Adverse childhood experiences, sexual debut and HIV testing among adolescents in a low-income high HIV-prevalence context

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether adverse childhood experiences are important determinants of sexual debut and HIV testing. DESIGN: Adolescents (age 10-16; N = 2089) from rural Malawi were interviewed in 2017-2018 for the baseline wave of a longitudinal study of childhood adversity and HIV risk. METHODS: Respondents were interviewed in their local language. Surveys captured 13 lifetime childhood adversities (using the Adverse Childhood Experience - International Questionnaire); sexual debut; and previous HIV testing. We used multivariate regression models to test whether adversity, measured both cumulatively and separately, predicted HIV risk. RESULTS: For each additional adversity, there was a significant rise in the odds of sexual debut (odds ratio 1.13, confidence interval 1.07-1.20) and HIV testing (odds ratio 1.10, confidence interval 1.04-1.16). CONCLUSION: Preventing HIV among all young people necessitates a paradigm shift that recognizes the importance of early life social determinants in structuring HIV risk.