Perceptions of law enforcement shape a willingness to report crime and are particularly important for sex crimes and among groups oppressed or neglected by the legal system. We examine three types of perceptions of justice—the fairness of outcomes (distributive), procedures (procedural), and victim treatment (interpersonal). We expect each measure of justice perceptions to increase the likelihood of reporting, or recommending a friend report, a hypothetical sexual assault to police. Our survey of 18- to 24-year-old women ( N = 1,414) oversampled women of color and stratified the sample by educational attainment. In a series of path analyses, we find full support for our hypotheses about reporting one’s own sexual assault and partial support for encouraging a friend to report based on perceptions of three forms of justice. In addition, we examined indirect effects of sexual identity and race on reporting intentions and discuss how those patterns are partially driven by negative perceptions of justice.

The primary objective of the present study was to apply multiple life course mechanisms, drawn from the life course epidemiological perspective, to explain the long-term influence of family socioeconomic adversity and adolescent stressful life events on adult economic adversity. The study used prospective data over 13 years from 11,075 adolescents from the Adolescent to Adult Health Study (Add Health). First, we developed a comprehensive life course model by integrating causal and temporal relationships among different life course processes and pathways discussed in previous research. Specifically, the findings provided evidence for the long-term influence of family socioeconomic adversity on adult economic adversity through life-stage specific stressful life events and depressive symptoms. This connection occurred through various risk pathways such as the clustering of risk, risk cascading, and cumulative exposure. Such integrated models are well suited to investigate life course stressors and can be used as broad analytical frameworks for life course developmental studies. Thus, the present study has served substantive, illustrative, and methodological purposes. The study findings suggest that to improve adult wellbeing, programmes and policies focusing on early life adversities and stressors are important.

Sexual minority (SM) men's sexual revictimization (SR; i.e. experiences of adult victimization among childhood sexual abuse survivors) is an understudied topic despite evidence that SM men are disproportionately impacted by sexual violence (SV) over the life course. This study addresses this gap utilizing a diverse sample (n = 2859) of SM men (age 18-30) from the U.S. Results demonstrated that over 10% of SM men had experienced SR. Further, strength-based (e.g. sense of LGBTQIA2S+ community) and minority-stress (e.g. internalized homonegativity) related factors were examined as moderators of the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and adult sexual assault victimization (ASAV) in the past six months. One factor emerged as a significant moderator of the CSA-ASAV relationship: perceived discrimination. Practice-based implications are provided.

There is a long history of research on the topic of mate selection using college student samples. Much of this research focuses on desired partner characteristics using an instrument developed in 1939. While the data accrued over more than three-quarters of a century have provided insights about the ways in which evolving cultural values influence the importance of these characteristics, there has been little research on how well this list of characteristics reflects contemporary mate selection criteria. The current study addresses this gap in the research in two ways, First, an expanded list of partner characteristics, more reflective of contemporary mate selection criteria, was developed. Second, a constrained approach in assigning value to each characteristic was employed in order to assess the relative importance of each characteristic. Results indicate that several of the new characteristics were significantly more important than some in the original measure, demonstrating a need for an update to the 1939 instrument. Additionally, when choices were constrained, a clearer picture of priorities emerged. Finally, results produced categories of desired mate characteristics identified as deal breakers, necessities, preferences, luxuries, and unimportant.

Child abuse and masculinity have been linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. However, there is a lack of work examining multiple aspects of masculinity as links between early abuse experiences and men's IPV perpetration. Grounded in notions of gendered power and patriarchy, this study aimed to examine hostile masculinity, male peer support for violence against women, and problematic anger as aspects of masculinity connecting childhood victimization and men's violence against women. Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that childhood adversity was indirectly related to IPV perpetration via the proposed factors. However, various patterns emerged based on the type of childhood abuse experienced. Practice-based implications are offered.

