Palestinian adolescents in Israel face endemic community violence within a context of systemic structural discrimination and political marginalization. Their subjective experiences and coping mechanisms, however, remain underexplored in qualitative research. This study used a developmentally-appropriate methodology to explore how Palestinian adolescents experience community violence and the coping strategies they employ, framed through Cicchetti and Lynch's Ecological/Transactional Model. Qualitative and child-friendly methods, including drawing, photo elicitation activity, and selecting online photos, were used to interview 39 Palestinian adolescents (22 girls, 17 boys) aged 11-15. Interviews were conducted in person or via Zoom based on the participants' preferences. Inductive thematic analysis guided the research. The analysis revealed that community violence inflicted profound psychological and physical impacts, including living in a state of pervasive insecurity and anxiety, a sense of confinement, and disturbances in sleep and concentration. A central theme was grappling with unanswered questions about the violence, exacerbated by a lack of dialogue from adults and institutions. Coping strategies were primarily disengagement-oriented (avoidance of spaces and news) and engagement-oriented (seeking peer support and shared dialogue online). The findings illustrate a transactional process where macrosystemic structural violence and institutional neglect necessitate microsystemic coping. Accordingly, interventions must be multi-systemic, targeting the root causes by demanding institutional accountability, co-designing community safety initiatives, equipping parents to foster open communication, and formally integrating adolescents' peer support networks into public health and school-based programs.
This study examined whether disadvantaged neighborhood conditions and perceived informal labeling are positively associated with physical violence among South Korean male youth on probation, and the mediating role of affiliation with deviant peers on those associations. Data were derived from 329 male youths in 19 probation centers across South Korea, with a mean age of 16.74 years (SD = 1.42, range 14-19). We employed multivariate regression and mediation analysis to examine the association. We found that disadvantaged neighborhood conditions and perceived informal labeling were directly associated with physical violence. Affiliation with deviant peers showed significant indirect effects on the association of neighborhood conditions and perceived informal labeling with physical violence. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed based on the findings.
Vindication is a common cognition in anger episodes but has largely been ignored in research. Specifically, vindicated anger is anger coupled with the belief that one is entitled and justified to feel angry. Most of the anger measures do not currently assess revenge in the context of anger, which is an oversight given that anger is the most prevalent emotion in revenge episodes and a common outcome of anger episodes. It is also believed that thoughts of vindication are present when anger leads to revenge. Drawing on Lazarus's cognitive appraisal theory and the anger models of Ellis and Lange, we developed the Vindicated Anger and Revenge Scale (VARS) to assess both trait and state levels of vindicated anger and revenge motivation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and convergent and discriminant validity were established. Additionally, the Vindicated Anger and Revenge Scale also demonstrated predictive validity of aggressive behavior. Implications are discussed, including its usefulness in forensic settings.
Parental burnout is a chronic psychological condition marked by overwhelming exhaustion, emotional distancing from one's children, feelings of being fed up, and a perceived contrast with one's previous parental self. Although parental burnout is increasingly acknowledged as a critical mental health issue among parents, its manifestation within the context of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) remains insufficiently examined. Guided by attachment theory, family systems theory, and the spillover hypothesis, the present study investigated IPV as a potential risk factor for parental burnout and examined caregiving helplessness as a possible mediating mechanism. The study utilized a community-based sample of 600 cisgender heterosexual mothers (M = 40.91, SD = 6.54) residing in Italy, all of whom had biological children mean aged 8.32 years (SD = 5.05; 51.83% assigned female at birth). Findings indicated that mothers with IPV experiences reported significantly higher levels of caregiving helplessness and greater severity across all dimensions of parental burnout compared to mothers without such experiences. Furthermore, structural equation modeling revealed that more frequent IPV exposure was associated with elevated caregiving helplessness, which, in turn, contributed to heightened levels of exhaustion, emotional distancing, feeling of being fed up, and contrast. These findings highlight the need for early intervention addressing both IPV-related trauma and the internalized helplessness in caregiving under chronic stress. Public health and family policies should prioritize preventing parental burnout in IPV contexts to support maternal well-being and interrupt the intergenerational transmission of violence and trauma, ultimately protecting future generations from the long-term consequences of domestic violence.
