A sample of 691 African American, Hispanic, and white pregnant teenage and adult women were interviewed in the prenatal setting. On their first prenatal visit, 182 (26%) women reported physical or sexual abuse within the past year. There were significant differences between the teens and adults, with a higher percentage of teens (31.6%) reporting abuse during the prior year than adults (23.6%). The rate of abuse during pregnancy was 21.7% for teens and 15.9% for adult of women. Adult women scored significantly higher than teens on two measures of mental abuse. Mental abuse was significantly correlated with physical abuse for all subjects.
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