Correlates of Sexual Violence among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Tijuana, Mexico

Sexual violence among men who have sex with men (MSM) is prevalent in developing countries and is associated with increased HIV/STI risk. Despite high HIV prevalence (20 %) among MSM in Tijuana, Mexico, little attention has been paid to the occurrence of sexual violence in this high-risk group. 

The present study used a syndemic conditions framework to examine correlates of sexual violence victimization in a sample of 201 MSM surveyed in Tijuana, Mexico during 2012 and 2013. Participants were recruited through respondent-driven sampling and underwent a 2-h baseline interview and testing for HIV and syphilis. Sexual violence was defined as any incident during the past year in which the participant had been raped, sexually molested, or sexually harassed. 

The majority of participants self-identified as gay or bisexual, had never married, were employed, and had a high school education or greater. The average age was 29.7 years. Thirty-nine percent reported sexual violence in the past year. A hierarchical multiple linear regression model predicting more experiences of sexual violence was tested. In a final model, a higher number of experiences of sexual violence was associated with a history of childhood sexual abuse, more adult experiences of homophobia, more depression and hostility symptoms, and not living with a spouse or steady partner. 

The findings from this study support a model of co-occurring psychosocial factors that increase the likelihood of sexual violence experiences among MSM. Multi-level approaches to the prevention of childhood and adult experiences of sexual violence and homophobia are needed to avert the development of adverse mental and physical health outcomes associated with sexual violence victimization.

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By:  Semple SJ1, Stockman JK2, Goodman-Meza D3, Pitpitan EV2, Strathdee SA2, Chavarin CV1, Rangel G4, Torres K5, Patterson TL6.

• 1Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, Mail Code 0680, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0680, USA.
• 2Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
• 3Department of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
• 4US-Mexico Border Health Commission, Tijuana, Mexico.
• 5Agencia Familiar Binacional, A.C., Tijuana, Mexico.
• 6Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, Mail Code 0680, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0680, USA. tpatterson@ucsd.edu. 
• Arch Sex Behav. 2016 May 13. 

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Risk of Heavy Drinking among Sexual Minority Adolescents: Indirect Pathways through Sexual Orientation-Related Victimization & Affiliation with Substance-Using Peers

AIMS:

To test two indirect pathways through which sexual minority adolescents (SMAs) may be at risk for heavy episodic drinking (HED) including a socialization pathway via substance-using peer affiliations and social marginalization pathway via sexual minority-specific victimization and subsequent substance-using peer affiliations.

DESIGN:

Analysis of the first three waves (six-months apart) of a longitudinal adolescent health risk study (2011-2014). Participants were referred by medical providers or a screening system in providers' waiting rooms.

SETTING:

Two large urban adolescent health clinics in Pennsylvania and Ohio, USA.

PARTICIPANTS:

290 adolescents (ages 14-19, mean: 17) who were 71% female, 33% non-Hispanic White, and 34% SMAs.

MEASUREMENTS:

Self-reported sexual minority status (wave 1) and affiliation with substance-using peers (waves 1 and 2), and latent sexual-minority specific victimization (waves 1 and 2) and HED (waves 1 and 3) variables.

FINDINGS:

Using mediation analyses in a structural equation modeling framework, there was a significant indirect effect of sexual minority status (wave 1) on HED (wave 3) via affiliation with substance-using peers (wave 2; indirect effect = 0.03, 95%CI: 0.01, 0.07), after accounting for the indirect effect of sexual-orientation related victimization (wave 2; indirect effect = .10, 95%CI: 0.02-0.19). The social marginalization pathway was not supported as victimization (wave 1) was not associated with affiliation with substance-using peers (wave 2; β = -.04, p = .66). Sex differences in the indirect effects were not detected (ps > .10).

CONCLUSIONS:

Sexual minority adolescents in the US appear to exhibit increased heavy episodic drinking via an indirect socialization pathway including affiliations with substance-using peers and a concurrent indirect pathway involving sexual minority-related victimization. The pathways appear to operate similarly for boys and girls.

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By:  Dermody SS1, Marshal MP2,3, Burton CM2, Chisolm DJ4.

• 1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.
• 2Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.
• 3Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.
• 4Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital. 
• Addiction. 2016 Mar 28. doi: 10.1111/add.13409. 

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The Roles of Family Factors and Relationship Dynamics on Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration among College Men and Women in Emerging Adulthood

Using data from the International Dating Violence Study, this study examined the roles of early socialization, family social structure, and relationship dynamics factors on physical aggression in dating among U.S. college students in emerging adulthood. 

The interaction effects between these three domains of interest (early socialization, family social structure, and relationship dynamics) were explored to understand the underlying mechanisms that influenced victimization and perpetration in dating. 

In general, we found that family and relational variables associated with dating victimization and perpetration were fairly similar. Among the early socialization variables, experience of childhood neglect and having witnessed domestic violence were significantly related to victimization and perpetration. Living in a two-parent household appeared to exert a protective effect, although associations with parental education were not statistically significant. 

Furthermore, the participants were more likely to experience victimization or impose aggression in dating relationships which were characterized by conflicts, distress, dominance, or psychological aggression. Overall, for the participants who came from a two-parent household, dominance in dating was linked to less violence. 

When the participants faced higher levels of psychological aggression, adverse early socialization factors were associated with higher levels of dating violence victimization and perpetration. Research and practice implications were discussed.

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By:  Paat YF1, Markham C2.

• 1The University of Texas at El Paso, USA ypaat@utep.edu.
• 2University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, USA. 
• J Interpers Violence. 2016 Mar 27. pii: 0886260516640544

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Lessons Learned: Conducting Research with Victims Portrayed in Sexual Abuse Images and Their Parents

Victims portrayed in sexual abuse images may be resistant to participate in research because of embarrassment or shame due to the sensitive nature and potential permanency of images. No studies we are aware of explore reactions to participating in research after this type of crime. 

Telephone interviews were conducted with convenience samples of parents (n= 46) and adolescents who were victims of child sexual abuse (n= 11; some of whom were portrayed in sexual abuse images), and online surveys were completed by adult survivors depicted in abuse images (N= 133). 

• The first lesson was that few agencies tracked this type of crime. This lack of tracking raises the question as to what types of data should be collected and tracked as part of an investigation. 
• The second lesson was that few victims at the two participating agencies had been portrayed in sexual abuse images (4%-5%). 
• The third lesson was that once possible cases were identified, we found relatively high percentages of consent to contact and interview completions. 
• This implies that researchers and service providers should not be hesitant about conducting research after an investigation of child sexual abuse. 
• The fourth lesson was that the vast majority of participants reported not being upset by the questions. 

We hope that the data presented here will encourage agencies to reconsider the types of data being tracked and will encourage researchers to conduct in-depth research with populations that are often difficult to reach to continue improving the professional response to child victimization.

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By:  Walsh WA1, Wolak J2, Lounsbury K3, Howley S4, Lippert T5, Thomas L6.

• 1University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA Wendy.walsh@unh.edu.
• 2University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
• 3National Children's Alliance, Washington, DC, USA.
• 4National Center for Victims of Crimes, Washington, DC, USA.
• 5Kaiser Permanente, Portland, OR, USA.
• 6The Harris County Children's Assessment Center, Houston, TX, USA. 
• J Interpers Violence. 2016 Mar 27. pii: 0886260516640545

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Victimization, Mental Health & Well-Being among Trans Youths in the Province of Quebec

Introduction 
Trans youths are more likely to experience negative social and parental reactions suggesting reprehension, from disapproving looks to physical violence. While victimization increases the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes, little is known about potential mediating factors between mental health and victimization. Self-esteem is one of the factors that may mediate the impact of homophobic victimization on mental health. Yet, data on trans youths are scarce.

Objectives 
The objectives of this paper are: 

1. to compare trans youths to cisgender heterosexual male and female youths regarding two different forms of victimization (victimization based on gender nonconformity and parental verbal abuse), self-esteem, and psychological distress, as well as 
2. to test a path model of the impact of these two forms of victimization on self-esteem and psychological distress.

Methods 
Data for this study are drawn from the Quebec Youths' Romantic Relationships survey. Data were collected among youth aged 14 to 22 years old recruited either in schools or online. Thirty-seven participants endorsed being trans or questioning their gender identity. They were paired to 74 cisgender heterosexual youths (37 male and 37 female) using propensity scores based on socio-demographic characteristics.

Results 
Results showed that verbal parental abuse and victimization based on gender nonconformity were more prevalent among trans participants. Parental verbal abuse and victimization based on gender nonconformity were both directly and negatively associated with self-esteem (explained variance: 36%). Sexual status explains 19.6% of the variance of parental victimization and 50.6% of the variance of victimization on the basis of gender nonconformity. A higher self-esteem was associated with decreased psychological distress (explained variance: 66.9%). Moreover, parental verbal abuse was also directly associated with higher psychological distress. Although there was no direct relationship between trans status and psychological distress and self-esteem, its total indirect effects on these two indicators of mental health and wellbeing status were significant (p-value < 0.001), suggesting that the impact of sexual status on them is mediated by the victimization.

Conclusion 
This study showed the high vulnerability of trans youths to poor mental health and wellbeing outcomes because of the victimization they experience. The results highlight the importance of preventing victimization based on sexual-minority status and to educate people, including parents, to sexual and gender diversity.

