From steroids to nation states: An integrated evolutionary approach to violent crime

Most evolutionary psychologists emphasize the individual level of analysis concerning violent crime and other dependent variables. This paper outlines a strategy for evolutionary explanation of societal variation across time as well as space and applies it to crimes of violence. The central idea is that individual adaptations for reproductive competition play out differently depending both on developmental context and societal conditions, including the marriage market. Violent crimes (murders, rapes, and assaults) are substantially higher in countries with a relative scarcity of men according to research using INTERPOL and World Health Organization data [Barber, N. (2000a). The sex ratio as a predictor of cross-national variation in violent crime. Cross-Cultural Research, 34, 264–282, Barber, N. (2009). Countries with fewer males have more violent crime: Marriage markets and mating aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 35, 49–56]. This is an apparent contradiction given that males are more criminally violent and likely reflects increased direct mating competition that evokes increased testosterone production for humans as for other species. The empirical evidence is discussed in terms of direct reproductive competition and various alternative explanations, particularly the “culture of violence” and socialization experiences are considered.     

Chest reconstructive surgeries in transmasculine youth: Experience from one pediatric center

Background: For many trans males, having chest reconstruction is a very important part of the transitioning process. Guidelines from WPATH and the Endocrine Society suggest 16 to 18 years old as an acceptable age for this surgical intervention. In clinical practice, the decision depends on factors such as a person's desires, insurance coverage, and availability of local surgical experts. We present data about chest reconstructive surgeries in transgender youth from a Pediatric Gender Management (GeM) clinic.

Methods: For this retrospective, observational study, data were collected from GeM clinic patients seen from 10/1/2011 to 1/31/2017. All subjects consented or assented to being included in an IRB-approved clinical database.

Results: Of 210 patients from our clinic, 167 consented to being added to an institutional review board–approved database and followed prospectively. The average age at the initial visit was 15.2 years (range, 4.7–20.9). Among consenting subjects, 55 were trans females, 108 were trans males, and four identified as nonbinary. Fourteen subjects had chest reconstruction with the mean age being 17.2 years (range, 13.4–19.7); three subjects were under age 16. For five subjects, including the youngest one, insurance paid for the procedure. All participants but one were receiving testosterone treatment. Per the surgeons' preferences, testosterone was usually not temporarily stopped prior to the procedure. Six subjects had the procedure done locally; others sought surgical care out of the town, state, or country. All subjects were very satisfied with the aesthetics of the surgical outcome. The self-reported complication rate was low. Many more GeM clinic patients wish to have breast/chest surgery but lack of insurance coverage makes the surgery cost prohibitive.

Conclusion: For many trans males, chest reconstructive surgery is an integral part of the transition process. Patients' age at the time of surgical procedure varies greatly; some have chest surgery before age 16. In the United States, chest reconstruction surgery is usually not covered by insurance. Therefore, many patients seeking surgical care are forced to pay out of pocket.     

Social relationships and social support among post‐war youth in Northern Uganda

Although social relationships and social support are salient factors for post‐war adolescents' psychosocial coping and adjustment, there is only limited information regarding war‐affected adolescents' views on social support and the relationships within which social support is provided. This study therefore explored both elements among a clinical sample of 20 adolescents living in post‐war Northern Uganda. Following Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis, we found a prominent role of the biological mother and other primary biological family members in the upbringing of our participants. Spiritual and material support were perceived to be the most important type of support, respectively, while the adolescents were growing up and in their current lives. These findings provide support for the perception that caregiving systems are adaptable to particular sociocultural contexts. Further, the importance of particular functions of social support could signify a potentially selective buffering effect of these functions in adverse contexts. Because of the importance of the primary biological family and the salient role of parent–child relationships in the face of adversity, future research needs to focus on this particular kind of social relationship in contexts of prolonged collective violence.     

Perceived Parenting Style of Fathers and Iranian Adolescents' Self-efficacy: The Moderating Role of Gender and Education

The authors examined the moderating role of adolescent's gender and father's education on the associations between perceived paternal parenting styles and self-efficacy in a socioeconomical diverse sample of Iranian ado-lescents (n = 382). Results revealed that paternal authoritative parenting was significantly and positively related to self-efficacy. Interestingly, a significant and positive relation was also found between paternal authoritarian parenting and self-efficacy. This finding might have been the result of the fact that this study was conducted as part of a collectivist culture. In addition, the results indicated that boys who perceived their fathers as highly authoritative indicated higher self-efficacy than girls did. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that higher educational levels attenuate the negative impact of the permissive parenting style on self-efficacy. The present findings underscore the need to focus on the role of gender and father's education when assessing the link between parenting style and adolescents' self-efficacy.     

