College Students’ Perceptions of Barriers to Bystander Intervention

Sexual violence is a major problem on college campuses and is associated with a range of negative health consequences for victims. Teaching students to intervene as prosocial bystanders has become a common element of sexual assault prevention efforts; although these programs have demonstrated positive effects on participants’ beliefs and knowledge, their impact on actual behavior is weaker. Understanding the factors that inhibit intervening in risky situations may enhance the effectiveness of bystander programs by identifying material that addresses these barriers. A sample of 281 first-year college students indicated whether they had encountered 10 situations that may present elevated risk of sexual or physical assault since arriving on campus, and if so, whether they had done something to intervene. If they had not intervened, they were asked to identify the barriers that had inhibited them. Participants also completed measures of two factors proposed to predict bystander behavior, self-efficacy and emotion regulation. A majority of participants intervened in most of the situations, but only 27% of participants intervened in every situation they encountered. Men and women differed in the barriers they identified most frequently across situations, with men endorsing Perceived Responsibility more often than women, and women reporting Skill Deficits more often than men. Neither men nor women perceived Audience Inhibition to be a significant barrier; it was salient in only one of the 10 situations. Students higher in global bystander self-efficacy were more likely to intervene and less likely to report barriers related to skill deficits and perceived responsibility. These results suggest that existing bystander intervention programs efforts can be improved by fostering a greater sense of collective responsibility in students and teaching specific intervention behaviors

Exploring the Role of Attachment Style in the Relation between Family Aggression and Abuse in Adolescent Dating Relationships

This study investigated romantic attachment style as a potential moderator of the link between family aggression and dating aggression, and examined its relations with documented mediators of the impact of interparental conflict on dating behavior: attitudes about the justifiability of aggression and anger regulation. Participants were 391 ethnically diverse 14-to 18-year-olds (52% female). Attachment style was a significant moderator for boys and girls, but the pattern of results differed by gender. In general, attachment anxiety was a more consistent predictor than avoidance of boys’ dating aggression, cognitions, and emotions, whereas anxiety and avoidance both acted as significant moderators for girls. These results suggest that youths’ romantic attachment style can amplify or attenuate the impact of family aggression on abusive behavior in dating relationships by influencing their beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and their ability to regulate anger

Caregiver Behaviors Associated With Emotion Regulation in High-Risk Preschoolers

Children who witness violence are at risk for developing a range of developmental problems, including deficits in understanding and regulating. The ability to adaptively manage emotions is associated with children’s mental health and their social and academic competence; however, little is known about how parents of at-risk youth can foster the healthy development of emotion regulation. The current study aimed to identify specific parenting practices associated with adaptive emotion regulation in at-risk preschoolers. Multimethod, multi-informant data were collected from 124 caregiver-child dyads from Head Start programs. Results indicated that interparental aggression was negatively associated with caregivers’ and children’s emotion regulation, but there were specific caregiver behaviors that moderated the association between interparental aggression and children’s emotion regulation. Specifically, care- givers’ sensitivity to children’s emotions during play, listening effectively to children’s expression of sadness, and their own capacity for emotion regulation buffered the association between exposure to interparental aggression and children’s emotion regulation. These findings provide practical insight into how parents can promote resilience in children exposed to violence by fostering healthy emotional regulation

Symmetry-forbidden intervalley scattering by atomic defects in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides

Intervalley scattering by atomic defects in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TDMs; MX2) presents a serious obstacle for applications exploiting their unique valley-contrasting properties. Here, we show that the symmetry of the atomic defects can give rise to an unconventional protection mechanism against intervalley scattering in monolayer TMDs. The predicted defect-dependent selection rules for intervalley scattering can be verified via Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FT-STS), and provide a unique identification of, e.g., atomic vacancy defects (M vs X). Our findings put the absence of the intervalley FT-STS peak in recent experiments in a different perspective.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures + supplementary. Published versio

Probing The Wavelength-dependent Excited-state Dynamics Of A Photochromic Molecular Switch Using Resonance Raman Spectroscopy

Diarylethene (DAE) derivatives are an important class of photochromic molecular switches that undergo ring-opening and ring-closing reactions following excitation with visible or UV light, respectively. Here, we use resonance Raman spectroscopy to examine the wavelength-dependence of the cycloreversion (ring-opening) reaction following excitation into the two lowest electronic absorption bands of a common DAE derivative. Resonance Raman spectroscopy reveals the initial dynamics on the excited-state potential energy surface based on mode-specific enhancements of the vibrational spectrum that depend on the electronic resonance condition. Although the vibrational frequencies report on the ground-state structure of the molecule, the relative intensities of the Raman transitions reflect the initial motion immediately following excitation to the upper electronic state. Specifically, we report stimulated resonance Raman spectra and Raman gain profiles for excitation into two separate absorption bands centered near 560 nm and 370 nm. Although excitation into either band results in the cycloreversion reaction with similar $\sim2\%$ quantum yield, the resonance Raman spectra indicate that the initial dynamics are different for the two excited states. Excitation into the lower energy absorption band reveals resonance enhancement of a 986 cm$^{-1}$ mode that corresponds to a ring breathing mode of the central cyclohexadiene ring, and likely represents motion directly along the ring-opening reaction coordinate. In contrast, excitation into the higher energy absorption band results in resonance enhancement for 1400 cm$^{-1}$and 1600 cm$^{-1}$ modes that represent ethylenic stretching along the conjugated backbone of the molecule and of the peripheral phenyl rings, respectively, and probably do not map directly onto the reaction coordinate. These observations provide key information for understanding the reactivity of DAE derivatives following excitation in the visible and near-UV

Becoming Qualified to Teach Low-literate Refugees: A Case Study of One Volunteer Instructor

This case study investigates Carolyn, an effective volunteer ESL and literacy instructor of adult African refugees, in order to understand both what it means to be a qualified instructor, and also how community-based volunteer instructors may become more qualified. The study’s findings suggest that Carolyn’s qualifications are a combination of personal dispositions, such as cultural sensitivity, and professional behaviors, including self-education, seeking mentoring and outside expertise, and purposeful reflection on her teaching. Several implications for supporting community-based volunteer literacy and ESL instructors emerge from these findings