Neuropsychological correlates of domestic violence

Neuropsychological functioning was assessed in 39 males who had committed domestic violence (batterers) and compared to 63 nonviolent (both maritally discordant and satisfied) subjects recruited by advertisement. Subjects were subsequently divided into two groups (head injured, nonhead injured) and these groups were also contrasted as a function of batterer status. Tests were administered to assess for cognitive and behavioral functions, including executive dysfunction, hypothesized to be a factor contributing to propensity for violence. Questionnaires and structured clinical interviews were used to assess marital discord, emotional distress, and violent behaviors. Batterers differed from nonbatterers across several cognitive domains: executive, learning, memory, and verbal functioning. Batterers were reliably discriminated from nonbatterers based on three neuropsychological tasks: Digit Symbol, Recognition Memory Test-Words, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Neuropsychological performance was the strongest correlate of domestic violence of all clinical variables measured. However, the inclusion of two other variables, severity of emotional distress and history of head injury, together with the neuropsychological indices provided the strongest correlation with batterers status. Among batterers, neuropsychological performance did not vary as a function of head injury status, indicating that while prior head injury was correlated with batterer status, it was not the sole basis for their impairments. The findings suggest that current cognitive status, prior brain injury, childhood academic problems, as well as psychosocial influences, contribute along with coexisting emotional distress to a propensity for domestic violence.     

Understanding types,locations, & perpetrators of peer-to-peer sexual harassment in U.S. middle schools: A focus on sex,racial, and grade differences

This study employed a mixed-method design to examine sexual harassment victimization among American middle school youth (grades 5–8). Students completed a self-report measure of sexual harassment victimization and indicated where sexual harassment occurs in their school. They responded to open-ended questions about the most upsetting incident they experienced and identified characteristics of perpetrators (N = 858). Verbal victimization (e.g., unwanted sexual commentary and homophobic name-calling) was more frequent than physical victimization and sexual assault. The types of sexual harassment experienced and the perpetrators varied by sex, race, and grade level. Sexual harassment occurred most frequently in hallways, followed by classrooms, gym locker rooms, gym class, lunch room, and outside of the school. The most upsetting unwanted incidents included (1) verbal - homophobic language; (2) verbal - sexual commentary and sexual rumor spreading; (3) physical – being touched; (4) pulling down pants; (5) being sexually assaulted; and (6) dismissiveness of victimization. Girls reported other boys as perpetrators; whereas, boys reported their perpetrators as other boys and close friends. For African-American students, perpetrators were identified as older and romantic partners. For White students, perpetrators were reported as same-age peers and friends. Understanding and recognizing what constitutes sexual harassment and where it most commonly occurs among early adolescence is critical to preventing sexual harassment into late adolescence.     

Sexual Assault Risks Among Gay and Bisexual Men

The goal of this study was to examine lifetime patterns of sexual assault and associated risks among a purposive sample of gay and bisexual men (N = 183; 18 to 35 years old, M = 24.3). Cross-sectional data were collected via written, self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face, event-based qualitative interviews. Alcohol severity scores indicated high rates of hazardous drinking (53.0%) and possible dependence (14.2%) among participants. One-half of men (50.8%) reported childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and 67.2% reported adult sexual assault (ASA). Average age at most recent ASA was 21 years. Most perpetrators (83.9%) of recent ASA incidents were male; 67.0% of participants reported consuming alcohol and/or drugs prior to the most recent incident. Regression findings indicated more severe CSA experiences and past alcohol-related problems predicted recent severe ASA. Although we found similarities between gay and bisexual men in lifetime sexual assault history, we found some distinct differences in ASA risk factors. Bisexual men reported higher alcohol severity scores, more female ASA perpetrators, higher internalized homophobia scores, and fewer male sexual partners than gay men. Findings suggest the need for interventions that reduce ASA risk among sexual minority men—and the potential benefits of focusing on alcohol consumption in risk reduction efforts.     

Irish child sexual abuse victims attending a specialist centre

We profiled a cohort of CSA cases referred for assessment to a specialist child sexual abuse (CSA) centre in a national paediatric hospital in Ireland. Historical and clinical data were drawn from records of 171 cases. The majority of cases were referred by social workers following purposeful disclosure of CSA. Three quarters of the cases were female with a mean age of 9 years. They were from a wide spectrum of socioeconomic groups and many had suffered a range of family adversities. In most cases, the abuse involved masturbation of the child by the abuser. Almost all of the perpetrators were male with a mean age of 28 years and in 60% of cases extrafamilial abuse had occurred. In 23% of cases, the perpetrator had a history of previous sexual offending. Anxiety was the most common emotional problem before disclosure and after disclosure the most common emotional problem was guilt. Before disclosure school refusal was the most common behavioural problem and after disclosure fighting was the most prevalent behavioural difficulty. The most common factors supporting the credibility of CSA allegations were labile mood, the child's ability to differentiate fact from fantasy and a detailed disclosure of contextual details. More adolescents showed deterioration in schoolwork after disclosure and for more pre school children clinginess following disclosure was a significant emotional problem. More primary school aged children were abused by perpetrators who had abused a number of children. For children abused by such perpetrators, vaginal intercourse was less common. Vaginal intercourse was more common in 6–11‐year‐old victims and those who were abused on a daily basis. The threat that disclosure posed to the integrity of the family structure was more often a factor hindering disclosure in victims abused by father figures and abused very frequently. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stalking by former intimates: verbal threats and other predictors of physical violence

Scant empirical research has been conducted on the relationship between threats and violence. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the link between verbal threats of violence and actual physical violence against former intimate victims of stalking. The researcher interviewed 187 female former intimate stalking victims, asking respondents about various characteristics of their experiences. Responses to questions pertaining to threats; history of violence; stalkers' drug and alcohol use; frequency of phone calls, "following," and letters during stalking; and victims' age and education were analyzed as possible predictors of three violence-related dependent variables: (a) whether or not violence occurred, (b) the number of violent incidents during stalking, and (c) physical injury during stalking. The results of linear and logistic regression models reveal that, regardless of the measure of violence, there is an independent, moderate, and statistically significant correlation between verbal threats and subsequent violence. Regression coefficients for drug abuse and alcohol abuse were also statistically significant, but only in predicting physical injury during stalking.     

In Search of Executive Impairment in Pathological Gambling: A Neuropsychological Study on Non-treatment Seeking Gamblers

Pathological gambling is characterized by a persisting maladaptive and recurrent behavior with severe social and psychological consequences. There is evidence of strong comorbidity with psychiatric manifestations as well as cognitive mainly involving executive functions. This study aimed to investigate impairment in executive functions and working memory, and personality traits in a sample of Greek gamblers. Twenty-four men involved in various gambling activities were recruited from ecological settings as probable pathological gamblers. They were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery involving several executive tasks, the Zuckerman–Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. An age- and education-level matched group of 21 men without history of habitual gambling served as controls. As a group, gamblers displayed significantly lower scores on indices of inhibition, decision making and self-reported emotional awareness, and scored higher on impulsivity/sensation seeking personality traits. Notably, gamblers scored similarly or significantly higher on measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, verbal fluency, and sustained attention. Overall, we argue that gamblers do present with specific cognitive deficits, but there is no evidence for a generalized executive impairment, and further stress the importance of investigating cognitive, personality, and psychiatric aspects of gambling on the basis of an ecologically valid sampling.     

Antecedents and correlates of alcohol, cocaine, and alcohol-cocaine abuse in early adulthood

We used a fourfold substance abuse typology consisting of non-abusers, alcohol abusers, cocaine abusers, and joint alcohol and cocaine abusers with a nationally representative sample of young adults (aged 19-26 years) to investigate issues related to prevalence, antecedents, and correlates of substance abuse. The prevalence data indicate higher alcohol abuse among white males, but approximately equal proportions of cocaine abuse and joint alcohol and cocaine abuse across gender and ethnic/racial groups. A simplex-like ordering was found for the four abuse groups with regard to the degree of problem severity associated with most of the antecedents and correlates. Joint alcohol and cocaine abusers demonstrated the highest levels of previous thirty-day and lifetime drug use, high levels of delinquent activity, and the highest rates of unemployment and marital instability. Cocaine abusers demonstrated the second highest levels of problem severity, alcohol abusers the third highest levels, and non-abusers the lowest levels. An exception to the simplex-like pattern was found with respect to educational attainment and verbal intelligence. Joint alcohol and cocaine abusers reported the lowest high school dropout rate and scored the highest on a measure of verbal intelligence. We suggest that joint alcohol and cocaine abusers may be characterized as "non-strivers" or "underachievers," quite possibly as a consequence of substance abuse.     

