The relationship between the frequency of gender-based violence exposure and Adolescents' psychosocial adjustment: a multilevel meta-analysis

Gender-based Violence Exposure (GVE) is not usually a punctual event in a child's life. However, research into the differential adjustment related to the frequency of GVE is still inconclusive, especially regarding older children and adolescents, hindering the empirical integration and synthesis of this topic. The aim of this metaanalysis was to quantitatively synthesize the documented relationship between the frequency of exposure to GBV and adolescents' adjustment. We analyzed whether the relationships differed by sex, age, study design, violence conceptualization, and measurements. A comprehensive search of online databases was conducted into peerreviewed studies published between January 2000 and September 2020. The searches yielded an initial total of 4850 studies, after screening 35 independent samples, 16,291 participants, met the inclusion criteria. Data were pooled using multilevel meta-analytic models. Overall, our findings provide evidence of the existence of a dose-response relationship between exposure to GVE and adolescents' adjustment. This relationship was especially significant for aggressive behavior, antisocial behavior, and dating violence. These results highlight the need for early intervention programmes to avoid the consolidation and chronicity of adolescent emotional and behavioral problems, and the need for further research on the variables associated with the adolescent's adjustmentThis work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (Grant number: PGC2018-096130-B-I00) and the funding for the predoctoral contract (PRE2019-091184

Does time heal all wounds? How is children’s exposure to intimate partner violence related to their current internalizing symptoms?

The effects of time and the longitudinal course of the children’s internalizing symptoms following Intimate Partner Violence Exposure (IPVE) are still of great interest today. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the frequency of IPVE, adverse experiences after the cessation of the IPVE and the time elapsed since the termination of the violent relation on the prevalence of anxiety and depression among children. Participants were 107 children and their mothers who had been victims of IPV and had existing judicial protection and restraining orders. Hierarchical logistic regression models were estimated to analyze children’s adjustment, considering the effect of the time elapsed since the termination, frequency of IPVE, experiences of revictimization, maternal pathology, and anxious anticipation of the mother at the prospect of future harm. Exposure to multiple events of violence at the hands of multiple ex-partners and higher scores in the mother’s anxious anticipation were significant predictors of children’s pathological depression and anxiety. Our results emphasize the need for early psychological evaluation of women and children’s victims of IPV to provide timely interventions that avoid symptoms from becoming chronic. Strategies to bring support and emotional security to the victims after the end of the violent relationship are desirableThis work has been funded by a research grant from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (PGC2018-096130-B-I00). And the predoctoral contract (PRE2019-091184

Factor structure, psychometric properties, and proposal for a brief-form version of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale: Validation in a court-referred partner-violent men sample

Psychopathy has been widely studied among criminal populations. Most analyses address it in institutionalized populations, however, the present study examines the psychometric properties of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP) in 642 court-referred partner-violent men serving suspended prison sentences. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure (primary and secondary psychopathy) of the original scale. The resulting scale was a brief-form version of the LSRP that presents satisfactory data in terms of internal consistency and criterion validity, and significant positive correlations with measures of intimate partner violence (IPV), antisocial personality traits and impulsivity. In terms of known-groups validity, meanwhile, psychopathy was found to decrease with the age of the participants. In this light, the LSRP brief-form offers adequate psychometric reliability as an instrument to measure primary and secondary psychopathy in partner-violent men serving suspended sentencesThis research was supported by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (National Plan I+D+I; Reference number: PSI2008-02215

Beyond the initial assault: characterizing revictimization in intimate partner violence and its implications for women’s health

Recent research has emphasized the importance of addressing specific victim-related factors to reduce victims’ vulnerability and prevent future revictimization experiences. This study aimed to analyze the vulnerability profiles of women who were victims of intimate partner violence, including those who had experienced a single incident of violence and those who had endured revictimization. Participants were 338 women with active judicial protection measures registered in the system of support for victims of gender violence (VioGén) in Madrid, Spain. The analysis considered sociodemographic characteristics, victimization history, perceived triggers of violence, women’s responses and feelings, as well as clinical outcomes linked to revictimization history. The study revealed that many victims faced socioeconomic vulnerability. Furthermore, the findings underscored the intricate link between the likelihood of enduring chronic violence and women’s awareness of early indicators of violence risk, their initial responses to aggression, communication skills, and recurrent behaviors in the context of an established violent dynamic. This study offers valuable insights for law enforcement to identify the risk of revictimization. Furthermore, findings raise awareness about the particularly vulnerable situation of some women to repeated victimization experiences and provide relevant information for clinical interventionThis work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (Grant number: PGC2018-096130-B-I00) and the funding for the predoctoral contract FPI (PRE2019-091184

Intimate partner violence among adolescents: prevalence rates after one decade of research

