Association Between Multiple Experiences of Violence and Drug Overdose Among Black Women in Community Supervision Programs in New York City

Research has documented associations between all types of violence and substance misuse among Black women. However, research has yet to examine how different experiences of violence may be contributing to the surging epidemic of drug overdose among Black women. This study was conducted between 2015 and 2018 among 296 Black women who were mandated to community supervision programs (CSPs) in New York City (NYC). We used generalized linear modeling (GLM) to estimate associations of the adjusted relative risk (aRR) of experiencing a non-fatal overdose based on exposure to each type of violence after controlling for potentially confounding variables. Lifetime prevalence of a non-fatal drug overdose was 13.9% ( n = 41). Lifetime severe physical/sexual violence by a male intimate partner (prevalence rate = 61.8%, n = 181) was associated with an overdose (aRR = 3.41, 95%CI = 1.19, 9.73). Severe violence by a female partner (prevalence rate = 7.4%, n = 22) was also associated with an overdose (aRR = 2.61, 95%CI = 1.46, 4.65). Lifetime sexual violence by a non-intimate partner (prevalence rate: 29.1%, n = 86) was associated with an overdose (aRR = 2.23, 95%CI = 1.32, 3.77). Sexual abuse by police/CSP staff (prevalence rate: 14.9%, n = 44) was associated with an overdose (aRR = 2.29, 95%CI = 1.27, 4.12). For each increase in the number of types of violence experienced, there was a 27% increase in the risk for an overdose (aRR = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.14, 1.42). This study found high rates of multiple types of violence that are associated with drug overdose among this sample of Black women in CSPs. These findings highlight the urgent public health need to address violence associated with overdose in this population.