"It Makes you Want to Go Out and Change the World": Shifts in Victim Advocates' Perspectives Following the Intimate Partner Homicide of a Client in the United States.

Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) victim advocates are exposed daily to the traumas of their clients, including the potential exposure to an intimate partner homicide (IPH). While research has examined the effects of daily secondary exposure to IPV on victim advocates, little is known about the specific effect of IPH. This study examined how the IPH of a client affected advocates' perception of and approach to their work. Methods: Nine advocates were recruited from the northeastern U.S. and interviewed about their experience of the IPH of a client. Advocate interviews were analyzed using The Listening Guide Analysis which systematically isolates and listens to the different, and often contradictory, voices that a participant uses. Results: Exposure to IPH changed participants' perception of their role, how they defined client, and how they interacted with future clients. At a macro-level, the IPH of a client motivated advocates to advance changes in agency protocol, multisector responses, and state policy based on what they had learned from the IPH. Opportunities to translate shifts in their worldview into tangible changes to protocol and policy were critical to advocate adjustment after the IPH. Conclusions: In order to support advocates after IPH, organizations should acknowledge the potentially transformative effect of IPH and create opportunities for meaning making to assist in advocate adjustment. It is imperative for advocacy organizations to support their employees to prevent advocate burnout and the loss of experienced staff, and to continue to provide effective services to vulnerable members of their communities after IPH.

Intimate Partner Violence Circumstances for Fatal Violence in the US.

This cross-sectional study investigates intimate partner violence circumstances associated with violent deaths in the US from 2015 to 2019.

Examining Intimate Partner Violence-Related Fatalities: Past Lessons and Future Directions Using U.S. National Data.

Purpose: Among homicides in the United States, intimate partners kill almost 50% of female and 10% of male victims. Intimate partner violence (IPV) also contributes to an estimated 6% of suicides. These trends suggest that opportunities for IPV interventions prior to the fatalities may have been missed. Thus, researchers must investigate the context and circumstances of IPV-related fatalities to inform effective prevention strategy development. There are two primary national fatality databases that can be used to examine such factors: the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS, homicide and suicides); and the Uniform Crime Reporting-Supplementary Homicide Reports (UCR-SHR, homicides). These datasets include data on many IPV-related violent deaths but are limited by variations in data quality. Method: This critical review summarizes opportunities and challenges when examining IPV-related fatalities using these national datasets. To document how the current literature is conceptualizing IPV, a rapid review on IPV-related homicide and suicide articles was performed (2019-2022). Missingness analyses were conducted to describe limitations in key dataset variables. Results: These datasets enable tracking IPV-related fatalities nationally over time. However, issues with the operationalization of variables that record IPV circumstances, particularly in the UCR-SHR, and high levels of missingness represent significant barriers to research. Novel methodologies can optimize the use of these datasets. Conclusion: National-level datasets enable researchers to examine IPV-related fatalities, evaluate policy differences between states, and monitor trends and disparities. This research can inform key recommendations for interventions to prevent IPV-related fatalities. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10896-022-00487-2.

Crime and Violence in Older Adults: Findings From the 2002 to 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Studies on criminal behaviors largely focus on youth and younger adults. While criminal engagement declines with age, the aging population and significant costs associated with older offenders warrant their increased clinical and research attention. The present study utilizes data from the 2002 to 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to estimate the prevalence and explore the sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates of criminal behavior in adults aged 50 years and older. The overall prevalence of older adults engaging in criminal behaviors during this time was approximately 1.20%. There was no significant difference in crime involvement between adults aged 50 to 64 years and 65 years and older. Older individuals who committed crimes were more likely to be male and Black and earning low income. Criminality was also associated with use of illicit substances and depression as well as receipt of mental health treatment.

Intimate Partner Violence-Related Fatalities Among U.S. Youth Aged 0-24 Years, 2014-2018.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about intimate partner violence-related fatalities among young people. This study comprehensively identifies and describes intimate partner violence-related homicides, homicide-suicides, legal intervention deaths, and suicides among young people. METHODS: Data from the 2014-2018 National Violent Death Reporting System were analyzed for all decedents aged 0-24 years in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with known circumstances of death (n=29,702). Intimate partner violence-related deaths were identified using National Violent Death Reporting System variables across all manners of death and supplementary narrative review for suicides. This article reports the proportion of intimate partner violence versus non-intimate partner violence-related deaths by manner of death, descriptive statistics, and rate of intimate partner violence-related death per 100,000 person years. To examine disparities in intimate partner violence-related deaths, generalized estimating equations were used with robust standard errors to account for clustering of deaths within states and fixed effects for years. Statistical analyses were conducted May and August 2021. RESULTS: A total of 1,927 intimate partner violence-related deaths were identified, which represents 6.5% of violent deaths with known circumstances, at a rate of 0.35 per 100,000 person years. Supplementary narrative review identified 44.7% of all intimate partner violence-related deaths. There were significant differences by race/ethnicity and whether a firearm inflicted the fatal injury for male and female decedents by manner of death. CONCLUSIONS: If the National Violent Death Reporting System does not assess whether intimate partner violence was a precipitating factor across all death manners, the true magnitude of intimate partner violence's contribution to violent death will be underestimated. Future research that identifies factors associated with all manners of intimate partner violence-related deaths among young people will help inform intervention and prevention strategies to save young lives.

"It Is Like Medicine": Using Sports to Promote Adult Women's Health in Rural Kenya.

Despite the well-documented health benefits of recreational sports, few opportunities exist in lower- and middle-income countries for adult women to participate in recreational physical activities. An explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was used to explore associations between an innovative soccer program for adult women and self-reported health status. Cross-sectional survey data were collected in 2018-2019 from 702 women in the Nikumbuke Project, a health and literacy program in southeastern rural Kenya, followed by focus group discussions with 225 women who also participated in the Project's soccer program. Quantitative findings suggest that women who participated in soccer had 67% greater odds of reporting good or excellent health than their non-soccer playing peers. Thematic analysis of qualitative data indicated that women credited soccer with less pain, fatigue, and stress, as well as weight loss and reduced dependence on medicine for hypertension, pain, and sleep problems. Women equated health benefits with greater ease and efficiency in completing chores, reduced worries, youthful energy, male-like strength, and pleased husbands. Soccer programs for adult women may be particularly effective interventions in settings where access to health care is limited and where lack of opportunity to engage in physical aerobic activity increases women's risks for poor health outcomes.

The Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide (AzIPH) Study: a Step toward Updating and Expanding Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide.

Despite the importance of intimate partner violence (IPV) and homicide research to women's health and safety, much remains unknown about risk factors for intimate partner homicide (IPH). This article presents the Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide Study, pilot research that is being conducted in one U.S. state to update and expand on risk factors for IPH. In the context of presenting this study, we summarize the literature on data collection techniques, various marginalized and under researched populations, and the importance of gathering data about the victim-offender relationship and situational IPH risk factors. Additional research is needed to update risk factors for IPH to account for changes in technology and to examine differential risk across diverse populations. Local, community based data collection strategies are likely to provide more comprehensive and nuanced insight into IPH; though, to understand risk factors among marginalized populations, it may be necessary to increase sample size through a national strategy. Although not a panacea, we present this ongoing research as a model for other states to emulate and improve upon, in the hopes of developing more comprehensive data examining risk for IPH among victims of IPV.

Trends in Therapeutic Services Participation among U.S. Adolescents Affected by Substance Use, 2002-2017.

Objective: Substance use continues to pose threats to adolescent health and development in the United States (U.S.). Despite evidence of effectiveness, little is known about adolescent participation in self-help groups (e.g., Alcoholic Anonymous, Alateen) and individual/group counseling for coping with own and another family member's substance use. This study provides new information on the prevalence and trends of adolescent participation in self-help groups and counseling for substance use using a nationally-representative sample. Methods: Data was derived from the 2002-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which include cross-sectional samples of U.S. adolescents aged 12-17 (n=243,618). Specifically, year-by-year prevalence of program participation was estimated, and then the trends were tested using logistic regression analyses while controlling for sociodemographic factors. Results: We found that U.S. adolescents' participation in self-help groups and counseling for substance use decreased from 5.6% in 2002 to 3.4% in 2017, a 39 percent decline that was significant while controlling for sociodemographic confounds (AOR = 0.969, 95% CI = 0.963-0.974). The decreases were most notable among low-income (-39%) and Hispanic (-49%) adolescents. Conclusion: Findings suggest that barriers to therapeutic service use and potential unmet needs among U.S. adolescents, especially low-income and Hispanic adolescents affected by own and family member's substance use, need to be alleviated to promote healthy recovery.

Talking (or Not) About Sexual Violence: Newspaper Coverage of the Confirmation Hearings of Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh.

The ways in which sexual violence is portrayed in the media contribute to communities' understanding of violence and can influence survivor outcomes. The parallel cases of the confirmation hearings of Justices Kavanaugh and Thomas provide an opportunity to measure if and how the cultural zeitgeist has shifted around issues of sexual violence. This study sought to answer two questions: (a) When a supreme court nominee is accused of sexual violence, have the ways the mainstream media discussed the violence in newspaper headlines changed between 1991 and 2018? To what extent and how? (b) Have the ways the mainstream media characterizes the nominee and the accuser within and between 1991 and 2018 changed? How? Headlines were collected systematically from eight major U.S. newspapers, resulting in a data set of 373 headlines from 1991 and 249 from 2018. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to examine the characterizations of the accuser, nominee, and violence. Supplemental chi-square analyses were used to compare how violence was categorized in the two years. While less victim-blaming and minimization of sexual violence occurred in the 2018 headlines, newspapers continued to avoid naming the sexual violence. The characterizations of the nominee, accuser, and violence became depersonalized in 2018, focusing on politics rather than the people and issues at hand, likely reflecting a highly politicized American public. Despite the heightened attention to sexual violence that current movements have sparked, our analysis of comparable cases in 1991 and 2018 suggests newspaper headlines continued to avoid naming sexual violence as violence in 2018 as in 1991, and furthermore, contemporary language about sexual violence and its survivors and perpetrators has not changed to reflect an increased response to survivor healing and perpetrator change. Rather, shifts in language suggest survivors and perpetrators may be politicized as tools for parties and politicians to debate larger issues or stake political positions.

Driving under the influence of Alcohol: Findings from the NSDUH, 2002-2017.

PURPOSE: Based on a nationally representative adult sample, the present study examined the prevalence and trends of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol in the United States from 2002 to 2017. METHODS: Using data from the 2002-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the prevalence of DUI of alcohol in 2012-2017 were estimated to test for changes in trend and to identify populations at elevated risks of alcohol-involved driving. RESULTS: Since 2002, the prevalence of DUI of alcohol has gradually decreased from a high of 15.1% in 2002-2004 to 11.8% in 2012-2014 and 8.5% in 2016-2017, indicating percent decreases by 21.6% and 43.7%, respectively. While decreasing trends were observed across all major sociodemographic and criminal justice subgroups (except older adults), men, young adults, Whites, and those with higher household income continued to be associated with greater risks of alcohol-involved driving. Nevertheless, DUI arrests continued to increase among women, narrowing the gender gap. DISCUSSION: Despite the decreased alcohol-involved driving over the past decade, there remains worrisome levels among young adult males. This underscores the need for alcohol policies and public awareness campaigns targeting young adult males. Moreover, further research is needed to elucidate the potential differences in the populations who reported driving under any influence of alcohol and who were involved in fatal crashes.

National Trends in Parental Communication With Their Teenage Children About the Dangers of Substance Use, 2002-2016.

Parental engagement is critical to adolescent substance use prevention. However, our understanding of the degree to which parents are actually talking to their children about tobacco, alcohol, and drugs remains limited. The present study provides new evidence on the prevalence and trends of parental substance use communication (PSC) in the United States between 2002 and 2016. Trend analyses were conducted using 15 years of cross-sectional survey data from non-Hispanic White (n = 153,087), Black/African American (n = 35,216), and Hispanic (n = 45,780) adolescents aged 12-17 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Since the early-to-mid 2000s, the rate of past-year PSC declined significantly, even when accounting for sociodemographic factors. We observed particularly noteworthy declines among adolescents residing in households earning less than $20,000 per year, declining by 19% (in relative terms) from a high of 58% PSC in 2003 and 2008 to a low of 47% in 2016. Teens reporting PSC reported higher levels of perceived parental warmth/engagement and consistent discipline/limit setting. Findings underscore the importance of engaging parents, particularly those less likely to talk to their children about substance use, and providing caregivers instruction and encouragement to talk to teens about the very real dangers of substance use.

Trends in Substance Use Prevention Program Participation Among Adolescents in the U.S.

PURPOSE: The aim of the article was to examine national trends in adolescent participation in substance use prevention programs (SUPP). METHODS: We examine 15 years of cross-sectional data (2002-2016) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Main outcomes were participation in past-year school and community-based SUPP (no/yes). Logistic regression was used to examine trends in the prevalence of participation. RESULTS: Participation in school-based SUPP decreased significantly from 48% among adolescents in 2002-2003 to 40% in 2015-2016, a 16.5% proportional decline. Significant declines for school-based participation were observed in all demographic and drug involvement subgroups examined. Youth participation in community-based SUPP also decreased significantly. However, this downward trend was significant only among younger teens, females, youth in very low (<$20,000) and moderate ($40,000-$74,999) income households and in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in SUPP has decreased since the early 2000s, with noteworthy declines among Latino youth and youth from rural areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Trends in participation in teen pregnancy and STI prevention programming, 2002-2016.

Programs designed to help youth prevent early/unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) have been shown to yield a positive impact on youth behavior and key outcomes. However, recent evidence suggests that youth participation in prevention programming for health-risk behavior may be declining. The aim of the present study is to provide up-to-date information on the national trends in adolescent participation in prevention programming targeting early pregnancy and STI in the United States. We examined fifteen years of cross-sectional data (2002-2016, N = 234,803) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Our main outcome was youth self-reported (no/yes) past-year participation in a pregnancy or STI prevention program. Survey adjusted prevalence estimates and logistic regression analysis were used to examine trends in participation. Youth participation in pregnancy and STI prevention programming decreased significantly from a high of 15% in 2003 to a low of 7% in 2016. Representing a 53% proportional decline in youth participation, this downward trend was significant even when controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, household income, and urbanicity (AOR: 0.947, 95% CI: 0.943-0.951). The downward trend in participation was observed across racial/ethnic subgroups. A consistent pattern of differences in prevalence was observed with African-American youth reporting the highest levels of participation followed by Hispanic, and then White youth. It is incumbent upon concerned citizens, scientists, and policymakers to push for change that can shift the trend line in adolescent participation in teen pregnancy and STI prevention programming to an upward tilt.

Trends and Correlates of Youth Violence-Prevention Program Participation, 2002-2016.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent participation in violence-prevention programming is critical in addressing the nation's elevated rates of youth fighting and violence. However, little is known about the secular trends and correlates of violence-prevention program participation in the U.S. Using national data, the authors examined the year-by-year trends and correlates of participation among American adolescents over a 15-year span. METHODS: National trend data (2002-2016) were analyzed on non-Hispanic black/African American (n=35,216), Hispanic (n=45,780), and non-Hispanic white (n=153,087) youth aged 12-17years from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2018. Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's trend analysis guidelines, the authors conducted logistic regression analyses with survey year specified as an independent variable and youth violence-prevention program participation specified as the dependent variable, while controlling for sociodemographic factors and other key correlates. RESULTS: Youth participation in violence-prevention programs decreased significantly from 16.7% in 2002 to 11.7% in 2016, a 29% relative decrease in participation. A significant declining trend in participation over time was found across all sociodemographic subgroups examined and among youth reporting the use of violence and no use of violence in the past year. Participation among black/African American youth was significantly greater than Hispanic youth who, in turn, had significantlyhigher participation rates than white youth. CONCLUSIONS: Youth participation in violence-prevention programming has decreased in recent years, with particularly large declines observed among younger adolescents (aged 12-14 years), youth in higher-income households, and youth reporting no past-year use of violence.

Declining trends in drug dealing among adolescents in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: The link between drug selling and other delinquent behaviors in adolescence is well established. Less is known regarding the trends in drug selling among youth in the US and whether they are consistent with the recently observed decline in problem behaviors among this population. METHODS: Data were collected between 2002 and 2015 as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Participants included 233,435 US youth aged 12-17. The primary variable of interest was self-reported past year drug-selling. Logistic regression assessed trends in drug-selling among male and female subgroups. RESULTS: Between 2002 and 2015, the prevalence of drug-selling decreased significantly across all youth (AOR = 0.970, p < .001). Analysis of gender differences revealed that the rate of drug-selling decreased significantly among boys (AOR = 0.962, p < .001), however, the trend remained stable for girls (AOR = 0.987, p > .05). The decrease in drug-selling was observed for nearly all male subgroups, African-American girls (0.946, p < .01) and girls reporting no illegal substance use in the past year (0.960, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of past year drug-selling among youth in the US is declining significantly, especially for boys.