Assessing the Traumatic Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

A sample of 531 self-identitied adult and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse were sent or given a 686 item Post-Traumatic Stress Questionnaire. Each respondent described between 1-3 different sexually abusive experiences with different perpetrators, in detail, for a total of 1140 experiences. A series of statistical analyses examined the correlations and relationships between aspects of the abuse (including perceived severe impact, duration, frequency, type of abuse, use of force, age of onset) and scores on a variety of standardized instruments. Results of these analyses of the Impact of Events Scale, the Trauma Symptom Checklist-33, and the MMPI-PTSD scale revealed that the cognitive variable of perceived severity of impact accounted for the most variance in scores on the instruments. Other variables which influenced higher scores were greater number of abusers, greater intrusiveness of abuse with force, and greater intrusiveness of abuse without force.     

Profiling Online Poker Players: Are Executive Functions Correlated with Poker Ability and Problem Gambling?

Poker playing and responsible gambling both entail the use of the executive functions (EF), which are higher-level cognitive abilities. This study investigated if online poker players of different ability showed different performances in their EF and if so, which functions were the most discriminating for their playing ability. Furthermore, it assessed if the EF performance was correlated to the quality of gambling, according to self-reported questionnaires (PGSI, SOGS, GRCS). Three poker experts evaluated anonymized poker hand history files and, then, a trained professional administered an extensive neuropsychological test battery. Data analysis determined which variables of the tests correlated with poker ability and gambling quality scores. The highest correlations between EF test results and poker ability and between EF test results and gambling quality assessment showed that mostly different clusters of executive functions characterize the profile of the strong(er) poker player and those ones of the problem gamblers (PGSI and SOGS) and the one of the cognitions related to gambling (GRCS). Taking into consideration only the variables overlapping between PGSI and SOGS, we found some key predictive factors for a more risky and harmful online poker playing: a lower performance in the emotional intelligence competences (Emotional Quotient inventory Short) and, in particular, those grouped in the Intrapersonal scale (emotional self-awareness, assertiveness, self-regard, independence and self-actualization).     

Cognitive Deficits in Executive Functions and Decision-Making Impairments Cluster Gambling Disorder Sub-types

To identify Gambling Disorder (GD) subtypes, in a population of men seeking treatment for GD, according to specific executive function domains (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibition and working memory as well as decision making) which are usually impaired in addictive behaviors. A total of 145 males ranging from 18 to 65 years diagnosed with GD were included in this study. All participants completed: (a) a set of questionnaires to assess psychopathological symptoms, personality and impulsivity traits, and (b) a battery of neuropsychological measures to test different executive functioning domains. Two clusters were identified based on the individual performance on the neuropsychological assessment. Cluster 1 [n = 106; labeled as Low Impaired Executive Function (LIEF)] was composed by patients with poor results in the neuropsychological assessment; cluster 2 patients [n = 46; labeled as High Impaired Executive Function (HIEF)] presented significantly higher deficits on the assessed domains and performed worse than the ones of LIEF cluster. Regarding the characterization of these two clusters, patients in cluster 2 were significantly older, unemployed and registered higher mean age of GD onset than patients in cluster 1. Additionally, patients in cluster 2 also obtained higher psychopathological symptoms, impulsivity (in both positive and negative urgency as well as sensation seeking) and some specific personality traits (higher harm avoidance as well as lower self-directedness and cooperativeness) than patients in cluster 1. The results of this study describe two different GD subtypes based on different cognitive domains (i.e., executive function performance). These two GD subtypes display different impulsivity and personality traits as well as clinical symptoms. The results provide new insight into the etiology and characterization of GD and have the potential to help improving current treatments.     

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,Dissociation, and Neuropsychological Performance in Latina Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study compared the memory, attention/concentration, and executive functioning of 12 women with histories of child sexual abuse with a control group of 12 women without childhood abuse. Participants completed a neuropsychological test battery and various instruments assessing post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation. The child sexual abuse group had lower performance than the control group on long- and short-term visual and verbal memory and presented more limited performance on executive functioning tasks. Functioning in these areas showed a negative correlation with post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative symptoms. These findings suggest that child sexual abuse is associated with memory and executive functioning deficits and supports the idea that people with trauma histories and increased post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation symptoms may have alterations in neuropsychological functioning.     

Intimate partner violence: the effect of gender and contextual factors on community perceptions of harm, and suggested victim and criminal justice responses

Using a vignette to depict physical violence by an intimate partner, a 2 (perpetrator gender) X 2 (participant gender) X 2 (frequency) X 2 (intent to cause harm) between subjects factorial design was used to examine under what circumstances individuals perceive: an incident should be illegal, the extent of harm, and appropriate victim and criminal justice responses. There were 868 participants from the Brisbane (Australia) community (48.5% males). The actions of male perpetrators were viewed more seriously and the victims were recommended to seek more forms of assistance when the perpetrator was male. There were few differences in perceptions of violence according to participant gender. The frequency of the violence affected the participant's responses but the intentions of the perpetrator did not. Results are discussed in terms of stereotypes of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the implications for help-seeking behavior by victims.     

