Intimate Partner Abuse and Attachment: A Comparison Between Abused and Nonabused Women.

The purpose of this study was to examine intimate partner abuse (IPA), parental attachment, and romantic attachment among college women. More specifically, IPA was examined such that women who had experienced abuse and those who had not were compared with respect to parental and romantic attachment using the lens of attachment theory. Undergraduate women (N = 502) completed an online survey assessing their experiences of IPA as well as their parental and romantic attachment styles. Bivariate correlations demonstrated that IPA was significantly associated with all study variables (i.e., love withdrawal, care, and overprotection from both mother and father; romantic anxiety) in the hypothesized directions with the exception of romantic avoidance not being associated with abuse. Regarding the comparison of women who had experienced abuse (n = 367) to women who had not experienced abuse (n = 135), one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed significant group mean differences in the hypothesized directions between abused and nonabused women with respect to love withdrawal and overprotection from both mothers and fathers, and romantic anxiety. In addition, psychological IPA and physical IPA were examined separately, yielding additional group differences regarding care from father and care from both mother and father, respectively. This work begins to examine attachment and IPA in new ways because it examines both parental attachment and romantic attachment in relation to IPA.

A psychometric examination of the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale among college men.

Whereas sexual objectification has most commonly been studied among women, recent calls by counseling psychologists have urged for an extension of objectification research to more fully include men (e.g., Heimerdinger-Edwards, Vogel, & Hammer, 2011). The present study examined the factor structure of the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (ISOS; Kozee, Tylka, Augustus-Horvath, & Denchik, 2007) with men. Specifically, analyses included exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a sample of 287 college men and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent sample of 221 college men. A correlated 3-factor structure was suggested by multiple criteria in EFA and was further confirmed by CFA with a bifactor model illustrating the most item variance associated with a general interpersonal sexual objectification dimension for men.

Objectification among college women in the context of intimate partner violence.

This study examined intimate partner violence (IPV) and objectification. Specifically, the associations between psychological and physical abuse and self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame for college women were considered through the lens of objectification theory. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, bivariate correlations showed that more psychological abuse was associated with more self-objectification, more body surveillance, and more body shame. As well, more physical abuse was associated with more body surveillance and more body shame. However, when the unique effects of psychological and physical abuse were considered in a path model, the links between psychological abuse and objectification remained while the links between physical abuse and objectification became nonsignificant. In addition, consistent with Hypothesis 2 and the model proposed by objectification theory, body surveillance and the combined effect of self-objectification and body surveillance explained relations between psychological abuse and body shame. This work fills an important gap in the current literature because it is the only study to date that examines relations between both psychological and physical abuse and self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Associations between women's experiences of sexual violence and forgiveness.

The purpose of this study was to examine forgiveness and sexual violence among college women. Undergraduate women (N = 503) completed an online survey assessing experiences of sexual violence and forgiveness. Simultaneous multivariate regressions revealed that experiencing more sexual violence was associated with more revenge and avoidance, and less benevolence. Furthermore, findings indicated that more experiences of sexual violence were negatively associated with forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and forgiveness of uncontrollable situations. This work begins to fill critical gaps in the extant literature because it is the only study to date that examines sexual violence and the positive psychological construct of forgiveness. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Advancing career counseling and employment support for survivors: an intervention evaluation.

The purpose of this research was to conduct a replication-based and extension study examining the effectiveness of a 5-week career group counseling intervention, Advancing Career Counseling and Employment Support for Survivors (ACCESS; Chronister, 2008). The present study was conducted in a markedly different geographic region within a larger community as compared with the original investigation conducted by Chronister and McWhirter (2006). Women survivors of intimate partner violence (N = 73) participated in ACCESS, with career-search self-efficacy, perceived career barriers, perceived career supports, anxiety, and depression assessed at preintervention, postintervention, and 8-week follow-up. Women survivors demonstrated significant improvements in career-search self-efficacy and perceived career barriers at postintervention. Moreover, these same improvements were maintained at the 8-week follow-up assessment with the addition of significant improvements in perceived future financial supports, anxiety, and depression compared with preintervention scores. This work replicates the initial findings regarding the effectiveness of ACCESS with respect to career-search self-efficacy (Chronister & McWhirter, 2006) as well as extends the initial research to include improvements in perceived career barriers and perceived career supports. Moreover, the present study extends the work to include the mental health outcomes of anxiety and depression; results demonstrated improvements in these areas at 8-week follow-up. This investigation begins to fill a critical need for evaluated career-focused interventions for the underserved population of women survivors of intimate partner violence.

Strategies to recruit and retain college smokers in cessation trials.

