Journal of Family Violence最新文献

Purpose: To examine the association of increasing access to affordable housing through the Low-income Housing Tax Credit Program with non-fatal intimate partner violence (IPV) among women.

Methods: We used 2005-2014 data from the State Emergency Department Database (SEDD) and the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program, a federal program providing tax incentives to support the construction of affordable housing units, to examine the association between the number of LIHTC units available and rates of IPV-related emergency department visits. We conducted generalized linear regression comparing state-years with above the median number of LIHTC units (> 28 units per 100,000 population) to those with below the median number of units (≤ 28 LIHTC units per 100,000 population). We adjusted the analyses for time-varying indicators of state median household income, percent population by race/ethnicity, percent population unemployed, violent crime rate, refundable Earned Income Tax Credits, maximum Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefit for family of 3, and minimum wage.

Results: We found that greater availability of LIHTC units (> 28 vs. ≤ 28 LIHTC units per 100,000 population) was associated with decreased rates of IPV-related emergency department visits among women (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.84, 0.97).

Conclusions: Increasing access to affordable housing, an important social determinant of health, through the LIHTC program may be an important component of strategies to prevent IPV severe enough to warrant an ED visit.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10896-024-00750-8.

Purpose: Mental health burdens are particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries, with women experiencing a disproportionately high prevalence compared to men. The present study examined whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with recent mental health symptoms through intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and IPV perpetration among women in a rural North Indian district.

Method: Participants (N = 312) were recruited via a convenience sampling method and completed self-report measures. To examine indirect effects, we utilized a structural equation model.

Results: A significant, positive association was found between ACEs and mental health symptoms (r = .46, p <.001). We also found significant positive associations between ACEs and both IPV victimization (β = .62, p < .001) and perpetration (β = .24, p < .001). Mental health symptoms were significantly associated with IPV victimization (β = .24, p = .036) but not with IPV perpetration (β = .07, p = .364). There was a significant indirect effect of IPV victimization in the relationship between ACEs and mental health symptoms (β = .15, p = .035), while IPV perpetration did not exhibit a significant indirect effect (β = .02, p = .355). Three different sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings.

Conclusions: The findings highlight a significant association between ACEs and mental health symptoms, with a significant indirect effect through IPV victimization. Interventions should consider addressing ACEs and IPV victimization to improve mental health outcomes for women in rural areas.

Purpose: Early childhood adversity is linked with health problems across the lifespan; however, a healthy, adaptive relationship with caregiver(s) can foster resilience. Little is known about what aspects of the family context may be influential in shaping parent-child relationship dynamics, particularly for families experiencing adversity. In this brief report, we tested the association of two potential predictors (child temperament and quality of the home environment) and observed parent-child relationship dynamics (parent-child cohesion, enmeshment, and disengagement).

Methods: Participants in this multimethod (observational assessment, parent-report survey, semi-structured interview, child protection records) study included 274 preschool-aged children (M age = 50.86 months) with and without child welfare-substantiated maltreatment (52% with documented case of moderate-severe maltreatment) and their primary caregivers assessed at two timepoints spaced 6 months apart. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate associations between child dysregulated temperament, quality of the home environment, and parent-child relationship dynamics (parent-child cohesion, enmeshment, and disengagement) both concurrently (baseline) and prospectively (6 months later).

Results: Results of structural equation modeling showed: (a) higher child dysregulated temperament predicted lower parent-child cohesion 6 months later (controlling for baseline), and (b) higher quality home environment predicted higher parent-child cohesion and lower parent-child disengagement at baseline and 6 months later (controlling for baseline). Neither child temperament nor quality of the home environment predicted parent-child enmeshment at either timepoint.

Conclusions: Findings may help inform preventive interventions designed to promote healthy parent-child relationship dynamics among families experiencing significant adversity.

Purpose: Childhood maltreatment (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are two deleterious relational experiences that have significant negative consequences during the prenatal period. The current study had two aims: a) use person-centered analyses to identify classes of pregnant individuals based on exposure to different types of CM and IPV and b) examine the associations between patterns of CM, IPV, prenatal anxiety and prenatal depression symptoms.

Methods: Participants were a majority Black sample of 222 pregnant individuals who completed self-report measures of CM, IPV in the last year, depression and anxiety. A latent class analysis was conducted to identify patterns of CM and IPV followed by regression analyses to examine associations with prenatal depression and anxiety.

