuny.edu, and Jeffrey T. Parsons, PhD, Psychology Department, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021.

Background: The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of physical and non-physical DV among a sample of gay men and lesbians and current substance use. Previous research has found that gay men experience more physical DV and lesbians experience more non-physical DV. Method: Surveys were collected from an ethnically diverse sample of gay men (n=652, M=38) and lesbians (n=396, M=34) attending community events. The brief instrument assessed 12 specific forms of DV as well as recent use of alcohol and recreational drugs. Results: Nearly 25% of all participants reported experience with physical DV; over 33% reported experience with non-physical DV. Rates of domestic violence did not differ by ethnicity. Women were 1.5 more likely then men to report any form of physical DV and also more likely to have experienced several forms of nonphysical DV (e.g., verbal degradation). The associations between DV and individual drugs were numerous (e.g., men who experienced physical DV were more than twice as likely to report recent methamphetamine use compared to other men; women who experienced physical DV were almost three times as likely to report recent cocaine use). Conclusions: These findings indicate that gay men and lesbians remain a group at risk for becoming victims of DV, and victimization may be related to substance use. Gay and lesbian victims have unique experiences with DV, and further research is necessary to influence policies and services that meet their special needs.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session participants will be able to
• describe differences in domestic violence among urban lesbians and gay men,
• identify which substances that lesbians and gay men may be using to cope with the domestic violence experience and
• evaluate pre-concieved ideas about domestic violence among urban lesbians and gay men

Keywords: Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation