Risk for Experiencing Psychological and Sexual Abuse On- and Offline: A Comparison of Bisexual, Gay/Lesbian, and Heterosexual Women and Men.

Dating abuse research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations tends to aggregate LGB participants for comparisons with heterosexuals and often excludes non-assaultive dating abuse and abuse that takes place on online dating applications. In the present study, we used the Pew Research Center's 2019 American Trends Panel Wave 56 dataset (N = 4712) to compare ever experiencing several types of non-assaultive on- and offline dating abuse between bisexual women (n = 402), lesbian women (n = 207), heterosexual women (n = 1802), bisexual men (n = 225), gay men (n = 575), and heterosexual men (n = 1501). We found that gay men and bisexual women generally had the greatest odds of experiencing online dating abuse. Bisexual and heterosexual women had the greatest odds of experiencing some offline abuse (e.g., being touched in an uncomfortable way), but gay men and bisexual women and men had the greatest odds of experiencing other offline abuse (e.g., having their contact information or a sexual image of them shared non-consensually). Findings highlight how assessments of non-assaultive dating abuse in on- and offline contexts via analyses of more specified gender/sex/ual identity groups can broaden understandings of dating abuse victimization, especially among sexual minority populations.

Development and Validation of the Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI): A Measure of Dating and Sexual Protective Behaviors.

Adverse sexual experiences are highly prevalent among college students and associated with increased mental health symptoms and decreased use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS). The current study developed and validated a measure of dating and sexual PBS: the Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI). Participants (64.28% female, 19.59 [2.90 SD] years old, 68.90% non-Hispanic, 71.42% white, and 76.06% heterosexual) responded to baseline (n = 1,298) and one-month (n = 336) surveys. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling identified a 24-item measure with five-factors: Location Sharing, Assertiveness, Self-Protection, Risk Reduction, and Privacy. The model revealed good fit: χ2(242) = 2115.52, p < .001, CFI = .977, RMSEA = .077 (90% CI = .074, .080), SRMR = .043. Test-retest reliability revealed acceptable reliability of 0.74 at follow-up. Overall, SANDI showed acceptable reliability and adequate convergent and discriminant validity among college students.

Intimate Partner Violence Survivors' Daily Experiences of Social Disconnection, Substance Use, and Sex with Secondary Partners.

Women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) are disproportionately likely to engage in sexual risk behavior, including sex with a secondary partner (i.e., sex partners outside their primary relationship). Social disconnection has been identified as a social determinant of health that may enhance understanding of sex with a secondary partner. This study extends past research by using an intensive longitudinal design consisting of multiple daily assessments to examine event-level associations between women IPV survivors' social disconnection and sex with a secondary partner concurrently (i.e., during the same aggregated assessment) and temporally (i.e., social disconnection during one assessment predicting sex with a secondary partner in a subsequent assessment) over a 14-day period, in consideration of physical, psychological, and sexual IPV, and alcohol and drug use. Participants (N = 244) were recruited from New England through 2017. Results from multilevel logistic regression models indicate that women who experienced greater social disconnection on average were more likely to report sex with a secondary partner. However, after including IPV and substance use in the model, the strength of this relationship was attenuated. Sexual IPV emerged as a between-person predictor of sex with a secondary partner in temporally lagged models. Results provide insight into the relationships between daily social disconnection and sex with a secondary partner among IPV survivors, particularly regarding the effects of substance use and IPV both concurrently and temporally. Taken together, findings emphasize the importance of social connection for women's well-being and highlight the need for interventions that enhance interpersonal connectedness.

Relational Peer Victimization Interacts With Depression Severity to Predict the Timing of Alcohol Use Initiation in Adolescent Girls.

