Factors Associated with Engaging in Bystander Intervention Behavior Among College Students.

Sexual violence (SV) is a well-documented and highly prevalent issue on college campuses that disproportionately impacts women, students of color, and students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ). In recent years, bystander intervention programming has emerged as a promising prevention strategy for colleges due to its success in preventing SV before it occurs using community involvement; however, little consideration has been given to the power, status, or position that a bystander has when deciding whether to intervene and weighing the potential consequences of their actions. In order to inform university campus bystander intervention programming and increase its effectiveness, more work is needed to understand specific student characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, history of SV) that may be associated with engaging in bystander behavior in SV risk situations. Using cross-sectional data from a large west-coast university, 592 students were surveyed about their SV-related experiences. Poisson regression models were utilized to determine the relative risk of engaging in bystander behavior by sociodemographic identities and history of SV victimization. Our fully adjusted model indicated that experiencing attempted and completed sexual assault was associated with engaging in bystander behavior; belonging to specific minority groups was differentially associated with engaging in bystander behavior, as was belonging to a minority group and having a history of SV. Personal histories, identities, and power inequity matter when deciding to engage in bystander behavior. Additional research is needed to create more well-rounded and population-specific bystander intervention programs that are inclusive of diverse student voices and experiences.

Mental Health Service Needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth: Voices of Survivors and Stakeholders.

Youth who experience commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) have complex mental health needs. This study describes what CSE survivors and stakeholders who work with them desire in mental health services. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 CSE survivors 16-20 years old, and 15 community experts on CSE (n = 25). Thematic analyses indicated CSE survivors value mental health services including individual therapy and coping skills, and they wanted providers who are nonjudgmental, and exhibit some level of understanding of CSE. Community stakeholders described skills important for CSE survivors to gain from mental health services including recognition of patterns of victimization, self-worth, and emotion regulation. Both stakeholders and CSE youth desired services that give survivors some control over their treatment and recovery utilizing a trauma-informed approach.

Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Romantic Relationship Distress Among White and Mexican Newlyweds.

This study examined the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and romantic relationship distress in a sample of 100 heterosexual White and Mexican American couples. Data were collected during the first and during the third year of marriage. In the overall sample, wives' own IPV victimization was associated with wives' increased distress and husbands' IPV victimization was associated with wives' decreased distress. Among Mexican Americans, wives' IPV victimization was related to husbands' increased distress, whereas among White Americans, wives' IPV victimization was related to husbands' decreased distress. These results indicate that the association between IPV victimization and relationship distress may not only differ by gender but also by ethnicity.

Empathy and Romantic Relationship Quality among Cohabitating Couples: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model.

This study employed a dyadic data analysis approach to examine the association between partners' empathy and relationship quality among cohabitating couples. Data were collected from 374 cohabitating but non-married couples, who were participants in the Wave 3 Romantic Pairs Subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Men's higher empathy was related to their own perceptions of better relationship quality and women's higher empathy was related to their own as well as their partner's perceptions of better relationship quality. These findings show that individuals' abilities to be understanding, compassionate, and sympathetic may be related to the overall feeling of satisfaction and love in romantic relationships. The only effect that did not reach statistical significance was the partner effect from men's empathy to women's relationship quality. Although previous research with married couples has shown that men's empathy may play a more important role in shaping couples' perceptions of relationship quality, according to the current findings, these findings may not extend to cohabitating couples. The current results provide beneficial guidance to clinicians working with distressed, non-married couples.

The Big Five Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a Large, Nationally Representative Sample.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Thus, it is vital to identify factors, such as individuals' personality traits, that may place men and women at risk for experiencing IPV. This study used data from Wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,187), to examine the association between the Big Five personality traits and IPV perpetration and victimization among men and women. High openness, extraversion, and neuroticism emerged as the three most important risk factors associated with IPV. Although risk factors were found to be relatively similar for IPV perpetration and IPV victimization, some gender differences emerged, showing that extraversion was only connected to IPV for women but not for men. The present findings may bear important considerations for researchers and practitioners working with individuals and couples affected by IPV.

The Role of Empathy in Violent Intimate Relationships.

