Young sexual minority men (YSMM) are at elevated risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) but often underreport IPV experiences and face barriers to help-seeking due to systemic discrimination and internalized stigma. Using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology, we analyzed interviews with 26 YSMM to explore how they make sense of past IPV. Five emergent themes reflected adaptive (increased understanding of IPV, posttraumatic growth, and awareness of desensitization to violence) and maladaptive (minimization of violence and pervasive distrust) meaning-making. Abuse was often recognized only after the relationship ended (often through therapy) and shaped by earlier IPV exposure. Findings underscore the urgent need for culturally responsive IPV services that address the psychological and structural barriers YSMM of color face, including intersecting forms of marginalization that silence help-seeking and delay recovery.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive issue with significant global health implications. It can lead to severe physical, psychological, and social consequences that can extend to adult life. This review was conducted to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for CSA among children <18 years of age in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A random-effects model and Jamovi (ver. 2.3.28.0) software were used for statistical analysis. Out of 284 identified records, 11 studies from India, Nepal, and Pakistan were included, while no eligible studies were identified for Bangladesh, Bhutan, or Afghanistan. The pooled prevalence was 6.23% (95% confidence interval [1.9, 10.5]), with substantial heterogeneity (I² = 99.73%). Key risk factors identified included lack of parental supervision, unsafe environments, sex disparities, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

This study examined the association of childhood victimization with physical health symptoms among first-year college students. Participants (N = 655) from three U.S. universities completed an online survey in fall 2012 that assessed multiple forms of childhood victimization and current physical and mental health. In bivariate models, all forms of childhood victimization were significantly associated with physical health except physical peer victimization. Multivariate regression models indicated that childhood sexual assault (β = .09, p < .05) and verbal peer victimization (β = .12, p < .01) were positively associated with current physical health symptoms even after controlling for other forms of childhood victimization and current mental health. Findings bolster the need for campus health centers to screen for childhood victimization, particularly sexual assault and verbal peer victimization, when providing both physical and mental health services to students.

The history of childhood trauma may play a role in the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to examine the relationship between forms and severity of childhood trauma and the experience of IPV among 550 female urban slum dwellers in Ibadan, Nigeria. Prevalence of lifetime and past year experience of IPV was 31.5% and 14.8%, respectively, whereas 30.8%, 41.6%, and 5.8% had experienced one, two, and three forms of childhood trauma, respectively. Women who had experienced two or three forms of childhood trauma were more likely to have experienced IPV in the past year. Multiple traumas during childhood were associated with both lifetime and recent experiences of IPV. Interventions for women who have experienced childhood trauma are advocated as a possible prevention strategy against future experiences of IPV.

There is a growing understanding of the intersection of natural disasters and human trafficking, but there are few empirical research studies on this phenomenon. This exploratory study seeks to advance knowledge on the nexus of human trafficking after natural disasters in the Gulf South region of the United States. We conducted semistructured interviews with 46 disaster responders and human trafficking responders working in Louisiana during a major hurricane between 2017 and 2022. These interviews explored the landscape of human trafficking in the wake of disasters, the impact of natural disasters on respondents' abilities to identify and respond to trafficking, and the lessons that respondents learned from their experiences. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that respondents identified both sex and labor trafficking that occurred after hurricanes. Responders were severely limited in their ability to respond to trafficking in postdisaster settings. However, responders found creative and innovative partnerships to overcome challenges in postdisaster settings. We discuss implications for human trafficking responders, disaster responders, and researchers to advance antitrafficking response in postdisaster settings.

This study explores the victim-offender overlap, where intimate partner victimization (physical and verbal) increases the likelihood of subsequent violent behavior, within the context of the global pandemic, using data from both Western (the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands) and non-Western (Ukraine, Guatemala, and Pakistan) settings. Findings reveal that pandemic strain (e.g., concerns about the virus, food shortages, and health care issues) is significantly associated with violence (Western: b = .071, p < .001; non-Western: b = .025, p < .001) and the risk of victimization in both contexts. Verbal and physical victimization are also associated with violence across Western and non-Western settings. Verbal victimization explains 26% of the pandemic strain-violence relationship solely in Western contexts. These findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive strategies addressing pandemic-related stressors, ultimately reducing victimization and violence during global health crises.

Psychological maltreatment is a prevalent form of interpersonal abuse in romantic relationships, with many victims reporting their first experience before the age of 25 years. Such maltreatment correlates with a number of negative mental health problems, including the development of negative body esteem and disordered eating. This study examined links between psychological maltreatment, body image, and disordered eating and assessed negative cognitive coping strategies (e.g., self-blame and detachment) as mediators of this relationship. Participants were 226 undergraduate women at a midwestern U.S. university who completed measures of psychological maltreatment, coping styles, and various body image and disordered eating inventories. We found that psychological maltreatment was associated with decreases in body esteem and increases in disordered eating behavior. Additionally, for disordered eating and overweight preoccupation, negative cognitive coping mediated these effects. Findings highlight the benefits of therapeutic strategies emphasizing the importance of healthy cognitive coping and social support, especially for the prevention of body image disturbance and disordered eating in victims of psychological maltreatment.

The issue of mass shootings and how to prevent them has become a widely discussed topic in the United States, and attitudes about the role of guns in mass shootings are closely linked with gun policy preferences. An emerging frame to predict gun policy preferences is a "guns and freedom" ideology that views the wide availability of firearms as essential for freedom from criminal perpetrators and government authority. We rely on survey data to test the ability of the guns and freedom ideology to better predict the perspective that more guns in the hands of citizens would reduce mass shootings than frames typically discussed in the literature: political beliefs, region-rurality, gender-race, and gun ownership. Our results indicate that the belief that guns are essential to freedom is the strongest predictor of viewing the wide availability of guns as a solution for reducing mass shootings.

With growing concern about aggressive behavior among adolescents, there is ongoing debate regarding the link between poor sleep quality and aggression. The present study examines the relationship between poor sleep quality and aggressive behavior in adolescents, with a particular focus on family cohesion and affect (i.e., both negative and positive affect) as underlying mechanisms. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N = 528, M age = 14.12, SD age = 1.14, 45.8% female) participated in the study. The results indicated that poor sleep quality was positively associated with aggressive behavior. Family cohesion and both types of affect partially and serially mediated the relationship between poor sleep quality and aggressive behavior. These findings underscore the importance of targeting sleep quality in interventions aimed at adolescents. Improving sleep quality may help to enhance adolescents' mental and emotional well-being, promote healthier family relationships, and reduce aggressive behaviors.

Little is known about the prevalence rates for different sexual assault types, particularly among college men. This study compared the frequency and type of sexual assault for 783 college women and men and examined whether risk factors differed by sexual assault type. Twenty-eight percent of men and 45% of women experienced one or more types of sexual assault in the past year. Heavy drinking and greater posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were significant correlates of incapacitated sexual assault for men, whereas Greek affiliation, heavy drinking, and greater PTSD symptoms were significant for women. For coercive sexual assault, greater PTSD symptoms were significant for men, while Greek affiliation, heavy drinking, and greater PTSD symptoms were significant for women. Both college women and men are at risk for different types of sexual assault.