BACKGROUND: Peer victimization is consistently linked to adolescents' alcohol use. However, the relative influence of relational and physical peer victimization on alcohol use, and timing of drinking initiation, is not well understood. In this study, we evaluate the impact of both relational and physical peer victimization on adolescent girls' alcohol use initiation, and the extent to which depression severity moderates these associations. METHODS: Participants were 2,125 girls in the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a longitudinal community-based study. Participants reported experiences of relational and physical peer victimization, depression severity, and alcohol use each year from ages 10 to 17. Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression analyses predicting the timing of first drink were conducted in 2 stages, testing for main effects of peer victimization in Model 1 and moderation by depression severity in Model 2. RESULTS: Analyses were split at age 14 to adjust for PH violations. Model 1 results supported a main effect for relational (Hazards ratio [HR] = 1.83, CI: 1.46 to 2.28 ≤ age 13; HR = 1.23, CI: 1.05 to 1.45 ≥ age 14) but not physical victimization on timing of alcohol use onset (HR = 1.10, CI: 0.88 to 1.39). Model 2 results show that depression severity moderates the association between relational victimization and alcohol use initiation: the association between relational victimization and early alcohol use onset was stronger for lower depression severity (-1 SD HR = 2.38, CI: 1.68 to 3.39 ≤ age 13; -1 SD HR = 1.48, CI: 1.10 to 1.52 ≥ age 14). CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate that relational (and not physical) victimization predicts earlier drinking among adolescent girls. Relational peer victimization conferred greater risk for alcohol use initiation when depression severity was lower, whereas girls with high depression severity engaged in early alcohol use regardless of peer victimization. Results suggest that interventions focused on relational peer victimization may have spillover effects for delaying girls' alcohol use initiation, particularly in early adolescence, when this association is most robust.

Social Disconnection as a Pathway to Sexual Risk Behavior Among Victims of Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is a strong predictor of women's sexual risk behavior. Social disconnection may be central to understanding this association. In a sample of 204 IPV victims, we (a) evaluated the extent to which social disconnection underlies the association between IPV severity and sexual risk behavior, and (b) tested the idea that the association between social disconnection and sexual risk behavior is stronger among women without alternative means to social connection (i.e., lack close friendships). The indirect effect of physical and sexual IPV, respectively, on sexual risk behavior via social disconnection was significant. The number of close friends women had moderated the association between social disconnection and sexual risk behavior, such that having multiple close friendships buffered the effects of social disconnection.

The effects of alcohol intoxication and sexual interest on men's sexual persistence and hostility in a dating simulation.

Perpetrators of sexual assault are often intoxicated; however, few experimental studies evaluate alcohol's "in the moment" effects on sexual aggression. This study extends past theory and research by examining the acute effects of alcohol on men's decisions about how to respond to sexual refusals in a dating simulation. Men (N = 62) ages 21-29 were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target breath alcohol level 0.080%) or no alcohol. Participants were encouraged to talk to a simulated woman and act as they would on an actual date. They made choices from a list which included nonsexual and sexual options. The female agent was programmed to engage in some sexual activities but refuse others. Refusals became more intense if participants persisted. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test a path analytic model. As predicted, participants' self-reported desire to have sex was positively associated with choosing more consensual sexual activities during the simulation (i.e., activities in which the woman willingly engaged). Consensual sexual activities were positively associated with the number of times participants persisted after the woman refused. Alcohol moderated this relationship such that it was stronger for intoxicated men than sober men. The more sexual refusals participants received, the more hostile verbal comments they made to the woman. Contrary to our predictions, this relationship was not moderated by alcohol condition. Because participants had multiple opportunities to escalate their aggression or desist, this paradigm provides new insights into the mechanisms through which intoxication enhances the likelihood of sexual aggression in dating situations.

Justice for all? Beliefs about justice for self and others and telomere length in African Americans.