Sexual assault is common in sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, but few studies have examined SGM victims' disclosure experiences. This systematic review identified 13 studies through searches of research databases on SGM populations with sexual victimization. These studies showed wide variation in disclosure rates, various barriers to disclosure, and psychological impacts of social reactions to disclosure on SGM individuals. Bisexual women were more likely to disclose to formal (e.g., police, healthcare providers) and informal (e.g., friends, family members) sources than other women, and SGM victims disclose to mental health professionals at particularly high rates. Sexual and gender minority victims also reported numerous barriers to disclosure, including those unique to SGM individuals (e.g., fear of being outed). Impacts of negative social reactions appear to be more negative on psychological symptoms of SGM victims, whereas positive reactions are helpful to recovery. Future research is needed taking an intersectional perspective to studying disclosure and social reactions to SGM individuals from both college and community samples, by examining both sexual minority and racial/ethnic identities in the context of intersectional minority stress theory. Studies are needed of both correlates and consequences of disclosures to both informal and formal support sources to better understand SGM individuals' reasons for telling and not telling various support sources and the impacts of their disclosure experiences on their recovery. Such data is also needed to inform interventions seeking to identify and intervene with support network members and professionals to reduce negative social reactions and their psychosocial impacts and to increase positive social reactions and general social support from informal support sources.

Little is known about the mediating role of adolescent chronic pain in the connection between adolescent parental rejection and psychosocial and physical health (i.e., disease risk) outcomes in young adulthood (YA). To address this gap, the present study tested a model of a successively contingent developmental process that integrates neurophysiological research and the life course developmental perspective. The model included parental rejection and chronic pain in adolescence and depressive symptoms, low education attainment, economic hardship and allostatic load in YA. The study utilized 13 years of prospective data from a nationally representative sample of 11,030 US adolescents. The findings largely supported the hypothesized model. Adolescent chronic pain, as influenced by parental rejection, was associated with depressive symptoms and economic hardship in YA. In addition, parental rejection directly influenced depressive symptoms, education level and economic hardship, all of which, in turn, contributed to greater physical health risk (i.e., allostatic load) in YA. These associations persisted even after controlling for adolescent illness, depressive symptoms, age, sex and race/ethnicity. Multi-group analysis showed that female participants were more vulnerable to stressful parental rejection and socioeconomic difficulties in YA. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Despite alarming rates of sexual assault on college campuses, little research has examined risk factors for sexual victimization among LGBTQ+ college students. This exploratory study aims to examine adolescent sexual assault, internalized homonegativity, and problematic alcohol use as mediators linking several types of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; i.e., childhood sexual abuse, parental abuse, and household disorder) to collegiate sexual assault. Utilizing data from 241 LGBTQ+ college students, path analysis findings demonstrated that these proposed mediators increased risk for sexual assault and that various types of ACEs exerted differential impacts on sexual re-victimization, internalized homonegativity, and problematic alcohol use. Practice-based implications are offered, including the need for affirming programming that includes problem drinking prevention components and considers the role of ACEs and internalized homonegativity in increasing risk for sexual assault during college as well as the need for LGBTQ+ resource centers on campus.

Using a sample of 291 Black women and a longitudinal study, we explore how general strain theory can broaden our understanding of Black women's alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Results demonstrated that racial discrimination, past IPV and sexual victimization, and family member's victimization heightened depression, which increased heavy alcohol use. Discrimination and family victimization also elevated anger, leading to greater IPV perpetration. Results further revealed that depression and anger interacted to influence IPV. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers must continue to pursue culturally sensitive practices to effectively address this unique constellation of strains and advocate for the needs of Black women.

There is a proliferation of research on the effects of microaggressions among undergraduate students and in the workplace. However, scholars have not focused on biased interactions among graduate and law students, their capacity to create or exacerbate health inequities, and the types of support that might mitigate these effects. In two studies, we center minoritized graduate and law students—those who identify as women, LGBQ+, and/or people of color. We explore how marginalization produced by sexism, homonegativity, and racism increase the risk of microaggressions and mental health symptoms in a non-representative sample of 2,051 cisgender graduate and law students enrolled in a predominantly white research university in the southeastern United States. We find that white heterosexual men report significantly fewer types of microaggressions during graduate and law school, especially as compared to women and LGBQ+ people of color. In turn, experiencing more microaggressions produces greater depression and anxiety among members of these groups. However, we also find that adequate support and encouragement from an academic advisor and from one’s academic department are associated with decreases in some mental health symptoms, even at follow-up nine months later. We add to a small but growing literature that focuses on stressors and mental health symptoms experienced by graduate and law students while demonstrating the need for understanding their unique effects on LGBQ+ students, men and women of color, and those who are multiply minoritized in academia.