When Fairness Clashes with Personal Autonomy and Parental Authority: A Comparison of Daughters' and Mothers' Reasoning in Two Cultural Contexts in Turkey

The author examined religious and secular daughters' and mothers' reasoning about personal autonomy, maternal authority, and moral concepts in family decision-making situations in urban Turkey. Sixty-eight daughters and 34 mothers were individually interviewed about decision-making autonomy in general issues and hypothetical daughter–mother conflicts. Results indicated participants regardless of their family status and religious background assigned more decision-making autonomy to mothers when evaluating general issues. Analysis of controversial issues as hypothetical conflicts indicated that daughters and mothers do not hold unitary social judgments about the social world that were always consistent with the norms of their community and family status. There were some religious background differences in evaluations of some conflict stories as a function of whether they evaluated the choices as moral, conventional, personal, and prudential matters. Although secular and religious participants conceptualized daughters and mothers in relational terms rather than characterizing the relations and social issues by harmony, obedience to authority, and acceptance of norms findings suggested that secular women evaluated the hypothetical adolescent–mother conflicts more consistently when the issue entails violation of a moral principle such as justice, fairness, and well-being of the other.     

Childhood Adversity and the Continued Exposure to Trauma and Violence Among Adolescent Gang Members

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Negative misconceptions about disaster behaviour through availability cascades: An examination of secondhand information and the moderating effect of trait anxiety on disaster myths

The present study was designed to shed light on the origin of disaster myths, such as panic, looting, crime, and psychological shock in postdisaster situations, by examining effects of secondhand information and the moderating effect of anxiety on such negative misconceptions. It was hypothesized that secondhand information on disaster behaviour, such as media reports and word‐of‐mouth rumours, and trait anxiety would increase the degrees to which people gave credit to four popular disaster myths. Also, trait anxiety was predicted to moderate the association between information sources and disaster myths. Questionnaire data obtained from 1,500 Japanese participants indicated that people relying on secondhand information gave more credit to all the four misconceptions than those relying on firsthand information such as direct disaster experience. However, trait anxiety was not found to significantly affect the degrees of the disaster myths. Furthermore, the moderating effect of trait anxiety on the association between the information sources and the disaster myths was not observed in any of the four myths. The present results imply that although reliance on secondhand information increases the degree of disaster myths to some extent, there should be other causes from which disaster myths originate.     

Assessing the factor structure of the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS)

The Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS) is a self-report instrument to assess risky driving behaviours among youth population. Although previous studies have offered evidences of reliability and validity for the BYNDS scores, results are not conclusive as regards its factor structure. The aim of this research was to assess the factor structure of the BYNDS via Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). The BYNDS was administered to a sample of 832 drivers aged from 18 to 25 years (Argentina = 270, Colombia = 350, and Mexico = 212). Six models were examined: three derived from previous literature, one emerged from an exploratory factor analysis, a unidimensional model, and a bifactor model. Results showed that none of the models analysed offered a completely acceptable fit to the data. However, the original model hypothesizing five orthogonal factors showed the best fit indices, with all of the items loading onto the associated factor. Results of the bifactor analysis suggested that three of the subscales (transient violations, fixed violations, and misjudgements) share a strong common basis and their scores would not offer much information above and beyond the total score. On the contrary, the items in the subscale of risk-exposure are clearly influenced by a specific domain factor, contributing to the multidimensionality of the BYNDS. In line with previous studies, males scored higher than females in driving violations, fixed violations, and risk-exposure. This study contributes to the psychometric refinement of a novel measure of risky driving in youth population. This self-report could be a valuable tool in the evaluation of road safety performance.     

Building Capacity of State Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalitions to Implement Science-Based Approaches

A central question in adolescent reproductive health circles is how to effectively disseminate research to practitioners in a way that supports them in using the most scientifically sound and effective programming. In 2002, the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tackled this question by funding three national-level and five state-level organizations focused on adolescent pregnancy prevention to promote the use of science-based programs and approaches. Healthy Teen Network (HTN) and Education, Training and Research Associates (ETR), two national organizations, have partnered under this CDC funding to implement an effective model for capacity building. This paper provides an overview of the approaches used by HTN and ETR in capacity building using a seven-step process. We describe how we modified the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) for science-based innovations to apply to capacity-building for adolescent reproductive health (ARH) programs, and how we developed relevant, sustainable training and technical support. We conclude by reviewing some of the results of this training, and discuss the future work that will likely continue to advance the science behind effective dissemination of ARH research to practice.