OBJECTIVE: Believing in justice can protect health. Among marginalized racial minorities however, both endorsing and rejecting beliefs about justice might be critical. The current research examined links between African Americans' beliefs about justice for self and for others and telomere length (TL)-an indicator of biological aging that is increasingly implicated in racial health disparities, with shorter telomeres indicating poorer health. METHOD: Healthy African Americans (N = 118; 30% male; M age = 31.63 years) completed individual differences measures of justice beliefs for self and others and then provided dried blood spot samples that were assayed for TL. RESULTS: We expected that a belief in justice for self would be positively associated with TL, whereas a belief in justice for others would be negatively associated. A significant 3-way interaction with chronological age confirmed this hypothesis-among older African Americans, TL was positively associated with believing in justice for self, but only when this belief was accompanied by a weak endorsement of the belief in justice for others. CONCLUSION: Findings underscore that for racial minorities, health might be best protected when justice beliefs are both endorsed and rebuffed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Partner Type Matters: Differences in Cross-Sectional Predictors of Men's Sexual Aggression in Casual and Steady Relationships.

Researchers rarely consider if different theoretical models are needed to understand the etiology of men's sexual aggression against women in steady as compared to casual relationships. A modified confluence model was evaluated with survey data from 556 young, single men. Hostile masculinity was the only assessed risk factor that had a direct relationship to sexual aggression against steady and casual partners. Impersonal sex and friends' approval of forced sex were directly related to sexual aggression against casual partners; whereas, heavy alcohol consumption was directly related to sexual aggression against steady partners. Psychopathy-related personality traits were indirectly related to both types of sexual aggression. The model explained a moderate amount of variance in casual date perpetration, but only a small amount of variance in steady date perpetration. Thus, more research and theory is needed to understand violence in this type of relationship.

Friends matter: protective and harmful aspects of male friendships associated with past-year sexual aggression in a community sample of young men.

OBJECTIVES: We extended past research on sexual violence etiology by examining the impact of perceived pressure to have sex by any means and the types of objectifying and egalitarian language that friends used when discussing women. METHODS: We examined a community sample of young single men interested in dating women (n = 423) who completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews at baseline (spring/summer 2008) and 1 year later (spring/summer 2009). We used hierarchical logistic regression analyses that controlled for baseline sexual aggression. RESULTS: Approximately one quarter of participants (n = 108) reported that they made a woman engage in some type of sexual activity during the past year when they knew she was unwilling or unable to consent. Past-year perpetrators perceived more pressure from their friends to have sex by any means, felt less comfortable with their friends making egalitarian statements about women, and used more objectifying statements when describing how their friends talked about women compared with nonperpetrators. Seventy-eight percent of men were correctly classified by these predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Men's discussions with each other about women could foster an environment that encourages or discourages sexual violence. We discussed future research and prevention implications.

Protective Factors for Sexual Violence Perpetration Among High School and College Students: A Systematic Review.

To prevent sexual violence (SV), it is important to understand both risk and protective factors for SV perpetration. Although considerable research has examined risk factors for perpetration of SV among high school and college students, less research is dedicated to investigating protective factors which might mitigate the risk of perpetration. This review summarizes existing research on protective factors for perpetration of SV among high school and college students. Thirteen articles were included in this study after reviewing 5,464 citations. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed scholarly journals, written in English, and published between 2010 and 2021. The included articles indicate that 11 factors were significantly related to less SV perpetration. Key protective factors identified in this study include empathy, impulse control, social support, parental factors, peers, church attendance/ religiosity, and school connections. In addition to protective factors, this review also examined study characteristics for the included articles and found that most participants were White and just over half of the studies were longitudinal. Overall, these findings indicate a lack of research focused on protective factors for SV perpetration, and a need for more research on the identified protective factors and to investigate additional protective factors. Such studies should include longitudinal designs and more diverse samples to understand the range of protective factors that can be bolstered through interventions to prevent SV among high school and college students.

