Journal of Interpersonal Violence最新文献

Previous research has shown there is a high prevalence of sexual violence (SV) and revictimization among the LGBTQ+ community. Little is known about the prevalence of SV and revictimization among rural LGBTQ+ individuals. This study investigates patterns of revictimization and the prevalence of SV among sexual and gender minority individuals. Less resources, services, and more social isolation in rural areas may exacerbate SV. The Illinois Cohort Study is a longitudinal cohort made up of LGBTQ+ individuals with recruitment from June to September 2022. Individuals that have met the screening criteria were delivered a series of surveys for completion, after obtaining consent and given an incentive for their participation. Survey questions on intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and revictimization were collected and described using descriptive statistics. Rural areas were defined as having a population less than 50,000. A total of N = 74 participants responded to the third survey. There were 46% of participants who identified as non-cisgender, and roughly 48% of participants identified as bisexual, pansexual, or other. There were 58% of participants who experienced some form of SV. Factors significantly associated with SV included age, gender, and total Adverse Childhood Experience score (p < .001, .0278, and .002, respectively). There were 70% of participants who reported experiencing SV more than once. Those who reported being sexually victimized more than once reported the abuse lasting an average of 11 years. There were 46% of participants who felt unsafe or trapped in their current relationship. Lesbian (31%) or bisexual (31%) participants were significantly more likely to report feeling afraid in their relationship (p = .041). This study showed that in rural areas, SV is prevalent among LGBTQ+ individuals. Data can be used to produce interventions and resources to reduce the prevalence of SV and revictimization among rural LGBTQ+ individuals.

Domestic violence remains a complex and challenging issue, particularly for professionals engaged in providing support to victims. The occurrence of emergency situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbates the difficulties faced by these practitioners. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of professionals working with domestic violence victims, with a specific focus on the primary challenges encountered during interventions. It also aims to identify key guidelines that could enhance their practices. Twenty-four professionals from the domestic violence victim support in Portugal participated in this qualitative research. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the study identified a range of challenges professionals confront in their intervention efforts. These challenges encompassed various aspects of the intervention process, vulnerabilities observed in victims, and the existing support system. Furthermore, the study uncovered specific challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside these challenges, the research highlighted a set of recommendations designed to refine intervention strategies and promote better professional adaptation. The findings underscore the array of challenges that professionals grapple with, impacting both their strategies for intervention and their overall well-being. Thus, the development of effective intervention methodologies for professionals and organizations emerges as a crucial endeavor, essential for assisting domestic violence victims in their daily lives and enhancing preparedness for potential future crises.

Rape myth acceptance (RMA) is the acceptance of false beliefs, stereotypes, and statements about rape victims, perpetrators, and the act itself. RMA positively predicts shame felt by victims and negatively predicts reports of sexual victimization. Knowledge about sexual violence changes over time; accordingly, psychometric scales measuring RMA should be updated. Hahnel-Peeters and Goetz developed the Rape Excusing Attitudes and Language (REAL) scale by updating the Illinois RMA Scale-a major instrument used in the United States. However, the REAL scale is not available in Japanese. Therefore, we developed and validated a Japanese version of the REAL scale, evaluated RMA in Japanese individuals (N = 1,000), and compared the Japanese participants' RMA levels with the mean participant scores from Hahnel-Peeters and Goetz. In collaboration with one of the original authors, the Japanese version was developed through a back-translation process and administered to 1,000 men and women aged between 18 and 65; exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the data collected. The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Japanese version moderately fitted the 4-factor structure of the original REAL scale. However, a 2-factor form obtained in the exploratory factor analysis best fit the data. Consistent with the original version, the Japanese version showed higher RMA in men than in women. The young generation (18-29 years old) self-reported higher RMA than other generations. Japan's RMA was significantly higher than that of the U.S. sample. The Japanese version of the REAL scale can be used in future studies to assess RMA in Japanese individuals and develop suitable educational programs to reduce RMA.

Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) among combat veterans has been acknowledged as a significant stressful combat event that may lead to various mental health problems, including depression and moral injury (MI), outcomes of shame and guilt. Recent studies have examined both risk and protective factors that can contribute to PMIEs and their consequences. However, while the general level of one's moral judgment is a logical contributor to moral injuries, it has yet to be examined empirically. In the current study, we examined the unique impact of moral judgment levels on the experience of PMIEs among combat veterans. We also examined the moderating role of moral judgment in the relationship between PMIEs and MI outcomes and depressive symptoms. A volunteer sample of 70 male Israeli combat veterans completed self-report questionnaires and a moral judgment task in a cross-sectional design study. Our findings indicate that moral judgment contributed to higher levels of perceiving others' actions as transgressive (PMIE-Other), above and beyond combat exposure. Moreover, we found that moral judgment has a moderating role in the link between PMIEs and their negative outcomes: Among veterans with higher levels of moral judgment, the association between PMIEs and their expressions was stronger than for those with lower levels of moral judgment. Our finding highlights the unique contribution of moral judgment level to PMIEs and their mental health consequences. It can be cautiously suggested that moral judgment should be viewed as a pre-recruitment risk factor that can help identify those at greater risk for mental health problems following exposure to PMIEs.

The Nigerian Civil War (or Nigerian-Biafran War, 1967-1970) was fought between the Nigerian federal government and the defunct Republic of Biafra. Biafra recruited young men and boys (child soldiers) to fight the war, but little attention has been given to understanding the mental health outcomes of the War on Biafran veterans. Although there are few studies on social support in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in this older veteran population, the mechanism through which social support influences PTSD has not received much attention. Hence, we investigated whether self-efficacy explains the association between social support and PTSD symptoms in a sample of Biafran War veterans. They were recruited from the Veterans' association in south-east Nigeria (N = 250; M_age = 71.33 years, SD = 7.11), and completed self-report measures of social support, self-efficacy, and PTSD symptoms. Results showed that veterans with greater social support (β = -.49, p < .001) and high self-efficacy reported less PTSD symptoms (β = -.55, p < .001). Above all, social support predicted decreased PTSD symptoms risk through increased self-efficacy, 95% CI [-0.53, -0.29]. By implication, social support may be associated with lower PTSD symptoms because it enhances efficacy beliefs, and thereby leads to less PTSD symptoms.

In the field of violence against women (VAW) prevention, one of the current questions at stake is how to address men's role and masculinities, but it is still an emerging field in Spain. The aim of this study was to analyze the up-to-date discourses on masculinity among stakeholders in the field of VAW prevention and gender equity in Spain. We used a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews, conducted between October 2019 and February 2020 in Madrid and Alicante (Spain), with 23 key stakeholders from different areas: in governmental (public health and VAW prevention/intervention, and institutional and policy positioning) and nongovernmental organizations (anti-violence masculinities workers, youth education workers, and feminist and LGBT associations). A discourse analysis was performed with the data collected. Our findings showed that discourses around masculinities among Spanish stakeholders in VAW prevention and gender equity were diverse and presented different layers of critique. Despite a general agreement on the importance of transforming sexist men's practices toward more gender equitable relations, three main interpretive repertoires were identified: "Constructing positive/new masculinities" discourse, focused on promoting men's engagement and egalitarian practices; "Deconstructing hegemonic masculinity" discourse, intended to critically identify and question harmful masculinities norms; and "Abolishing gender" discourse, which aims at dismantling masculinity, and gender in general, as a social structure that generates oppression in itself, advocating for its abolition. Those interpretive repertoires were not mutually exclusive and sometimes stakeholders incorporate in their work more than one approach. The study findings shed light on this current emerging and urgent debate and contributes more broadly to the critical assessment of the concepts used and their implications for VAW prevention.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during the perinatal period can negatively affect both a woman's health and the bonding with her infant. Research on IPV among pregnant women experiencing psychological distress in South Asia is limited. We examined associations between perinatal exposure to IPV and postnatal maternal-infant bonding in Pakistani women with symptoms of anxiety and assessed if breastfeeding practices moderated these associations. Postnatal data were collected from 720 Pakistani women who reported at least mild levels of anxiety symptoms in pregnancy. We performed Poisson regression with robust variance analyses to examine the associations between IPV during pregnancy or within 6 weeks after delivery (i.e., the perinatal period) and maternal-infant bonding. Interaction terms between IPV and breastfeeding practices were included in the analytic models to examine the moderating effects. About 27% of women were exposed to at least one type of perinatal IPV. Women who were exposed to IPV were more likely to have moderate to severe postpartum anxiety (n = 57, 28.9% of IPV-exposed women), compared to those without IPV (n = 65, 12.4% of unexposed women; p value < .001). Compared to women not reporting IPV, women exposed to any IPV showed a 38% increase in Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire scores, suggesting higher likelihood of impaired bonding (risk ratio [RR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.21, 1.56]). Among women who initiated breastfeeding later than 1 hr post-delivery, IPV was associated with impaired bonding (RR = 1.09, 95% CI [1.06, 1.20]), whereas no association was present for women who initiated breastfeeding within 1 hr (RR = 1.03, 95% CI [0.98, 1.08]). In addition to the efforts to reduce IPV, encouraging IPV-exposed women to adhere to the breastfeeding guidelines (e.g., early breastfeeding) may enhance maternal-infant bonding.

