Conveying campus sexual misconduct policy information to college and university students: Results from a 7-campus study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of different methods (ie, in-class policy reading; in-class policy reading and discussion; no reading or discussion) to deliver campus sexual misconduct policy information to students on 7 campuses. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1,195 participants at 7 colleges and universities participated in the study from August to October 2014. Participants were randomly assigned at the class level and completed pretest and posttest surveys assessing knowledge of campus policy and resources and confidence to seek help for sexual assault. RESULTS: Students exposed to a larger dosage of material (in-class policy reading plus discussion) showed greater positive changes in attitudes and knowledge than students who did not receive information or were only read the policy. However, on some indices, students who were only read the policy showed positive outcomes compared with students receiving no intervention. CONCLUSION: Colleges and universities must use engaging methods to disseminate campus sexual misconduct policies to students.

Understanding links among childhood trauma, dissociation, and women's mental health.

Interrelationships among pathological dissociation, child and adult trauma exposure, and adult mental health symptoms were examined in a sample of low-income, mostly African-American women. Dissociation was significantly related to both trauma exposure and mental health symptoms but did not mediate this relationship. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The long-term mental health consequences of child sexual abuse: an exploratory study of the impact of multiple traumas in a sample of women.

The current study examined exposure to multiple traumas as mediators of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and negative adult mental health outcomes. Participants were 174 women interviewed in the third wave of a longitudinal study of the consequences of child sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse victims reported a lifetime history of more exposure to various traumas and higher levels of mental health symptoms. Exposure to traumas in both childhood and adulthood other than child sexual abuse mediated the relationship between child sexual abuse and psychological distress in adulthood. There were also some significant direct effects for child sexual abuse on some outcome measures. Results point to the importance of understanding the interconnected nature of trauma exposure for some survivors.

Childhood sexual abuse and dating experiences of undergraduate women.

Child sexual abuse is a prevalent social problem with a variety of negative consequences for adult survivors. Whereas most studies have focused on intrapersonal effects including depressive symptomatology and post-traumatic stress disorder, recent work has begun to call attention to interpersonal results as well. The current study examined the relationship between the experience of childhood sexual abuse and being a victim of psychological aggression, physical violence, or sexual coercion in a dating relationship in the past year. Participants were 219 female college undergraduates. Child sexual abuse was significantly related to having experienced both physical and psychological dating aggression even after controlling for the presence of conflict in the family of origin. Child sexual abuse was not significantly related to sexual coercion or reports of silencing oneself in relationships.

Childhood maltreatment and the mental health of low-income women.

Low-income mothers were examined to determine whether childhood physical and sexual abuse would explain variance in adult mental health after controlling for other childhood and adult risk factors. Depressive symptoms and self-esteem were found to vary significantly with childhood maltreatment. Analyses of women abused in childhood revealed that social support and a less external locus of control were protective in function. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Surviving poverty: stress and coping in the lives of housed and homeless mothers.

Stress, coping, and depressed mood were examined in a sample of 64 homeless mothers and a comparison group of 59 housed low-income mothers. Homeless mothers reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression, as well as greater use of avoidant and active-cognitive coping strategies, than did the housed mothers. Within-group analyses revealed an association between greater use of avoidant strategies and higher levels of reported depression for both groups. Implications for research and program development are discussed.

The impact of childhood sexual abuse and family functioning on four dimensions of women's later parenting.

OBJECTIVE: While child sexual abuse and its negative effects have been of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners, more empirical focus has been given to measuring mental health consequences rather than other areas of life functioning such as parenting. Furthermore, recent questions have been raised about whether documented negative effects of abuse stem from the abuse itself or the more general negative family environment which often accompanies it. The aim of the current study was to examine the impact of a history of child sexual abuse and more general family relationship quality on the parenting of a sample of low-income mothers. METHOD: The current study was a secondary analysis of archived data collected by Zuravin (1996) on 518 low-income mothers. Parenting was assessed using measures such as frequency of worry about child problems, views of self as a parent, and how child discipline problems were handled. RESULTS: Child sexual abuse was associated with more negative views of self as a parent and the greater use of physical punishment strategies even after accounting for differences in family-of-origin relationship quality. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that sexual abuse may be a risk factor for more negative views of self as a parent beyond differences between abused and nonabused samples in more general assessments of family-of-origin quality. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

"Taking another route": daily survival narratives from mothers who are homeless.

Homelessness among families has become a growing social problem for communities, yet little is known about the types of daily survival strategies such families employ. This paper presents results of a qualitative study of the coping narratives of 64 mothers living in temporary emergency shelters with their children. The women reported using a variety of coping responses to daily stressful events. These included the use of direct actions and more palliative strategies. Results suggest that stress and coping theory may be useful for understanding homelessness. Implications for program development and future research are discussed.

Building an empowerment policy paradigm: self-reported strengths of homeless mothers.

Self-reported strengths and goals of a sample of 64 mothers of young children residing in a temporary shelter for homeless families, were documented. The strengths most frequently reported included ability to take action, parental competence, and determination in the face of stress. Program and policy implications of these positive attributes of homeless mothers are discussed.