Young adolescent girls and older men: Issues of *development, gender and abuse in sexual relations before the age of consent

This study explores how a history of abuse is a risk factor for early sexual experience with an older individual, of concern because of the potential for revictimization in a vulnerable population. The higher rates of STDs, pregnancy and childbearing among young abused adolescents with older sex partners indicate a need for better understanding of the psychosocial dynamics underlying this public health problem. To study these relationships, the life story narrative was selected as the method most likely to elicit context, meaning and thematic structure in participants' verbal and affective expression. Four girls, 15 and 16, identified as abused and having had a sexual relationship with an individual 4 or more years older, reflect upon their close relationships of childhood through the present and their impact on the girls' self-definition and expectations of others. As participants characterize the elements of their social world, the effects of abuse and the rationale for older partner involvement become evident through the coherence of their stories. The themes and patterns that emerge in these narratives help to delineate emotional and relational vulnerabilities in this age group and population and clarify the role romantic or sexual relationships with an older individual plays in adolescent risk-taking, self-repair and revictimization.