Journal of Interpersonal Violence最新文献

A sizeable literature has shown that child marriage is associated with an increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). However, this research has been cross-sectional, and the temporality of the association has not been investigated. Specifically, no study has yet examined whether IPV is a predictor of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy. This study uses prospective longitudinal data on a cohort of adolescent girls from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health to evaluate whether IPV victimization predicts child marriage or adolescent pregnancy. Using survival models, we find that adolescent girls who experienced physical IPV (measured at survey baseline, in 2017-2018) are more likely to enter child marriages (measured at survey follow-up, in 2021) (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.7 [1.44, 5.08]). Experiencing sexual IPV is also significantly associated with adolescent pregnancy (HR = 1.97 [1.16, 3.33]). These findings indicate the need for greater intervention to ensure healthy adolescent relationships, as well as further research to understand how abusive relationships shape early transitions to adulthood.

When examining sexual assault, men are often hidden from the literature. The current study employed a mixed-methods, convergent parallel design to examine the experiences of 22 male survivors of sexual assault (mean age = 44.19, SD = 13.28, range 18-65; 91% European American; 50% heterosexual). Survivors were administered an online survey using quantitative and qualitative questions to assess rape myths, gender roles, self-esteem, self-efficacy, resiliency, coping, overall mental and physical health, and diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sexual dysfunction. Three key themes emerged from the integration of quantitative and qualitative data: (a) Help is Elusive, (b) Internal Struggles and External Strengths, and (c) Living with Clinical Diagnoses. This study adds to an important area of the literature that increases understanding of men's experiences with sexual violence and honors the voices of these survivors.

Research has documented that domestic violence increased worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have also suggested that alcohol use, which also increased during COVID-19, is a risk factor for domestic violence victimization. However, research has yet to examine whether alcohol consumption mediated the relationship between pandemic-related stressful events and domestic violence. Using structural equation modeling, the current study examines the impact of three types of pandemic-related strains (financial problems, familial problems, and work problems) on individual assessments about whether their drinking became problematic during the pandemic and then whether problematic alcohol use increases the risk of psychological and physical domestic violence. This model was analyzed across six countries: Ukraine, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Denmark, Guatemala, and the United States. Results indicate that the associations between pandemic-related strains and self-assessed problematic drinking varied by country. However, across all countries, problematic alcohol consumption was associated with increased physical and psychological domestic violence victimization. Overall, the findings of the current study support the use of programs that aim to reduce problematic consumption of alcohol with the hopes that they may, in turn, reduce psychological and physical domestic violence victimization.

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.

Previous studies have found that adolescent cyberbullying victimization is associated with cyberbullying perpetration and have explored the potential mediating mechanisms between the two. Although some valuable research has been accumulated, further exploration is needed on the underlying mechanisms of why cyber victims are transformed into cyberbullying perpetrators. Based on the General Aggression Model of Cyberbullying and the Social Role Theory, this study examined the mediating role of psychological entitlement and the moderating role of gender on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 836 adolescents, utilizing the cyberbullying victimization scale, cyberbullying perpetration scale, and psychological entitlement questionnaire. The results found that (a) cyberbullying victimization, psychological entitlement, and cyberbullying perpetration were significantly and positively correlated with each other; (b) after controlling for gender and age, cyberbullying victimization significantly and positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration and psychological entitlement mediated the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration; (c) Gender moderates the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. Specifically, compared with the girls, cyberbullying victimization had a greater effect on cyberbullying perpetration among boys. The results of this study suggest that cyberbullying victims consider that they have more entitlement to bully others online. These findings support the General Aggression Model of Cyberbullying and provide new insights for the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying perpetration.

People in the LGBTQIA+ community (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender/sexual minorities) experience greater rates of intimate partner aggression (IPA) than the general population and have fewer help-seeking pathways available. The current research examined the extent to which LGBTQIA+ people's perceptions of barriers to help-seeking were associated with perceptions of societal heteronormativity-the belief that being cisgender and heterosexual is the norm-and whether the source of support was formal (e.g., police, counselors) versus informal (e.g., friends, family). The current research was conducted in two parts. In the first part of the study (Study 1a), structural equation modeling indicated a significant positive association between perceived societal heteronormativity and self-focused barriers (e.g., feeling too ashamed or guilty to seek help) but not with other-focused barriers (e.g., expecting unfair treatment). Instead, LGBTQIA+ people perceived greater other-focused barriers when considering formal compared to informal sources of support. In the second part of the study (Study 1b), we interviewed 10 LGBTQIA+ people about barriers to help-seeking for IPA. A reflexive thematic analysis identified four themes: (1) Who can hold the status of being a "victim"?; (2) The heightened importance of autonomy; (3) Formal supports need LGBTQIA+ competency; and (4) Judged by the outside in. The themes illustrated unique barriers experienced by LGBTQIA+ people when judging possible harm, choosing whether to seek help, and actual help-seeking. Altogether, current help-seeking pathways for IPA are generally inaccessible to people in the LGBTQIA+ community. IPA interventions for the LGBTQIA+ community require awareness of stigma, improved education for informal and formal support pathways, and the development of community-led interventions.