Alcohol intoxication, condom use rationale, and men's coercive condom use resistance: The role of past unintended partner pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: Cisgender men's condom use resistance (CUR), deliberate attempts to avoid using a condom with a partner who wishes to use one, may include coercive strategies, such as deception and force, and places their partners at risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transitted infections (STIs). This investigation used an alcohol administration design to examine one distal (history of unintended partner pregnancy) and two proximal (acute alcohol intoxication, condom use rationale) contributors to men's intentions to engage in coercive CUR. METHOD: Nonproblem drinking, cisgender men (N = 313) completed questionnaires, then were randomized to a beverage condition (control, placebo, low dose [.04%gm], and high dose [.08%gm]). Participants completed a sexual risk analog and reported their coercive CUR intentions after a hypothetical, female partner provided a condom use rationale (STI avoidance or pregnancy avoidance). RESULTS: Men who received the pregnancy condom use rationale reported higher intentions to engage in coercive CUR when they received a high alcohol dose relative to sober men. For men who had a history of unintended partner pregnancy, receiving a pregnancy condom use rationale was associated with greater intentions to have forced, condomless sex if they received a high alcohol dose relative to sober men. CONCLUSIONS: Intoxicated men may be more likely to engage in coercive CUR; this may indicate that when intoxicated, pregnancy risks are less salient relative to STI-related outcomes. As reproductive rights are being decimated, effective interventions targeting CUR, particularly when intoxicated, are needed in tandem with policies that affirm one's ability to prevent and terminate pregnancy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

College Students' Experiences of Dating App Facilitated Sexual Violence and Associations with Mental Health Symptoms and Well-Being.

Dating app facilitated sexual violence (DAFSV) includes behaviors such as unwanted sexual comments/harassment, unsolicited sexual photos, and gender/sexuality-based harassment - and could extend to sexual violence when meeting partners face-to-face. The effects of sexual violence on mental health are well-established; however, research on DAFSV has been limited. The goal of the current study was to understand college students' experiences of DAFSV and investigate cross-sectional associations with indicators of mental health (i.e. depression and anxiety symptoms) and well-being (i.e. self-esteem, loneliness, perceived control). Participants were college students in the United States who used dating apps (N = 277) and identified primarily as women (64.6%) and heterosexual/straight (74.0%). Most participants (88.4%) self-reported at least one instance of DAFSV. Women (vs. men) and sexual minority (vs. heterosexual/straight) individuals experienced more frequent DAFSV. Regression analyses indicated that DAFSV frequency was associated with higher depression and anxiety symptoms, higher loneliness, lower self-esteem, and lower perceived control. This study highlights the importance of DAFSV for a broad range of well-being indicators. Given that dating apps are one of the most common means of meeting partners, research is needed to better understand these initial interactions, prevent DAFSV from occurring, and mitigate the impact of DAFSV on health outcomes.

Problem Drinking is Associated with Intimate Partner Cyber Abuse Perpetration but is Buffered by High Relationship Satisfaction.

Purpose: Intimate partner cyber abuse (IPCA) is a prevalent form of intimate partner violence (IPV) that has detrimental effects on victims' well-being. Although research has documented associations with other forms of IPV perpetration, additional research is needed to identify IPCA perpetration risk factors. One of the most common risk factors for offline IPV is perpetrators' alcohol use; however, less is known about how this translates to online contexts. There is also a need to identify protective factors that mitigate the effects of alcohol. Methods: This study evaluated associations between drinking, relationship satisfaction, and IPCA perpetration via self-report questionnaires within a longitudinal framework. Participants included 544 adults in an intimate relationship (n = 296 at T2). Results: Results indicated that relationship satisfaction buffered the effects of problem drinking on IPCA perpetration at T1, but not at T2. Further, 20.2% of individuals who perpetrated IPCA at T1 drank alcohol during at least one incident, and these individuals reported more problem drinking and more frequent IPCA perpetration compared to those who reported IPCA without alcohol. Conclusion: Results from this study provide insight into both risk and protective factors for IPCA perpetration among adults and have the potential to guide concurrent prevention strategies that target intersections between problem drinking, IPCA, and offline IPV, and promote healthy and satisfying intimate relationships.