Is Elder Abuse and Neglect a Social Phenomenon? Data from the First National Prevalence Survey in Israel

This article discusses findings from the First National Survey on Elder Abuse and Neglect in Israel, conducted during 2004–2005 under the sponsorship of The Association for Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel (ESHEL) and the National Insurance Institute. The goals were to examine the prevalence and severity of various forms of abuse and neglect from the victims' perspective, to examine correlates and predictors, and to develop profiles of elders at risk. Data were collected through personal interviews from a national representative sample of community urban dwellers age 65 and older, using cluster sampling techniques and sampling proportionately both Arab and Jewish elders. The sample was composed of 392 males and 650 females, 89% were Jews and 11% were non-Jews. The instrument included sociodemographic data, health and activities of daily living (ADL), a measure of safety, and a battery to examine seven types of abuse (physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, financial exploitation, sexual, and neglect). Findings indicate that 18.4% of the respondents were exposed to at least one type of abuse during the 12 months preceding the interview, the highest form being verbal abuse followed by financial exploitation. The rates were quite similar between Jews and Arabs. Women were more exposed to physical violence and Arab women were the most vulnerable. Physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, and sexual abuse occurred mostly among partners. The rates of physical, sexual, and limitation of freedom abuse, however, were relatively low. Financial exploitation was mostly inflicted by adult children. Partners as perpetrators had more chronic health problems and physical and mental disabilities. Children as perpetrators were unemployed, had various mental health problems, and were substance abusers, often in a process of separation or divorce and tended to live with the victims. Neglect in answering primary needs was found among 20% of the sample, regarding the 3 months preceding the interview. This high rate might be related to elders tending to avoid seeking help or sharing their needs with their families. When victims sought help it was mostly from medical and health services. The findings thus corroborate that elder abuse and neglect is a social problem in Israeli society and has to be addressed in policy discourse and service developments.     

Challenging gendered power: How sexual harassment perpetrators respond to victim confrontation

Sexual harassment is a problem that continues to plague mostly women in the American workforce today. One tool that victims can use in these situations is confrontation, either through verbal or physical means. Yet, understudied to this point is how perpetrators respond to confrontation, which is highly salient as to whether this is an effective tool for victims. This study uses grounded theory methods to analyze 31 accounts of sexual harassment from within the fashion industry that recorded perpetrators' responses to victim confrontation to clearly unwanted, abusive behavior. I argue that specific features of the fashion industry, or a “display work culture,” embolden perpetrators to effectively thwart any type of confrontation. Indeed, this study finds that these predominantly male perpetrators of sexual harassment moved to reassert their dominant position over their female victims in the moment of confrontation, immediately after being confronted, and even later, well beyond confrontation, as they aimed to reestablish normal business practices as usual. This research thus dispels a significant sexual harassment myth that victims working within this culture are able to stop perpetrators simply by speaking up and/or fighting back and points to the need for the development of sexual harassment theory to incorporate work culture-related risk factors and remedies.     

Anger, irrational beliefs, and dysfunctional attitudes in violent dating relationships

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate whether perpetrators of dating violence could be differentiated from their nonviolent counterparts on measures of anger and cognitive distortion, specifically Ellis's (1994) irrational beliefs and Beck's (1976) dysfunctional attitudes. Of the 95 male and 152 female undergraduates surveyed, 27% (24 males and 43 females) reported using some form of physical aggression against their current dating partner in the past year. On a self-report measure of anger (State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory), violent individuals reported higher levels of Anger Out and lower levels of Anger Control compared to nonviolent participants. While there were no differences between violent and nonviolent participants' levels of Trait Anger, the results suggest that violent individuals have difficulty controlling angry feelings when they arise, which may increase the likelihood of externally directed forms of anger expression. No significant group differences emerged on questionnaire measures of irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes. Within the violent sample, there was no differential pattern of correlations between measures of anger and cognition relative to the nonviolent sample. The present data suggest that while trait-based measures of cognitive distortion explain little variance in self-reported acts of dating violence, future research should investigate whether (a) cognitive distortions are present during affect-inducing partner conflict situations, or (b) vary with violence severity.     