Sexual violence is highly prevalent in the United States and is associated with a host of negative physical and mental health outcomes. Specifically, sexual violence is associated with increased rates of cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers found in women. Furthermore, sexual violence survivors report reduced participation in preventive healthcare behaviors (e.g., Pap tests) which may reduce individuals' risk of developing reproductive health conditions such as cancer. Sexual violence exposure is also associated with increased symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reduced trauma-coping self-efficacy (TCSE), two factors that may impact trauma-exposed individuals' level of avoidance of cervical cancer screens. Current research on the connection between sexual violence and reproductive healthcare often fails to examine potential underlying mechanisms behind this association, nor does it account for confounding factors such as healthcare accessibility and need. Accordingly, the present study tested a proposed moderated mediation model to explore the association between sexual violence and cervical cancer screening participation, including analysis of the indirect effect of TCSE and potential moderation of this effect by PTSD symptoms. Participants were 554 participants who reported experiences of sexual violence on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Severity of sexual violence was significantly associated with reduced likelihood of participation in recommended cervical cancer screening. TCSE did not mediate nor did PTSD moderate this association. Findings of this study suggest that individuals' reproductive healthcare behaviors are influenced by their experiences of sexual trauma, as well as by structural factors such as insurance and income. Limitations, directions for future research, and clinical implications of study findings are discussed.

Young adults experiencing homelessness (YAEH) are at higher risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization than their housed peers. This is often due to their increased vulnerability to abuse and victimization before and during homelessness, which can result in a cycle of violence in which YAEH also perpetrates IPV. Identifying and addressing factors contributing to IPV perpetration at an early stage can reduce the risk of IPV. Yet to date, research examining YAEH's IPV perpetration is scarce and has largely employed conventional statistical approaches that are limited in modeling this complex phenomenon. To address these gaps, this study used an interpretable machine learning approach to answer the research question: What are the most salient predictors of IPV perpetration among a large sample of YAEH in seven U.S. cities? Participants (N = 1,426) on average were 21 years old (SD = 2.09) and were largely cisgender males (59%) and racially/ethnically diverse (81% were from historically excluded racial/ethnic groups; i.e., African American, Latino/a, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, and mixed race/ethnicity). Over one-quarter (26%) reported IPV victimization, and 20% reported IPV perpetration while homeless. Experiencing IPV victimization while homeless was the most important factor in predicting IPV perpetration. An additional 11 predictors (e.g., faced frequent discrimination) were positively associated with IPV perpetration, whereas 8 predictors (e.g., reported higher scores of mindfulness) were negatively associated. These findings underscore the importance of developing and implementing effective interventions with YAEH that can prevent IPV, particularly those that recognize the positive association between victimization and perpetration experiences.

Previous studies have examined the impact of maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) on children's school adaptation (SA), neglecting the role of fathers, and the joint influence of both parents. Based on family systems theory, this study explored the intergenerational impact of parental CM on children's SA and the mediating role of benign envy (BE) and malicious envy (ME). A total of 334 elementary school students' BE, ME, and SA statuses and their parents' CM, BE, and ME statuses were collected to construct the intergenerational transmission models of BE and ME for fathers, mothers, and parents, respectively. The results revealed that maltreated fathers or mothers individually exerted negative impacts on their children's SA, but when parents acted jointly, only fathers' CM intergenerational influence was significant. Mediation effects demonstrated that, individually, maltreated fathers indirectly affected children's SA through children's BE; maltreated mothers impacted children's SA through the "mothers' BE→children's BE" mediating chain; however, when taking combined parental action, only mothers' intergenerational transmission chain was significantly present. Identifying different intergenerational influence mechanisms of maltreated parents on offspring's school adaptation broadens our understanding of the diverse parenting roles of parents. That is, fathers foster their offspring's environmental adaptability through encouraging external exploration, while mothers enhance socialization by nurturing internal emotional development. Formulating strategies to address the emotional issues of maltreated parents, especially mothers, is crucial for mitigating the intergenerational consequences of maltreatment and enhancing the offspring's adaptability.