The present study employed a dyadic data analysis approach to examine the association between partners' dispositional empathy and IPV. Data were collected from 1,156 couples, who were participants in Wave 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). For both IPV perpetration and IPV victimization, significant actor effects for men and significant partner effects for men to women emerged: Men who were less empathic were more likely to perpetrate IPV and to be victimized. Similarly, women whose male partners were less empathic were more likely to perpetrate IPV and to be victimized. Findings partially generalized to analyzes assessing the associations between empathy and the different types of IPV (psychological, physical, sexual IPV, and occurrence of injury from IPV) separately. The present findings show that men's levels of empathy may carry more weight in determining their own as well as their partners' aggressive behaviors than do women's levels of empathy.

Predicting Mental Health Based on Partners' Marital Distress: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Since marital distress is a multidimensional phenomenon, research efforts directed at identifying meaningful groups of individuals with common characteristics based on their dissatisfaction in various relationship domains are important. In addition, it is important to examine this association not only among White majority-group couples but also among other ethnic groups, such as Mexican American couples, who may differ in terms of cultural values and customs. A latent class analysis (LPA) of Caucasian and Mexican American newlyweds' (N = 278) self-reported marital distress identified four such groups. These groups showed a continuum of dissatisfaction as well as varying degrees of differences in partners' views of traditional versus non-traditional gender roles. The classes resulting from the LPA were related to individuals' mental health. Those individuals who found themselves in groups with higher distress also experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than those individuals who found themselves in groups with lower distress. Although more research is clearly needed among larger and more diverse samples, the present findings may be useful to the field of marriage and family therapy in that they may guide prevention and intervention efforts in the field of marital distress and mental health.

The Association Between Affective and Problem-Solving Communication and Intimate Partner Violence among Caucasian and Mexican American Couples: A Dyadic Approach.

The present study examined individuals' subjective evaluation of their effectiveness with regard to affective communication and problem-solving communication, and their relation to intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Data from 100 Caucasian American and Mexican American couples were collected during the first and during the third year of marriage. For affective communication, a significant partner effect emerged, indicating that husbands' higher dissatisfaction with affective communication was related to wives' higher IPV victimization. For problem-solving communication, a significant actor effect emerged, indicating that husbands' higher dissatisfaction with problem-solving communication was related to husbands' higher IPV victimization. While these findings largely generalized to Caucasian Americans, they did not generalize to Mexican Americans.

The Effect of Gender and Perpetrator-Victim Role on Mental Health Outcomes and Risk Behaviors Associated With Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Previous studies have consistently shown that IPV is tied by to a variety of detrimental consequences for affected individuals, including negative mental health outcomes. However, the differential impact of gender and perpetrator-victim role (i.e., whether an individual is the perpetrator or victim of violence or both) remains largely understudied in the academic literature. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to describe a variety of mental health outcomes and risk behaviors among men and women experiencing no violence, perpetration-only, victimization-only, and bidirectional violence. Data from Waves 3 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,187) were used. Participants provided information on their perpetrator-victim role and on a variety of factors related to mental health (depression, suicidality, alcohol use, illegal drug use, and relationship satisfaction). For all outcomes, prevalence and severity generally tended to be highest among individuals affected by bidirectional IPV and lowest among individuals not affected by any violence (independent of gender). The present findings highlight that IPV and negative mental health outcomes and risk behaviors should be addressed as co-occurring problems in research, prevention, and treatment. In addition, all gender-role combinations should be addressed to better understand and address all potential effects of IPV. According to the present findings, couples affected by bidirectional violence are at particularly high risk of developing mental health disorders. Thus, policy makers and clinicians should predominantly target couples as well as individuals who are not only the victims but also the perpetrators of IPV and pay particular attention to potential signs of mental health distress these individuals might exhibit.

Associations between mental health, substance use, and sexual abuse experiences among Latinas.

This study examined self-reported sexually abusive experiences in childhood and adulthood as correlates of current drug use, alcohol abuse, and depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Participants were 204 Latina women 18-34 years old. Results indicated significant relationships between history of sexual abuse (regardless of age of occurrence), depression symptoms, PTSD symptoms, alcohol abuse, and drug use. When examined separately, childhood sexual abuse was associated with symptoms of depression, PTSD, and substance use but not alcohol abuse behaviors. Experiencing sexual abuse in adulthood was associated with symptoms of depression, alcohol abuse behaviors, and substance use but not PTSD symptoms. Structural equation modeling showed that substance use partially mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and mental health outcomes. These findings suggest mental health and substance use services should incorporate treatment for trauma, which may be the root of comorbid mental health and substance use issues.