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By:  Raymond G1, Blais M2, Bergeron FA2, Hébert M2.

• 1Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
• 2Département de sexologie, Université du Québec à Montréal.
• Sante Ment Que. 2015 Fall;40(3):77-92. 

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The Relationship between Sexual Victimization and Year in School in U.S. Colleges: Investigating the Parameters of the “Red Zone”

It is the conventional wisdom among some universities that the highest risk of sexual assault is in the first or possibly second year in school. While initially belief in this pattern was primarily based on anecdote, recently some attempts have been made to more systematically and quantitatively test the existence of a “red zone,” a time of heightened risk of sexual assault sometime near the beginning of a female student's time at the college. However, most of these studies have been conducted with relatively small convenience samples from single schools and have had conflicting results. 

Here, I test the red zone hypothesis using self-reported sexual victimization data with a large sample (∼16,000) drawn from 22 schools as part of the Online College Social Life Survey. To investigate the specific mechanisms responsible for the red zone, I separately test for the existence of a red zone for four different types of sexual victimizations: physically forced intercourse, attempted forced intercourse, unwanted intercourse when incapacitated, and unwanted intercourse due to verbal pressure. 

Within these categories, I separately address sexual victimization that occurred while hanging out and sexual victimization during a party. Prior literature has emphasized the role of parties in the increased risk of assault for freshman. While I find some evidence for this in the higher estimates for sexual victimization at a party, the freshman effect remains for other types of sexual victimizations, suggesting that the red zone is not easily attributable to a single mechanistic cause, but to more generalizable factors. With one exception, I find that the red zone does not extend into the sophomore year.

Raw Frequencies of Sexual Victimization by School.

School	Forced, Party	Attempt Forced, Party	DFSA, Party	Verbal, Party	Forced, Hang Out	Attempted Forced, Hang Out	DFSA, Hang Out	Verbal, Hang Out
Stanford	1	7	2	2	3	5	8	7
Indiana	9	39	23	6	5	10	4	8
Arizona	6	19	10	6	7	12	10	19
Stony Brook	4	13	9	4	6	16	4	13
Ithaca	4	16	15	8	4	4	2	10
Evergreen	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
Santa Barbara	48	115	90	37	30	54	22	63
U Mass	40	97	62	27	32	60	23	24
Ohio State	19	27	18	4	10	15	9	20
Whitman	4	17	16	5	5	8	2	15
Foothill	9	22	24	7	20	20	17	39
Harvard	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
UIC	11	19	20	6	12	29	10	23
Framingham	9	12	13	6	7	21	6	18
Radford	2	3	3	1	2	2	2	4
Beloit	0	6	0	0	2	5	2	5
Riverside	3	8	8	4	5	26	6	12
UPenn	3	12	4	3	1	6	2	6
Washington	3	9	6	1	1	2	1	2
Merced	0	1	1	1	2	4	0	1
MTSU	7	7	9	5	4	12	2	13
Carroll	0	3	1	0	3	4	2	5
Total	182	455	334	133	162	317	134	307

Note. DFSA = drug- and alcohol-facilitated sexual assault; UIC = University of Illinois at Chicago; MTSU = Middle Tennessee State University.

Frequencies of Sexual Victimization by Year.

		Freshman	Sophomore	Junior +	Total
Forced, party	0	5,547	3,930	6,476	15,953
	1	118	24	40	182
	%	2.08	0.61	0.61	1.13
DFSA, party	0	5,297	3,827	6,382	15,506
	1	305	80	69	454
	%	5.44	2.05	1.07	2.84
Verbal, party	0	5,462	3,872	6,405	15,739
	1	186	62	84	332
	%	3.29	1.58	1.29	2.07
Attempt forced, party	0	5,469	3,853	6,369	15,691
	1	81	26	26	133
	%	1.46	0.67	0.41	0.84
Forced, hang out	0	5,576	3,930	6,469	15,975
	1	89	24	47	160
	%	1.57	0.61	0.72	0.99
Attempted forced, hang out	0	5,433	3,844	6,368	15,645
	1	169	63	83	315
	%	3.02	1.61	1.29	1.97
DFSA, hang out	0	5,591	3,901	6,445	15,937
	1	57	33	44	134
	%	1.01	0.84	0.68	0.83
Verbal, hang out	0	5,435	3,806	6,279	15,520
	1	115	73	116	304
	%	2.07	1.88	1.81	1.92

Note. DFSA = drug- and alcohol-facilitated sexual assault.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/0kuiBf

By:  Stephen Cranney1

¹University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

Corresponding Author: Stephen Cranney, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, 239 McNeil Building, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19143, USA, Email: ude.nnepu.sas@yennarcs

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