Coping While Black: Comparing Coping Strategies Across COVID-19 and the Killing of Black People.

In the same year the world was thrown into turmoil with COVID-19, the USA also experienced a surge in attention given to the plight of Black people in the policing system, following the killing of George Floyd. Both the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing "pandemic" of police and White violence against Black people in the USA cause significant amounts of stress, disproportionately affecting Black people. Utilizing qualitative analysis of responses from 128 Black-identifying participants to an online survey, this investigation seeks to understand how the coping strategies of Black people in the USA compare between the racism-related stressor of police killings of Black people and the generalized stressor of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings demonstrate that while Black people use overlapping strategies to deal with stress, clear patterns exist with regard to differences across racism-related and non-racism-related stressors. We report important implications for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on Black people, cultural understandings of research on coping, and Black mental health more broadly.

Negative Sexual Experiences Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men Using GPS-Enabled Hook-Up Apps and Websites.

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) often use GPS-enabled dating apps and websites to facilitate in-person sexual encounters. Many of these encounters are positive and enjoyable. However, there is limited research on GBMSM's negative experiences with partners from hookup and dating apps/websites, especially those characterized by threats to GBMSM's sexual, physical, and/or psychological safety. In this report, we investigated this matter. We analyzed data from interviews with GBMSM (N = 60) and identified four categories of negative sexual experiences, each of which were comprised by sub-categories: 1) sexual violence (physical sexual assault, verbal sexual coercion, intoxicated assault/coercion), 2) sexual health risk behaviors (condom use resistance and coercion, deception related to HIV/STI status), 3) non-negotiated behaviors (undiscussed/unexpected sex acts, rough sex, sexualized racism, undesired substance use by the partner), and 4) threats to physical safety beyond sexual violence (being blocked from leaving, stalked, robbed, drugged). These results can inform future research and interventions that aim to promote safety on dating apps/websites within the GBMSM community.

The Associations of Racial Discrimination and Neighborhood Disadvantage With World Assumptions Among Black, Latine, and Asian Young Adults.

The theory of shattered assumptions proposes that experiencing traumatic events can change how people view themselves and the world. Most adults experience a traumatic event during their lifetime, and some subsequently develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the current conceptualization of trauma (i.e., Criterion A PTSD) may be too narrow to adequately capture the range of potentially traumatizing events that People of Color experience, including racial discrimination and neighborhood disadvantage. This study investigated the association of racial discrimination and neighborhood disadvantage with core beliefs about the world being safe and predictable (i.e., world assumptions) among a sample of Black, Latine, and Asian young adults. Multi-step analyses of covariance tested associations between racial discrimination and neighborhood disadvantage with world assumptions and whether these held in the context of other traumatic exposures. Results indicated that racial discrimination negatively impacted world assumptions among Asian young adults only and this effect remained in the context of trauma. In addition, low neighborhood support negatively impacted world assumptions across all racial groups and neighborhood violence negatively impacted world assumptions among Latine young adults only; however, this effect did not remain in the context of trauma. This study indicates it is worthwhile to consider other adverse events in the conceptualization of trauma, such as racial discrimination and neighborhood disadvantage, that may impact world assumptions and contribute to subsequent post-trauma psychopathology.

An Examination of Discrimination on Stress, Depression, and Oppression-Based Trauma During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Racial Awakening of 2020.