Temporal Changes in Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Satisfaction.

This study examined the impact of temporal changes in intimate partner violence (IPV) on individuals' romantic relationship. Analyses based on a sample of 8,279 young adults from Waves III and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) revealed that greater temporal increases in victimization were related to lower satisfaction. The association between increases in perpetration and satisfaction was not significant. Additionally, for women, greater increases in IPV perpetration were related to higher satisfaction. For men, the association between increases in perpetration and satisfaction was not significant. For both men and women, greater increases in victimization were related to lower satisfaction. Thus, temporal changes in IPV might have differing impacts on relationship satisfaction for men versus women.

Age and Gender Differences in Teen Relationship Violence.

Research shows that abuse in adolescence can start early and current literature regarding gender differences in Teen Relationship Violence (TRV) is inconsistent. Age and Gender differences in TRV were examined. Measures assessing TRV and its correlates were completed by 231 teens from 7th, 9th, and 11th grade classes. A 2 (gender) by 3 (grade) multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant effects for grade and gender indicating that 7th graders have lower perpetration and victimization of TRV, less anger control, and fewer positive conflict resolution behaviors than 9th and 11th graders. Furthermore, girls perpetrate more physical and emotional abuse while boys perpetrate more sexual abuse. Results have implications for timing and content of prevention programs addressing dating violence in adolescence.

Gender Differences in the Relations among Patriarchal Beliefs, Parenting and Teen Relationship Violence in Mexican Adolescents.

Teen relationship violence is a global phenomenon associated with adverse outcomes. As in other countries, teen relationship violence is of concern in Mexico. However, few studies have examined the risk and protective factors of teen relationship violence among Mexican adolescents. The current study examined whether patriarchal beliefs and exposure to authoritarian parenting among Mexican adolescents are associated with perpetration and victimization of physical and verbal-emotional teen relationship violence. Two hundred and four students (15 - 18 years old) from Monterrey, Mexico completed questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for age revealed that among girls, authoritarian parenting was associated with physical and verbal-emotional victimization and verbal-emotional violence perpetration. Among boys, higher endorsement of patriarchal beliefs was associated with lower reports of physical perpetration and physical victimization.

Gender-specific mediational links between parenting styles, parental monitoring, impulsiveness, drinking control, and alcohol-related problems.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, it has been suggested that traits may dynamically change as conditions change. One possible mechanism that may influence impulsiveness is parental monitoring. Parental monitoring reflects a knowledge regarding one's offspring's whereabouts and social connections. The aim of this investigation was to examine potential gender-specific parental influences to impulsiveness (general behavioral control), control over one's own drinking (specific behavioral control), and alcohol-related problems among individuals in a period of emerging adulthood. METHOD: Direct and mediational links between parenting styles (permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative), parental monitoring, impulsiveness, drinking control, and alcohol-related problems were investigated. A multiple-group, SEM model with (316 women, 265 men) university students was examined. RESULTS: In general, the overall pattern among male and female respondents was distinct. For daughters, perceptions of a permissive father were indirectly linked to more alcohol-related problems through lower levels of monitoring by fathers and more impulsive symptoms. Perceptions of an authoritative father were also indirectly linked to fewer impulsive symptoms through higher levels of monitoring by fathers among daughters. For men, perceptions of a permissive mother were indirectly linked to more alcohol-related problems through lower levels of monitoring by mothers and more impulsive symptoms. For sons, perceptions of mother authoritativeness were indirectly linked to fewer alcohol-related problems through more monitoring by mothers and fewer impulsive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring by an opposite-gender parent mediated the link between parenting styles (i.e., permissive, authoritative) on impulsiveness.

Injection drug use as a mediator between client-perpetrated abuse and HIV status among female sex workers in two Mexico-US border cities.

