Familial sex trafficking (FST) was examined as a largely overlooked subcategory of domestic sex trafficking in the United States. This mixed-methods study surveyed 68 justice professionals across 24 states, representing 3,505 confirmed domestic minor sex trafficking cases, of which 917 (26%) involved familial perpetrators as reported by respondents, most commonly biological mothers. Victims were primarily girls aged 10–17 years and were exposed to intergenerational trauma, substance use, poverty, and domestic violence. Qualitative and quantitative data revealed systemic barriers, including inadequate screening tools, limited training, and prosecutorial reluctance. Findings highlighted the justice system’s limited capacity to identify and intervene in FST cases. The study emphasized the importance of relationally informed identification strategies, trauma-informed policy reform, and specialized professional education to enhance system responsiveness and improve outcomes for survivors.
Women who disclose sexual assault (SA) may receive positive (supportive) or negative (unsupportive) reactions from others upon disclosure. The study tested indirect effects from negative and positive SA disclosure reactions to posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms via two aspects of self-compassion (compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding) and fear of self-compassion. The presence of child maltreatment was examined as a moderator of all effects. The sample consisted of 300 college women in the United States ( M age = 18.83 years, standard deviation = 1.00; 93.7% White) who had disclosed SA. Path analysis was used with a multigroup approach to test moderation by child maltreatment history. Child maltreatment history moderated the effects in the model. In the no-child-maltreatment group, SA disclosure reactions were not related to compassionate or uncompassionate self-responding, or fear of self-compassion. In contrast, in the any-child-maltreatment group, negative reactions were associated with greater fear of self-compassion and compassionate self-responding, while positive reactions were linked to lower fear of self-compassion. Indirect effects of positive and negative reactions on posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms via fear of self-compassion were significant. Findings suggest that child maltreatment may modify the relations among SA disclosure reactions, compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding, fear of self-compassion, and psychological distress among college women survivors.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized into four clusters within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fifth Edition: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Traditional assessment relies on self-report measures and clinician-administered interviews, which are subject to recall bias, limited accessibility, and infrequent administration. Digital biomarkers, defined as objective behavioral and physiological signals from audio and video data, offer an alternative for PTSD assessment. This study investigated whether multimodal digital biomarkers could predict PTSD symptom severity within individual symptom clusters. Participants ( N = 52) meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fifth Edition, Text Revision ( DSM-5-TR ) Criterion A completed self-report PTSD assessments (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 [PCL-5]) and provided unstructured video responses to the prompt “tell me about your day.” A computational framework extracted over 200 digital biomarkers across visual, acoustic, physiological, and linguistic domains. Feature selection was conducted using the Boruta algorithm, and confirmatory analyses employed Bayesian multivariate multiple regression modeling the four PCL-5 subscales jointly. Multimodal digital biomarkers explained meaningful variance (arousal: 30.4%, intrusion: 28.7%, negative mood: 23.8%, and avoidance: 22.3%); similarly, prediction of total PCL-5 scores explained substantive variance ( R ² = .30). Variability in chin-raising muscle activity (AU17) emerged as a cross-cluster predictor in three subscales. These findings suggest that digital biomarkers may be informative at both the symptom cluster level and the level of global PTSD severity. Findings are preliminary given the small sample, cross-sectional design, and lack of external validation. Future research should replicate the findings in larger, more diverse samples and explore digital biomarkers on longitudinal symptom monitoring and treatment response tracking.
The association between immigration and crime has been at the forefront of political and policy debate in recent years. Given the rapid growth of Asian and Hispanic immigrants and the marginalized socioeconomic position many in these subgroups face, there is an urgent need for a systematic understanding of the victimization experiences faced across different generations of Asian and Hispanic immigrant subgroups. This study fills the gap in the literature to date by (a) investigating variations in the victimization of violent and property crime among immigrants of different statuses (e.g., authorized immigrants, unauthorized immigrants, and second-generation immigrants); (b) examining victimization across various race/ethnicity (e.g., Hispanic and Asian) subgroups; and (c) identifying community-level characteristics that contribute to victimization. This study uses a representative cross-sectional survey of residents' victimization experiences in the city of San Jose, California. Specifically, we use a stratified multistage sampling method to select our sample from 80 primary sample clusters. We find that authorized first-generation immigrants have the lowest risk for several forms of victimization. Several important implications of the methods and findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.
School-based prevention programs focused on reducing adolescent dating and gender-based violence (DGBV) have seen substantial growth in recent years. From 2018 to 2023, we used community-based participatory research (CBPR) to evaluate Project Respect ’s Healthy Relations and Consent and Safer Spaces programs. This study assessed changes in students’ knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to consent after participating in the Healthy Relations and Consent Workshops and found increased understanding of consent, greater confidence in boundary setting, and improved bystander intervention skills. Students also perceived a more positive school culture around consent. Educators who participated in the Safer Spaces Workshop reported enhanced confidence in fostering inclusive environments for students and a deeper understanding of gender expansiveness and sexuality. Our preliminary findings suggest that a whole-school approach to consent education benefits both students and educators and should be included as part of the education of middle and high school students and their educators. Additionally, using CBPR, especially including the voices of gender-diverse students, is important and should be prioritized in future DGBV prevention efforts.
