Journal of Interpersonal Violence最新文献

There are few psychometrically valid measures of exposure to social maltreatment that simultaneously assess sexism, racism, and anti-LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other nonheteronormative) behavior, despite the commonness of these phenomena. The Social Discrimination and Maltreatment Scale (SDMS) meets this requirement but is, as a result, somewhat lengthy (36 items). This article introduces a short form of the SDMS containing only half the number of items but generally retaining the psychometric qualities of the original measure. The 18-item Social Discrimination and Maltreatment Scale-Short Form (SDMS-SF) consists of six SDMS stem items (e.g., I have been disrespected, People made cruel or demeaning jokes about me) each of which is rated according to how often it had happened "because of my sex," "because of my race," and "because of my sexual orientation or gender identity." In the SDMS online sample (N = 528), SDMS-SF Sexism, Racism, and Cisheterosexism subscales were validated by confirmatory factor analysis and were internally consistent (α = .91-.95) and highly correlated with the original SDMS subscales (r = .94 in all cases). All SDMS-SF subscales correlated with self-reported anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress (mean r = .29), corresponding to a medium effect size. In all but one instance, related SDMS and SDMS-SF subscales did not differ significantly in the strength of their association with symptomatology. Together, these results suggest that the SDMS-SF is a reliable and valid measure of social discrimination, generally equivalent to the SDMS despite containing only half as many items.

Nonconsensual distribution (NCD) of sexual images and videos is prevalent among emerging adults, frequently co-occurs with other types of violence and is associated with psychological distress. Due to its often-public nature, NCD has been theorized to have unique negative psychological effects on survivors. Yet, there is limited research that quantifies the comparative and combined psychological impact of NCD victimization with other forms of interpersonal violence (IPV; e.g., physical, sexual, psychological). Among an undergraduate sample, the present study compared posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms among victims of NCD (n = 224) to a group who experienced past-year IPV, but not NCD (n = 231). As NCD may occur within a broader pattern of violence, NCD victims were also separated into groups of those who experienced a combination of NCD and additional forms of IPV from the same perpetrator ("NCD-combined"; n = 183), and those who experienced only NCD from the perpetrator ("NCD-only"; n = 41), both of whom were compared to past-year IPV-only victims (n = 231). Overall, 20.8% of participants reported NCD victimization, which was more common among women, bi/pansexual individuals, and either white or multiracial individuals. Consistent with hypotheses, NCD victims were over two times as likely to meet criteria for probable PTSD and depression than those who experienced past-year IPV only; further, victims in the NCD-combined group reported significantly higher PTSD and depressive symptoms than IPV-only victims and significantly higher PTSD symptoms than NCD-only victims. In a regression including IPV frequency, NCD remained uniquely associated with total PTSD symptoms, PTSD avoidance and mood/cognition subscales, and depressive symptoms. Implications for future research and practice are provided.

Most sexual assault survivors disclose to informal supporters and receive both negative and positive social reactions. Converging evidence suggests that the first months after sexual assault are a period of increased support-seeking that may be uniquely important to survivors' recovery, especially among survivors at risk of chronic post-traumatic stress and alcohol misuse. However, no research has examined when and how often survivors talk about their assault and what social reactions they receive during this time. As such, the goal of this study was to characterize the day-to-day assault-related interactions and social reactions received by a high-risk group of survivors during the first months following sexual assault. Adult female survivors of past-10-week sexual assault with elevated assault-related post-traumatic stress and alcohol use (N = 41) completed a baseline assessment and daily diaries over 21 days as part of a larger mHealth clinical trial. Results demonstrated that assault-related interactions occurred on an average of 24.4% of days (range: 1-14 days), were more likely to occur earlier in the daily dairy period, and decreased in frequency over time. Across days, most survivors (75%) received both positive and negative reactions in these interactions, whereas fewer (20%) received only positive reactions and no one received only negative reactions. These findings suggest that survivors commonly have assault-related interactions with their supporters in the initial aftermath of the assault and that receiving both positive and negative social reactions is typical. Findings could inform future early interventions aiming to improve supporter reactions and better support survivors' recovery.