The trauma-informed care (TIC) approach offers a comprehensive framework aimed at preventing the re-traumatization of victims within the justice system and strengthening trust-based interaction. Within the Turkish context, research examining the perceptions of professionals providing psychosocial support to victims within the justice system regarding TIC principles and their experiences in applying these principles is limited. This study aims to examine the perceptions, experiences, and challenges faced in practice by professionals who provide psychosocial support to victims within the justice system in T & uuml;rkiye, with regard to the trauma-informed care (TIC) approach. Conducted using a qualitative research design and the hermeneutic phenomenology method, the study involved in-depth interviews with 15 court personnel. The findings were grouped under three main themes: practices, challenges, and improvement strategies. Participants emphasized the importance of principles such as physical and psychological safety, transparency, autonomy in decision-making, and cultural sensitivity. However, secondary trauma, ethical dilemmas, time pressure, and structural inadequacies were identified as significant barriers to the sustainability of trauma-informed practices. Participants proposed strategies based on role-specific training, trauma-sensitive court environments, and institutional collaboration. The study fills a gap in the literature by presenting original findings on the integration of TIC principles into the justice system in T & uuml;rkiye and contributes to the strengthening of a victim-centered, restorative justice approach at the policy and practice levels.
In 1984, following the government's attack on the Sikh Golden Temple, Prime Minister India Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Her assassination triggered nationwide anti-Sikh riots involving systematic violence, mass killings, torture, and persecution. These traumatic events continue to affect the Sikh community, impacting not only survivors but also their descendants. Recently, the Historical Intergenerational Trauma Transmission model (HITT) proposed a framework describing the individual, familial, societal, and historical facets of intergenerational trauma transmission. The current study sought to examine the validity of the HITT-Q model in this population. We examined intergenerational trauma transmission mechanisms and their impact on symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress (C-PTSD), as well as on resilience, in the form of perceived coping abilities, in a sample of children of survivors of the Sikh massacre. Results showed that family and offspring vulnerability factors, historical moral injury, and insidious trauma predicted mental health symptoms; whereas family and offspring resilience factors predicted perceived coping ability. Thus, the results of the current study support the validity of the HITT model, and, more importantly, they provide robust support for the hypothesis that the 1984 events continue to impact the mental health of the Sikh diaspora today and call for intergenerational trauma-informed mental health interventions that not only consider individual and family processes, but also incorporate societal and historical aspects.
Post-secondary students who have experienced interpersonal potentially traumatic events (PTEs) are at heightened risk for NSSI. However, there is a lack of research on the role of posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs) in conferring risk for NSSI. The present study addressed this gap by examining the indirect effects of PTCs on NSSI urges and behavior. Participants were 113 post-secondary students (79.6% female) with interpersonal PTEs and NSSI histories. Participants completed a survey reporting on demographics, interpersonal PTEs, PTCs, recent NSSI urges, and past year NSSI frequency. It was found that PTEs did not directly predict NSSI urges or behavior. However, interpersonal PTEs predicted posttraumatic cognitions (self-blame, posttraumatic negative cognitions about the self, posttraumatic negative cognitions about the world), which in turn predicted NSSI urges (but not behaviors). Findings highlight that addressing PTCs may reduce risk for NSSI urges among students with interpersonal PTE histories.
People who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are more vulnerable to sexual harassment victimization, especially in nightlife settings where the inherent dynamics heighten the risks. However, research linking ACEs to sexual harassment consequences in nightlife settings is limited. It is hypothesized that participants with higher ACE scores would be more likely to report nightlife sexual harassment, and those with four or more ACEs would report more consequences compared to those with fewer ACEs. A paid panel sample of participants (n = 460) completed a survey regarding their ACEs and experiences of sexual harassment in nightlife settings. Logistic regression analysis assessed the association between ACEs and harassment, while controlling for age and gender. Further, participants (n = 213) were surveyed regarding consequences experienced following sexual harassment. The findings revealed a significant association between higher ACE scores and increased likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment in nightlife settings (OR = 2.42). Younger people (OR = .95), frequent nightlife attendees (OR = 10.3) and women (OR = 3.44) were more likely to experience sexual harassment. People with four or more ACEs were significantly more likely to report greater consequences following verbal (chi 2 = 7.4, p = .007) but not physical (chi 2 = 1.31, p = .25) sexual harassment. This study highlights the impact of ACEs on people's subsequent experience of harm and its consequences in nightlife settings. This emphasizes the need for systematic, community wide ACE detection via routine enquiry, increased client and public education on trauma, and trauma-informed interventions to reduce long-term impacts.