Techniques to recruit and retain college fraternity and sorority members who reported past 30-day smoking into a cessation trial are described. Recruitment efforts included relationship-building, raffles, and screening survey administration during existing meetings. Surveys were administered to 76% (n = 3,276) of members in 30 chapters, 79% of eligible members agreed to participate, and 76% of those completed assessments and were enrolled in the trial (n = 452). The retention rate was 73%. Retention efforts included cash incentives, flexible scheduling, multiple reminders, chapter incentives, and use of chapter members as study personnel. Retention was not related to demographic, behavioral, or group characteristics. The strategies of partnership, convenience, and flexibility appear effective and may prove useful to investigators recruiting similar samples.

Food, mood, and attitude: reducing risk for eating disorders in college women.

Food, Mood, and Attitude (FMA) is a CD-ROM prevention program developed to decrease risk for eating disorders in college women. Female 1st-year students (N = 240) were randomly assigned to the intervention (FMA) or control group. Equal numbers of students at risk and of low risk for developing an eating disorder were assigned to each condition. Participants in the FMA condition improved on all measures relative to controls. Significant 3-way interactions (Time x Condition x Risk Status) were found on measures of internalization of sociocultural attitudes about thinness, shape concerns, and weight concerns, indicating that at-risk participants in the intervention group improved to a greater extent than did low-risk participants. At follow-up, significantly fewer women in the FMA group reported overeating and excessive exercise relative to controls.

Violence against women through the lens of objectification theory.

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of violence on body image variables for college women. Undergraduate women participated in an online study assessing sexual violence (SV), intimate partner violence (IPV), self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame experiences. Findings suggest that both SV and IPV contribute to women's body shame. In addition, the associations between IPV and body shame appear to be explained through self-objectification processes, but not the associations between SV and body shame. Thus, important differences between IPV and SV regarding self-objectification processes emerged. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.

Relations Between Intimate Partner Violence and Forgiveness Among College Women.

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine forgiveness and intimate partner violence (IPV) among college women. Undergraduate women (N = 502) participated in an online study in which overall experiences of IPV, as well as experiences of psychological and physical IPV, were investigated with respect to transgression-specific and dispositional forgiveness. Simultaneous multivariate regressions revealed that (a) the experience of IPV was associated with higher levels of avoidance and revenge, and lower levels of benevolence, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and forgiveness of uncontrollable situations; (b) types of IPV demonstrated differing impacts on forgiveness; and (c) the mere experience of IPV is more salient than its frequency.

The relationship between victimization and substance use among homeless and runaway female adolescents.

Each year, thousands of female adolescents run away from home due to sexual abuse, yet they continue to be victims of sexual assault once on the street. To date, few studies have examined how various forms of victimization are related to different types of substance use. The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between street exposure, childhood abuse, and different forms of street victimization with alcohol and marijuana use among 137 homeless and runaway female adolescents. Results from path analysis revealed that child sexual abuse was positively linked to trading sex and sexual and physical victimization. In addition, those who have traded sex experienced greater physical victimization, and who have spent more time away from home, used alcohol more frequently. Moreover, trading sex and experiencing more types of sexual victimization were positively linked to more frequent marijuana usage. Age, age at first run, longest time away from home, sexual abuse, and trading sex had significant indirect effects on alcohol and/or marijuana use. Together, these factors accounted for 27% of the variance in alcohol use and 37% of the variance in marijuana use.

Attitudes toward violence scale: psychometric properties with a high school sample.

Youth violence represents a serious problem affecting individuals, communities, and the larger society. Greater efforts aimed at the eradication of youth violence are necessary, and work in this field could be enhanced by psychometrically strong measures. The present study examined the factor structure of the Attitudes Toward Violence Scale (ATV) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a sample of 359 high school students. A three-factor structure was identified. The three factors were invariant across sex, however, males obtained significantly higher scores on the three ATV factors and on the ATV total score showing generally moderate effect sizes. Directions for future research with the ATV are discussed.

Nutrient intakes and dietary behaviors of male and female collegiate athletes.

The purpose of this study was to assess the dietary intakes and behaviors of male and female collegiate athletes. Athletes (n =345) at a NCAA Division I university completed an anonymous questionnaire. T-tests, chi(2) statistic, and ANOVA were used to assess gender and sport differences. Multiple linear regression was used to assess gender differences in nutrient intakes, controlling for energy intake and to examine the relationships between desired weight change, dietary behaviors, and nutrient intakes. Only 15 % and 26 % of athletes had adequate intakes of carbohydrate and protein, respectively, based on recommendations for athletes. Males were more likely to exceed the Dietary Guidelines for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium than females. Sixty-two percent of female athletes wanted to lose at least 5 lbs compared to 23 % of males. The desire to lose weight was associated with decreased energy and macronutrient consumption, but not with inadequate micronutrient intakes.