Elder mistreatment in urban India: a community based study

This study examined the extent and correlates of elder mistreatment among 400 community dwelling older adults aged 65 and above in Chennai, India. The prevalence rate of mistreatment was 14%. Chronic verbal abuse was the most common followed by financial abuse and the rate of physical abuse and neglect was similar. Among the mistreated, exactly half of them had experienced more than one type of mistreatment (multifaceted-mistreatment). With the exception of financial abuse, a significantly greater number of women experienced verbal and physical abuse as well as neglect compared to men. Adult children, daughters-in-law, spouses, and sons-in-law were the prominent perpetrators. The mistreated older adults were more depressed and less satisfied with life than those who were not mistreated. Logistic regression analysis revealed gender, social support, and subjective rating of physical health as significant factors associated with abuse.     

Characteristics of female perpetrators and victims of dating violence

Although many researchers have explored the topic of dating violence, limited attention has been paid to female perpetrators. Very little research has examined variables that facilitate aggression for females in dating relationships. In an effort to investigate distinct types of violent behavior, the present study separated females who experience dating violence into three categories (bi-directional aggression, perpetrator-only, and victim-only) and compared them with a control group not previously exposed to interpersonal violence. The purpose of this study was to examine variables that discriminate violent females from non-violent females. Variables that were hypothesized to be associated with aggressive behavior and investigated in the current study were interparental aggression, self-esteem, love attitudes, and alcohol use. Three hundred female college students responded to multiple self-report questionnaires examining psychological correlates of dating violence. Females in the bi-directional aggression group were more likely to have witnessed their father abuse their mother and scored significantly lower on a measure of self-esteem than non-violent controls. Females in the control group demonstrated higher scores on a measure of mature and selfless love style than did the victim or perpetrator-only participants. There were no significant group differences regarding general alcohol consumption. Implications for prevention and intervention are presented and discussed.     

Domestic violence among male and female patients seeking emergency medical services

Gender differences among a cohort of injured patients seeking emergency medical services were examined with respect to their experiences as perpetrators and/or victims of domestic violence. Contextual issues, including violence initiation, emotional and behavioral responses to partner-initiated violence, and injury frequency and severity were analyzed. Women reported male partner-initiated violence more frequently than men reported female partner-initiated violence. Behavioral responses to partner initiated violence varied. Women were more likely to report using force back and to involve law enforcement. Women were more likely to be injured in a domestic assault over their lifetime, within the last year, and at the time of recruitment. Comparison of injury severity revealed that women reported higher rates of injuries than men in all possible severity categories. Women also reported experiencing more fear than men during partner-initiated violence, as well as being subjected to larger numbers of dominating and controlling behaviors, and greater intimidation secondary to their partner's size. Understanding contextual differences in partner violence for women and men has significant implications for policy development, identification, treatment, and referral of patients identified as living in violent relationships.     

Effect of Normative Masculinity on Males’ Dysfunctional Sexual Beliefs,Sexual Attitudes,and Perceptions of Sexual Functioning

Male sexual dysfunction is a prevalent and distressing condition, which may be exacerbated by the sufferer's perceptions of masculinity and normative sexual behavior. This study sought to investigate the effect of social context on males’ beliefs regarding sexual behavior. The research examined the effect of male role modeling and masculine cues on males’ dysfunctional sexual beliefs, sexual attitudes, and self-perceptions of sexual functioning. A sample of 140 male participants, with a mean age of 29 years, was exposed to pictorial and verbal cues that presented different versions of male behavior across three conditions. Results indicated that males exposed to models and cues of traditional masculinity showed significantly increased levels of dysfunctional sexual beliefs and traditional sexual attitudes relative to males exposed to models of modern masculinity. Results also indicated that males exposed to traditional masculine stimuli reported lower levels of sexual inhibition due to fear of performance failure than males exposed to models of modern masculinity. The potential role of social context is discussed in the development and maintenance of male sexual dysfunction and its implications for treatment.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse,Adult Psychiatric Morbidity,and Criminal Outcomes in Women Assessed by Medium Secure Forensic Service

There is little literature on childhood sexual abuse in women seen by forensic services. A cohort of 225 cases of women seen by forensic services in a medium secure unit in the UK were examined, and childhood sexual abuse and non–childhood sexual abuse cases were compared. Over half the sample had a history of childhood sexual abuse, and 5.6% of this group were victims of a subsequent sexual assault in adulthood. The perpetrators were all male. The majority of intrafamilial cases resulted in victims being raised in environments outside the family home. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with later relationship, educational, and occupational difficulties. Significant associations were also seen with personality disorder, self-harm, and substance misuse. Treating services need to recognize the potential importance of childhood sexual abuse in their models of care given the complexity of the association between childhood sexual abuse and psychosocial needs and its impact on successful rehabilitation.