Background: Discrimination is a pervasive societal issue that monumentally impacts people of color (POC). Many Black, Asian, and Hispanic/Latinx individuals report experiencing race-based discrimination in their lifetime. Discrimination has previously been linked to adverse health outcomes among POC, including stress, depressive, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. These health disparities are posited to have become exacerbated by COVID-19 and the racial awakening of 2020. The current study examined the short- and long-term effects of discrimination on stress, depression, and oppression-based trauma among POC. Methods: Participants were (n = 398) who identified as Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian completed an online self-report survey assessing discrimination, depression, stress, and oppression-based trauma collected at 3 time points: (T1) beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020), (T2) 6 weeks later during the racial awakening of 2020 (June 2020), (T3) one year later (June 2021). Results: Significant positive paths were revealed from T1 discrimination to T2 depression, T2 stress, and T3 oppression-based trauma. The association between T1 discrimination and T3 oppression-based trauma was partially mediated by T2 depression, but not by stress; total and total indirect effects remained significant. The final model accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in T3 oppression-based trauma, T2 depression, and T2 stress. Conclusion: Findings are consistent with prior research linking discriminatory experiences with mental health symptomatology and provide evidence that race-based discrimination poses harmful short-and long-term mental health consequences. Further research is necessary to better understand oppression-based trauma to improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis and treatment of POC.

Hey ChatGPT, Let's Talk About Sexual Consent.

Access to sexual health education, such as education on sexual consent, is limited in the US. Artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, provides a potential opportunity to increase access to sexual consent information and education. However, what ChatGPT knows about sexual consent and if this aligns with the current evidence-based literature on sexual consent is unclear. The goal of this research commentary was to explore what ChatGPT knows about sexual consent with a focus on: 1) the definition of consent, 2) how consent could be communicated, and 3) the impact that substances have on consent. We also examined the reliability of ChatGPT's responses by having three different researchers ask ChatGPT the same set of questions. Across our questions, ChatGPT provided similar and comprehensive responses that discussed key features of consent - that consent is freely given or reversible. ChatGPT provided examples of different verbal and nonverbal cues people can use to communicate and interpret consent and discussed the ways that substances can impact consent communication. Overall, ChatGPT could be a potential resource for educators and young people who seek information about sexual consent; however, we should proceed with caution. ChatGPT is not a replacement for an educator but rather a way to increase access to education.

Criminal Protection Orders: Implications of Requested Versus Issued Orders on Domestic Violence Revictimiztion and Mental Health Among Women.

Criminal protection orders (POs), with varying degrees of restrictions on offenders' behavior, are issued by the criminal justice (CJ) system to enhance the safety and well-being of victims of domestic violence (DV). Yet, little research exists to elucidate outcomes associated with their issuance, and no research has examined outcomes of POs that are issued with greater restrictions than what victims requested. Among 187 women who were victims in a criminal DV case with a male intimate partner and who voiced their preference about a PO in the court system, this study examined if women's DV revictimization by their partner and mental health (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptom severity, perceived stress, and fear) are differentially impacted by whether criminal POs issued by the court were more restrictive than what was requested by victims. Results showed that regardless of whether the level of criminal PO issued was more restrictive or not, victims reported significant decreases in victimization and improvement in mental health over time. However, there was greater benefit regarding victimization and mental health outcomes in the degree of change over time for victims with POs that were not more restrictive than those whose POs were more restrictive. Findings are discussed in the context of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and survivor-defined practice, which underscore the importance of victims' input and requests in criminal PO proceedings.

An Investigation of Associations Between Race, Ethnicity, and Past Experiences of Discrimination with Medical Mistrust and COVID-19 Protective Strategies.

This study investigates the associations between three forms of discrimination, race and ethnicity, general medical mistrust, health-specific COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviors. Participants (n = 963) completed an online survey during May 2020, when stay-at-home orders and other government mandates were implemented in many states. Results indicate that everyday discrimination and healthcare discrimination were associated with significantly higher general medical mistrust, and healthcare discrimination and structural discrimination were associated with higher endorsement of health-specific COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. Higher endorsement of health-specific COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, but not general medical mistrust, was associated with significantly lower engagement in health-specific COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. This study helps to contextualize racial health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread impact of everyday, structural, and healthcare discrimination in society.