The Effects of Social Location and Situational Factors on Young Women's Disclosure of Intimate Partner Violence Across Relationships.

The goal of the study was to examine disclosure of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization across abusive relationships within a sociodemographically diverse sample of young women. We recruited 283 participants, ages 18 to 24, from a university, a 2-year college, and community sites serving low-income young women, and assessed physical and sexual IPV victimization, and related disclosure, across each of their abusive relationships (415 total). We used multilevel modeling to examine the effects of social location and situational factors on the odds of any disclosure of abuse during first relationships and across relationships. The rate of physical IPV disclosure was 50%, vs. 29% for sexual IPV. Multilevel model results indicated setting, IPV type, high frequency sexual IPV, and fear were significantly related to any disclosure.

Can This Provider Be Trusted? A Review of the Role of Trustworthiness in the Provision of Community-Based Services for Intimate Partner Violence Survivors.

While there is a growing literature on intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors and service providers, it is limited by its largely atheoretical and descriptive nature, and its emphasis on individual-level survivors' help-seeking. We seek to broaden our understanding by shifting the focus onto organizations and service systems and introducing the concept of these providers' trustworthiness toward survivors. Provider trustworthiness in delivering services includes benevolence (locally available and caring), fairness (accessible to all and non-discriminatory), and competence (acceptable and effective in meeting survivors' needs). Guided by this conceptualization, we conducted an integrative review drawing on four databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Westlaw. We identified studies for inclusion that were published between January 2005 and March 2022, and we examined the trustworthiness of community-based providers serving adult IPV survivors in the United States, including domestic violence services, health and mental health care, the legal system, and economic support services (N = 114). Major findings include (1) many survivors live in communities with no shelter beds, mental health care, or affordable housing; (2) many services are inaccessible because they lack, for example, bilingual staff, sliding fees, or telehealth options; (3) too many providers are harmful or discriminatory toward survivors, especially those who are, for example, sexual or gender minorities, immigrants or non-English-speaking, poor, or Native, Black, or Latinx; (4) many providers appear to be incompetent, lack evidence-based training, and are ineffective in meeting survivors' needs. We call on researchers, advocates, and providers to examine provider trustworthiness, and we offer an introduction to measuring it.

Predictors of Sexual Violence Across Young Women's Relationship Histories.

The goal of the current study was to identify risk factors that predict sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization across young women's relationship histories, within a socioeconomically diverse sample recruited from a university, a 2-year college, and community organizations serving low-income young women. We interviewed 148 young women aged 18 to 24 years about partner victimization (physical IPV, coercive control, and sexual IPV) within each of their relationships (up to four relationships, beginning with their first; 388 in total). We used the life history calendar to structure the interviews and obtain detailed information about each relationship, including age difference between participants and their partners, and relationship length. We used multilevel modeling to examine primary caregiver highest grade completed (an indicator of socioeconomic status [SES]), participant age, age difference, relationship length, setting, and physical IPV/coercive control as predictors of sexual IPV during their first relationship and across Relationships 1 to 4. Sexual IPV during participants' first relationship was inversely associated with SES and age, and positively associated with physical IPV/coercive control; 2-year college and community participants reported lower rates of sexual IPV during the first relationship, compared with university participants. The trajectory of sexual IPV across Relationships 1 to 4 declined among university participants and increased among 2-year college participants; age difference and physical IPV/coercive control positively covaried with sexual IPV across Relationships 1 to 4. Low SES, young age, large age difference, and the presence of physical IPV and coercive control may be risk factors for sexual IPV victimization within adolescent relationships. Sexual violence prevention and intervention approaches should incorporate these risk factors, and be designed to reach an increasingly socioeconomically diverse population across a variety of settings, to be effective.

The intersection of housing and mental well-being: Examining the needs of formerly homeless young adults transitioning to stable housing.

We examine the challenges formerly homeless young adults (FHYAs) face after they transition out of homelessness. Considering the adversities FHYAs face, it is unclear how transitioning to stable housing may affect their mental well-being or what types of stressors they may experience once housed. This study investigates the social environment young adults encounter in their transition to stable housing and examines trauma and social coping predictors of mental health symptoms in a sample of FHYAs to generate new knowledge for better intervening to meet their needs. Data were obtained from REALYST, a national research collaborative comprised of interdisciplinary researchers investigating young adults' (ages 18-26) experiences with homelessness. Cross-sectional data for 1426 young adults experiencing homelessness were collected from 2016 to 2017 across seven cities in the United States (i.e., Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, San Jose, St. Louis, and New York City). The analytical sub-sample for this study consisted of 173 FHYAs who were housed in their own apartment (via voucher from Housing and Urban Development or another source) or in transitional living programs during their participation in the study. Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to examine the influence of trauma and social coping strategies on indicators of mental well-being. Findings indicated that higher adversity scores and higher mental health help-seeking intentions were positively associated with higher levels of stress, psychological distress, and depression severity. Higher level of social coping was associated with lower levels of depression severity. Logistic regression results showed that young adults with higher adversity scores had higher odds of reporting clinical levels of post-traumatic symptoms. The study implications suggest that FHYAs who transition to stable housing continue to need support navigating and coping with stressful life events; and interventions that help FHYAs develop strong networks of social supports are needed to promote positive mental well-being.

"I Still Feel Like I Am Not Normal": A Review of the Role of Stigma and Stigmatization Among Female Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, and Intimate Partner Violence.

Child sexual abuse (CSA), sexual assault (SA), and intimate partner violence (IPV) occur within social contexts that shape how survivors judge themselves and are evaluated by others. Because these are gendered sexual and intimate crimes that violate social norms about what is appropriate and acceptable, survivors may experience stigma that includes victim-blaming messages from the broader society as well as specific stigmatizing reactions from others in response to disclosure; this stigmatization can be internalized among survivors as self-blame, shame, and anticipatory stigma. Stigma and stigmatization play an important role in shaping survivors' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as they recover; their risk of revictimization; and their help-seeking and attainment process. In this review, we synthesize recent CSA, SA, and IPV research ( N = 123) that examines female survivors' self-blame, shame, internalized stigma, and anticipatory stigma as well as negative social reactions in response to survivors' disclosure. We highlight critical findings as well as implications for research, practice, and policy, and we note gaps in our current knowledge.