Past research has documented that structural factors produce a skewed dating market in African American communities that advantages men over women. Using data collected from a sample of 495 African American young adults (55.8% women, M-age = 22), we tested the idea that African American men can be more selective when choosing dating partners than their female counterparts due to their power advantage. Consonant with this hypothesis, our results indicated that women who had characteristics consistent with men's mate preferences were significantly more likely to be involved in dating relationships. However, there were no associations between the likelihood of men's dating frequency or relationship status and whether they typified women's mate preferences. These findings support the contention that, unlike their male counterparts, African American women may have to compromise their mate preferences and date less desirable partners due to the gendered power disadvantage in the dating market.

Despite a growing body of work on sexual harassment among college students, little work has examined predictors of sexual harassment specifically among graduate students. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by using data from 490 female graduate students at a large, public university. Based on a feminist routine activity theory approach, both individual vulnerability (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or other sexual identity [LGBQ+], international student status, psychological distress, alcohol use) and organizational context (departmental female ratio, male-dominated field, departmental support) are tested as risk factors for sexual harassment. Moreover, we examine risks for sexual harassment by either a peer or a professor before testing models for peer and faculty member harassment separately. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that both individual vulnerability and organizational context are related to an increased likelihood of sexual harassment among female graduate students, but patterns of findings vary by type of offender. Policy recommendations are offered, including the need for safe spaces on campus for LGBQ+ and international students and the need for clear consequences for offenders of sexual harassment.

Although several criminological theories suggest that variations in parenting increase the probability of adult crime, most studies limit focus to the association between parenting and adolescent delinquency. Thus, research exploring the association between parenting and adult crime is rare. The present study used path analyses and prospective, longitudinal data from a sample of 318 African American men to examine the effects of eight parenting styles on adult crime. Furthermore, we investigated the extent to which significant parenting effects are mediated by criminogenic schemas, negative emotions, peer affiliations, adult transitions, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Consonant with the study hypotheses, the results indicated that parenting styles with high demandingness, regardless of whether it co-occurred with responsiveness or corporal punishment, reduced the risk of adult crime. On the other hand, parenting styles low on demandingness but high on responsiveness or corporal punishment were associated with a robust increase in risk for adult crime. These parenting effects were mediated, in large measure, by criminogenic schemas and affiliation with adult deviant peers. The findings held after taking into account the effect of adolescent experiences and traits such as delinquency, deviant peer affiliations, community violence, discrimination, negative emotionality, and poor self-control.

ABSTRACTIntroductionChildhood maltreatment experiences are associated with future suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, yet the roles of specific psychiatric symptoms mediating this relation remain to be clarified. To clarify these relations, we tested a model incorporating multiple forms of childhood maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical punishment, emotional neglect), past year psychiatric disorder symptoms during adolescence (anxiety, mood, and conduct disorders) and recent suicidal thoughts.MethodsWe administered structured interviews to 394 adolescents receiving outpatient substance use treatment services in the Southeastern United States (280 males; Mage = 16.33; SDage = 1.15). Structural equation models (SEMs) were used to evaluate the degree to which relations between childhood maltreatment and suicidal thoughts were mediated by specific past‐year psychiatric symptoms.ResultsMood disorder symptoms significantly mediated the relation between neglect/negative home environment and suicidal thoughts. This path of influence did not vary by gender.ConclusionsChildhood maltreatment and subsequent psychopathology influence suicidal thoughts among adolescents receiving substance use treatment services. The findings of the present study have implications for the adaptation and delivery of substance use treatment services to adolescents to enhance treatment engagement and outcomes.

Hooking-up among college students presents an increased risk of sexual victimization, perhaps due to increased contact with potential perpetrators in a risky context. However, little work has examined factors that might increase the risk of victimization associated with hooking-up, and few studies examine victimization among both men and women. To address this gap in the literature, we utilize data from 702 college women and 677 college men to explore childhood sexual abuse, family violence, sexual minority (SM) status, and problematic alcohol use as potential moderators of the association between hooking-up and three forms of sexual victimization: coerced, incapacitated, and forced. Results of regression analyses indicate several significant interactions and significant main effects. For example, SM men and women were each at an increased risk of forced and incapacitated victimization when hook-up frequency was high compared with non-SM students.

Domestic violence continues to be a significant and global problem for women and girls (World Health Organization, 2017). This special issue is designed to highlight the excellent recent scholarship on domestic violence, with emphasis on work from the past decade, and to identify the substantial areas in which additional work is needed, especially for BIPOC and trans women as well as gender non-conforming individuals. An intersectional, feminist framework provides the necessary lens through which many current and future advances have and can continue to be made. We sought to reflect this approach through the selection of topics as well as the composition of BIPOC and queer authors and reviewers of the articles in this special issue. The articles included address domestic violence theory, methods, measurement, social context, application, and policy. Below, the articles are introduced and summarized. The issue opens with an article by Beth Richie, Valli Kanuha, and Kayla Martensen, Colluding With and Resisting the State: Organizing Against Gender Violence in the U.S., that traces the history of the battered women’s movement in the U.S. from the lived experiences of two queer scholar-activists. They address the heteronormative, white beginnings of the battered women’s movement; the grassroots movements to include women in the margins initiated by and for women of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and sex workers; the influence of Crenshaw’s (1991) intersectionality framework, which originated from a critical race, feminist lens for viewing violence against Black and other multiply marginalized women; an evaluation of the unintended

Little is known about how biological and psychological consequences of adolescent stressful life events (SLEs) are jointly associated with socioeconomic and relational outcomes in adulthood. To address this gap, the present study involved testing a model based on the life course perspective that posits adolescent SLE trajectories produce parallel trajectories of depressive symptoms and weight status, which are jointly associated with socioeconomic status and intimate relationship quality in adulthood. Prospective data over 13 years from a nationally representative sample of 11,677 US adolescents was utilized. The results demonstrated that trajectories of BMI and depressive symptoms, which showed contemporaneous and longitudinal comorbidities over the early life course, were influenced by adolescent SLEs. Both BMI and depressive symptoms trajectories are additively and jointly associated with socioeconomic status and intimate relationship quality in adulthood. Additionally, adolescent SLE trajectories are directly associated with these adult outcomes. These observed associations persisted even after controlling for early family socioeconomic adversity and race/ethnicity. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

This study addresses important gaps in previous quantitative tests of feminist pathways theory by utilizing longitudinal data from Black men and women and by incorporating racial discrimination and school difficulties. We examine early physical abuse, sexual abuse, and racial discrimination as risks for criminal behavior and psychological distress, school difficulties, and substance use as links between early trauma and young adulthood crime. Consistent with previous studies, early abusive experiences were more salient for Black women than men, but racial discrimination was meaningful for both women and men. Moreover, the connections among mediators differed. Policy implications are offered.

Little research has examined multiple family risks that may act as precursors to the cycle of violence, or the link between child maltreatment and subsequent intimate partner violence perpetration. Scholarly work that addresses this gap has important implications for early prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing family violence in adolescence and young adulthood. Based upon the family stress model and the cycle of violence hypothesis, it was hypothesized that adolescent experiences of economic pressure, caregiver depressed mood, and caregiver conflict would increase risk for abusive parenting and that abusive parenting in adolescence would link these family experiences to partner violence perpetration in young adulthood. The model was tested using longitudinal data spanning 12 years from two studies: The Iowa Youth and Families Project (N = 306, 56.2% women), a sample of White, married-parent families, and the Family and Community Health Study (N = 213, 53.3% women), a sample of Black families diverse in terms of family structure. Path model analyses provided support for the proposed model in each sample, highlighting the importance of considering several adolescent family experiences in work on the etiology of partner violence. Policy and practice interventions are offered, such as the need for economic supports for families, accessible mental health care, and relationship education programming for youth.

Considerable research has been devoted to understanding the influence of the family on adolescents’ risky sexual behavior, with primary focus being given to family structure, family transitions, or parenting. Using longitudinal data from the Family and Community Health Study (n = 550, 54% female, age 10.5 years at Wave 1), an African American sample, the current study goes beyond past research to examine the combined influence of all of these factors while also assessing a wider and more culturally sensitive array of family structures, family transitions, and mediators. Results demonstrated that while continuously married mother–father households were most efficacious in reducing risky sexual behavior for both males and females, mother–relative households, a common household configuration among African American families, were also beneficial for females compared to single-mother, mother–stepfather, and mother–cohabiting partner households. With regard to family transitions, mothers’ number of divorces as well as her number of cohabiting breakups were associated with an increase in adolescents’ risky sex. Family structure and family transition effects were partially mediated by hostile parenting, as well as adolescents’ sexual attitudes and affiliation with sexually active peers. Even after accounting for the impact of these mediators, however, family structure and transitions at age 13 continued to have an effect on participation in risky sex when adolescents were 18 years of age. These results indicate that an array of family factors combine to influence the probability of adolescent participation in risky sex over time.