Barriers to Addressing Substance Abuse in Domestic Violence Court

Substance abuse commonly co-occurs with intimate partner violence among both perpetrators and survivors. Specialized courts that focus on intimate partner violence provide a unique opportunity to address both problems simultaneously, but research has yet to identify whether this happens. In this qualitative study of a domestic violence court in a large midwestern metropolitan area, key informants were interviewed to understand how the Court treats substance abuse. Results indicate that substance abuse typically is not identified among perpetrators or survivors going through the Court unless it is mentioned in a police report. Barriers to such identification are the organization of the Court, bounded definition of actors’ roles in the Court, limited resources, and negative attitudes towards survivors. These results suggest that specialized courts that attend to only one problem may overlook the possibility of addressing issues that commonly co-occur.     

Theory and teen dating violence victimization: Considering adolescent development

Teen dating violence is an important public health problem, with implications for the future health and well-being of adolescents. However, most work on teen dating violence has developed separately from literature on normative adolescent romantic relationships and development; understanding teen dating violence within the framework of adolescent psychosocial development may provide new areas for research. Thus, the present paper summarizes five theories of adolescent development that are relevant to the study of teen dating violence victimization, as well as empirical literature that demonstrates support for key theoretical tenets in research examining adolescent romantic relationships. We also present questions for future dating violence study that arise from these key theoretical tenets and past empirical research. Researchers interested in dating violence victimization can use the presented theories to guide new directions in research inquiry, so that findings are situated within the broader field of adolescent development.     

Effects of personality traits and characteristics of child sexual abuse on maternal reactions and support

Objective

This study aimed to examine the relationship between maternal and contextual factors including maternal personality traits, the quality of mother–child relationship, the characteristics of sexual abuse and maternal outcomes: (1) maternal reactions including feelings of anger and responsibility, anger and perceptions of responsibility of the child, and (2) maternal support provided to the child following the disclosure of sexual abuse.

A Dance with Many Secrets: The Experience of Emotional Harm from the Perspective of Past Professional Female Ballet Dancers in Canada

Originating in the Italian and French courts, ballet is an age-old art that fuses aesthetics and athleticism (Wulff, 2008). Despite changing times, ballet masters and mistresses tenaciously hold on to a sense of deep traditionalism. However, some scholars suggest that unwavering devotion to the art may conceal troubled embodied relations and oppressive practices (Gvion, 2008). In this study, we drew on the phenomenological research tradition in an effort to further examine the power relations that play out on the body in the world of Canadian professional ballet (Papaefstathiou, Rhind, & Brakenridge, 2013). Twenty past professional female ballet dancers from across Canada participated in this study. Our dedicated dancers were relentless. They sacrificed body and mind in the pursuit of excellence in a broader cultural context that expected nothing less. The dancers normalized harmful emotional experiences, inappropriate sexual transgressions, and chronic injury (Gvion, 2008). They also described experiences of neglect—and feeling replaceable—after the onset of injury. We have attempted to theorize our findings within the context of embodiment literature and the work of gender theorists. Emboldened by our dancers’ voices, we have shed light—and broken secrets—regarding some of the harmful practices that still characterize professional ballet in Canada. We hope that our work might further continue efforts to democratize power imbalances in professional ballet and ultimately enhance holistic dancer development and health.     

Top Ten Questions Male Sexual Abuse Survivors Want to Know from Health Care Research

Sexual abuse is an often overlooked public health issue for boys and men. Given its prevalence and well-documented connection to mental and physical health disorders, the relevance of male survivor input and engagement in health care research is profound. Using a community-based participatory research design, an in-person focus group with male survivors of sexual abuse and researchers was conducted. This paper describes the top ten research questions male sexual abuse survivors would like to have answered. Survivors were most interested in knowing how sexual abuse and assault impact men’s emotional and sexual functioning, what factors are involved in preventing and treating sexual assault-related emotional distress, and what can be done to prevent sexual abuse of boys and men. The fact that some of the questions survivors expressed an interest in knowing about have actually previously been investigated by researchers suggests a disconnect in translating evidence-based findings. Clinical and research implications include designing outreach interventions and gender-specific psychoeducation to increase engagement and access to care for men.     

Validation and Standardization of the Dutch Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children in a Normative and Clinical Sample

The study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) in normative and clinical populations in the Netherlands. Caregivers’ ratings on the TSCYC were obtained for 1,802 children from the normal population, and for 515 children from a clinical population of traumatized children. In the clinical sample, additional measures were taken. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of TSCYC scales were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit on the putative scale structure. Regarding criterion validity, the clinical sample scored significantly higher on all clinical scales when compared to the normal population sample. Within the clinical sample, significant associations were found between TSCYC scales and convergent scales of other instruments. The Posttraumatic Stress-Total subscale demonstrated excellent discriminative ability between traumatized children and children from the normal population. The Dutch version of the TSCYC proved a valid and reliable instrument to measure trauma symptoms in young children through caregiver report, similar to the original American version. Further comparisons with diagnostic interviews are warranted.     

A Multimodal Study of Childhood Trauma and Distress Tolerance in Young Adulthood

Individuals with a history of childhood trauma experience deficits in emotion regulation. However, few studies have investigated childhood trauma and both perceived (i.e., self-report) and behavioral measures of distress tolerance. The current study evaluated associations between childhood trauma (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing family violence) and measures of perceived (Distress Tolerance Scale) and behavioral distress tolerance (i.e., Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, breath-holding). Participants were 320 undergraduate students with a history of interpersonal trauma (e.g., sexual/physical assault). Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate associations between frequency of childhood trauma type and distress tolerance. Greater childhood physical abuse was associated with higher perceived distress tolerance. Greater levels of witnessing family violence were associated with lower behavioral distress tolerance on the breath-holding task. No significant effects were found for Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test performance. Associations between childhood trauma and emotion regulation likely are complex and warrant further study.     

Perceived Risks and Benefits in a Text Message Study of Substance Abuse and Sexual Behavior

To inform ethical procedures for human subjects research using mobile health (mHealth), we examined perceived risks and benefits of study participation among emerging adults (N = 54) with drug use who completed text message assessments of substance use and sexual behaviors. Most participants reported comfort with participation and some reported perceived benefits, such as improved relationships. Perceived risks were infrequently reported, including negative emotions and legal or financial concerns. In conclusion, participants from a vulnerable population reported few perceived harms of participation in longitudinal mHealth assessments of sensitive behaviors. Researchers should continue characterizing participants’ perspectives on ethical aspects of mHealth research.     

Development and psychometric evaluation of a rapid intimate partner violence perpetration screening tool

Current methods of identifying intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration rely upon lengthy screening instruments, partner injury, and legal involvement. There exist no viable, brief screening tools to facilitate the rapid and early identification of IPV perpetration. The development of a brief IPV screening tool would reduce participant burden and compensation in research as well as aid in self‐identification and appropriate consultation for treatment. Three samples were recruited and administered an IPV assessment measure. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to determine a critical subset of items that could be rapidly administered and used to accurately detect physical IPV perpetrators. A set of four items emerged that were capable of differentiating between partner violent and nonviolent participants in Samples 1 (the Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) = .95, SE = .02), 2 (AUC = .98, SE =.01), and 3 (AUC = .94, SE = .04). Internal consistency of the screening items was acceptable across samples and the scores on the screening tool were significantly associated in the expected direction with all assessed risk factors for IPV. Initial evaluation of the rapid IPV perpetration screening tool suggests that it may help satisfy the growing need to quickly determine research eligibility and to help college students self‐identify risk, offering objective data upon which to base the decision for follow‐up consultation.