We examined relationships between client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, injection drug use, and HIV-serostatus among 924 female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, two large Mexico-US border cities. We hypothesized that FSWs' injection drug use would mediate the relationship between client-perpetrated abuse and HIV-seropositivity. The prevalence of client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the past 6 months was 26, 18, and 10% respectively; prevalence of current injection drug use and HIV was 12 and 6%, respectively. Logistic regression analyses revealed that client-perpetrated sexual abuse was significantly associated with HIV-seropositivity and injection drug use, and that injection drug use was positively associated with HIV-seropositivity. Injection drug use partially mediated the relationship between client-perpetrated sexual abuse and HIV-seropositivity. Results suggest the need to address client-perpetrated violence and injection drug use when assessing HIV risk among FSWs.

Prevalence of sexually abusive experiences in childhood and adolescence among a community sample of Latinas: a descriptive study.

This study examined the prevalence, severity, and circumstances of self-reported sexually coercive and abusive experiences in childhood and adolescence in a community sample of Latina women (N=204) ages 18 to 34 years. Results from structured phone interviews indicated that 35% of the women reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse, 31% of the reported perpetrators were family members, and 52% were boyfriends, friends, or acquaintances. Of those who reported an abusive experience, 44% had not disclosed the abuse to anyone; for those who did disclose, 74% reported feeling supported. Findings highlight the importance of including peer and dating-partner abuse in the assessment of CSA and the necessity for outreach to Latina women who may have never disclosed their experiences of abuse.

Sexual relationship power as a mediator between dating violence and sexually transmitted infections among college women.

This study examined relationship power as a possible mediator of the relationship between dating violence and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The proposed mediation model was based on the theory of gender and power as well as previous research on intimate partner violence and STI risk. Survey results from a sample of 290 single, undergraduate women indicated that 85% experienced at least one form of dating violence victimization in the past year, 5.9% tested positive for an STI, and 5.2% received treatment for an STI. Results revealed that women with lower levels of sexual relationship power had higher rates of dating violence victimization and STIs; also, sexual relationship power partially mediated the relationship between dating violence victimization and STIs. Future dating violence and STI-prevention interventions targeting young women may want to use an empowerment approach to decrease their likelihood of dating violence victimization and STI risk.

Depression as a mediator between family factors and peer-bullying victimization in Latino adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating role of depression in three different relationships: (a) sibling bullying and peer victimization, (b) mothers' power-assertive parenting and peer victimization, and (c) fathers' power-assertive parenting and peer victimization. Results from 242 Latino middle school adolescents from a large southwestern city bordering Mexico revealed that both boys' and girls' peer victimization were related to familial factors and depression. Regression analyses for boys revealed that depression mediated three relationships: (a) sibling bullying and peer victimization, (b) mothers' power-assertive parenting and peer victimization, and (c) fathers' power-assertive parenting and peer victimization. Depression also mediated the relationship between fathers' power-assertive parenting and girls' victimization by peers. The findings support the development of family-based interventions for peer victimization that include curriculum addressing depression.

Implicit orientation toward family and school among bilingual Latino college students.

The authors examined the associations that underlie the orientations of bilingual Latino college students toward family and school. Participants completed, in English or Spanish, 3 implicit association tests assessing their attitude toward family vs. school, identifications with these concepts, and self-esteem. Results revealed a more positive attitude toward, and stronger identification with, family than school. Identification with family was stronger among participants who completed the study in English, suggesting self-definition in terms of distinctions from the context. Last, the more participants valued family over school and identified with family rather than school, the higher was their self-esteem. These findings shed light on the subtle, yet crucial, mechanisms by which cultural knowledge is incorporated in the self-concept of bilingual Latino college students.

Reactions to dating violence among Latino teenagers: an experiment utilizing the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations paradigm.

Dating violence is a serious problem among adolescents and young adults. Understanding teens' reactions to dating violence offers the potential to understand the factors that lead to perpetration of violent behavior and to elucidate prevention strategies. Knowledge concerning youth attitudes about dating violence is limited, and has largely come from self-report questionnaires to date. We utilized the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) paradigm to assessing Latino teens' reactions to dating violence. Forty-one 9th grade students were presented with four simulated dating violence scenarios, and articulated their thoughts in response to them. Teens' reactions to dating violence differed on a variety of dimensions as a function of their gender, the gender of the perpetrator, and familiarity with the perpetrator.