This paper examines the meaning of violence in contemporary Western societies. Scholars have argued that in contemporary Western societies, the concept is expanding toward a broader understanding of violence, beyond its "traditional" usage in the context of crime and war. The current paper aims to generate empirical evidence that speaks to this question. We take the Netherlands as a case study and apply machine learning techniques to discourse on violence in 80,000 articles published in national newspapers between 2012 and 2021. Results show that the public discourse on violence in the Netherlands has a component that can be described as the familiar or "traditional" usage of the term violence-referring to violent political conflicts, or interpersonal violence such as child abuse. Beyond this, the term violence is associated with discourse on societal challenges. It appears in discourse on social media, political polarization, and social injustice faced by ethnic minorities, women, and the LGBT+ community. The later stages of the analysis demonstrated that the terms associated with social injustice in particular (e.g., "racist") become more closely associated with the concept of violence over time. In short, our findings support the notion that the collective understanding of violence in the Netherlands is developing toward a broader understanding of violence, beyond the context of crime and war. Specifically, in recent years the term violence is increasingly used in association with issues of social injustice.

Community violence (CV) is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes, such as posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and anger; however, many individuals also exhibit resilience. Considering the multifinality of outcomes following CV and guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems framework, the current study sought to examine individual, microsystem, and exosystem level factors in relation to PTSS, anger, and resilience. Participants were 536 emerging adults (M_age = 20.13; SD = 1.81, range = 18-25) recruited from two universities. Three hierarchical linear regression models were conducted, one for each dependent variable (i.e., PTSS, anger, resilience). Block 1 included the covariates of recruitment site and age. Block 2 added individual-level factors (i.e., gender, race, income, CV exposure, other trauma exposure, code of the streets [COS] beliefs, religiosity), Block 3 added microsystem-level factors (i.e., parental monitoring, social support), and Block 4 added exosystem-level factors (i.e., community cohesion, community disorder). Identifying as female, higher levels of CV and other trauma exposure, and lower levels of social support were associated with greater PTSS. Recruitment site, more cumulative trauma, stronger endorsement of COS beliefs, lower levels of social support, and higher levels of community disorder were associated with higher levels of problematic anger. Higher income, identifying as a racial minority, higher levels of CV, more religiosity, higher levels of social support, and greater community cohesion were associated with more resilience. These findings highlight the importance of examining ecological systems concurrently. Individual- and microsystem-level variables may be key targets and should be considered in intervention and prevention services for emerging adults exposed to violence.

About one-third of sexual minority men (SMM) report intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, and one-fourth report IPV perpetration, in their lifetime. IPV disclosure and help seeking are key processes of coping with or managing exposure to abuse. We surveyed 500 SMM residing across the United States who enrolled in project EROS (Empowering Relationships and Opportunities for Safety). In all, 201 participants reported any type of IPV in the past 6 months (including 109 who reported both victimization and perpetration); these men were then categorized as experiencing balanced bidirectional (n = 53), predominantly victimization (n = 113), and predominantly perpetration (n = 35) IPV. In each of these groups, close to one-third (25.7%-34.5%) had disclosed their IPV experience and one-fifth (13.2%-20.0%) had sought help; however, within the perpetration group, none of the 16 participants who only reported perpetration (the other 19 reported some victimization) disclosed their IPV. Group sizes allowed us to examine correlates of IPV disclosure and help seeking among the bidirectional and victimization groups, from among demographic, psychosocial, relational, and IPV characteristics, using bivariate statistics and multiple logistic regression. Greater IPV victimization was positively correlated with disclosure in both groups, and it was the lone independent correlate in multiple regression analysis (in the victimization group). Greater IPV victimization was also a strong positive and independent correlate of help seeking in multiple regression analysis within the victimization group, as was greater partner assertiveness in conflict resolution. There were no independent correlates of disclosure and help seeking within the bidirectional group. These findings highlight the need for efforts to empower SMM to seek support and services when exposed to IPV, and to do so early in the occurrence of IPV.