Results: Four classes of CM and IPV were identified: "no CM," "minor CM," "pervasive CM," and "CM & IPV." The "CM & IPV" class had significantly higher levels of depression symptoms than all other classes, including the "pervasive CM" class. Both the "CM & IPV" class and the "pervasive CM" class had significantly higher anxiety symptoms than the other two classes.

Conclusions: Results suggest that associations between patterns of CM and IPV and mental health during pregnancy are outcome specific and may differ depending on the psychopathology symptoms being assessed. Results can be harnessed by clinicians and policy makers to identify those at risk for psychopathology during the prenatal period.

Purpose: Personal history of parent-child aggression (PCA) can predict future parenting behavior, but some effects may differ between racial groups. Black parents in the U.S. are more likely to encounter discrimination and personally experience and approve of PCA, which may account for previously reported group differences. This study examined whether personal PCA history predicted later parental child abuse risk mediated by PCA approval across the transition to parenthood, and whether effects differed by race.

Methods: Expectant parents (non-Hispanic White sample: 95 mothers with 86 fathers; Black sample: 94 mothers with 85 fathers) participated in a prospective longitudinal study, assessed prenatally and when children were age 6 mo., 18 mo., and four years. Personal history of PCA was assessed retrospectively, PCA approval was evaluated at each timepoint; and abuse risk was assessed as both theoretical abuse risk (an analog task at all timepoints) and actual PCA use (parents' report at the final two timepoints).

Results: Personal PCA history largely predicted PCA approval for Black parents but was inconsistent for White parents. Higher PCA approval predicted abuse risk for both groups but appears to be a more consistent mediator between personal PCA history and abuse risk for Black parents.

Conclusions: Findings suggest PCA approval may perpetuate the PCA cycle but future work needs to consider differential effects by race, socioeconomic status, and age and identify factors that may account for such differences. Abuse preventions should be more intentionally culturally informed to enhance efficacy for communities of color.

Purpose: Intimate partner aggression (IPA) increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model, the current study examined associations among emotion regulation (ER) difficulties (an enduring vulnerability), COVID stress (a current stressor), alcohol use (a maladaptive coping strategy), and physical, psychological, and cyber IPA perpetration during the first eight months of the pandemic.

Method: Participants were 215 college students in current relationships from three universities across the US.

Results: Results of generalized linear models controlling for pre-COVID IPA perpetration showed a main effect of ER difficulties on physical IPA perpetration (b = .56, p < .001), an ER difficulties X COVID stress X alcohol use interaction on psychological IPA perpetration (b = .01, p = .03), and an ER difficulties X COVID stress interaction on cyber IPA perpetration (b = -.02, p = .02). Specifically, when ER difficulties and alcohol use were low, individuals with high levels of COVID stress were at higher risk of perpetrating psychological IPA relative to individuals with low levels of COVID stress. However, the association between COVID stress and psychological IPA perpetration was not statistically significant when ER difficulties and alcohol use were high. Similarly, when ER difficulties were low, individuals with high levels of COVID stress were at higher risk for perpetrating cyber IPA relative to individuals with low levels of COVID stress. However, when ER difficulties were high, the association between COVID stress and cyber IPA perpetration was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The current findings tentatively implicate COVID stress as a critical correlate of IPA perpetration and suggest that individuals who have fewer existing vulnerabilities (i.e., ER difficulties) and maladaptive processes (i.e., alcohol use) should not be overlooked.

Purpose: While associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intimate partner violence (IPV) have been well-documented, few studies have identified relationship factors that buffer this association. Even fewer studies have examined these relationships among Latino sexual minority men (SMM). To address this gap, we tested a model in which relationship functioning moderated this association in a sample of Latino SMM couples.

Methods: Data were collected from 95 couples (190 participants) using a sequential index-partner recruitment design. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were calculated using generalized estimating equations (GEE).

Results: Among men whose partners scored low on the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, those who reported 1 or more ACEs reported more forms of IPV victimization. In contrast, the association between the actor effect of ACEs and IPV victimization was not significant among those whose partners scored high on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. In a symmetrical pattern, among men who scored low on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, those whose partners reported 1 or more ACEs reported more forms of IPV victimization; however, at high levels of self-reported relationship functioning, partner-reported ACEs were relatively associated with fewer reported forms of IPV victimization.