Introduction: Intimate partner violence research and intervention strategies have grown substantially over the last two decades. However, little research has examined whether the intimate partner prevalence has changed or remained stable over time in Spain. Moreover, few studies have analyzed whether intimate partner violence prevalence rates among genders and age groups have fluctuated similarly or not. Method: The aim of this study was to analyze the trends observed in intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization rates among adolescents in three sample cohorts from Spain interviewed in 2006, 2010, and 2016 (4591 Spanish adolescents; 53.6% girls and 46.2% boys). ANCOVA was used to compare the population means between the cohorts: sex, age, and the type of intimate partner violence, for example, verbal, physical, and sexual. Results: The results showed a significant decrease in intimate partner violence rates from 2006 to 2016, which was more noticeable within the first half of this decade. Throughout the decade, the girls perpetrated more verbal and mild physical assaults, while the boys perpetrated more sexual assaults. However, these results suggest a clear bidirectional intimate partner violence dynamic between the genders. Additionally, late adolescence reported a higher prevalence of aggressions. Conclusions: The results highlight the need to adapt current prevention strategies considering the differences in the intimate partner violence trajectories based on sex and age, with the aim of regaining the marked rate of decline in aggression observed up to 201

Prevención de la violencia en parejas jóvenes: Evaluando el Programa PREVIO

La puesta en marcha de actuaciones preventivas en población juvenil es el recurso que ha demostrado mayor eficacia a corto y largo plazo para dar solución a problemáticas dispares y, también, en el campo de la violencia en las relaciones íntimas en adolescentes. Este es el caso del programa PREVIO dirigido a jóvenes entre 14 y 16 años centrado en diversos factores de riesgo/protección asociados a la presencia de comportamientos agresivos físicos y verbales. En el presente trabajo se analiza la eficacia diferencial del programa (grupo experimental/control) en una muestra de 841 adolescentes, teniendo en cuenta el sexo de los participantes y los niveles previos de violencia antes de la intervención. Los resultados indican que el grupo que más se benefició tras su participación en el programa de prevención fue el de los jóvenes que autoinformaron perpetrar tanto comportamientos violentos de tipo físico y verbal. Estos resultados ponen de manifiesto la importancia de llevar a cabo este tipo de programas de prevención en adolescentes.Dating violence prevention: Evaluation of the program PREVIO. Preventive programs have proven to be the most effective recourse to attend several problems in adolescent and youth population. In the last two decades, researchers had documented short and long-term effects of the prevention strategies in diverse adolescent problematics such as dating violence. In the present study, we analyzed the differential effectiveness (between experimental and control group) of the PREVIO program in reducing dating violence perpetration in a sample of 841 Spanish adolescents. PREVIO program was given throughout eight weeks and each session focused on specific risk and protection factors associated with physical and verbal aggressive behaviors. We used as aggrupation variables for the analyzes the sex of the participants and the levels of self-reported violence before the intervention. According to the results, the most benefited group by the program was the one made up by adolescents how self-reported perpetrating both violent behaviors (physical and verbal). These results highlight the importance of carrying out this type o prevention programs in adolescent population

Physical and psychological aggression in dating relationships in Spanish university students

The presence of violent behaviors of a psychological and physical nature in dating relations was analyzed in a sample of Spanish university students between 18 and 27 years of age. The results indicate a high prevalence of both kinds of aggression in interpersonal relationships, revealing important typology differences between the sexes. Violent psychological behaviors (characterized by the presence of verbal aggression and coercive and jealous behaviors) and physical aggression were significantly higher in women, though the consequences of physical aggression were worse for the women’s health. The implications of the results and their possible relation with more severe violent acts in more stable, emotional relationships are discussed. Agresión física y psicológica en las relaciones de noviazgo en universitarios españoles. En el presente trabajo se analiza la presencia de comportamientos violentos de carácter psicológico y físico en las relaciones de noviazgo en una muestra de jóvenes universitarios españoles con edades comprendidas entre los 18 y los 27 años. Los resultados indican la alta prevalencia de ambos tipos de agresión en las relaciones interpersonales, encontrando diferencias importantes en cuanto a su tipología entre sexos. Así, la violencia de carácter psicológico (analizadas por la presencia de agresiones verbales y comportamientos coercitivos y celosos) y la agresión física resultaron ser significativamente superiores en el caso de las mujeres, aunque las consecuencias para la salud derivadas de la misma son más negativas para ellas. Se comentan, asimismo, las implicaciones de los resultados obtenidos y su posible relación con actos de violencia más graves en posteriores relaciones emocionales más estables

Validación de la versión modificada de la Conflicts Tactics Scale (M-CTS) en población juvenil española

La version modificada de la Conflicts Tactics Scale (M-CTS), realizada originalmente por Straus en 1979, es uno de los instrumentos más ampliamente utilizados para la detección de comportamientos violentos de carácter verbal y físico en las relaciones de noviazgo en jóvenes y adolescentes. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar las propiedades psicométricas del instrumento y validar su adecuación en población española. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 5.355 jóvenes españoles pertenecientes a la Comunidad de Madrid, con edades comprendidas entre los 16 y los 26 años. A través de un Analisis Factorial Confirmatorio se identificaron cuatro factores consistentes con la teoría y las investigaciones previas: argumentación, agresión psicológica/verbal, agresión física leve y agresión física grave. Se concluye que la escala permite evaluar, con suficientes garantías psicométricas, la presencia de diferentes tipos de agresión en las relaciones de pareja en jóvenes y adolescentes

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale