The Perils of the Unknown: Intolerance of Uncertainty and Intimate Partner Violence Across the First Four Pandemic Waves.

Theory suggests that intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a tendency to perceive uncertain events as threatening, may serve as a potential risk factor for increased intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration; however, few studies have investigated this association, and none have taken a longitudinal approach. We investigated the issue in two longitudinal online investigations (initial N = 282 and 1,118), with time periods ranging from just before the COVID-19 pandemic to the fourth pandemic wave, approximately 1.5 years later. IU was a significant predictor of IPV cross-sectionally, and in the short term longitudinally (i.e., over periods of weeks); however, it did not predict IPV over the longer term (i.e., over periods of months or years). In addition, our longitudinal design allowed assessment of IPV trends across pandemic waves. Physical IPV rates remained low and steady across time. Psychological IPV rates showed an increase in the early days of the pandemic, but then dropped and stabilized, albeit at a somewhat higher rate than pre-pandemic. Study 2 had ample representation of LGBTQ+ respondents and showed that the patterns and processes worked similarly for LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ individuals.

Verbal Arguments That Precede Dating Violence Perpetration: A Qualitative Analysis.

Verbal arguments often precede physical dating violence perpetration, and research is needed to better understand the content and evolution of arguments in dating relationships in order to develop more targeted dating violence prevention programming. This multisite project qualitatively investigated the content of verbal arguments preceding physical dating violence perpetration reported by 30 undergraduate students. Participants completed a semi-structured interview inquiring about events preceding participants' most recent dating violence episode. Interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Verbal arguments often preceded participants' most recent episode of physical dating violence perpetration, with a wide range of argument topics reported, including jealousy, partner noncompliance, and substance use. Findings highlight the need for research to better understand the context of verbal arguments that precipitate dating violence perpetration.

Emotion Dysregulation as a Moderator of the Association Between Relationship Dependency and Female-Perpetrated Dating Aggression.

The dependency-possessiveness model proposes that individuals who are highly dependent on their intimate partner and fear partner abandonment, particularly among those with emotion dysregulation problems, may be at heightened risk for intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration. Despite prior research establishing a link between relationship dependency and male IPA perpetration, it is unknown whether this association extends to female-perpetrated aggression, occurs in dating relationships, and is moderated by emotion dysregulation. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between relationship dependency and female-perpetrated dating aggression and determine if emotion dysregulation moderated this hypothesized relationship. Female undergraduate students (N = 119) completed measures assessing relationship dependency, emotion dysregulation, and female-perpetrated physical and psychological dating aggression as part of a larger study investigating the context of dating aggression episodes. Anxious attachment was significantly correlated with female-perpetrated psychological and physical dating aggression. Regression analyses indicated a significant interaction between the Spouse-Specific Dependency Scale [SSDS] Anxious Attachment subscale and emotion dysregulation predicting female-perpetrated physical dating aggression, suggesting moderation. There was a positive association between anxious attachment relationship dependency and female-perpetrated physical dating aggression at high levels of emotion dysregulation. A significant interaction was also found between the SSDS Emotional Dependency subscale and emotion dysregulation predicting female-perpetrated physical dating aggression, such that among those with low scores in emotion dysregulation, there was a positive relationship between emotional dependency and female-perpetrated physical dating aggression. Findings suggest that the ability to regulate emotions may play an important role in the association between relationship dependency and female-perpetrated dating aggression.

Consensual Sexting among College Students: The Interplay of Coercion and Intimate Partner Aggression in Perceived Consequences of Sexting.

Recent empirical data suggests that the majority of adolescents and emerging adults utilize digital technology to engage with texting and social media on a daily basis, with many using these mediums to engage in sexting (sending sexual texts, pictures, or videos via digital mediums). While research in the last decade has disproportionately focused on the potential risk factors and negative consequences associated with sexting, the data are limited by failing to differentiate consensual from non-consensual sexting and account for potential influences of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and sexting coercion in these contexts. In the current study, we assessed the positive and negative consequences associated with sexting, using behavioral theory as a framework, to determine the relationship between an individual's personal history of IPA victimization and the perceived consequences. Undergraduate students (N = 536) who reported consensual sexting completed a series of measures examining their most recent sexting experience, including perceived sexting consequences, and their history of sexting coercion and IPA. Results suggested that those reporting a history of any type of IPA victimization endorsed more negative reinforcing consequences after sending a sext, and those with a history of physical or sexual IPA victimization endorsed more punishing consequences after sending a sext than those without such history. Additionally, experience with IPA was found to be positively correlated with perceived pressure/coercion to send a sext. The implications of these data for research, policy, prevention, and intervention are explored.

A Qualitative Examination of Situational Risk Recognition Among Female Victims of Physical Intimate Partner Violence.

Little is known about intimate partner violence (IPV) victims' situational risk recognition, defined as the ability to identify situational factors that signal imminent risk of victimization. Using semi-structured interviews, qualitative data were collected from a community sample of 31 female victims of IPV episodes involving substance use. Thirteen themes were identified, the most prevalent being related to the partner's verbal behavior, tone of voice, motor behavior, alcohol or drug use, and facial expression. Participants reporting at least some anticipation of physical aggression (61.3% of the sample) tended to identify multiple factors (M = 3.47), suggesting numerous situational features often contribute to situational risk recognition.

What Happens After I Hit? A Qualitative Analysis of the Consequences of Dating Violence for Female Perpetrators.

OBJECTIVES: The primary goal of this study is to qualitatively examine reinforcing and punishing consequences following the perpetration of physical aggression by women in dating relationships because recent theoretical conceptualizations of intimate partner violence have emphasized an examination of such consequences. METHOD: Participants were 25 undergraduate women in current dating relationships who reported previous perpetration of physical dating violence and completed a qualitative, theoretically based interview on the consequences of their aggression perpetration. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that violent episodes resulted in both reinforcing and punishing consequences, with 100% of instances resulting in reinforcing consequences for the perpetrator and 76% classified as punishing, which were divided into 15 different classes of outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that dating violence prevention programming could focus their efforts on increasing use of nonaggressive behaviors leading to reinforcing outcomes among dating couples during conflict resolution. This also has important implications for theoretical models of intimate partner violence.

The impact of childhood emotional abuse and experiential avoidance on maladaptive problem solving and intimate partner violence.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the joint influences of experiential avoidance and social problem solving on the link between childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and intimate partner violence (IPV). Experiential avoidance following CEA may interfere with a person's ability to effectively problem solve in social situations, increasing risk for conflict and interpersonal violence. As part of a larger study, 232 women recruited from the community completed measures assessing childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, experiential avoidance, maladaptive social problem solving, and IPV perpetration and victimization. Final trimmed models indicated that CEA was indirectly associated with IPV victimization and perpetration via experiential avoidance and Negative Problem Orientation (NPO) and Impulsivity/Carelessness Style (ICS) social problem solving strategies. Though CEA was related to an Avoidance Style (AS) social problem solving strategy, this strategy was not significantly associated with IPV victimization or perpetration. Experiential avoidance had both a direct and indirect effect, via NPO and ICS social problem solving, on IPV victimization and perpetration. Findings suggest that CEA may lead some women to avoid unwanted internal experiences, which may adversely impact their ability to effectively problem solve in social situations and increase IPV risk.

The interactive effects of PTSD, emotion regulation, and anger management strategies on female-perpetrated IPV.

Research supports a relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and theory implicates emotion regulation and anger management skills as probable moderators to that relationship (Chemtob, Novaco, Hamada, Gross, & Smith, 1997). However, no study has investigated these interactive relationships with female-perpetrated physical IPV. Therefore, this study examined the interactive effects of PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation, and anger management skills on female-perpetrated physical IPV. Female community members (N = 254) completed measures of PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation strategies, anger management skills during partner conflict, and IPV perpetration. Results indicated two-way interaction effects between emotion regulation and both PTSD symptoms and negative partner attributions. In addition, PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation, and escalating strategies marginally interacted to predict female-perpetrated IPV. Implications of these results for future research and interventions are discussed.

Using the Internet to prescreen participants for research on interpersonal violence: experimental design considerations.

Internet-based testing has become increasingly popular in recent years due largely to the availability of computers and the Web to research participants. For researchers studying interpersonal violence, Internet-based methodologies can also be used as a prescreening device to identify a population of interest, such as individuals reporting violence in their relationships. However, several challenges exist with this approach. This article evaluates the use of an Internet-based prescreening device to identify potential participants for a study on interpersonal violence, highlighting challenges encountered with this methodology, and offers suggestions for improvement in experimental design when conducting Internet-based screenings of interpersonal violence.

Reactions to participating in dating violence research: are our questions distressing participants?

In recent years, there has been increased research focus on dating violence, producing important information for reducing these violent relationships. Yet Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are often hesitant to approve research on dating violence, citing emotional distress of participants as a possible risk of participation. However, no known research has examined the reactions of research participants to questions about dating violence. The current study examined the reactions among college students to completing a self-report measure on dating violence. Results showed that participants reported numerous positive experiences as a result of their research participation, with only mildly increased negative emotional reactions evident for some. Findings are discussed in relation to IRB proposals and appropriate informed consent for research participants.

Human immunodeficiency virus risk behavior among female substance abusers.

HIV is an increasingly critical and costly health problem for American women. Substance use plays a major role in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in women. There are several plausible explanations for the association between substance use and HIV risk behavior. Pregnant substance abusers are a population deserving special attention given the prevalence of risk behavior in this population and the added risk of perinatal transmission of HIV. Current guidelines for the screening and treatment of HIV among pregnant women and their infants are delineated. Substance abuse treatment has a limited impact on HIV risk behavior in female substance abusers. Similarly, traditional knowledge-based and skill-based HIV risk reduction interventions have modest efficacy in this population. Hence, there is a need to develop new interventions that directly target sex-related and drug-related HIV risk behavior among female substance abusers. Recent work suggests that the incorporation of motivational interviewing components into traditional HIV risk reduction interventions may be a promising new direction for the field.

HIV Risk Behavior Among Female Substance Abusers.

HIV is an increasingly critical and costly health problem for American women. Substance use plays a major role in HIV infection in women. There are several plausible explanations for the association between substance use and HIV risk behavior. Pregnant substance abusers are a population deserving of special attention given the prevalence of risk behavior in this population and the added risk of perinatal transmission of HIV. Current guidelines for the screening and treatment of HIV among pregnant women and their infants are delineated. Substance abuse treatment has a limited impact on HIV risk behavior in female substance abusers. Similarly, traditional knowledge- and skill-based HIV risk reduction interventions have modest efficacy in this population. Hence, there is a need to develop new interventions that directly target sex- and drug-related HIV risk behavior among female substance abusers. Recent work suggests that the incorporation of motivational interviewing components into traditional HIV risk reduction interventions may be a promising new direction for the field.

Intimate partner violence theoretical considerations: moving towards a contextual framework.

Several theories have been developed to provide a conceptual understanding of intimate partner violence (IPV) episodes. Although each of these theories has found some degree of empirical support, they are limited in their explanatory power of IPV episodes and their ability to significantly impact the efficacy of IPV prevention and treatment programs. The current paper provides a review and critique of current IPV theories and highlights strategies for improving upon these theories. An alternative theoretical conceptualization is introduced that incorporates existing IPV and functional analytic literature into a contextual framework for conceptualizing IPV episodes. Components of the IPV contextual framework include distal, static and proximal antecedents; motivating factors; behavioral repertoire; discriminative stimuli (i.e. environmental cues/signals); verbal rules; and IPV consequences. The proposed theoretical framework offers two primary advantages over former IPV theories. First, it provides a comprehensive conceptualization of IPV by integrating components of previous IPV theories and their related empirical findings into one, cohesive conceptual framework. Additionally, it allows for a more fine-grained analysis of more proximal variables potentially related to discrete IPV episodes. A discussion of how the proposed theoretical framework may influence future IPV research and clinical practice is provided.

Ethics of asking trauma-related questions and exposing participants to arousal-inducing stimuli.

This study examined ethical concerns related to exposing participants with childhood victimization histories to both trauma-specific and non-trauma-specific stimuli. We asked participants questions about childhood victimization experiences and exposed participants to a negatively-arousing experimental condition. Following each of these procedures and at a one-week follow-up session, participants completed a measure designed to asses their reactions to participation. The measure included several questions to assess reactions including questions about distress, benefit, and willingness to participate in the study again. Overall, participants reported low levels of distress and described their participation experience as interesting, enjoyable, and somewhat beneficial. Participants also indicated that they would be willing to participate in the study again with the knowledge of what participation was actually like. Participants with childhood trauma histories and PTSD symptoms reported more distress during the childhood maltreatment screening compared to other participants. However, the level of distress they experienced was mild and transitory. Our findings add to the emerging data indicating that individuals find their participation in trauma-related research to be a positive experience overall, rather than a harmful one.

Effects of social desirability on students' self-reporting of partner abuse perpetration and victimization.

Little is still known about the degree to which social desirability affects reports of partner abuse. The current study builds on existing research exploring the relationship between social desirability and partner abuse reports by analyzing 49 male and 155 female students' responses to the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). Sex differences were not associated with partner abuse rates, regardless of type, severity, and violence role. Women had significantly higher social desirability scores than men, and women's MCSDS scores were negatively correlated with partner abuse perpetration and victimization rates. Social desirability was a significant predictor of psychological abuse perpetration, whereas gender was a significant predictor of sexual coercion perpetration. In all partner abuse cases, however, social desirability and gender accounted for less than 10% of the variance in partner abuse reports.

Child sexual abuse and adulthood sexual assault among military veteran and civilian women.

The purpose of this study was to investigate childhood sexual abuse (CSA), adulthood sexual victimization (ASV), and adulthood sexual assault experiences in a comparison sample of female military veterans (n = 142) and civilian community members (n = 81). Women veterans were significantly more likely than civilian women to report adult sexual assault. Although comparable rates of CSA and ASV were found across groups, veterans more frequently reported having been sexually abused by a parental figure, reported longer durations of CSA, and significantly greater severity of ASV than civilians. Implications for mental health professionals providing sexual trauma services to female military personnel and veterans are discussed.

Layers of reading intervention in kindergarten through third grade: changes in teaching and student outcomes.

In this study, students and their teachers participated in a layered approach to reading intervention in kindergarten through third grade that included professional development for teachers in scientifically based reading instruction, ongoing measurement of reading progress, and additional small-group or individual instruction for students whose progress was insufficient to maintain grade-level reading achievement. Reading outcomes were compared with historical control groups of students in the same schools. The findings revealed overall improvements in reading, improved reading for students who began the study in high-risk categories, and decreases in the incidence of reading disability at the end of third grade. Implications for scaling up are discussed.

Aptamers: prospects in therapeutics and biomedicine.

Most biopolymer drugs to date have been proteins. However, the ability to select nucleic acid binding species (aptamers) has led to the development of protein inhibitors and modulators that are small, readily synthesized nucleic acids. The techniques for optimizing, stabilizing, and delivering nucleic acid therapies are just beginning to be developed, but the same engineering flexibility that has so far allowed the generation of multiple, high affinity and specificity binding species appears to also apply to the methods for adapting nucleic acids to clinical applications. We review the selection and characterization of various aptamers and their applications to a variety of disease states, and then focus on the hurdles that must be overcome for the use of aptamers as both exogenously delivered drugs and as gene therapies.