Despite several parallels between intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA), programs designed to reduce either of these forms of violence against women rarely evaluate the impact on both IPV and SA. Accordingly, we investigated whether one such program (the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance program), designed to help university-aged women resist SA, could also reduce subsequent IPV. Women university students who were enrolled in the Sexual Assault Resistance Education (SARE) randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the EAAA program on SA, were recruited immediately after completing the last survey in the SARE trial. From this trial, 153 women completed the IPV substudy, which included an additional survey. Occurrence of IPV was assessed using the Composite Abuse Scale. Of the 93 new relationships reported by 66 women in the control group, the 1-year risk of IPV was 26.8%. In contrast, of the 113 new relationships reported by 87 women in the EAAA program group, the 1-year risk of IPV was 12.2%. Effectively, the EAAA program significantly reduced the 1-year risk of IPV by 54.4% (p = .037, 95% CI [2.9%, 79.8%]). Our findings suggest that the EAAA program is effective in reducing the risk of IPV and highlights the generalizability of programming that targets the foundational underpinning of multiple forms of gender-based violence.

The effects of residential mobility on youth development outcomes related to violence and victimization have traditionally been understood from an outward mobility perspective. Less attention has been paid to predictors of intracity moves, a more common mobility practice. Research, however, should identify factors associated with intracity mobility before scholars can explore and fully understand the impacts of moving within the city on youth development outcomes such as violence and victimization and whether they are akin to those identified for moves beyond city limits. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we apply a multilevel ecological framework to assess neighborhood, family, and youth factors associated with intracity mobility. We employed hierarchical generalized linear modeling to examine within and between-neighborhood models of intracity mobility among youth and their families who moved within Chicago (N = 426) and those who did not (N = 867). Our investigation highlights as important factors family dynamics instability and aggression and violence at the neighborhood level. Findings show that parental divorce/separation, harsh disciplinary practices, negative school experiences such as racial/ethnic conflict, gangs, or heightened security measures, and exposure to violence predict intracity mobility. Critically, negative school experiences proved to be a robust determinant of moving as cross-level interactions suggest neighborhood crime significantly shapes how these experiences inform intracity mobility. This study emphasizes the importance of examining mobility beyond urban city limits, noting distinct predictors of intracity mobility across systemic levels. The findings fill a gap in our understanding of neighborhood turnover and stability, while also providing a foundation for exploring within and between-neighborhood differences in intracity mobility.

In this study, we explored explanations for the link between self-compassion and psychological well-being among a sample of adult childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors in the United States (n = 335). Informed by Neff's self-compassion theory, we hypothesized that the relationship between self-compassion and psychological well-being would be partially explained by a reduction in emotional dysregulation and trauma-related shame. We tested a parallel multiple mediation model with (a) emotion dysregulation and (b) trauma-related shame as the mediators. As hypothesized, we found a significant positive relationship between self-compassion and psychological well-being among the sample of CSA survivors. Emotional dysregulation and trauma-related shame were both significant mediators of this relationship. However, self-compassion had a significant direct effect even after accounting for the two mediators, which suggests partial mediation. Our results provide further support for the link between self-compassion and psychological well-being and identify reductions in both emotional dysregulation and trauma-related shame as potential mechanisms for this relationship. This study also has implications for clinical practice and prevention efforts that integrate self-compassion, emotion regulation, and trauma-related shame as salient areas of focus.

The role of attitudes toward women and sexual violence in predicting men's perpetration of rape has been well documented in the literature. While research on rape perpetration has primarily focused on identifying risk factors, the limited understanding of protective factors has hindered the development of psychometric measures to assess attitudinal protective factors. However, comprehending these protective factors is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the risk of rape perpetration and the advancement of strength-based approaches. This research describes the development of a new scale designed to measure anti-rape attitudes (ARA) in young heterosexual men. To generate the initial item pool, relevant information was gathered from sexual violence support service websites and academic literature. This item pool underwent an external expert review for further item generation and cognitive interviews for content validation. This qualitative phase was followed by four quantitative studies for item reduction and scale validation. The resulting 19-item scale demonstrates good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .84). The ARA scale exhibits strong negative correlations with rape myth acceptance (RMA) and hostile sexism, and strong positive correlations with positive consent attitudes (PCA), supporting the scale's construct validity. We further conducted hierarchical regression analyses to test the unique relationship of ARA with those constructs while controlling for RMA. These showed that ARA have significant, unique associations with PCA and ambivalent sexism. The development of this new scale enables a more comprehensive assessment of the risk of rape perpetration and opens up new avenues for research on protective factors against rape. Ultimately, this study constitutes an important step toward fostering strength-based approaches to combat sexual violence.