Risk Factors and treatment needs of batterer intervention program participants with substance abuse problems

The aim of the present study was to identify the main risk factors and treatment needs of batterer intervention program (BIP) participants with alcohol and drug abuse problems (ADAPs), beyond issues strictly related to their substance abuse, taking into account four sets of variables: sociodemographic (i.e., age, educational level, income, employment, and immigrant status); personality disorders and psychological adjustment (i.e., clinical symptomatology, personality disorders, anger, impulsivity, and self-esteem); social-relational variables (i.e., community support, intimate support, stressful life events, and perceived social rejection); and violence-related variables (i.e., family violence exposure, perceived severity of intimate partner violence against women [IPVAW], ambivalent sexism, risk of future violence, physical and psychological intimate partner violence, motivation to change, and stage of change). The study was based on a sample of 1,039 male IPVAW offenders court-mandated to a community-based BIP. Results from comparisons between BIP participants with and without ADAPs were interpreted in terms of effect sizes to highlight the most salient differences. Differences with moderate effect sizes were found for clinical symptomatology, anger trait, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, stressful life events, motivation to change and stage of change. Differences with large effect sizes were found for impulsivity, antisocial disorder, borderline disorder, and aggressive disorder. Several intervention strategies are proposed to guide and adjust interventions to risk factors and treatment needs of BIP participants with ADAPs

Hormonal Differences in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators When They Cope with Acute Stress: A Pilot Study

Background: Only a few studies have paid attention to the ability of perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPVAW) against women to cope with acute stress, including hormonal parameters. In fact, previous studies assessed how salivary testosterone (Tsal) and cortisol (Csal) changed after coping with an acute emotional stressor (directly related to IPVAW), and they concluded that an imbalance between the two hormones might be characteristic of these men. Nevertheless, they neglected to examine the role of other hormones, such as salivary oxytocin (OXsal), which also seemed to play an important role in behavioral regulation, and whether this response could be generalized to other types of stress not directly related to IPVAW. Methods: This study aims to assess whether IPVAW perpetrators (n = 19) present differential hormonal (Tsal, Csal, OXsal and their ratios) and psychological state (anxiety, anger, and general affect) responses when coping with an acute cognitive laboratory stressor (a set of neuropsychological tests performed in front of an expert committee) in comparison with non-violent men (n = 16). This quasi-experimental study also assessed whether the psychological state variables drive this different hormonal response. Results: Our results revealed that IPVAW perpetrators had lower Csal and higher Tsal/Csal ratio levels during the post-task period, as well as higher total levels (average) of OXsal than controls. We also found that, only in IPVAW perpetrators, high levels of baseline anxiety and negative affect were related to high rises in Csal during the stress task. Conclusions: These data present a background showing that IPVAW perpetrators and non-violent men cope differently with stress. These findings might help to identify idiosyncratic profiles of IPVAW perpetrators that can then be employed to establish their therapeutic needs. Moreover, we reinforced the importance of combining biological markers with self-reports, thus increasing the reliability of these forensic assessments

Psicothema

Resumen tomado de la publicaciónEn este trabajo se analiza la relación entre una medida multidimensional del autoconcepto, el cuestionario de Autoconcepto Forma 5 (AF5), con un amplio conjunto de indicadores del ajuste psicosocial de los adolescentes. A partir de las respuestas de 1.281 adolescentes (53,7 por ciento mujeres), entre 12 y 17 años (M= 14,98 años, DT= 1,74 años), los resultados indicaron que el mayor autoconcepto se corresponde con el mejor ajuste psicológico, una buena competencia personal y menos problemas comportamentales. Si bien se encontraron aparentes relaciones positivas entre el autoconcepto social y el uso de drogas, estas relaciones positivas desaparecieron cuando se controló el efecto de la edad y el sexo de los adolescentes. Los resultados de este trabajo apoyan la idea de que el autoconcepto es un constructo teórico básico estrechamente relacionado con el ajuste psicosocial en la adolescencia. Por otra parte, este estudio permite explicar algunos resultados contradictorios en la literatura (i.e., la relación positiva entre el autoconcepto social y el consumo de drogas), mostrando cómo el control estadístico del posible efecto de terceras variables (i.e., la edad) evita llegar a conclusiones erróneas basadas en relaciones espúreas.AsturiasColegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Asturias; Calle Ildefonso Sánchez del Río, 4-1 B; 33001 Oviedo; Tel. +34985285778; Fax +34985281374;Universidad de Oviedo. Facultad de Psicología; Plaza Feijoo, s. n.; 33003 Oviedo; Tel. +34985104146; Fax +34985104126;ES