Conclusions: These results are consistent with the premise that relationship functioning may serve as one source of resilience, attenuating the association between ACEs and IPV victimization among a sample of coupled Latino SMM. We interpret these findings within the larger IPV literature and provide suggestions for IPV prevention program development, with a particular emphasis on reaching Latino SMM.

Purpose

Much attention has been devoted to the ways in which women have made sense of, worked through, coped with, and recovered from Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), but the insights of survivors affiliated with religious minorities are scarce. The purpose of this study is to advance understandings and practices concerning the coping experiences of Ultraorthodox women (UJW) survivors of IPV. Using descriptive phenomenological methodology, in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 Ultraorthodox Israeli women who identified themselves as survivors of IPV.

Methods

The research design and data analysis were inspired by a phenomenological approach to document, analyze, and understand these women’s subjective experiences on this heretofore under-studied topic. Shenton’s four criteria were assessed to promote the current study’s rigor and trustworthiness.

Results

Thematic analysis revealed three core themes and seven related sub-themes: (1) Devoting time to spiritual activities (sub-themes: daily prayers and attending Jewish classes); (2) Finding inspiration in a role model (sub-themes: a woman who survived IPV, a well-appreciated rabbi); and, (3) Planning the future (sub-themes: commitment to a new project, helping other women to cope with IPV, and commitment to the future and well-being of their children).

Conclusions

An integrative synthesis of the findings reveals two distinctive forms of coping: spiritual-based and practical-based coping strategies, that demonstrate the survivors’ multifaceted perceptions and coping narrative with IPV. The strengths and limitations of this study are addressed along with implications for practice and theory.

Purpose

Safety planning is often recommended for stalking victims, yet there has been limited research on personal safety planning in general and specifically for stalking victims. This study has two overall objectives: (1) to examine whether frequency of safety scenario planning (thinking through various strategies in responding to threatening situations) among ex-partner stalking victims is associated with increased personal safety worry, safety efficacy, and other safety behaviors (e.g., seeking safety advice, carrying a safety device); and (2) to explore associations of frequency of safety scenario planning with partner abuse and stalking experiences, help-seeking, and mental health symptoms.

Method

Women stalking victims were recruited from Prolific. Three groups were developed for comparisons including stalking victims who: (a) did not engage in safety scenario planning in the past year (n = 121); (b) engaged in one safety scenario planning activity in the past year (n = 256); and (c) engaged in 2 or more safety scenario planning activities in the past year (n = 184).

Results

Bivariate results found that frequency of safety scenario planning was associated with increased personal safety worry, increased seeking and giving safety advice, and increased defensive safety behaviors. Additionally, the multivariate analysis found more frequent safety scenario planning was uniquely and significantly associated with increased personal safety worry, safety efficacy, work interference, the number of different help-seeking sources, PTSD symptoms, and sexual discomfort.

Conclusions

More research is needed to provide information about best practices in safety planning to better help victims manage the short- and long-term consequences of violence exposure in their recovery journey.

Purpose

To understand court decisions in custody cases involving allegations of domestic violence, a qualitative study was conducted among Portuguese family court magistrates.

Methods

A nonprobabilistic snowball sampling process, which involved six judges from Portuguese family courts who were authorized by the Superior Magistrate’s Court to participate in an interview, was used to construct the sample.

Results

When the data were analyzed, three main themes emerged, namely, the characteristics of the processes, the factors considered in the judicial decisions, and the impact of shared custody. The results also revealed several legal and extralegal aspects that influence judicial decisions, such as the characteristics of the violence, the mediation process, and the status attributed to victims, suggesting that there are objective and subjective factors in the perpetuation of violence.

Conclusions

Allegations of domestic violence in custody proceedings are not uncommon, and these allegations can complicate the process and delay a decision. Efforts by one parent to restrict contact with the other parent raise suspicions of attempted alienation that tend to undermine the risk assessment. There can also be overreliance on shared custody, potentially undermining children’s safety. The negative impacts of exposure to domestic violence and the instrumentalization of children are recognized, but it is questionable whether they are being prevented to the extent advocated by the Istanbul Convention. The effectiveness of communication between criminal and family courts is also debatable, despite its importance for protecting victims.