Intimate Partner Violence,Minority Stress,and Sexual Risk-Taking Among U.S. Men Who Have Sex With Men

This article examines the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among a national sample of Internet-recruited U.S. men who have sex with men (MSM) (n = 1,575), and associations between reporting of IPV, minority stress, and sexual risk-taking. Five outcomes are examined: experiences of physical and sexual violence, perpetration of physical and sexual violence, and unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) at last sexual encounter. MSM who reported experiencing more homophobic discrimination and internalized homophobia were more likely to report experiences of IPV. The results point to the need for prevention messages to address the external and internal stressors that influence both violence and sexual risk among MSM.     

Why is the History of Heterosexuality Essential? Beliefs About the History of Sexuality and Their Relationship to Sexual Prejudice

Heterosexual people with more positive attitudes to lesbians and gay men generally believe that homosexuality is immutable, is not a discrete social category, and that homosexuality exists in all cultures and time periods. Equivalent beliefs about heterosexuality and beliefs about components of sexuality have been less often researched. 136 people with diverse sexualities described heterosexuality as more universal across history and culture than homosexuality (Study 1). 69 heterosexual-identified participants similarly believed that love, identity, behavior, and desire were more historically invariant aspects of heterosexuality than of homosexuality (Study 2). Less prejudiced participants thought all components of homosexuality—except for identity—were more historically invariant. Teasing apart beliefs about the history of components of heterosexuality and homosexuality suggests that there is no “essential” relationship between sexual prejudice and the tension between essentialist and constructivist views about the history of sexual identity.     

Moving beyond the magic Indian Trope in Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series

In films, the Magic Negro is a stock character whose supernatural gifts promote the success of a White protagonist. A character with parallel traits found in a number of mystery series is the Magic Indian, who has supernatural connections and abilities unavailable to others. In his Walt Longmire mysteries, Craig Johnson develops a strong supernatural thread with the agency of Native American characters who can be considered Magic Indians. While Johnson's Magic Indians share similarities with Magic Negroes, they exhibit key differences in the way their spirituality is presented that make them more realistic characters serving an educational function.     

The Unintended Consequences of “Lack of Supervision” Child Neglect Laws: How Developmental Science Can Inform Policies about Childhood Independence and Child Protection

Policies and programs designed to serve children and families are sometimes misaligned with developmental science research. Broad child neglect reporting laws, first adopted by the United States in 1974, have led to families being prosecuted by child protection authorities for allowing children to participate in everyday age-appropriate activities unsupervised. In this report we describe the challenges of defining child neglect and outline the current landscape of neglect laws in the United States. We then provide a broad overview of some of the developmental milestones children need to reach to participate in unsupervised activities and the benefits of independent activities on child development. Children can often accomplish tasks at a much younger age than law, parents, and caregivers in the U.S. believe. We then turn to the literature from across the world and argue that culture, not innate ability, drives much of the variation in the age at which children can do things on their own. Finally, we make recommendations to parents, caregivers, legislators, advocates, and developmental scientists to better align practice with research. This is a social justice issue that should resonate across party, racial, and class lines. Developmental scientists are needed as advocates and advisors on policies impacting children and families, especially child neglect laws.     

Conventional and expanded adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and maternal functioning among low-income Black mothers

A paucity of research has examined the individual and cumulative effects of conventional and expanded adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on maternal functioning, especially among low-income Black mothers. Using self-report data from a subsample of Black mothers (N = 157) who participated in a larger study to evaluate the effectiveness of an urban public prekindergarten program in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, we examined the prevalence of ACEs and the individual and cumulative effects of conventional (i.e., family trauma and dysfunction) and expanded (i.e., community stressors) ACEs on depression and health among low-income Black mothers. Findings indicated that Black mothers had more exposure to expanded than conventional ACEs. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that experience of physical neglect was significantly associated with depression and physical abuse with compromised health, and perceived experience of racism was a predictor of depression and compromised health. More conventional and expanded ACEs were associated with clinical levels of depression and compromised health. Findings highlight the need for more research related to the impact of ACEs, especially expanded ACEs, on mental and behavioural health outcomes. Additionally, our findings indicate the need for more trauma-informed care to reduce and address the impact of individual and community-level adversities on low-income Black mothers.     

Working and caring for a disabled adopted child during a pandemic

Integrating work and family demands can be challenging for families caring for a child with one or more disabilities. The pandemic and its changes to work, schooling and service delivery potentially added to these challenges. This exploratory mixed methods study sought to understand how the pandemic affected adoptive parents' work–life fit and service use. A total of 200 participants responded to survey questions about parenting an adopted child with a disability prior to, and after, the onset of Covid-19. More than half of the parents (59.2%) reported that it was somewhat to very difficult to integrate both work and family demands. Parents with greater access to workplace flexibility and supportive supervisors had significantly less difficulties combining work and family. Families who reported more problems with accessing mental health services, special education and respite care reported significantly more challenges with work–family fit. Parents reported increased stress due to the pandemic changes, but many also shared positive changes such as more time for family. Online services were experienced as effective for some children and reduced time spent driving to appointments. Recommendations for workplace and social service practice and policy supporting adoptive parents of children with disabilities are discussed.     

“We're in this together”: Attachment insecurities,dyadic coping strategies,and relationship satisfaction in couples involved in medically assisted reproduction

Attachment is an important predictor of relationship satisfaction and attachment insecurities are a risk factor for couples under stress. Drawing from the Vulnerability–Stress–Adaptation model, we investigated whether dyadic coping strategies (DCS) would explain the links between attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction in 97 couples involved in medically assisted reproduction (MAR). Path analyses revealed that for women and men, attachment insecurities (anxiety, avoidance) were associated with their own lower relationship satisfaction through their lower use of positive DCS. Attachment avoidance was also associated with participants' own lower relationship satisfaction through their own lower use of negative DCS. Men's attachment avoidance was also related to their partner's lower relationship satisfaction via their own and their partner's lower use of positive DCS. The findings suggest that promoting the use of positive DCS may be important to preserve relationship satisfaction in couples involved in MAR.